"Sunshine" is a

country folk Contemporary folk music refers to a wide variety of genres that emerged in the mid 20th century and afterwards which were associated with traditional folk music. Starting in the mid-20th century a new form of popular folk music evolved from tradit ...

song from 1971 by Jonathan Edwards, released as the first single from his debut album '' Jonathan Edwards''. The single reached #4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart on January 15, 1972, 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. The song was released as a single and first gained popularity on Boston radio, before going nationwide. Regarding its success, Edwards stated, "It was just at the time of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

and Nixon. It was looking bad out there. That song meant a lot to a lot of people during that time--especially me." "Sunshine" bears some melodic resemblance to the traditional

country blues Country blues (also folk blues, rural blues, backwoods blues, or downhome blues) is one of the earliest forms of blues music. The mainly solo vocal with acoustic fingerstyle guitar accompaniment developed in the rural Southern United States in t ...

song "Green Rocky Road", popularized in the 1960s by folk singers

Len Chandler Len Hunt Chandler, Jr. (born May 27, 1935), better known as Len Chandler, is a folk musician from Akron, Ohio. Biography He showed an early interest in music and began playing piano at age 8. Studying classical music in his early teens, he lear ...

and

Dave van Ronk David Kenneth Ritz Van Ronk (June 30, 1936 – February 10, 2002) was an American folk singer. An important figure in the American folk music revival and New York City's Greenwich Village scene in the 1960s, he was nicknamed the "Mayor of Mac ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

*Jonathan Edwards recorded and released a bluegrass version of "Sunshine" (along with an entire album) with the band "

The Seldom Scene The Seldom Scene is an American bluegrass band that formed in 1971 in Bethesda, Maryland. The band's original line-up comprised John Starling on lead vocals and guitar, Mike Auldridge on Dobro and baritone vocals, Ben Eldridge on banjo, Tom Gra ...

Covers

In 1980,

Juice Newton Judith Kay "Juice" Newton (born February 18, 1952) is an American pop and country singer, songwriter, and musician. Newton has received five Grammy Award nominations in the Pop and Country Best Female Vocalist categorieswinning once in 1983as well ...

scored a Top-40 hit, peaking at #35 on the ''Billboard'' Country chart, with her version of "Sunshine".

Paul Westerberg Paul Harold Westerberg (born December 31, 1959) is an American musician, best known as the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter for the Replacements. Following the breakup of the Replacements, Westerberg launched a solo career that saw him re ...

's cover is featured on the ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa ...

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

The Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American musical group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decades, ...

also cut a version of this song for ''

3 + 3 3 (three) is a number, numeral (linguistics), numeral and numerical digit, digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cu ...

''. The song is featured in the 2004 film '' Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy'' and is also included on the film's

. "Sunshine" was featured in the seventh episode of

Aaron Sorkin Aaron Benjamin Sorkin (born June 9, 1961) is an American playwright, screenwriter and film director. Born in New York City, he developed a passion for writing at an early age. Sorkin has earned an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, five Primetime E ...

's The Newsroom, "5/1" where Will MacAvoy and Jim Harper perform it together at Will's party for the staff. In July 2007, the original Jonathan Edwards recording joined the list of

Vietnam Era Vietnam Era is a term used by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to classify veterans of the Vietnam War. Various departments of federal, state and local governments as well as private employers often give Vietnam Era veterans s ...

protest songs used to sell high-end consumer products when it was used as the only audio in a

Jeep Jeep is an American automobile marque, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with remaining assets, from its previous owner American Moto ...

television spot, part of the ''Heritage'' campaign developed by the Cutwater agency. The song was featured in the 2010

Tim Allen Timothy Alan Dick (born June 13, 1953), known professionally as Tim Allen, is an American actor and comedian. He is known for playing Tim "The Toolman" Taylor on the ABC sitcom ''Home Improvement'' (1991–1999) and Mike Baxter on the ABC/Fo ...

romantic comedy movie

Crazy on the Outside ''Crazy on the Outside'' is a 2010 American comedy film starring and directed by Tim Allen. The film marks Allen's feature film directorial debut, and is notable for reuniting Allen with co-stars from many of his previous films (Sigourney Weaver ...

Izzy Stradlin Jeffrey Dean Isbell (born April 8, 1962), best known as Izzy Stradlin, is an American guitarist. He was a co-founder and rhythm guitarist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, which he left at the height of their fame in 1991, and with whom he ...

, formerly of

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...

, recorded an acoustic version in the summer of 2016.

References

External links