B-side Emma Format Single Genre Country folk, pop | Released 1971 Recorded 1971 Length 2:16 | |
"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 Billboard #4 and earned a gold record.
Contents
"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.
The song was released as a single and first gained popularityon Boston radio, then nationwide, hitting #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on January 15, 1972 and earning a gold record. Here's Edwards' take on its success: "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."
Chart positions
Covers
In 1980, Juice Newton scored a Top-40 hit, peaking at #35 on the Billboard Country chart with her version of "Sunshine".
Susanna Hoffs (of the Bangles) recorded a version of the song for her first solo album in 1991, but the cut did not get chosen for the final pressing and remains unreleased.
Paul Westerberg's cover is featured on the Friends TV show soundtrack.
The Isley Brothers also cut a version of this song; it may be found on their 3 + 3 album.
The song is featured in the 2004 film Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and is also included on the film's soundtrack.
"Sunshine" was featured in an episode of Aaron Sorkin's The Newsroom (U.S. TV series) (Season 1, Episode 7 "5/1"), where Will MacAvoy and Jim Harper perform it together at Will's party for the staff.
In July 2007, the original Jonathan Edwards recording joined the list of 1960s protest songs used to sell high-end consumer products when it was used as the only audio in a Jeep television spot, part of the Heritage campaign developed by the Cutwater agency.
Izzy Stradlin, formerly of Guns N' Roses, recorded an acoustic version in the summer of 2016.