Sunshine of Your Love
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| - | '''Overdubbing''' (the process of making an '''overdub''', or overdubs) is a technique used by [[recording studio]]s to add a supplementary recorded sound to a previously recorded performance. | + | "'''Sunshine of Your Love'''" is a 1967 song by the British [[rock music|rock]] band [[Cream (band)|Cream]]. With elements of [[hard rock]], [[psychedelic rock|psychedelia]], and [[pop music|pop]], it is one of Cream's best-known and most popular songs. Cream bassist and vocalist [[Jack Bruce]] based it on a distinctive bass [[Ostinato#Riff|riff]] or repeated musical phrase he developed after attending a [[Jimi Hendrix]] concert. Guitarist [[Eric Clapton]] and lyricist [[Pete Brown]] later contributed to the song. Recording engineer [[Tom Dowd]] suggested the rhythm arrangement in which drummer [[Ginger Baker]] plays a distinctive [[tom-tom drum]] rhythm, although Baker has claimed it was his idea. |
| - | Tracking (or "laying the basic tracks") of the [[rhythm section]] (usually including drums) to a song, then following with overdubs (solo instruments, such as [[musical keyboard|keyboards]] or [[guitar]], then finally vocals), has been the standard technique for recording [[popular music]] since the early 1960s. | + | The song was included on Cream's second album ''[[Disraeli Gears]]'' in November 1967, which was a best seller. [[Atco Records]], the group's American label, was initially unsure of the song's potential. After recommendations by other label-affiliated artists, it released an edited single version in January 1968. The song became Cream's first and highest charting American single and one of the most popular singles of 1968. In September 1968, it became a modest chart hit after being released in the UK. |
| - | Overdubs can be made for a variety of reasons. One of the most obvious is for convenience; for example, if a [[bass guitar]]ist is temporarily unavailable, the recording can be made and the bass track added later. Similarly, if only one or two guitarists are available, but a song calls for multiple guitar parts, a guitarist can play both lead and rhythm [[guitar]] (such as in [[Cream (band)|Cream]]'s "[[Sunshine of Your Love]]", when it would have been physically impossible for [[Eric Clapton]] to solo and play rhythm guitar simultaneously). Singers who also play an instrument find overdubbing a convenience, since it allows them to focus on one role at a time. | + | Several rock journals have placed the song on their greatest song lists, such as ''Rolling Stone'', ''Q'' magazine, and VH1. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included it on its list of the "[[500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll]]". |
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| - | Many vocalists use overdubbing to effectively sing harmony with | + | |
| - | themselves, as did [[Patti Page]], [[Harry Nilsson]], [[Laura Nyro]], | + | |
| - | [[The Carpenters]], [[Brian Wilson]], and [[George Harrison]] (who | + | |
| - | credited himself as the "George O'Hara-Smith Singers"). The members of | + | |
| - | [[Queen (band)|Queen]] overdubbed their voices numerous times, to | + | |
| - | create the [[chorus effect]] for "[[Bohemian Rhapsody]]". | + | |
| - | Sometimes only certain [[plural]]-related words (e.g., two, us, dual, | + | |
| - | we) are overdubded, e.g., on [[Brian Eno]]'s | + | |
| - | [[Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)]] album. | + | |
| - | Singers in particular have also used the practice to perfect a recorded performance over several takes. Singer [[Dusty Springfield]] is widely reported to have painstakingly assembled individual phrases over time in order to record the ultimate performance. Overdubbing is also used to solidify a weak singer; [[doubletracking]] allows a singer with poor intonation to sound more in tune. (The opposite of this is often used with [[sampling (music)|sampled instrument]]s; detuning the sample slightly can make the sound more lifelike.) | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | Overdubbing has sometimes been viewed negatively, when it is seen as being used to artificially enhance the musical skills of an artist or group, such as with studio-recorded inserts to live recordings, or backing tracks created by [[session musician]]s instead of the credited performers. The early records of [[The Monkees]] were made by groups of studio musicians pre-recording songs (often in a different studio, and some before the band was even formed), which were later overdubbed with the Monkees' vocals. While the songs became hits, many critics cried foul, and [[Michael Nesmith]] in particular disliked having to "duplicate someone else's records" for their television show. No cheating was intended in the practice (with the emphasis on the TV program, and with the four members not an experienced group, it was felt that using studio 'ringers' would be more efficient), and numerous other singers and groups had studio help, but this didn't save the Monkees from critical and public scorn. | + | |
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| - | ==History== | + | |
| - | Perhaps the earliest commercial issue of recordings with overdubs was by [[RCA Victor]] in the late 1920s, not long after the introduction of electric [[microphone]]s into the recording studio. Recordings by the late [[Enrico Caruso]] still sold well, so RCA took some of his early records made with only piano accompaniment, added a studio orchestra, and reissued the recordings. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | [[Sidney Bechet]] made a pair of famous overdubbed sides in 1941, "Sheik of Araby" and "Blues of Bechet". Multi-instrumentalist Bechet recorded on six different instruments; each version had to be recorded onto a new master disc along with the preceding performance, with consequent loss of audio quality. The novelty was issued as "Sidney Bechet's One Man Band". The [[American Federation of Musicians]] protested the recording, putting an end to experiments with commercial overdubbing in the United States for years. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | The invention of [[magnetic tape]] opened up new possibilities for overdubbing, particularly with the development of [[multitrack recording]]. The first commercially released overdubbed recording made on multitrack magnetic tape was by guitarist [[Les Paul]], whose 1947 record "Lover (When You're Near Me)", featured eight different electric guitar parts. His later work would be seminal in the popularization of multitrack recording. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | [[Peter Ustinov]] performed multiple voices on "Mock [[Mozart]]", in a recording produced by [[George Martin]]. [[Abbey Road Studios]] had no multitrack recorders at the time, so a pair of mono machines was used. Martin used the same process later for a [[Peter Sellers]] comedy record, this time using stereo machines and [[panning (audio)|panning]]. Bill Evans also is credited as a pioneer in the use of stereo panning. On the album "Conversations with Myself", Evans played separate piano tracks on both channels to overlay counterpoint and harmony. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | One of the most famous uses of overdubbing was performed by the vocal ensemble [[The Singers Unlimited|Singers Unlimited]]. A studio-only group, the four members often performed works for up to 16 voices at a time by overdubbing their sound to create intense jazz harmonies. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ==References== | + | |
| - | *''Modern Recording Techniques'', by David Miles Huber and Robert E. Runstein | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ==See also== | + | |
| - | {{Wiktionary|overdub}} | + | |
| - | *[[Multitrack recording]] | + | |
| - | *[[Dubbing (music)]] | + | |
| - | *[[Punching in]] | + | |
| - | *[[AMPEX]] | + | |
| {{GFDL}} | {{GFDL}} | ||
| + | [[Category:WMC2]] | ||
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"Sunshine of Your Love" is a 1967 song by the British rock band Cream. With elements of hard rock, psychedelia, and pop, it is one of Cream's best-known and most popular songs. Cream bassist and vocalist Jack Bruce based it on a distinctive bass riff or repeated musical phrase he developed after attending a Jimi Hendrix concert. Guitarist Eric Clapton and lyricist Pete Brown later contributed to the song. Recording engineer Tom Dowd suggested the rhythm arrangement in which drummer Ginger Baker plays a distinctive tom-tom drum rhythm, although Baker has claimed it was his idea.
The song was included on Cream's second album Disraeli Gears in November 1967, which was a best seller. Atco Records, the group's American label, was initially unsure of the song's potential. After recommendations by other label-affiliated artists, it released an edited single version in January 1968. The song became Cream's first and highest charting American single and one of the most popular singles of 1968. In September 1968, it became a modest chart hit after being released in the UK.
Several rock journals have placed the song on their greatest song lists, such as Rolling Stone, Q magazine, and VH1. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included it on its list of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll".
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Sunshine of Your Love" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
