MUSIC CLIP - OSCAR PETERSON, “MOONGLOW”

Welcome to Afterglow, [a show of vocal jazz and popular song from the Great American Songbook], I’m your host, Mark Chilla.

This coming Monday, April 8th, will be a big day in North America. A total solar eclipse will stretch from Texas to Maine, blocking the sun for up to four and half minutes. As we lament the temporary loss of our solar companion, this week, we’ll celebrate her with some songs about sunshine. Coming up this hour, we’ll hear sunny songs from the American songbook, including “On The Sunny Side Of The Street,” “East Of The Sun,” “That Old Lucky Sun,” and many more.

It’s When The Sun Comes Out, coming up next on Afterglow

MUSIC - ELLA FITZGERALD, "MIDNIGHT SUN"

Ella Fitzgerald in 1964 with Lionel Hampton, Sonny Burke, and Johnny Mercer’s “Midnight Sun,” arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle.

MUSIC CLIP - TEDDY CHARLES, "ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET"

Mark Chilla here on Afterglow. On this show, [in honor of the total solar eclipse taking place in North America on Monday, April 8th] we’re stepping out of the shade and basking in the warmth of the sun. I’m featuring this hour some songs about sunshine from the Great American Songbook. 

The sun is absolutely central to life and culture, but not as central as you may think in the Great American Songbook. Why is that? Well, to paraphrase the jazz standard “As Time Goes By”: it’s moonlight and love songs that are never out of date, not sunlight. Music and romance always seem to go hand-in-hand, and romance tends to happen in the evening, so it’s no wonder the moon is such a revered figure in the American Songbook. 

Not so much for the sun. There are far more moon songs than sun songs in the songbook—in fact, I’ve done two shows about moon songs, and this is the first one I’ve done about the sun (and it may be the only one I do).

Sun songs are, on the whole, a lot cheerier than moon songs. Or at least when the sun is invoked, it’s in reference to happier times. I’m calling this episode “When The Sun Comes Out,” named after a 1941 Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler tune of the same name, all about the sun chasing the blues away. Let’s hear that song now.

This is Tony Bennett in 1961 with “When The Sun Comes Out,” on Afterglow.

MUSIC - TONY BENNETT, "WHEN THE SUN COMES OUT"

Tony Bennett in 1961 with “When The Sun Comes Out,” a jazz standard written by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler.

Sun songs are typically some of the most joyful songs in the American songbook. The shining sun is often seen as an opportunity to put the gloomy past behind you and keep your head up. It’s a symbol of renewal—a symbol of rebirth—a chance to start all over and try again, this time with a… well… sunnier disposition.

Let’s hear a few songs on that topic now. First, we’ll leave our worries on the doorstep with Judy Garland in 1942, as she (along with composer Jimmy McHugh and lyricist Dorothy Fields) directs our feet “On The Sunny Side Of The Street,” on Afterglow

MUSIC - JUDY GARLAND, "ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET"

MUSIC - FRED ASTAIRE, "NEW SUN IN THE SKY"

Fred Astaire and Oscar Peterson in 1952 with the Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz song “New Sun In The Sky.” Before that, Judy Garland a decade earlier with the Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields song “On The Sunny Side Of The Street.”

We’re looking at sun songs from the American songbook this hour. I want to turn now to two songs that personify the sun. The first one we’ll hear invokes “Mr. Sun” (and other personified natural figures) as benevolent beings who can help someone fall in love. The other looks at the sun in a similar kind of fashion to the song “Ol’ Man River”... that’s to say, jealously, as someone who can hang ‘round all day with nothing to do.

First in this set is Doris Day with the Page Cavanaugh Trio around 1952 with “Please Mr. Sun,” on Afterglow.

MUSIC - DORIS DAY, "PLEASE MR. SUN"

MUSIC - LOUIS ARMSTRONG, "THAT OLD LUCKY SUN (JUST ROLLS AROUND HEAVEN ALL DAY)"

Louis Armstrong with Gordon Jenkins’ Orchestra in 1949 with Beasley Smith and Haven Gillespie’s “That Old Lucky Sun (Just Rolls Around Heaven All Day).” That was a minor billboard hit for him, although it was edged out by another version of the same song by Frank Sinatra, released just a few weeks later. Before that, we heard Doris Day and the Page Cavanaugh Trio, also personifying the sun, with the tune “Please Mr. Sun,” recorded around 1952.

The sunshine can do a lot of things for us—help our plants grow, give us a tan, even burn us—but after several months of a cloudy and cold winter, the arrival of the sun in spring can usually make us smile. 

Let’s hear two songs now about sunshine and smiles. This first one has lyrics written by a man by the name of Stanley Rochinski, an optimist who wrote these sunny lyrics while hospitalized with spinal injuries incurred during World War II. 

This is Dean Martin in 1948 with “Powder Your Face With Sunshine (Smile, Smile, Smile),” on Afterglow.

MUSIC - DEAN MARTIN, "POWDER YOUR FACE WITH SUNSHINE (SMILE, SMILE, SMILE)"

MUSIC - LEE WILEY, "SOME SUNNY DAY"

Two songs about sunshine and smiles. Just now, Lee Wiley in 1952 with Irving Berlin’s “Some Sunny Day.” Before that, Dean Martin in 1948 with “Powder Your Face With Sunshine.”

Songs about sunshine and happiness date back decades. This next one comes from unknown American origins—although I can guarantee that you’ve been singing it since you were a child. It’s originally a country tune, first recorded around 1939 and several people have claimed authorship, including Jimmie Davis, Charles Mitchell, Oliver Hood, and probably 20 others. It’s the state song of Louisiana, one of the National Endowment of the Arts Top 25 “Songs Of The Century,” but you know it best as “You Are My Sunshine.”

Here’s a version from 1955. This is Nat King Cole and arranger Nelson Riddle with “You Are My Sunshine,” on Afterglow.

MUSIC - NAT KING COLE, "YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE"

Nat King Cole and Nelson Riddle with “You Are My Sunshine,” a single for Capitol Records in 1955.

MUSIC CLIP - LES BROWN AND HIS ORCHESTRA, "I'VE GOT THE SUN IN THE MORNING"

We’ll have more songs about the sun [in honor of the big solar eclipse on Monday] in just a bit. Stay with us.

I’m Mark Chilla, and you’re listening to Afterglow

MUSIC CLIP - VINCE GUARALDI TRIO, "SOFTLY, AS IN A MORNING SUNRISE"

MUSIC CLIP - THE BENNY GOODMAN SEXTET, "THE WORLD IS WAITING FOR THE SUNRISE"

Welcome back to Afterglow, I’m Mark Chilla. We’ve been exploring songs all about the sun this hour [in honor of the total solar eclipse gracing our skies this coming Monday, April 8th].

I want to turn my attention now to a few songs from the American Songbook all about sunrises. We’re, in fact, hearing one song about sunrises right now in the background, the popular instrumental tune “The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise,” performed here by the great Benny Goodman.

But let’s hear some other vocal tunes about sunrises. We’ll start with one that actually comes from a 1928 operetta titled The New Moon. It’s a song that, since it’s about lost love, is typically sung as a slow ballad, even though the hopeful sunrise is invoked. I’ll play now a version that ignores that sad message a bit and makes the song swing.

This is Bobby Darin in 1959 with Sigmund Romberg and Oscar Hammerstein’s “Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise,” on Afterglow.

MUSIC - BOBBY DARIN, "SOFTLY, AS IN A MORNING SUNRISE"

MUSIC - MEL TORMÉ, "I LIKE THE SUNRISE"

Two songs about the sunrise. Just now, we heard Mel Tormé in 1962 with Duke Ellington’s “I Like The Sunrise.” Before that, Bobby Darin in 1959 with “Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise.”

Not every song that invokes the sun is a happy tune. I’m not going to go as far as saying that the sun is, in and of itself, a sad sight to see. Because most sad songs about the sun are actually lamenting the fact that the sun has gone away. [These are perhaps good songs to listen to during the eclipse]

Let’s hear two such songs now. The first one is a bit of a rarity, recorded as a B-side by Ella Fitzgerald in 1956. This is Ella with Gene Howard and William Carey’s “The Sun Forgot To Shine This Morning,” on Afterglow.

MUSIC - ELLA FITZGERALD, "THE SUN FORGOT TO SHINE THIS MORNING"

MUSIC - BILLIE HOLIDAY, "WHERE IS THE SUN"

Two somber tunes, and somewhat rare tunes, about the sun. Just now, we heard Billie Holiday in 1937 with “Where Is The Sun.” Before that, Ella Fitzgerald in 1956 with “The Sun Forgot To Shine This Morning.”

We have a few more stray sun songs to feature this hour. This next one is the only song that I featured in both this episode about the sun and one of my previous episodes I put together about the moon. It’s a tune written in 1934 by songwriter Brooks Bowman, a young man who died in a car crash before his career ever took off. He’s survived by this memorable song about both the sun and the moon, recorded over 500 times throughout the years.

This is Carmen McRae in 1957 with “East Of The Sun (And West Of The Moon),” on Afterglow.

MUSIC - CARMEN MCRAE, "EAST OF THE SUN (AND WEST OF THE MOON)"

MUSIC - LUCY ANN POLK, "SITTING IN THE SUN"

The opening track off of the 1957 album Lucky Lucy Ann. That was singer Lucy Ann Polk with the rare tune “Sittin’ In The Sun.” Before that, Carmen McRae that same year, 1957, with the much more familiar tune “East Of The Sun (And West Of The Moon).”

The sun has, naturally, continued to be a source of inspiration for songwriters beyond the typical confines of the Great American Songbook. One of the most popular songs about the sun was written in 1969 while the songwriter was at a low point. 

He was just arrested for drug possession, his band was slowly breaking up, and he was mired in paperwork for a new corporation he had founded with his band. So, he played hooky at the house of a friend, and penned this hopeful tune, invoking the renewing nature of the sun. That songwriter, of course, was George Harrison, that band was The Beatles, the corporation was Apple Records, and that friend whose house he was staying at was Eric Clapton. And the song, “Here Comes The Sun,” has since gone on to become one of the most enduring standards of the 20th century.

Let’s hear it now, as performed by the great jazz singer Nina Simone just a few years later. This is Nina Simone in 1971 with George Harrison’s “Here Comes The Sun,” on Afterglow.

MUSIC - NINA SIMONE, "HERE COMES THE SUN"

Nina Simone in 1971 with George Harrison’s “Here Comes The Sun.” That comes from her studio album of the same name.

[Happy eclipse watching on Monday… and thanks…]

Thanks for tuning in to this sun song edition of Afterglow.

MUSIC CLIP - LES BROWN AND HIS BAND OF RENOWN, "YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE"

Afterglow is part of the educational mission of Indiana University and produced by WFIU Public Radio in beautiful Bloomington, Indiana. The executive producer is John Bailey.

Playlists for this and other Afterglow programs are available on our website. That’s at indianapublicmedia.org/afterglow.

I’m Mark Chilla, and join me next week for our mix of Vocal Jazz and popular song from the Great American Songbook, here on Afterglow