Summer Samba

"Summer Samba" (also known as "So Nice" or its original Portuguese title, "Samba de Verão") is a 1964 bossa nova and jazz standard song by Brazilian composer Marcos Valle with Portuguese lyrics by Paulo Sérgio Valle and English-language lyrics by Norman Gimbel. Marcos Valle's recording was a top 10 hit in Rio de Janeiro that year. In the US, an instrumental recording by Walter Wanderley reached the top 40 on the pop chart and the Easy Listening top 10 in 1966. The first English vocal version was by the Sergio Mendes Trio with Wanda de Sah on vocals on the album Brasil '65. Other versions were by Vikki Carr, Connie Francis and Johnny Mathis which also made the Easy Listening chart.

Background In a 2017 interview, Marcos Valle described his life at the time of writing the song.

The Marcos Valle recording of "Samba de Verão" got as high as number 9 on the pop chart in Rio de Janeiro in 1964.

Walter Wanderley version

Walter Wanderley recorded the song in 1966 as "Summer Samba" for his album Rain Forest, which was produced by Creed Taylor. The album jacket gives the subtitle of the song as "Samba de Verão". On the label, however, it reads "So Nice". The label also credits both lyricists even though it is an instrumental recording.

Chart performance Wanderley's version debuted on Billboard magazine's Easy Listening chart in the issue dated August 13, 1966, and got as high as number 3 during its 13 weeks there. Select Adult Contemporary from drop down list. The August 27 issue included its first appearance on the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at number 26 over the course of nine weeks.

Critical reception Thom Jurek of AllMusic wrote that Wanderley's version "is regarded as perhaps a more definitive bossa tune than 'Girl from Ipanema'."

Charts + Weekly chart performance for "Summer Samba" by Walter Wanderley Chart (1966) PeakpositionUS Billboard Easy Listening3

Johnny Mathis version

Johnny Mathis recorded the song as "So Nice (Samba de Verão)" on July 7, 1966, for his self-produced album So Nice. The music was arranged and conducted by Mort Stevens.

Chart performance Mathis's recording debuted on Billboard magazine's Easy Listening chart in the issue dated September 10, 1966, and got as high as number 17 in the October 1 issue.

Critical reception In their review column, the editors of Billboard combined some of their comments on the Mathis and Connie Francis versions, summarizing them as "two strong vocal treatments by two top stars". They added that Mathis's was "a warm, lush treatment". The editors of Cash Box featured the Mathis single as one of their Best Bets, which was their equivalent to a letter grade of A for "So Nice". They wrote, "Mathis is cozy on the bossa nova tune, a pretty thing done with its deft English lyric."

Charts + Weekly chart performance for "So Nice (Samba de Verão)" by Johnny Mathis Chart (1966) PeakpositionUS Billboard Easy Listening17

Connie Francis version

Connie Francis recorded the song as "So Nice (Summer Samba)" in August 1966 with Pete Spargo producing. The music was arranged and conducted by Teddy Randazzo.

Chart performance Francis's recording also debuted on Billboards Easy Listening chart in the issue dated September 10, 1966, and got as high as number 17, as Mathis's recording did, only one week later, in the October 8 issue.

Critical reception In their review column, the editors of Cash Box featured the single as a Pick of the Week, which was their equivalent to a letter grade of A for both "So Nice" and its B-side, "All the Love in the World". Regarding the former, they wrote, "The song is a hauntingly lovely, medium-paced romantic bossa nova with a lyrical melodic undercurrent." In addition to their comment about Francis and Mathis, the editors of Billboard wrote, "The Francis version has a little of the flavor of Sinatra's 'Strangers in the Night'."

Charts + Weekly chart performance for "So Nice (Summer Samba)" by Connie Francis Chart (1966) PeakpositionUS Billboard Easy Listening17

Vikki Carr version

Vikki Carr recorded "So Nice (Summer Samba)" and the song that became its B-side, "It Must Be Him", on July 25, 1966. Dave Pell produced the recordings, which were released as a single six weeks later, on September 6.

Chart performance Carr's recording of "So Nice (Summer Samba)" debuted on Billboard magazine's Easy Listening chart in the issue dated October 15, 1966, and got as high as number 32 in the November 5 issue. "It Must Be Him" would be reissued in 1967 and become her first song to reach the Billboard Hot 100. Select Adult Contemporary from drop down list for "So Nice" information.

Charts + Weekly chart performance for "So Nice (Summer Samba)" by Vikki Carr Chart (1966) PeakpositionUS Billboard Easy Listening32

Covers

The song had been recorded under its various titles by more than 180 different artists worldwide. A few of the recordings have been praised by the editors of Billboard in reviews of the albums on which they appear, including two from 1966. The editors described Bud Shank's rendition on Brazil! Brazil! Brazil! as "excellent" and the one on Lawrence Welk's Winchester Cathedral as a "standout". There were also two mentions from albums they reviewed in 1967. They thought there was an "outstanding" guitar rendition on Tony Mottola's A Latin Love-In and that the recording by Andy Williams on In the Arms of Love was also a "standout".

AllMusic critics also praised covers of the song. Thom Jurek reviewed Brasil '65 by the Sergio Mendes Trio with Wanda de Sah on vocals and wrote that the album featured "sophisticated melodies, many of which were written by the hottest talents in Brazil, such as Marcos Valle ('Samba de Verão' [aka 'So Nice'])". According to John Bush, the 2003 Astrud Gilberto compilation The Diva "includes all of the classics associated with her… [including] 'So Nice (Summer Samba)'." Bush also commented on the 2004 album Dreamer by Eliane Elias and explained, "Elias connects with her Brazilian pop heritage by choosing to sing, early on, a pair of Astrud Gilberto pieces, 'Call Me' and 'So Nice (Summer Samba)', both of which fortuitously suit the short range of her voice."

Summer Samba

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