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 tracksIn 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) – 4:15Helen Reddy – vocalsCharles Koppelman – executive producerLinda Grey – public relationsJeff Wald – managementFrancesco Scavullo – photographyRoy Kohara – art directionPersonnel 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 – producerTaavi Moté – recording and remix engineerSherry Klein – assistant engineerLinda Corbin – assistant engineerJohn Golden – masteringrecorded and mixed at Larrabee Sound StudiosBilly Thomas – drumsWillie Ornelas – drumsRichard Bennett – guitar; steel guitar ("All I Ever Need")Doug Rohen – guitarJay Graydon – guitarMitch Holder – guitarThom Rotella – guitarDan Ferguson – guitarDavid Hungate – bass guitarReini Press – bass guitarJim Hughart – bass guitarScott Edwards – bass guitarDavid Carr – keyboardsAlan Lindgren – keyboardsEric Bikales – keyboardsVince Charles – percussionGene Estes – percussionKim Fowley – percussionBen 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 producerSid Sharp – concertmasterLaura Creamer – background vocalsMark Creamer – background vocalsDenyce Deuschle – background vocalsBarbara Cross – background vocalsNick Uhrig – background vocalsMarc Piscitelli – background vocalsAdditional personnel on "I'd Rather Be Alone", "We'll Sing in the Sunshine"David Carr – arranger and conductorJack Shulman – concertmasterAmy 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 LabsMallory Earl – mixing engineermixing at Hollywood SoundSteve Mitchell – orchestra recording engineerorchestra recorded at A&M StudiosEd Greene – drumsSteve Lukather – guitarThom Rotella – guitarReini Press – bass guitarSteve Forman – percussionJay Daversa – trumpetBud Shank – saxophoneIan Underwood – synthesizersTom Hensley – piano ("Blue", "One After 909")Jai Winding – piano ("Lady of the Night", "Ready or Not")Jim Gilstrap – background vocalsAngela Winbush – background vocalsStephanie Spruill – background vocals