sunshine on leith

The Proclaimers walked on and filled out the sound of their brotherly brogue balladeering with a full band on their superbly sunny second album.  Their debut 'This is the Story' had established Craig and Charlie Reid as the Scottish Everly Brothers.  For the followup 'Sunshine on Leith' they decided to work with producer Pete Wingfield, who had played keyboards for years with the actual Everly Brothers.  The sessions at Chipping Norton Studios in Oxfordshire, England featured Craig Reid on vocals, Charlie Reid on acoustic guitar and vocals, Pete Wingfield on keyboards, Dave Whetstone on Melodeon, Steve Shaw on fiddle, Jerry Donahue on acoustic guitar and guitar, Gerry Hogan on steel guitar, Stuart Nisbet on mandolin and penny whistle, Phil Cranham on bass, and Dave Mattacks and Paul Robinson on drums.  

'Sunshine on Leith' went to number six in the UK and number two in Australia; but didn't fare well on the US charts when it was released in 1988. It got a new lease on life five years later when the lead-off single 'I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)' was included on the soundtrack for the film 'Benny & Joon', leading to a run up the US album chart to number thirty-one.   






http://www.proclaimers.co.uk/








"I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" became the duo's most enduring success, walking up charts around the world, hitting fourteen in Ireland, eleven in the UK, three in the US, and number one in Australia.  Craig Reid says:    "I can remember sitting at the piano and the chords just came to me. I reckon I just wrote the whole thing in 45 minutes. I knew that it was a good song, maybe even a single, but I had no idea how popular it would become ... That song has just got bigger and bigger.  It’s like it’s run away from us; it’s got legs, although I’m not knocking it, it’s made us a lot of money.”   Charlie adds: “But I tell you I can write my obituary now – the first two lines will refer to 'Sunshine on Leith' and '500 Miles', whatever we do for the rest of our lives.”



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otXGqU4LBEI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeuNxMY_5Uo


In 2007, the song went to number one in the UK with a re-recorded version for 'Comic Relief' that featured Peter Kay and Matt Lucas as characters Brian Potter from Phoenix Nights and Andy Pipkin from Little Britain.  They changed the lyrics to "roll 500 miles" because their characters were in wheelchairs.  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnUOPsjC2qk






"Sunshine on Leith" went to forty-one in the UK.  It has gone on to become the theme song of the Hibernian Football Club.  It also became the title of a musical featuring the music of the Proclaimers about two soldiers returning from Afghanistan.  Craig considers:   "I've read about these country guys like Merle Haggard who can write songs anywhere. I wish I could do that. I'm not good when it's unstable at home, if it's fractious with your partner. But sometimes ideas stay around. I had the melody for 'Sunshine On Leith' for two years. Then I was flying over Edinburgh and the plane tilted, and I saw the sunshine over Leith and I knew I had it."




"I'm on My Way" made it to forty-three in the UK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Xmlb3ZRPuU







"King Of The Road" made it to number nine in the UK and eight in Ireland.  





'Sunshine on Leith' 
full album:


All Songs Written By Craig & Charlie Reid, except where noted.


"I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" – 3:33
"Cap in Hand" – 3:24
"Then I Met You" – 3:50
"My Old Friend the Blues" – 3:06 (Steve Earle)
"Sean" – 3:23
"Sunshine on Leith" – 5:16
"Come on Nature" – 3:34
"I'm on My Way" – 3:45
"What Do You Do?" – 3:38
"It's Saturday Night" – 3:24
"Teardrops" – 2:32
"Oh Jean" – 5:55
bonus 

"King Of The Road" – 2:45 (Roger Miller)