by Bill Friskics-Warren
https://www.facebook.com/bill.friskicswarren
ONE SO TRUE: "Sunny"
Blind musicians who made their home just
blocks off Nashville’s country-identified Music Row, the Hebbs wanted
their son, who as a child appeared with them and his brother Hal in
nightclubs and at fraternity parties, to be exposed to a wide variety of
music. From jazz, blues, and classical to country, gospel, and pop,
Hebb’s parents instilled in their children an inclusive aesthetic that
had them readily traversing not just musical boundaries, but lines of
race and class as well. His early work as a professional musician
included a stint, when he was just twelve years old, working with
country star Roy Acuff, for whom he tap-danced and played the musical
spoons on the Grand Ole Opry. Despite the novelty value of his
contributions to the act, Hebb clearly took the experience to heart, so
much so that several years before “Sunny” became an international hit he
released a cover of his boss’s famous “Night Train to Memphis” as a
solo artist. He also reminisced fondly about receiving songwriting
advice from Hank Williams Sr. while in Acuff’s employ. Similarly, his
experience with “Sunny” gave Hebb further opportunity for cultural
reciprocity when it earned him an invitation to tour with the Beatles in
1966.
The record begins unassumingly enough.
“Sunny, yesterday my life was filled with rain / Sunny, you smiled at me
and really eased the pain,” Hebb sings to a snappy 4/4 rhythm. Soon,
however, the tension begins to mount and the drummer goes from lightly
accenting only the backbeats to bearing down hard on all four counts of
each measure. Hebb expresses thanks for his encounter with Sunny and
sees their meeting as a sign that his dark days—and, presumably, those
of the nation, given that the shooting of President Kennedy was an
impetus for the song—are behind him. He even goes so far as to say that
he feels ten feet tall, but the edge in his voice, particularly as the
second stanza gives way to the third and the vibraphone motif darkens,
tells a different story. With the horns echoing his bleating cries of
“Sunny” note for note, Hebb sounds as if he’s clinging to the hope that
if he can only express enough gratitude he might one day have something
to be thankful for.
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Read author Bill Janovitz's review on
AllMusic.com
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