"Country Sunshine" is a song co-written and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Dottie West Dorothy Marie Marsh West (October 11, 1932 – September 4, 1991) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Along with her friends and fellow recording artists Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn, she is considered one of the genre's most in ...

, remembered both as one of West's biggest chart hits, and also as the

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

from a classic

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...

television ad: co-written by West with Billy Davis and Dianne Whiles, "Country Sunshine" was released September 1973 as the first single from West's '' Country Sunshine'' album.

Content

The song is about a contented country girl whose love interest hopes to coax into relocating with him to an urban area: although the singer admits "it's inviting to go where life is more exciting" the implication is that she must stay put, having been "raised on country sunshine".

History

Dottie West's recording of "Country Sunshine" had originally been prepared as a

for a TV commercial for

, being produced by Billy Davis of

McCann-Erickson McCann, formerly McCann Erickson, is an American global advertising agency network, with offices in 120 countries. McCann is part of McCann Worldgroup, along with several other agencies, including direct digital marketing agency MRM//McCann, expe ...

Advertising who'd been responsible for the classic Coca-Cola jingles "

I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony) "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)" is a pop song that originated as the jingle "True Love and Apple Pie", by British hit songwriters Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway, and sung by Susan Shirley. The lyrics were rewritt ...

", "It's the Real Thing", and "Things Go Better With Coke". Prior to "Country Sunshine", Davis had co-written the song "I'm Your Country Girl" with West, which had been featured in a Coca-Cola commercial as recorded by West: West had been recruited to write this earlier Coca-Cola jingle after a McCann-Erickson associate heard her 1968 single " Country Girl". The lyrics of "Country Sunshine" heard in the commercial vary - in some versions West sings that "the simple things" are "a Saturday night dance, a bottle of Coke e. Coca Cola and the joy that the bluebird brings", in others "bottle of Coke" is replaced by "a picture show. Because of "Country Sunshine"'s success as a commercial jingle West was awarded a

Clio In Greek mythology, Clio ( , ; el, Κλειώ), also spelled Kleio, is the muse of history, or in a few mythological accounts, the muse of lyre playing. Etymology Clio's name is etymologically derived from the Greek root κλέω/κλεί ...

in 1974. After the "Country Sunshine" commercial aired, West's "Country Sunshine" was issued as a single to ultimately become her biggest hit this far, just missing the top spot of the ''Billboard'' C&W charts with a #2 peak. "Country Sunshine" was a milestone recording for West who had last charted in the C&W Top 20 with "

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

" in 1968 and in the intervening period had had a solitary Top C&W 30 hit ("Forever Yours"/ number 21 in 1970). "Country Sunshine" also

crossed over ''Crossed Over'' is a 2002 Canadian television film directed by Bobby Roth, and starring Diane Keaton as Beverly Lowry and Jennifer Jason Leigh as Karla Faye Tucker. It is based on Lowry's memoir ''Crossed Over: A Murder, A Memoir''. Cast *Dian ...

to #49 on the Pop-oriented ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and would in fact remain West's career best solo showing in the Pop field, her #14 1981 Hot 100 hit "

What Are We Doin' In Love "What Are We Doin' in Love" is a song written by Randy Goodrum and recorded by American country music artist Dottie West. Although not credited on the single release, the song also features American country and pop recording artist Kenny Rogers. I ...

" being a duet with

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted m ...

(although Rogers was not billed on the single). The original songwriting credit on "Country Sunshine" attributed authorship to Dottie West and Billy Davis; the name of a third songwriter, Dianne Whiles, was eventually added. Dianne Whiles (née Herberg), a lifelong resident of

Moline, Illinois Moline ( ) is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. With a population of 42,985 in 2020, it is the largest city in Rock Island County. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline and Rock Island ...

, states that at a late 1960s edition of the Mississippi Valley Fair held in Davenport, Iowa she became friendly with West, via Whiles being a contestant in a singing competition for which West was a judge. According to Whiles, she was subsequently invited to any

Quad Cities The Quad Cities is a region of cities (originally four, see History) in the U.S. states of Iowa and Illinois: Davenport and Bettendorf in southeastern Iowa, and Rock Island, Moline and East Moline in northwestern Illinois. These cities are t ...

area performance by West: during a 1970 post-performance visit to West's tour bus Whiles played West some self-penned songs, which so impressed West that she arranged for Whiles to cut

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

s of these songs which included "Country Sunshine." Whiles states that she heard nothing more on the matter of her demoed songs until seeing one of the televised Coca-Cola ads with West singing "Country Sunshine" in 1973. Whiles, who in 1973 was a single mother of four, has stated that she sued and, after extended litigation, received a credit for co-writing the song plus a financial settlement which she is forbidden to discuss. Although West would have subsequent singles which topped the C&W charts besting the #2 peak of "Country Sunshine", "Country Sunshine" would remain West's signature song: her professional nickname was "Miss Country Sunshine", her tour bus was dubbed the Sunshine Express, and on 9 November 2012 the

Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the world's largest museums and research centers dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music. Chartered in 1964, the museum has amas ...

unveiled its ''Dottie West: Country Sunshine'' exhibit (a display of costumes and other memorabilia from West's career, ''Dottie West: Country Sunshine'' is scheduled to run through 2 May 2013).

Michele Lee Michele Lee is an American actress, singer, dancer, producer, and director. She is known for her role as Karen Fairgate MacKenzie on the prime-time soap opera ''Knots Landing'' (1979–1993), for which she was nominated for a 1982 Emmy Awar ...

recorded "Country Sunshine" for the soundtrack album of the 1995 TV-biopic '' Big Dreams and Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story'' in which Lee portrayed West.

Chart performance

References

{{authority control 1973 singles 1973 songs Dottie West songs Promotional campaigns by Coca-Cola Songs based on jingles Songs about weather Songs written by Billy Davis (songwriter) RCA Records Nashville singles