Shortly before his death in 1935 George Gershwin himself supervised Helen Jepson's recording of Porgy and Bess including the classic "Summertime". Helen sang with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra and sang along side Rudy Vallee, not only that but later she was a star with the Metropolitan Opera. The blonde beauty had a starring role in "The Goldwyn Follies" 1938 movie.

During Canada's centennial year your scribe had the pleasure of visiting a small, crowded club on Crescent Street in Montreal to see Billy Stewart sing "Summertime". His career actually started with his mother's group "The Stewart Gospel Singers". After entering the secular world he was first considered a pianist. The album "Unbelievable" was released in 1966 and the first single was this unique version of "Summertime" which hit the top ten.