Sunshine (Jonathan Edwards song)
Encyclopedia
"Sunshine" is a country folk war protest 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.
"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.
"Sunshine" was released as a single and caught fire first on 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."
In 1980, Grammy-winning singer Juice Newton
scored a Top-40 hit 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.
A remake of Sunshine was released by 18-year-old pop-folk artist Josh Thompson on April 22, 2007. The new version, featuring vocals by Jonathan Edwards, reached #29 on the Radio & Records' Hot A/C Indicator chart. Jonathan Edwards recorded and released a bluegrass version of "Sunshine" (along with an entire album) with the band "The Seldom Scene."
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.
The Isley Brothers
also cut a version of this song; it may be found on their 3 + 3
album.
Jonathan Edwards (album)
Jonathan Edwards is the debut album from the singer-songwriter Jonathan Edwards. The album gained some mainstream attention thanks to the catchy political-pop single "Sunshine".-Track listing:...
. The single reached Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
#4 and earned a gold record.
"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.
"Sunshine" was released as a single and caught fire first on Boston radio, then nationwide, hitting #4 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
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."
In 1980, Grammy-winning singer Juice Newton
Juice Newton
Judith Kay "Juice" Newton is an American Pop music and Country singer, songwriter and guitarist...
scored a Top-40 hit 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.
A remake of Sunshine was released by 18-year-old pop-folk artist Josh Thompson on April 22, 2007. The new version, featuring vocals by Jonathan Edwards, reached #29 on the Radio & Records' Hot A/C Indicator chart. Jonathan Edwards recorded and released a bluegrass version of "Sunshine" (along with an entire album) with the band "The Seldom Scene."
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
Jeep
Jeep is an automobile marque of Chrysler . The first Willys Jeeps were produced in 1941 with the first civilian models in 1945, making it the oldest off-road vehicle and sport utility vehicle brand. It inspired a number of other light utility vehicles, such as the Land Rover which is the second...
television spot, part of the Heritage campaign developed by the Cutwater agency.
The Isley Brothers
The Isley Brothers
The Isley Brothers are a highly influential, successful and long-running American music group consisting of different line-ups of six brothers, and a brother-in-law, Chris Jasper...
also cut a version of this song; it may be found on their 3 + 3
3 + 3
3 + 3 is a 1973 album released by The Isley Brothers for the Epic label under their T-Neck imprint. Their first album for the label after several years in Buddah Records, it was also the first time the family group, which had consisted of founding members O'Kelly Isley, Jr., Rudolph Isley and...
album.