Teenage Nostalgia and the Power of Rock in the “Summer of ‘69”
Written by Kieran Vaughn and Caitlin Vaughn Carlos
Prior to the writing and recording process for “Summer of ‘69,” Bryan Adams found himself in the wake of his first commercially successful record Cuts Like a Knife. Eventually going platinum in the US, and triple platinum in his home country of Canada, the album was truly responsible for placing him on the map. Indeed, the artist had made commercial progress before this with his self-titled debut and his second album You Want It You Got It. The latter became his first record to reach international recognition outside of his home country, charting in the US and UK. However, 1983’s Cuts Like a Knife was truly responsible for giving Adams the limelight; and by January 1984, the music industry and Bryan Adams fans alike were curiously anticipating what the soon-to-be breakout artist had in store for them.
By January 1984, Adams and his writing partner, Jim Vallance were collaborating on Adams’ next release: Reckless.Vallance and Adams had met while still teenagers in the Vancouver music scene, and began working together as Adams stepped away from his latest band at the time – Sweeney Todd. Adams and Vallance would find success working together under A&M records. From the beginning, Vallance proved to be instrumental in the writing process, hosting “co-writer” credits for the majority of songs found in Adam’s first albums. Reckless took things to the next level for Adam’s career. It not only gave him his first number one album in both the US and Canada, but also several hit singles, including the song which would forever cement his place in rock music history….”Summer of ‘69”
Cuts Like a Knife had sent Adams into a whirlwind of productivity by the time he started working on Reckless. He had toured with Journey for several months and was even voted Canada’s Best male vocalist by a Music Express opinion poll in 1983. Vallance and Adams sought to capitalize on Adams’ emotional and powerful vocal delivery by writing a song which showcased his talents. By the end of January 1984, “Summer of ‘69” was written, and ready to be cut in the studio.
The song was recorded at Little Mountain Sound studios in Vancouver, Canada, and then recut and mixed at the Power Station. Vallance was listed as associate producer on the song with Adams and Bob Clearmountain sharing production credits. Clearmountain also engineered and mixed the song.
A“Summer of 69” everyone assumes that the song is about the year. Vallance has stated that they were likely subconsciously influenced by Jackson Browne’s “Running on Empty” which has a line that says “in ‘69, I was 21,” but of course, in the year 1969, Adams was only 9 years old. As Clearmountain told Warren Huart in a 2022 interview: “It’s not about the year ‘69.” Likewise, Adams stated: “It’s a very simple song about looking back on the summertime and making love. For me, the ’69 was a metaphor for making love, not about the year.” he lyrics certainly are filled with sexual innuendos, but they are also reflective of other musical influences. Vallance has explained that the line “I got my first real six string” came from Foreigner’s “Juke Box Hero” and his lyric: “I bought a beat up six-string in a second-hand store.” He has also cited Bruce Springsteen as an influence and The Beatles “I Want to Hold Your Hand”.
The collection of recognizable and relatable experiences (like playing guitar and your fingers bleeding, or your high school band breaking up) makes the nostalgia in the song work perfectly. This coupled with the classic rock sound of the instrumentation, really brings out a nostalgia for the “good ‘ol days” of rock and roll and playing in a band as a teenager.
The song boasts a classic rock lineup of drums, bass, guitars, tambourine and vocals to begin and then brings in synthesizer (played by Tommy Mandell) for a more contemporary end to the track. The drums were played by Pat Steward and the bass was played by Dave Taylor. The tambourine was recorded by Vallance. Adams provided the rhythm guitar part for the track and Keith Scott played the lead. The instrumental tracks on the song were all recorded to bring out a live, classic rock sound, but with a modern edge. They ended up having to re-record and rearrange it because the first version wasn’t working.
Since the date of release in 1984, there’s been no shortage of accolades for “Summer of ‘69”. In his native country, Bryan’s track reached #24 in CharAttack’s 1996 list: “The 100 Best Canadian Singles of All Time.” It meteorically rose to #4 in another list of theirs in 2000: “The 50 Best Canadian Singles of All Time.” The success, of course, was mirrored in the U.S., with listings in “The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made” in 1989, “The 100 Best Singles of the 80s” in 1990, and “The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born.” The song is successful, in part, because it taps into a very human tendency towards nostalgia, and a very contemporary movement at the time to look back to teenage years through the soundtrack of rock ‘n roll. The song was never about the year, but the year is an important marker in cultural memory for rock’s history. “Summer of ‘69” then appeals to multiple generations because it is the perfect balance of specificity and generality…rock fans of many generations can relate to their experiences of growing up to the sounds of a classic rock lineup. With the “Summer of ‘69” Adams aligns himself with the classics of rock music and cements his own place in rock history.