Lovely Day (song)

"Lovely Day"
Single by Bill Withers
from the album Menagerie
B-side "It Ain't Because of Me Baby"
Released December 1977
Format 7" (45 rpm)
Recorded 1977
Genre R&B
Length

3:46 (single version)
4:08 (album version)

Label Columbia
Writer(s) Bill Withers
Skip Scarborough
Producer(s) Bill Withers
Clarence McDonald
Bill Withers singles chronology
"Make Love to Your Mind"
(1975)
"Lovely Day"
(1977)
"Just the Two of Us"
(1981)

"Lovely Day" is a song by American soul and R&B singer Bill Withers. Published in 1977 (see 1977 in music), the song was written by Withers and Skip Scarborough and appears on Withers' 1978 album Menagerie.

History

Released as a single in late 1977, "Lovely Day" peaked at #6 on the Billboard R&B chart and at #30 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US in early 1978.[1] It also made the Top 10 in the United Kingdom, where the song reached #7 on the British single chart.[2]

"Lovely Day" has been re-released as a single in the United Kingdom at least twice since the song's first chart run; in 1987 the original version charted again at #92, while a version done by Ben Liebrand, named the "Sunshine Mix", made the British Top 10 in 1988, rising to #4.[2] This remix resulted in renewed enthusiasm for the Withers original, which incurred a surge in airplay into the early 1990s and came to firmly overshadow the radio presence of Liebrand's version. Public interest was again piqued in 1995, when "Lovely Day" was used in adverts for Tetley tea and again in 1999 for a Gap commercial directed by Hype Williams.

Producer Clarence McDonald also arranged the original 1977 version of the song and played keyboards. Guitars were played by Ray Parker, Jr., Jerry Knight played bass, and Russell Kunkel played drums.[3]

Composition

Toward the end of the song, Withers holds a note for 18 seconds. This is believed to be the second-longest note in UK chart history; Morten Harket of A-ha's 20-second note in "Summer Moved On" is the longest.[4] Withers' note is sustained in chest voice, whereas Harket utilizes the falsetto range. The former remains the longest of any Top 40 hit in the United States. Some claim Freddy Curci of the band Sheriff holds the final falsetto note of "When I'm with You", a number one song in the U.S. in 1989, for about 20 seconds, although his voice seems to transform into a sound effect, created in the studio.

Chart performance

Weekly singles charts

Chart (1977–78) Peak
position
Canadian RPM 23
UK 7
US Billboard Hot 100 30
US Billboard R&B 6
US Billboard Adult Contemporary 25
US Cash Box Top 100 23
Chart (1987–88) Peak
position
UK[5] 4

Year-end charts

Chart (1978) Position
Canada 173
UK[6] 85
US Billboard Hot 100 182
Chart (1988) Position
UK[7] 66

Covers

"Lovely Day" has been covered and sampled numerous times since Withers' original recording. These alternate versions of the song span many different musical genres, including R&B, pop, jazz, gospel, dance, and rap.

Charting versions

British pop group Central Line covered the song on their 1983 album Breaking Point; this version reached #81 on the UK Singles Chart.[8]

The song was covered by The S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M. featuring Michelle Visage and was included on the soundtrack to the 1992 film The Bodyguard. This mostly rap version was titled "It's Gonna Be a Lovely Day". It reached #34 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart[1] and #44 on the Billboard R&B chart, in addition to spending three weeks atop the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart in December 1992 and January 1993.[9] This version also reached #17 on the UK Singles Chart.[10]

Other recorded covers

Other artists who have covered the song include:

Live covers

Samples and interpolations

Soundtrack appearances

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Whitburn, Joel (1996). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 6th Edition (Billboard Publications)
  2. 1 2 "Bill Withers - Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  3. Musicians credited at discogs.com
  4. Longest note in UK Chart history at everyhit.com
  5. http://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/LOVELY%20DAY/
  6. http://www.uk-charts.top-source.info/top-100-1978.shtml
  7. http://www.uk-charts.top-source.info/top-100-1988.shtml
  8. "Central Line - Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  9. 1992 Hot Dance Club Play chart info at billboard.com
  10. "Soul System - Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  11. "Body and Soul Sessions overview". Allmusic.com.
  12. "The Body and Soul Sessions - Philippe Saisse". JazzTimes.com.
  13. "Rivage overview". Allmusic.com.
  14. "Up Front overview". Allmusic.
  15. "March 2008". SmoothViews.com.
  16. "Elan Trotman - This Time Around". Smooth-jazz.de.
  17. "Elan Trotman". thesmoothjazzride.com.
  18. Gail Mitchell (2011-04-05). "Hidden Beach Slates New Jill Scott Album For Spring". "Billboard Magazine".
  19. "Brancaccio &Aisher - Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  20. 2002 Hot Dance Club Play chart info at billboard.com
  21. Grimm, Becca (2010-10-29). "Sigur Rós, Bill Withers, Many More Featured on 127 Hours Soundtrack". Paste Magazine.

External links

Preceded by
"Leash Called Love" by The Sugarcubes
Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single (The S.O.U.L.S.Y.S.T.E.M. featuring Michelle Visage version, "It's Gonna Be a Lovely Day")
December 26, 1992 - January 9, 1993
Succeeded by
"I'm Gonna Get You" by Bizarre Inc featuring Angie Brown
Preceded by
"Wish I Didn't Miss You" by Angie Stone
Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single (Brancaccio & Aisher version)
April 27, 2002
Succeeded by
"Alive" by Kevin Aviance
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