Song of the Week: The Zombies - Walking In The Sun

For our second foray into the world of The Zombies, we focus on a song that didn't see the light of day when The Zombies actually existed as a real band. The song is Walking In The Sun and it was apparently written in '64, recorded in '65 and then never released. After the Zombies had disbanded in frustration over the lack of interest in their high quality product, they found themselves in an unusual position. That being, The Zombies had a posthumous hit in Time Of The Season. Suddenly the record company wanted another album. The thought was to throw some songs together which Rod Argent was working on and mix and match with whatever else was in the vaults. It was to be called Zombies R.I.P. That album never happened, but thankfully, some of those songs, of which Walking In The Sun is one, made their way onto poorly packaged compilations. Enjoy here the high quality stereo mix with overdubs as it appeared on the must-have box set, Zombie Heaven. 

Song of the Week: "Summertime", The Zombies

Today we start a week long salute to one of the greatest songs ever written. The song is Summertime and was penned by George Gershwin in 1935 for the musical, Porgy and Bess. Some songs are brilliant because of the performance, but not necessarily the intrinsic nature of the composition. See MC5's Kick Out the Jams video diary entry directly preceding this post as an example. Other songs are so perfectly composed that it is nearly impossible for anyone to do a bad version of it. Summertime, I would argue, falls into this latter category. In celebration of Summertime (and Summer), we will post a new version of the song each day this week. Upbeat, sorrowful, latin, soul, jazz, rock and country. We may just explore them all.

Today we start things off with the criminally underrated British Invasion band, The Zombies. Their version is pretty straightforward. Slow and brooding, the moody nature of the song is first tipped by the bass work of Chris White who gives us the first melodic hint as to what song we are enjoying. Then the beautiful, breathy voice of Colin Blunstone comes in. Blunstone, perhaps best known for voicing the band's hit, Time of the Season, sings Summertime with a sultry heat that would fit well into any Tennessee Williams play. Rod Argent's electric piano punctuates our song and the three front men harmonize with a gentle ghostly feel to it. Click here to hear the Zombies version of Summertime.

We'll see you tomorrow with another version of the song.