Marvin Gaye - Sunny (Tamla Records 1966)

“Sunny“ is the name of a song written by Bobby Hebb. It is one of the most covered popular songs, with hundreds of versions released. BMI rates “Sunny“ number 25 in its “Top 100 songs of the century.“ Hebb wrote the song after November 22, 1963, the day U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated and Hebb’s older brother Harold was stabbed to death outside a Nashville nightclub. Hebb was devastated by both events and many critics say that those events inspired the tune. According to Hebb, he wrote the song as an expression of a preference for a “sunny“ disposition over a “lousy“ disposition. Events influenced Hebb’s songwriting, but his melody, crossing over into R&B (#3 on U.S. R&B chart) Country and Pop (#2 on U.S. Pop chart), together with the optimistic lyrics, came from the artist’s desire to express that one should always “look at the bright side“ - a direct quote from the author. Hebb has said about “Sunny&q