Roy Ayers - "Everybody Loves the Sunshine"

Released 50 years ago today: “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” by Roy Ayers (our copy here). The 35-year-old L.A. vibraphonist, keyboardist, vocalist and composer had already built a substantial discography with Herbie Mann and as band leader (Ubiquity) exploring post-bop jazz and funk. This soul-jazz / R&B album’s title track became his signature song, later covered and sampled by countless other artists; now a breezy anthem broadcast into baseball parks. Ten years ago, Pitchfork ranked it 72nd Best Song of the 1970s. This LP reached #10 on Billboard’s R&B chart and #51 Pop; reviews are very good. More in Comments.

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Review by Sam Samuelson

Roy Ayers's had long made his shift into R&B/soul by 1976's Everybody Loves the Sunshine. His recordings of this period can be very hit and miss, and in this particular record, you get both. The title track, "Everybody Loves the Sunshine," is a quintessential song from the mid-'70s. While it might not have slammed the charts like Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music," it's still a revered classic. It evokes that feeling of sweltering concrete in Brooklyn where the only relief is the local fire hydrant. Entirely sung by a choir repeating the same lines throughout, the rhythm section rolls along with a perfectly looped laid-back groove. It moves along lazily, hypnotically, and sluggishly as the sun slows things down to the right speed and "folks get down in the sunshine." The rest of the album contains Ayers classics such as the burning percussive funk of "It Ain't AYour Sign It's Your Mind," the spacey cosmic soul of "the Third Eye," the bumping rubbery disco in "People and the World," and the two horn-scorched closers "Tongue Power," and "Lonesome Cowboy."

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