Customer Reviews

Sunshine Company

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4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Even though I had two of their vinyl albums and "The Best of the Sunshine Company" on CD, I held off buying this after seeing the negative reviews. Yes, the music seems a little dated and you need to have an ear for the 60s music, but I get a kick out of hearing this band again. Rev-Ola/Cherry Red Records of England has done a good job with the recording, giving it a fresh clean sound. Sunshine Company's version of what would become a hit for The Fifth Dimension is sweet with the sense of freedom from Jimmy Webb's lovely melody "Up, Up & Away," "The world's a nicer place in my beautiful balloon; It wears a nicer face in my beautiful balloon." George Harrison's beautiful "I Need You" won't make anyone forget the Beatles, but evokes an emotional chord for anyone who's lost someone they love. Likewise, the Beatles' "Rain" gives a fresh feeling with some exquisite string flourishes and the Company's beautiful harmonies. "I Just Want to Be Your Friend" breezes by like a soft Brazilian sky with its swaying rhythm, "You've got to love yourself before you love another." Steve Gillette's "Back on the Street Again" has a sunny pop feel despite the sadness of the lyric, "Got a tear in my eye again, reminding me that I might cry again." Curt Boettcher's "If You Only Knew" is a lovely pop gem with a charming vocal. Steve Gillette's folksy "Darcy Farrow" was a favorite of mine as sung by Ian & Sylvia, which also shines here. "On a Beautiful Day" is a splendid track with its bubbly cheerfulness. The Company's take on "Let's Get Together" highlights what is still a glorious anthem of brotherhood & peace, "You can make the mountains ring, hear the angels cry; Though the dove is on the wing, you need not know why." Hoyt Axton's "Willy Jean" has long been one of my favorite tracks with its pop-blues hybrid and that pulsing beat and gorgeous harmonies. The folk ballad "Springtime Meadows" paints a broad pastoral canvas, "All the time that I was courting, shouldn't have been courting at all." "Bolero" may vaguely evoke Ravel, but is a lovely lament with the castanet percussion giving it individuality, "Actors and actresses you're falling to the scene & it looks like a rainbow, you can't rely on the promises you can't keep." The silly concluding track "I Hate Pigeons" has always brought a smile to my face. "The Sunshine Company" is a great CD that walks you down memory lane and warms your heart with its optimism. Enjoy!

I had the pleasure of seeing this band open for the Jefferson Airplane in the Washington, D.C. Sheraton Park Hotel ballroom in late 1967 when I was all of 14 and had been playing around with the guitar for several years. My memory is that they ran through a very sunny, folksy set. The vocals were on pitch and they made good and frequent use of the recorder. That show was one of the best, most complementary pairings of acts I've ever seen, with the Sunshine Company's expression of buoyant optimism and the Airplane's rather anarchic, drug-driven angst perfectly capturing the yang and yin of the youthful hippie scene. And for at least that one evening's performance, this group sounded much more balanced and together than did the Airplane. I also remember well one S.C. guy's witty introduction of "Back on the Street Again": "Next, we're going to play a medley of our hit"!

That song, "Back on the Street Again", is the best reason to own this collection. With its stunningly beautiful melody, active harmony and pure ensemble singing, it was one of the emblematic songs of the early hippie era and still holds its own in comparison to most anything done by any of the other mixed chorus pop/rock groups of the time. (John Phillips's arrangement of "Dedicated to the One I Love" for the Mamas and the Papas is in a league all its own.) It is feel-good music of the type realized so well during that era of the Association, the Rascals and the Lovin' Spoonful when pop/rock musicians expressed their joy in life and love and truly believed it.

There are seven other songs here I can really tout: "Up, Up and Away" (not my favorite, but a good tune),"Happy", "I Just Want to be Your Friend", "A Year in Jaine Time", "It's Sunday", "Darcey Farrow" and "Ways and Means". Two of these, "It's Sunday", composed by the great exotica, instrumental pop and film score composer Les Baxter, and "Darcey Farrow" are just beautifully realized recordings and together with "Back on the Street Again" comprise the "A" list on this disc. A little latin influence (Jobim) is evident in "I Just Want to Be Your Friend" and "Ways and Means". Those are the strongest tracks.

Inevitably, there are some which aren't as successful. "Look, Here Comes the Sun", one of the group's singles, is a very appealing tune and would be a lovely number but for its rather awkwardly harmonized chorus. It's a bit of a disappointment. The two Beatle covers are droning hippie sing-alongs. The sole blues number, "Willy Jean", shows too well that the guitarist was not a blues player.

If there were more strong numbers in this collection, I could rate the disc higher. I can recommend it, because the best songs here really ARE very enjoyable, but I'd probably have selected some of their other tunes if given the opportunity.

PS. 24 hours after writing these comments, I was surprised to find my own words, "buoyant optimism", on a Sunshine Company website which I'd never before visited. It must be true.

edited 08/07/08

There is a scary fine line between good and bad 60s mellow rock" The Association, the Free Design and Curt Boucher on one end, Harper's Bazarire and the Letterman on the other. This album sits right on that line.

The band do "Up Up and Away," and "I just want to be your friend," as well as other surefire hits of the era. The arrangements are toned down from the origonals, as if the band were trying to take all the individual trates that made these songs interesting away, and make them into nice, harmless music. There are lots of giggles and cute little celeste notes, making the album safe for tots and mommy's alike.

If you are a collector and like to have wierd little novalties from this era, get this cheap. If you don't, you won't be missing much.

They aren't bad, but broke no new ground. Better to listen to/acquire Love Generation, Free Design, Peanut Butter Conspiracy, Curt Boetcher, Fifth Dimension or even Eternity's Children first. (and thats assuming you've already explored more obscure Mommas and Papas, Spanky & Her Gang, and Jefferson Airplane). A footnote group that ALMOST had a hit with "Up, Up & Away" but had it snagged away from them by the Fifth Dimension.