"Sunshine" | ||||
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Single by Jonathan Edwards | ||||
from the album Jonathan Edwards | ||||
B-side | "Emma" | |||
Released | November 1971 | |||
Recorded | 1971 | |||
Genre | Country folk, country rock, pop | |||
Length | 2:16 | |||
Label | Capricorn | |||
Songwriter(s) | Jonathan Edwards | |||
Producer(s) | Peter Casperson | |||
Jonathan Edwards singles chronology | ||||
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"Sunshine" is a country folk song from 1971 by Jonathan Edwards, released as the first single from his debut album Jonathan Edwards . The single reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on January 15, 1972, [1] and earned a gold record. [2]
"Sunshine" was not originally planned for release, but when an engineer accidentally erased the master of a track called "Please Find Me" near the end of sessions for the album, "Sunshine" was used to fill the hole. [2]
The song was released as a single and first gained popularity [ citation needed ]on Boston radio, before going nationwide. Regarding its success, Edwards stated, "It was just at the time of the Vietnam War and Nixon. It was looking bad out there. That song meant a lot to a lot of people during that time--especially me." [2]
"Sunshine" bears some melodic resemblance to the traditional country blues song "Green Rocky Road", popularized in the 1960s by folk singers Len Chandler and Dave van Ronk.
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In 1980, Juice Newton scored a top-40 hit, peaking at #35 on the Billboard country chart with her version of "Sunshine". [11]
Paul Westerberg's cover is featured on the Friends soundtrack.
The Isley Brothers also cut a version of this song for 3 + 3 .
"Sunshine" was featured in the seventh episode of Aaron Sorkin's The Newsroom, "5/1", in which Will MacAvoy and Jim Harper perform it together at Will's party for the staff.
"Promised Land" is a song lyric written by Chuck Berry to the melody of "Wabash Cannonball", an American folk song. The song was first recorded in this version by Berry in 1964 for his album St. Louis to Liverpool. Released in December 1964, it was Berry's fourth single issued following his prison term for a Mann Act conviction. The record peaked at #41 in the Billboard charts on January 16, 1965.
"You Are the Sunshine of My Life" is a 1973 single released by Stevie Wonder. The song became Wonder's third number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and his first number-one on the Easy Listening chart. It won Wonder a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, and was nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year. This song was the second single released from the 1972 album entitled Talking Book, which stayed at number one on the R&B albums chart for three weeks.
"Oh Girl" is a song written by Eugene Record and recorded by American soul vocal group the Chi-Lites, with Record on vocals and also producing. It was released as a single on Brunswick Records in 1972. Included on the group's 1972 album A Lonely Man, "Oh Girl" centers on a relationship on the verge of break-up.
"Tell Me a Lie" is a song composed by Mickey Buckins and Barbara Wyrick. Originally recorded by Lynn Anderson for her 1974 What a Man My Man Is album, it was released later that same year as a single by Sami Jo Cole, who took it to number 21 on both of the major U.S. pop charts. It also charted in Canada (#17). Cole's version was also an Adult Contemporary hit, reaching number 14 in the U.S. and number 27 in Canada.
"Another Saturday Night" is a 1963 hit single by Sam Cooke from the album Ain't That Good News. The song was written by Cooke while touring in England when staying in a hotel where no female guests were allowed. It reached No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was No. 1 on the R&B chart for a single week. In the UK, the song peaked at No. 23 on the UK Singles Chart.
"This Masquerade" is a song written by American singer and musician Leon Russell. It was originally recorded in 1972 by Russell for his album Carney and as a B-side for the album's hit single "Tight Rope". The song was then covered on Helen Reddy's 1972 album, I Am Woman. It was then recorded by American vocal duo, the Carpenters, for their 1973 album Now & Then and as the B-side of the Carpenters's single "Please Mr. Postman". Three years later, "This Masquerade" was recorded by American singer and guitarist George Benson, who released it on his 1976 album, Breezin'. Benson's version, featuring Jorge Dalto on piano, was released as a single and became the first big hit of his career.
"Show and Tell" is a popular song written by Jerry Fuller and first recorded by Johnny Mathis in 1972. This original version made it to #36 on the Easy Listening chart.
"Keep on Singing" is a 1973 song composed by Danny Janssen and Bobby Hart, and was originally recorded by Austin Roberts from the album Austin Roberts. It was released as a single on Chelsea Records and reached No. 50 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and No. 39 on the Cash Box Top 100. In Canada it reached # 79. "Keep on Singing" was best known as a hit single by Helen Reddy in 1974.
"Love Ballad" is a song by R&B/Funk band L.T.D. Jeffrey Osborne is the lead singer.
"(There's) No Gettin' Over Me" is a song written by Walt Aldridge and Tom Brasfield, and recorded by American country music singer Ronnie Milsap. It was released in June 1981 as the first single from the album There's No Gettin' Over Me. Known by many fans by its less grammatically correct title "There Ain't No Gettin' Over Me" — the song's official title appears nowhere in the lyrics — the song became one of Milsap's biggest country hits and his only top 10 pop hit during his recording career.
"We'll Sing in the Sunshine" is a 1964 hit song written and recorded by Gale Garnett which reached No. 2 in Canada, and No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week ending 17 October 1964. It also enjoyed success on easy listening and country music radio stations, spending seven weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart and No. 42 on the country chart. The Cash Box Top 100 ranked "We'll Sing in the Sunshine" at No. 1 for the week of 31 October 1964, and it also reached No. 1 in Garnett's native New Zealand that November. In Australia, "We'll Sing in the Sunshine" afforded Garnett a Top Ten hit with a No. 10 peak in October 1964. Garnett's sole Top 40 hit, "We'll Sing in the Sunshine" won the Grammy Award for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording in 1965.
"An Old Fashioned Love Song" is a 1971 song written by Paul Williams and performed by the American pop-rock band Three Dog Night. Chuck Negron performed the lead vocal on this track. Taken as the first single from their 1971 album, Harmony, the song peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in December 1971, becoming the band's seventh top-ten hit. It was Three Dog Night's first record to top the U.S. easy listening chart. It reached number 2 in Canada.
"My Love" is a song by American singer-songwriter Lionel Richie. It was released in 1983 as the third and final single from his self-titled debut solo album. The song features harmony backing vocals by country music singer Kenny Rogers. It reached the top 10 on three notable Billboard magazine charts in the spring of 1983: on the Billboard Hot 100 the song peaked at No. 5; on the Adult Contemporary chart, the song spent four weeks at No. 1; and on the R&B chart, the song topped out at No. 6. "My Love" was not among Richie's more successful singles in the United Kingdom, where it only managed No. 70 on the UK Singles Chart. In Canada, it peaked at No. 28 on the RPM Top 100 Singles chart.
"It Doesn't Matter Anymore" is a pop ballad written by Paul Anka and recorded by Buddy Holly in 1958. The song was issued in January 1959, less than a month before Holly's death. "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" reached number 13 as a posthumous hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 1959, shortly after Holly was killed in a plane crash on February 3, 1959. The single was a two-sided hit, backed with "Raining in My Heart". "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" was Holly's last US Top 20 hit and featured the orchestral backing of Dick Jacobs. It was also successful in the United Kingdom, where it became the country's first posthumous number 1 hit.
"An American Dream" is a song written by Rodney Crowell. He recorded it under the title "Voilá, An American Dream" on his 1978 album Ain't Living Long Like This, and released it as the B-side to that album's single "(Now and Then There's) A Fool Such as I".
"Gypsy Woman" is a 1961 rhythm and blues song written by Curtis Mayfield and recorded by his group the Impressions. The group's first single following the departure of lead singer Jerry Butler, it reached No. 2 on the US Billboard R&B chart, No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 17 on the Cash Box chart. It also appeared on the group's 1963 eponymous debut album. Joe Bataan (1967), Brian Hyland (1970), Bobby Womack (1985), Steve Marriott (1989), and Santana (1990) covered this song.
"Never Ending Song of Love" is a song written by Delaney Bramlett, and, according to some sources, by his wife Bonnie Bramlett. It was originally recorded with their band, Delaney & Bonnie & Friends, in 1971 on the album Motel Shot. Released as a single by Atco Records the same year, "Never Ending Song of Love" became Delaney & Bonnie's greatest hit on the pop charts, reaching a peak of No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 8 on Easy Listening. It reached No. 16 in Australia.
"I Know a Heartache When I See One" is a song by Jennifer Warnes from her fifth LP, Shot Through the Heart. It was the first of three charting singles from the album.
"Soul Deep" is a song originally recorded by Robbie Lane and the Disciples in 1966, but best known by a recorded version by The Box Tops. It was the third of three singles released from their 1969 Dimensions LP. Lead vocals were provided by Alex Chilton.
"Don't Throw It All Away" is a song written by British musician Gary Benson and first released by the Shadows on their 1975 album Specs Appeal. Benson released his version as a single later the same year, which reached number 20 on the UK Singles Chart in the fall of 1975.