Hot Fun In The Summertime

Album

Greatest Hits (Sly & The Family Stone)

Label

Epic records

Genre

Funk

Composer(s)

Sylvester "Sly Stone" Stewart

Entered Chart

Aug 9, 1969

Peak Date

Oct 18, 1969

Released

July 21, 1969

Recorded

1969

Catalog #

Epic 5-10497

B-Side

Fun

It may be hot in the summertime, but everything's cool in this Sly & the Family Stone classic. Written and produced by Sly Stone, the song celebrates the balmy days when school is out and the sun is shining. The song is a showcase for the entire band; all seven members sing on the chorus and along with vocalists Sly and Rose Stone, guitarist Freddie Stone and bass player Larry Graham each get lines. Their horn players, sax man Jerry Martini and trumpet player Cynthia Robinson (a rare female horn player in a hit-making band) also get their due. Sly Stone was never known for punctuality, and he didn't deliver "Hot Fun In The Summertime" until August 1969. Epic Records rush released it, but by then the summer was almost over. It reached its US chart peak of #2 (behind "I Can't Get Next To You" by The Temptations) on October 18. This song was released shortly after the Woodstock festival, where the band did a memorable set. This helped pique interest in Sly & the Family Stone, and gave the song a nice boost on the charts. The song was released as a standalone single but has shown up on many compilations. It came at a time when Sly & the Family Stone were at their peak, shortly before Sly Stone slid into a drug-induced abyss, taking the band down with him. Sly became very unreliable and their music suffered. In 1972, key members Larry Graham and Gregg Errico left, and in 1975 the band broke up. Over the next 30 years, Stone made sporadic appearances but never staged a full-fledged comeback. The Beach Boys recorded this on their 1992 album Summer in Paradise.

End of the spring
And here she comes back
Hi, hi, hi, hi there
Them summer days
Those summer days
That's when I had
Most of my fun, back
Hi, hi, hi, hi there
Them summer days
Those summer days
I cloud nine when I want to
Out of school, yeah
County fair in the country sun
And everything is true
Ooh, yeah, yeah
Hot fun in the summertime
Hot fun in the summertime
Hot fun in the summertime
Hot fun in the summertime
First of the fall
And then she goes back
Bye, bye, bye, bye there
Them summer days
Those summer days
Boop-boop-boop-boop
When I want to
Out of school
County fair in the country sun
And everything is cool
Ooh, yeah, yeah
Hot fun in the summertime (hey, hey, hey, ooh)
Hot fun in the summertime (ooh, yeah)
Hot fun in the summertime