Amy Dickson: A Summer Place

Amy Dickson presents here the very essence of summer with her elegant and sophisticated take on some wonderful, evergreen themes from the late 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s. The unforgettable melodies on ‘A Summer Place’ evoke the unique sound of those glorious, languid summer days, all presented with style and panache by this talented young artist.

The album’s title track ‘A Summer Place’ is the famous theme from Max Steiner’s score to the successful 1959 romantic film of the same name, starring Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue. Recorded by Percy Faith in 1960, it remains the longest-running number one instrumental in the history of the chart and reached number two in the UK.

‘The Windmills of Your Mind’ – written by legendary French composer Michel Legrand with English lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman - was famously recorded by Noel Harrison and was the much-loved theme for the iconic 1968 film ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’. It won an Academy Award for Best Original song in 1968.

The theme from ‘The Apartment’ - the popular, sparkling film from 1960 starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine – is up next. Produced and directed by the great Billy Wilder with a score by Adolph Deutsch, it was a huge hit both critically and commercially and won five Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. The Apartment theme ‘Jealous Lover’ was written by British composer/conductor, Charles Williams.

Paul Desmond’s ‘Take Five’ needs no introduction, being one of the most famous jazz tunes ever written. Performed by the Dave Brubeck Quartet on their 1959 album ‘Time Out’, it became a huge success and the best-selling jazz single of all time. It takes its name from the unusual 5/4 time signature and was inspired by Brubeck having encountered traditional musicians in Turkey playing in 9/8 time which encouraged him in his own experimentations. Apart from being a memorable tune that captures the spirit of the time perfectly, it is also famous for having achieved mainstream significance outside the narrower confines of the jazz community.

‘The World We Knew (Over and Over)’ was recorded in 1967 by Frank Sinatra and appeared on his album of the same name. It is based on a tune by German musician and light music composer, Bert Kampfert and reached No. 1 on the Easy Listening Chart that same year.