Sunny (song)
Sunny is one of Bobby Hebb written and sung Soul Song , the 1965 published and numerous cover versions for Evergreen was.
History of origin
Robert "Bobby" Hebb has been composing since 1958. He wrote Sunny in 1963 in memory of his brother Hal, who was stabbed in a knife in Nashville in November of the same year, the day after the murder of John F. Kennedy . Hebb also incorporated his impressions of the Kennedy assassination into the sudden change of mood. In it he describes the dark, rainy days that have given way to the bright days thanks to a woman's pain-relieving smile. According to Hebb, however, the song is not dedicated to a woman, but to God.
It took more than two years for the general public to take notice of Sunny . The US jazz bassist Ben Tucker brought Bobby Hebb's composition to the Newport Jazz Festival , where Tucker interpreted the song in July 1965 alongside Bill Taylor (piano) and Grady Taylor (drums) with Japanese jazz singer Mieko "Mico" Hirota . Hirota first published her version in October 1965 in a studio version on her LP hit Kid Mito Vol. 2 (Nippon Columbia JPS 5067).
Original version
His own composition Sunny with a 16-bar minor - Progression took Bobby Hebb only in February 1966 as part of an LP recording session in the Bell Sound Recording Studios in New York City with music producer Jerry Ross and arranger Joe Renzetti as the last piece on. Melba Moore , Nicholas Ashford and Valerie Simpson served as the background choir . The single Sunny / Bread (Philips 40365) was released in April 1966 and hit the US charts in June 1966 . There she reached number two ( Billboard ) and then number one ( Cash Box ) for two weeks . In Great Britain the song advanced to twelfth place. In total, Hebb's version sold a million copies. For Hebb it was the only great success; it went down in music history as a one-hit wonder .
Cover versions
There are at least 171 cross-style cover versions that vary between pop , jazz and disco . Georgie Fame released a jazzy version in September 1966, followed by Sonny & Cher (October 1966), Manfred Mann (December 1966; Great Britain 13th), Andy Williams (April 1967), Booker T. & the MG's (LP Hip Hug-Her ; April 1967), Nancy Wilson (August 1967), Frank Sinatra & Duke Ellington (January 1968), José Feliciano (LP Feliciano!; June 1968), Four Tops (August 1968), Stevie Wonder (December 1968), James Brown (May 1969) or Ella Fitzgerald (May 1971).
For Boney M. (November 1976) Sunny was - with a lot of reverb - the second number one hit in Germany , a decoupling from the LP Take the Heat Off Me (June 1976). This version also took first place in Austria and third place in Great Britain.
In September 2000 Helge Schneider released an instrumental on his LP booklet - class work! out. The German rapper Cro used a sample by Sunny for his piece Easy in November 2011 , which he used as a guide. Billie Eilish sang the song in April 2020 at the One World - Together At Home concert .
Web links
- Sunny - how Bobby Hebb managed a hit of the century , commented photo series, one day , July 8, 2016
Individual evidence
- ^ Frank Hoffmann, Rhythm and Blues, Rap, and Hip-hop , 2005, p. 120
- ^ Norm N. Nite, Rock On , Vol. 2, 1984, p. 291
- ^ Joseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1985, p. 223