Sunny (song)

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“Sunny”
Single by Bobby Hebb
from the album Sunny
B-side "Bread"
Released 1966
Recorded Bell Sound Studios, New York City
Length 2:44
Label Philips
Writer(s) Bobby Hebb
Producer Jerry Ross
Bobby Hebb singles chronology
"Sunny"
(1966)		 "A Satisfied Mind"
(1966)

"Sunny" is the name of a song written by Bobby Hebb. It is one of the most covered popular songs, with hundreds of versions released. BMI rates "Sunny" number 25 in its "Top 100 songs of the century".

Hebb wrote the song after suffering a double tragedy - a national loss followed by a personal one: On 22 November 1963, the day after US President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Hebb's older brother Harold was killed in a knife fight outside a Nashville nightclub. Hebb was devastated by both events and many critics say that those events inspired the tune. Others claims Bobby wrote the song for God. Certainly, events influenced Bobby's songwriting, but his timeless melody, crossing over into R&B, Country and Pop, together with the optimistic lyrics, came from the artist's desire to express that one should always "look at the bright side" - a direct quote from the author. Hebb has said about "Sunny":

"All my intentions were just to think of happier times – basically looking for a brighter day – because times were at a low tide. After I wrote it, I thought "Sunny" just might be a different approach to what Johnny Bragg was talking about in 'Just Walkin' in the Rain'".

"Sunny" was originally part of an 18 song demo recorded by producer Jerry Ross, also famous for Spanky and Our Gang, Keith's "98.6" and Jay and the Techniques (Hebb was the first artist to cover "Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie", in fact, but didn't want to be considered a novelty act and let the song go to Jay Proctor). "Sunny" was first recorded in Japan by Mieko "Miko" Hirota - the "Connie Francis" of Japan, where it was said to have done well on the charts. In America it was released by vibraphonist Dave Pike on Atlantic Records in 1965 on the "Jazz for the Jet Set" album, a full year before Philips released the 45 version produced by Ross and arranged by Joe Renzetti. This information was made public - as well as sounds from the first two versions of "Sunny", on the BBC's celebrated "Songlines" program in early 2006.

"Sunny" was recorded at Bell Sound Studios in New York City and released as a single in 1966. It met an immediate success, which resulted in Hebb touring in 1966 with The Beatles.

Contents

[edit] Boney M. version

“Sunny”
“Sunny” cover
Single by Boney M.
from the album Take The Heat Off Me
Released November 22, 1976
Format 7" Single
Genre Pop/Europop/Disco
Length 4.01
Label Flag of West Germany Hansa Records (FRG)

Flag of the United Kingdom Atlantic Records (UK)
Flag of the United States Atco Records (US)
Writer(s) Bobby Hebb
Producer Frank Farian
Boney M. singles chronology
"Daddy Cool" (1976) "Sunny"
(1976)		 "Ma Baker"
(1977)

"Sunny" is a cover version of Bobby Hebb's 1966 hit, recorded by German band Boney M., produced by Frank Farian and arranged by Stefan Klinkhammer in a disco arrangement. It was taken from their 1976 debut album Take The Heat Off Me, following their breakthrough single "Daddy Cool and was another major hit single that topped the German charts. It has been remixed in 1988 and 1999 (it was a minor hit single early 2000) and was sampled by Boogie Pimps for their 2004 version. While Liz Mitchell sang the original lead vocals on Boney M.'s version, original member Maizie Williams recorded a solo version in 2006.

Hebb himself released a disco version of the song in 1976, and had minor success on Billboard's R&B chart.

[edit] The Single

The single was backed by a non-album track "New York City", a reworked version of Farian artist Gilla's 1976 hit single "Tu es!" / "Why Don't You Do It".

[edit] Sources

http://www.musiclange.com


[edit] Cover versions

[edit] Appearances in other media, etc.

and Tin Kai Man.It was used when Dicky (Xu Jiao) was so happy that he got a new pet (CJ7) and he jumped around with his pet to the beat of the music which was playing on the radio. The song also appeared when a UFO zooms by, dropping hundreds of healthy CJ7s in the process and the credits.

[edit] Charts

Cher version

Chart (1966) Peak
position
Norway 2
Netherlands 2
Sweden 4
UK 32
Japan 86
world wide sales 1,200,000
v • d • e
Christophe Willem
Albums
Inventaire (2007) · Inventaire, tout en acoustic (2007)
Singles
"Sunny" (2006) · "Double Je" (2007) · "Jacques a dit" (2007)
Associated articles
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Languages