You Are the Sunshine of My Life

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"You Are the Sunshine of My Life"
Steviesunshine.jpg
Single by Stevie Wonder
from the album Talking Book
B-side"Tuesday Heartbreak"
ReleasedMarch 1973
Recorded1972
Genre
  • Progressive soul
  • pop
Length2:58
LabelTamla
Songwriter(s)Stevie Wonder
Producer(s)Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder singles chronology
"Superstition"
(1972) 		"You Are the Sunshine of My Life"
(1973) 		"Higher Ground"
(1973)

"You Are the Sunshine of My Life" is a 1973 single released by Stevie Wonder. The song became Wonder's third number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and his first number-one on the Easy Listening chart.[1] It won Wonder a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, and was nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year.[2] This song was the second single (following "Superstition") released from the 1972 album entitled Talking Book, which stayed at number one on the R&B albums chart for three weeks.[2]

Rolling Stone ranked the song number 287 on their list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".[3] Billboard called it "a soft, haunting ballad with outstanding electric piano runs and outstanding production work."[4]

Background[]

The first two lines of the song are sung, not by Wonder, but by Jim Gilstrap; Lani Groves sings the next two.[5] Gilstrap and Groves, together with Gloria Barley, also provide backing vocals. The single version of the song differs from the album version with the addition of horns to the mix; this version is also included in the greatest hits compilation album Stevie Wonder's Original Musiquarium I (1982).

Personnel[]

Source: Talking Book, Tamla: T 319L, October 27, 1972 (album cover)

  • Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, Fender Rhodes, drums
  • Jim Gilstrap – first lead vocal, background vocal
  • Lani Groves – second lead vocal, background vocal
  • Gloria Barley – background vocal
  • Scott Edwards – electric bass
  • Daniel Ben Zebulon – congas
  • unknown — horns

Chart performance[]

See also[]

  • List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1973 (U.S.)
  • List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1973 (U.S.)

References[]

  1. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–2001. Record Research. p. 262.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Hogan, Ed. "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" (song review), AllMusic.com.
  3. ^ "287. Stevie Wonder, 'You Are the Sunshine of My Life'", 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, Rolling Stone, April 7, 2011.
  4. ^ "Radio Action & Pick Singles" (PDF). Billboard. March 10, 1973. p. 53. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  5. ^ Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits: Updated and Expanded 5th Edition. Random House Digital, Inc. p. 333.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (doc). Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  7. ^ Canada, Library and Archives (July 17, 2013). "Image : RPM Weekly". bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
  8. ^ "NZ Listener chart summary". Flavour of New Zealand. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  9. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 5/19/73". Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  10. ^ http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.100214&type=2&interval=24&PHPSESSID=dtlhqtcdftn9t40n27r4hds2h0
  11. ^ "Top 100 Hits of 1973/Top 100 Songs of 1973". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  12. ^ "Billboard Year-End Charts 1973" (PDF).
  13. ^ "The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1973". Retrieved June 25, 2016.

External links[]


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