"Bring Me Sunshine" is a song written in 1966 by the composer Arthur Kent, with lyrics by

Sylvia Dee Sylvia Dee (born Josephine Moore, October 22, 1914 – June 12, 1967) was an American lyricist and novelist best known for writing the lyrics to " Too Young", a hit for Nat King Cole, " The End of the World", a hit for Skeeter Davis and "Bring Me ...

.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, , , 304 pages
page 7
It was first recorded by

The Mills Brothers The Mills Brothers, sometimes billed the Four Mills Brothers, and originally known as the Four Kings of Harmony, were an American jazz and traditional pop vocal quartet who made more than 2,000 recordings that sold more than 50 million copies an ...

in 1968, on their album ''My Shy Violet''. In the UK, the song is associated with the popular comedy duo

Morecambe & Wise Eric Morecambe (John Eric Bartholomew, 14 May 1926 – 28 May 1984) and Ernie Wise (Ernest Wiseman, 27 November 1925 – 21 March 1999), known as Morecambe and Wise (and sometimes as Eric and Ernie), were an English comic double act, working i ...

, after it was adopted as their signature tune in their second series for the BBC in 1969.

Musical influences

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

Morecambe & Wise version

Skip-dance

Although the second verse was often performed by an orchestra conducted by Peter Knight over 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 John Ammonds, (21 May 1924 – 13 February 2013)Graham McCanObituary: John Ammonds ''The Guardian'', 15 February 2013.Retrieved 16 February 2013. was a British television producer of light entertainment programmes. Ammonds was born in Kenningto ...

, and Eric's son Gary recalls that the inspiration for the skip-dance came from a

Groucho Marx Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, stage, film, radio, singer, television star and vaudeville performer. He is generally considered to have been a master of quick wit an ...

film sequence.

Morecambe & Wise tributes

When Eric Morecambe died in 1984 so closely associated were the pair with the song that it was the title of the Bring Me Sunshine tribute show at the

London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in the famous area of Soho. The theatre holds 2,286 seats. Of the roster of stars who have played there, many have televised performances. Between 1955 a ...

held in his memory. Ten years later, the BBC ran another 3-part tribute, also titled Bring Me Sunshine. Lyrics to the song were also read at Morecambe's funeral by Ernie Wise. Wise went on to declare it his favourite song during his appearance on the BBC radio programme,

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a "castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usua ...

in Oct 1990. On the same programme three months later, the song was also a choice of jazz singer

Adelaide Hall Adelaide Louise Hall (20 October 1901 – 7 November 1993) was an American-born UK-based jazz singer and entertainer. Her long career spanned more than 70 years from 1921 until her death and she was a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Hal ...

, and has since been the choice of several other guests including

Dawn French Dawn Roma French (born 11 October 1957) is a British actress, comedian, presenter and writer. French is known for writing and starring on the BBC comedy sketch show '' French and Saunders'' with her best friend and comedy partner, Jennifer Sau ...

and Rankin. It has also been used for the title of several books about the pair. When

defected from the BBC to

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

in 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.

BBC promotional clip

In 2011, the BBC used the song in a promotional clip for the 75th anniversary of its 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.

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 of

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

magazine predicted that Willie Nelson's version of "Bring Me Sunshine" (produced by Chet Atkins and Felton Jarvis), would reach the Top 20 in the Country Single Charts, eventually reaching #13 in 1969. It was included in 1974 on the budget

compilation album A compilation album comprises tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for rel ...

, '' Spotlight on Willie Nelson''. A different mix appears on Nelson's 2009 album '' Naked Willie''; this version is featured in the closing credits of the 2010 film '' The Crazies''. In 2013, Willie Nelson's version was used as the theme to ITV sitcom '' The Job Lot''.

Other recordings

The song has also been recorded by: *1969

Brenda Lee Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Performing rockabilly, pop and country music, she had 47 US chart hits during the 1960s and is ranked fourth in that decade, surpassed onl ...

, on her album, ''Johnny One Time''. *1969

Jack Greene Jack Henry Greene (January 7, 1930 – March 14, 2013) was an American country musician. Nicknamed the "Jolly Greene Giant" due to his height and deep voice, Greene was a long time member of the Grand Ole Opry. A three-time Grammy Award nomi ...

, on his album, ''Statue of a Fool''. *1970 Chet Atkins, on his album, '' Yestergroovin. *1971

Liz Damon's Orient Express Liz Damon's Orient Express was a 1970s soft rock band from Hawaii, USA, featuring lead singer Liz Damon, two female backup singers and a rotating backup band. The name apparently derived from the original backup band being entirely Asian. Their ...

, on their eponymous album. *1974

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and ''Stardust'' (1978 ...

, on his album, ''Spotlight on Willie Nelson''. *1978

Mickey Gilley Mickey Leroy Gilley (March 9, 1936 – May 7, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Although he started out singing straight-up country and western material in the 1970s, he moved towards a more pop-friendly sound in the 19 ...

, on his album, ''Mickey at Gilleys''. *1999

Cliff Adams Singers The Cliff Adams Singers were a British male/female vocal group, known for ballads and novelty songs, and especially their regular performances on BBC Radio from the 1950s onwards. The ensemble was established in 1954 by Clifford William Adams ( ...

, on their album, ''Sing Something Simple Collection: Sentimental Journey''. *2003 Mrs Mills (Gladys Mills), on her album, ''The Very Best of Mrs. Mills''. *2006 Richard Shelton, on his album, ''Top Cat''. *2010 Foster & Allen, on their album of the same name, which peaked at number 14 in March 2011 in the New Zealand charts. *2011 Oleg Frish with Patrick Williams & His Big Band, on the album, ''Bring Me Sunshine''. *2012 The Jive Aces on their album ''King of the Swingers: A Salute to Louis Prima'' *2014 Violetta Zironi for the TV commercial of the popular Italian brand of cookies Pavesini. *2017 Michael Ball &

Alfie Boe Alfred Giovanni Roncalli Boe (born 29 September 1973) is an English tenor and actor, notably performing in musical theatre. He is best known for his performances as Jean Valjean in the musical ''Les Misérables'' at the Queen's Theatre in Lo ...

with the Rays of Sunshine Children's Choir & Friends to raise money for the Rays of Sunshine Children's Charity * Ken Bruce and his then travel reporter Lynn Bowles recorded a version for charity. *Singer Ashleigh Wood recorded a version for her album ''My Journey'' in homage to the town of Morecambe.

References

External links

Bring Me Sunshine
by The Jive Aces (video shown at the Port Townsend Film Festival) * performed by Morecambe and Wise on their TV show * performed by Wille Nelson * performed by Brenda Lee {{authority control 1966 songs Brenda Lee songs Jack Greene songs Mickey Gilley songs Morecambe and Wise Music published by Bourne Co. Music Publishers Song recordings produced by Chet Atkins Songs with lyrics by Sylvia Dee Comedy television theme songs Willie Nelson songs Songs with music by Arthur Kent (composer)