''Sunshine'' is an album by American girl group

the Emotions The Emotions are an American soul/ R&B vocal group from Chicago. The group started out in gospel music but transitioned into R&B and disco music. The Emotions were named by VH1 as one of the 18 most influential girl groups of all time. Hist ...

, released in November 1977 by

Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in September 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records. ...

. The album reached No. 39 on the ''

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 advertis ...

'' Top Soul Albums chart. The Emotions covered

Bill Withers William Harrison Withers Jr. (July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He is known for having several hits over a career spanning 18 years, including "Ain't No Sunshine" (1971), "Grandma's Hands" (1971), "Use Me ( ...

' "

Ain't No Sunshine "Ain't No Sunshine" is a song by Bill Withers, from his 1971 debut album '' Just As I Am,'' produced by Booker T. Jones. The record featured musicians Donald "Duck" Dunn on bass guitar, Al Jackson Jr. on drums and Stephen Stills on guitar. Str ...

" and

Carla Thomas Carla Venita Thomas (born December 21, 1942) is an American singer, who is often referred to as the Queen of Memphis Soul. She is best known for her 1960s recordings for Atlantic and Stax including the hits " Gee Whiz (Look at His Eyes)" (1960) ...

' "

Gee Whiz (Look at His Eyes) "Gee Whiz (Look at His Eyes)" is a song written and performed by Carla Thomas. It reached #5 on the U.S. R&B chart and #10 on the U.S. pop chart in 1961. It was featured on her 1961 album ''Gee Whiz''. The song was produced by Chips Moman. ...

" on the album.

Critical reception

Dave Marsh of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' called ''Sunshine'' "harder edged, more classically soulful than ( Rejoice)." John Storm Roberts of ''

High Fidelity High fidelity (hi-fi or, rarely, HiFi) is the high-quality reproduction of sound. It is popular with audiophiles and home audio enthusiasts. Ideally, high-fidelity equipment has inaudible noise and distortion, and a flat (neutral, uncolored) ...

'' wrote: "Fantasy Records has begun reissuing some of the old Stax catalog, and "Sunshine" is part of that venture-a bunch of singles backed by Stax house musicians, none of them previously released on albums. The result is pure and amazingly cohesive joy. Without once departing from the classic framework of female group rhythm & blues, "Sunshine" is as rich and varied as anything I've heard in months. With only one exception, Any Way You Look at It, every number positively drips with tasty touches in arrangement, singing. and playing." John Shearlaw of ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper published between 1954 and 1991, aimed at pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after ''New Musical Express'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK Album ...

'' said, "Old Emotions, new Emotions-they're just as good." Phyl Garland of ''

Stereo Review ''Sound & Vision'' was an American magazine, purchased by AVTech Media Ltd. (UK) in March 2018, covering home theater, audio, video and multimedia consumer products. Before 2000, it had been published for most of its history as ''Stereo Review' ...

'' commented: "''Sunshine'' sounds amazingly fresh. Vocal artistry prevails over background effects as the Emotions weave their way in and out of cool, melodious songs." Andrew Hamilton of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

wrote retrospectively: "''Sunshine'' has some excellent cuts and some that don't quite fit the Chicagoans' style."

Singles

The song " Shouting Out Love" peaked at No. 31 on the ''

'' Hot Soul Songs chart.

Track listing

Personnel

;The Emotions *Sheila Hutchinson - vocals *Theresa Davis - vocals *Wanda Hutchinson - vocals with: *

Bobby Manuel Bobby Manuel (born November 13, 1945) is an American guitarist. In the early 1960s he was the lead guitarist for the local band, The Memphis Blazers. He was hired by Stax Records in the late 1960s as an engineer and also quickly began doing stud ...

, Michael Toles - guitar *

Donald "Duck" Dunn Donald "Duck" Dunn (November 24, 1941 – May 13, 2012) was an American bass guitarist, session musician, record producer, and songwriter. Dunn was notable for his 1960s recordings with Booker T. & the M.G.'s and as a session bassist for Stax R ...

, Earl Thomas - bass guitar *Lester Snell,

Marvell Thomas Ronald Marvell Thomas (August 22, 1941 – January 23, 2017) was an American keyboardist, record producer and arranger known for his work in Memphis Soul. Biography Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Thomas's studio career started at the age of 17. H ...

, Ronnie Williams - keyboards *

Al Jackson Jr. Albert J. Jackson Jr. (November 27, 1935 – October 1, 1975) was an American drummer, producer, and songwriter. He was a founding member of Booker T. & the M.G.'s, a group of session musicians who worked for Stax Records and produced their ...

, Willie Hall - drums *

The Memphis Horns The Memphis Horns was an American horn section, made famous by their many appearances on Stax Records. The duo consisted of Wayne Jackson on trumpet and Andrew Love on tenor saxophone. An "offshoot of the Mar-Keys", they continued to work to ...

- brass *The Detroit Strings - strings *The Memphis Symphony - orchestra *

Dale Warren Dale Ossman Warren (September 27, 1943February 3, 1994) was an American musician, who was best known for his work as an arranger for Motown Records in the early 1960s, and later for the Stax label where he worked with Isaac Hayes among many oth ...

, James Mitchell, Johnny Allen - arrangements

References

1977 albums The Emotions albums Albums produced by Jim Stewart (record producer) Albums produced by Al Bell Albums produced by Marvell Thomas Stax Records albums {{1970s-R&B-album-stub