We'll Sing in the Sunshine is an album by Australian-American pop singer Helen Reddy that was released in 1978 by Capitol Records and included two songs that were also covered by Johnny Mathis in the first half of that year: "All I Ever Need", which came out on his March release, You Light Up My Life, and "Ready or Not", on which he duetted with Deniece Williams for their June release, That's What Friends Are For. Reddy also ventures into Beatles territory with their rockabilly number "One After 909" and takes on Jeff Lynne's "Poor Little Fool" with accompaniment in the vein of Electric Light Orchestra. This was her first album that did not reach Billboard's Top LP's & Tapes chart. On February 23, 2010, it was released for the first time on compact disc as one of two albums on one CD, the other album being her 1977 release, Ear Candy.
Just as her last album, Ear Candy, had "You're My World", a cover of someone else's hit song, as its lead single, so was the case here. The title track from this album was released on March 27, 1978, but became her first lead single not to have any appearances on the Billboard Hot 100. It did, however, debut on Billboard's Easy Listening chart in the issue of the magazine dated April 22, and peak at number 12 during its nine weeks there. Reddy writes of this song, "For those who can't commit because they hear the call of the open road, this one is for you."
"Ready or Not" had its Easy Listening chart debut as the second single from the album later that year, in the July 1 issue, and got as high as number 28 over the course of eight weeks. The July 15 issue saw the start of the song's five-week run on the Hot 100, during which time it made it to number 73, and in Canada's RPM magazine it reached number 70 pop.
Side 1
- "Ready or Not" (Amber DiLena, Jerry Keller) – 3:51
- "All I Ever Need" (Jacques Sawyer) – 3:28
- "Poor Little Fool" (Jeff Lynne) – 4:09
- "One After 909" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – 3:02
- "I'd Rather Be Alone" (Bruce Roberts) – 4:16
Side 2
- "Lady of the Night" (Richard Germinaro, Evie Sands, Ben Weisman) – 3:17
- "Catch My Breath" (Alan O'Day) – 2:56
- "We'll Sing in the Sunshine" (Gale Garnett) – 3:34
- "Blue" (Joe Raposo) – 4:32
- "If I Ever Had to Say Goodbye to You" (Steve Gibb) – 3:02
Rarities from the Capitol Vaults tracks
In 2009 EMI Music Special Markets released Rarities from the Capitol Vaults, a 12-track CD of mostly what were previously unreleased Reddy recordings. Four of the songs were taken from the recording sessions for We'll Sing in the Sunshine, including an alternate version of "Blue" and:
"Me and My Love" (Bruce Roberts, Carole Bayer Sager) – 3:28
"Together" (Charles Fox, Norman Gimbel) – 3:23
"Rhythm Rhapsody" (Ralph Schuckett, John Siegler) – 4:15
Helen Reddy – vocals
Charles Koppelman – executive producer
Linda Grey – public relations
Jeff Wald – management
Francesco Scavullo – photography
Roy Kohara – art direction
Personnel on "All I Ever Need", "Catch My Breath", "I'd Rather Be Alone", "If I Ever Had to Say Goodbye to You", "Poor Little Fool", "We'll Sing in the Sunshine"
Kim Fowley – producer
Taavi Moté – recording and remix engineer
Sherry Klein – assistant engineer
Linda Corbin – assistant engineer
John Golden – mastering
recorded and mixed at Larrabee Sound Studios
Billy Thomas – drums
Willie Ornelas – drums
Richard Bennett – guitar; steel guitar ("All I Ever Need")
Doug Rohen – guitar
Jay Graydon – guitar
Mitch Holder – guitar
Thom Rotella – guitar
Dan Ferguson – guitar
David Hungate – bass guitar
Reini Press – bass guitar
Jim Hughart – bass guitar
Scott Edwards – bass guitar
David Carr – keyboards
Alan Lindgren – keyboards
Eric Bikales – keyboards
Vince Charles – percussion
Gene Estes – percussion
Kim Fowley – percussion
Ben Benay – harmonica ("We'll Sing in the Sunshine")
Additional personnel on "All I Ever Need", "Catch My Breath", "If I Ever Had to Say Goodbye to You", "Poor Little Fool"
Marc Peters – arranger; conductor; associate producer
Sid Sharp – concertmaster
Laura Creamer – background vocals
Mark Creamer – background vocals
Denyce Deuschle – background vocals
Barbara Cross – background vocals
Nick Uhrig – background vocals
Marc Piscitelli – background vocals
Additional personnel on "I'd Rather Be Alone", "We'll Sing in the Sunshine"
David Carr – arranger and conductor
Jack Shulman – concertmaster
Amy Boersma – background vocals ("We'll Sing in the Sunshine")
Marcia Waldorf – background vocals ("We'll Sing in the Sunshine")
Kate Hopkins – background vocals ("We'll Sing in the Sunshine")
B. J. Emmons – background vocals ("We'll Sing in the Sunshine")
Gale Kanter – background vocals ("We'll Sing in the Sunshine")
David Carr – background vocals ("We'll Sing in the Sunshine")
John Joyce – background vocals ("We'll Sing in the Sunshine")
Mark Creamer – background vocals ("We'll Sing in the Sunshine")
Jim McMains – background vocals ("We'll Sing in the Sunshine")
Moose McMains –background vocals ("We'll Sing in the Sunshine")
Personnel on "Blue", "Lady of the Night", "One After 909", "Ready or Not"
Nick DeCaro – producer ; arranger (orchestra and singers); rhythm arranger ("Blue", "One After 909")
David Wolfert – rhythm arranger ("Lady of the Night", "Ready or Not")
recorded at Sound Labs
Mallory Earl – mixing engineer
mixing at Hollywood Sound
Steve Mitchell – orchestra recording engineer
orchestra recorded at A&M Studios
Ed Greene – drums
Steve Lukather – guitar
Thom Rotella – guitar
Reini Press – bass guitar
Steve Forman – percussion
Jay Daversa – trumpet
Bud Shank – saxophone
Ian Underwood – synthesizers
Tom Hensley – piano ("Blue", "One After 909")
Jai Winding – piano ("Lady of the Night", "Ready or Not")
Jim Gilstrap – background vocals
Angela Winbush – background vocals
Stephanie Spruill – background vocals
