Bring Me Sunshine

"Bring Me Sunshine"
"Bring Me Sunshine"
	"Bring Me Sunshine" BBC CD cover
Song
Written	1966
Composer(s)	Arthur Kent
Lyricist(s)	Sylvia Dee

"Bring Me Sunshine"is a song written in 1966 by the composerArthur Kent,with lyrics bySylvia Dee.^[1]It was first recorded byThe Mills Brothersin 1968, on their albumMy Shy Violet.^[2]In the UK, the song is associated with the popular comedy duoMorecambe & Wise,after it was adopted as their signature tune in their second series for theBBCin 1969.^[3]

Musical influences

Professor of Critical Musicology at the University of Leeds, Prof Derek B Scott,^[4]argues that the song is influenced by the Viennese popular style. He writes:

"Themelodyimplies aminor key,withharmonieson thetonicandsubdominant.This would, of course, be bizarre and inappropriate for the words "Bring me sunshine in Your Smile / Bring me laughter all the while". But we find that the tonality is actually therelative majorof thekeyimplied by the tune, and the harmonies consist of the tonic (with a free-floatingsixth) anddominant ninth.Suddenly the words and music make perfect sense, the tension of thedissonancesconveying the sense of an appeal for sunshine, rather than the actual presence of sunshine. "^[1]

Morecambe & Wise version

Morecambe & Wisein their classic "skip dance" pose, performed to "Bring Me Sunshine"

Skip-dance

Although the second verse was often performed by an orchestra conducted byPeter Knightover the duo's closing credits, they only ever sang the first verse, the second one being purely instrumental, with Eric and Ernie performing a "skip dance" to exit the stage. The dance has been attributed to BBC producer,John Ammonds,^[5]and Eric's son Gary recalls that the inspiration for the skip-dance came from aGroucho Marxfilm sequence.^[6]

Morecambe & Wise tributes

WhenEric Morecambedied in 1984 so closely associated were the pair with the song that it was the title of theBring Me Sunshinetribute show at theLondon Palladiumheld in his memory. Ten years later, the BBC ran another 3-part tribute, also titledBring Me Sunshine.

Lyrics to the song were also read at Morecambe's funeral byErnie Wise.^[7]Wise went on to declare it his favourite song during his appearance on the BBC radio programme,Desert Island Discsin Oct 1990.^[8]On the same programme three months later, the song was also a choice of jazz singerAdelaide Hall,^[9]and has since been the choice of several other guests includingDawn French^[10]andRankin.^[11]It has also been used for the title of several books about the pair.

WhenMorecambe & Wisedefected from theBBCtoThames Televisionin 1978, directly after their record-breaking Christmas Special the previous year, the signature tune was dropped. It was however used in later instalments of these shows.^{[citation needed]}

BBC promotional clip

In 2011, the BBC used the song in a promotional clip for the 75th anniversary ofits main channel,beginning with the familiar opening shot of Morecambe & Wise before leading into a montage of other famous moments from the channel's history, most of which were edited so as to lip-sync with the song.^[12]

Morecambe FC

Morecambe Football Club often plays the song both prior to and after their games, whilst the club's fans have adopted the song as the "official anthem".

Willie Nelson version

The 30 November 1968 edition ofBillboardmagazine predicted that Willie Nelson's version of "Bring Me Sunshine" (produced byChet AtkinsandFelton Jarvis), would reach the Top 20 in theCountry Single Charts,^[13]eventually reaching #13 in 1969. It was included in 1974 on the budgetcompilation album,Spotlight on Willie Nelson.A different mix appears on Nelson's 2009 albumNaked Willie;this version is featured in the closing credits of the 2010 filmThe Crazies.In 2013, Willie Nelson's version was used as the theme to ITV sitcomThe Job Lot.

Other recordings

The song has also been recorded by:

1969Brenda Lee,on her album,Johnny One Time.^[14]^[15]
1969Jack Greene,on his album,Statue of a Fool.^[16]
1970Chet Atkins,on his album,Yestergroovin'.^[17]
1971Liz Damon's Orient Express,on their eponymous album.^[18]
1974Willie Nelson,on his album,Spotlight on Willie Nelson.^[19]
1978Mickey Gilley,on his album,Mickey at Gilleys.^[20]
1999Cliff Adams Singers,on their album,Sing Something Simple Collection: Sentimental Journey.^[21]
2003Mrs Mills(Gladys Mills), on her album,The Very Best of Mrs. Mills.^[22]
2006Richard Shelton,on his album,Top Cat.^[23]
2010Foster & Allen,on their album of the same name, which peaked at number 14 in March 2011 in the New Zealand charts.^[24]
2011Oleg FrishwithPatrick Williams& His Big Band, on the album,Bring Me Sunshine.^[25]
2012The Jive Aceson their albumKing of the Swingers: A Salute to Louis Prima^[26]
2014Violetta Zironifor the TV commercial of the popular Italian brand of cookies Pavesini.^[27]
2017Michael Ball&Alfie Boewith the Rays of Sunshine Children's Choir & Friends to raise money for the Rays of Sunshine Children's Charity^{[citation needed]}
Ken Bruceand his then travel reporterLynn Bowlesrecorded a version for charity.^{[citation needed]}
SingerAshleigh Woodrecorded a version for her albumMy Journeyin homage to the town of Morecambe.

References

^^a ^bDerek B. Scott,Sounds of the metropolis: the nineteenth-century popular music revolution in London, New York, Paris, and Vienna,Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2008,ISBN 0-19-530946-4,ISBN 978-0-19-530946-1,304 pages (page 7)
^"Bring Me Sunshine",SecondhandSongs.Retrieved 29 April 2019
^Gary Morecambe,You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone: The Life and Work of Eric Morecambe,Publisher HarperCollins UK, 2009,ISBN 0-00-734367-1,ISBN 978-0-00-734367-6,256 pages (page)
^"Prof Derek B Scott",Professor of Critical Musicology, Leeds University, home page.
^"Been and gone: The man behind Eric and Ernie, and the First Dog",BBC News website, retrieved 2 March 2013
^Gary Morecambe,You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone: The Life and Work of Eric Morecambe,Publisher HarperCollins UK, 2009,ISBN 0-00-734367-1,ISBN 978-0-00-734367-6,256 pages (page)
^Ernie Wise, Robert Sellers, James Hogg,Little Ern!,Publisher Pan Macmillan, 2011,ISBN 0-283-07157-5,ISBN 978-0-283-07157-7,352 pages (page)
^"Ernie Wise",Desert Island Discs, Sun 21 October 1990
^"Adelaide Hall",Desert Island Discs, Sun 13 January 1991
^"",Desert Island Discs, Sun 23 Dec 2012
^"[1]",Desert Island Discs, Sun 3 March 2013
^"Bring Me Sunshine Archived19 August 2011 at theWayback Machine",BBC comedy clip, at the BBC website, retrieved 11 December 2011.
^Billboard,30 November 1968, (page 92)
^"Johnny One Time"album details at Brenda Lee website, retrieved 11 December 2011
^"Johnny One Time - Brenda Lee"at AllMusic
^"Jack Greene - Statue of a Fool"at AllMusic
^"Yestergroovin' - Chet Aktins"at AllMusic
^"Liz Damon's Orient Express"at AllMusic
^"Spotlight on Willie Nelson"at AllMusic
^"Mickey Gilley - Mickey at Gilleys"at AllMusic
^"Sentimental Journey - Cliff Adams Singers^{[permanent dead link‍]}"at AllMusic
^"The Very Best of Mrs. Mills"at AllMusic
^"Top Cat - Richard Shelton^{[permanent dead link‍]}"at AllMusic
^"Bring Me Sunshine",Foster & Allen, at aChart.us
^"Bring Me Sunshine - Patrick Williams & His Big Band"at AllMusic
^"The Cam Babes".
^"La canzone della pubblicità dei Pavesini (Video)".18 June 2014.

External links

"Bring Me Sunshine"by The Jive Aces (video shown at the Port Townsend Film Festival)
"Bring Me Sunshine"onYouTubeperformed by Morecambe and Wise on their TV show
"Bring Me Sunshine"onYouTubeperformed by Wille Nelson
"Bring Me Sunshine"onYouTubeperformed by Brenda Lee

[scott2008-1] Derek B. Scott,Sounds of the metropolis: the nineteenth-century popular music revolution in London, New York, Paris, and Vienna,Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2008,ISBN 0-19-530946-4,ISBN 978-0-19-530946-1,304 pages (page 7)

[2] "Bring Me Sunshine",SecondhandSongs.Retrieved 29 April 2019

[3] Gary Morecambe,You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone: The Life and Work of Eric Morecambe,Publisher HarperCollins UK, 2009,ISBN 0-00-734367-1,ISBN 978-0-00-734367-6,256 pages (page)

[4] "Prof Derek B Scott",Professor of Critical Musicology, Leeds University, home page.

[5] "Been and gone: The man behind Eric and Ernie, and the First Dog",BBC News website, retrieved 2 March 2013

[6] Gary Morecambe,You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone: The Life and Work of Eric Morecambe,Publisher HarperCollins UK, 2009,ISBN 0-00-734367-1,ISBN 978-0-00-734367-6,256 pages (page)

[7] Ernie Wise, Robert Sellers, James Hogg,Little Ern!,Publisher Pan Macmillan, 2011,ISBN 0-283-07157-5,ISBN 978-0-283-07157-7,352 pages (page)

[8] "Ernie Wise",Desert Island Discs, Sun 21 October 1990

[9] "Adelaide Hall",Desert Island Discs, Sun 13 January 1991

[10] "",Desert Island Discs, Sun 23 Dec 2012

[11] "[1]",Desert Island Discs, Sun 3 March 2013

[12] "Bring Me Sunshine Archived19 August 2011 at theWayback Machine",BBC comedy clip, at the BBC website, retrieved 11 December 2011.

[13] Billboard,30 November 1968, (page 92)

[14] "Johnny One Time"album details at Brenda Lee website, retrieved 11 December 2011

[15] "Johnny One Time - Brenda Lee"at AllMusic

[16] "Jack Greene - Statue of a Fool"at AllMusic

[17] "Yestergroovin' - Chet Aktins"at AllMusic

[18] "Liz Damon's Orient Express"at AllMusic

[19] "Spotlight on Willie Nelson"at AllMusic

[20] "Mickey Gilley - Mickey at Gilleys"at AllMusic

[21] "Sentimental Journey - Cliff Adams Singers^{[permanent dead link‍]}"at AllMusic

[22] "The Very Best of Mrs. Mills"at AllMusic

[23] "Top Cat - Richard Shelton^{[permanent dead link‍]}"at AllMusic

[24] "Bring Me Sunshine",Foster & Allen, at aChart.us

[25] "Bring Me Sunshine - Patrick Williams & His Big Band"at AllMusic

[26] "The Cam Babes".

[27] "La canzone della pubblicità dei Pavesini (Video)".18 June 2014.

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