“You Are My Sunshine” is a popular song first recorded in 1939. It has been declared one of the state songs of Louisiana as a result of its association with former state governor and country music singer Jimmie Davis. The song is copyright 1940 Peer International Corporation, words and music by Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell. According to a 1990 article by Theodore Pappas, the original song was written by Oliver Hood.
“You Are My Sunshine” were recorded and released prior to Jimmie Davis’ version. The first was recorded for Bluebird Records (RCA-Victor’s budget label) on August 22, 1939 by The Pine Ridge Boys (Marvin Taylor and Doug Spivey), who were from Atlanta. The second was recorded for Decca Records on September 13, 1939 by The Rice Brothers Gang. This group was originally from north Georgia, but had relocated to Shreveport, Louisiana, where they were performing on the city’s KWKH radio station. The version by Jimmie Davis was recorded for Decca Records on February 5, 1940.
Davis and Charles Mitchell are the credited songwriters of “You Are My Sunshine”. Davis bought the song and rights from Paul Rice and put his own name on it, a practice not uncommon in the pre-World War II music business. Some early versions of the song, however, do credit the Rice Brothers. According to some accounts, clarinetist Pud Brown was also involved with the Rice Brothers for the song’s origin or first arrangement.
Davis said that for some time he had been enthusiastic about the song and had unsuccessfully tried to convince record companies to record it before finally making his own 1940 record of the song. Davis’s version was popular and was followed by numerous other covers, including those of Bing Crosby and Gene Autry, whose versions made the number a big hit.
Davis emphasized his association with the song when running for governor, singing it at all his campaign rallies, while riding on a horse named “Sunshine”. His authorized biography, You Are My Sunshine: The Jimmie Davis Story, was published in 1987.
By Les Paul and Mary Ford
Mary Ford (July 7, 1924–September 30, 1977), born Iris Colleen Summers, was an American vocalist and guitarist, comprising half of the husband-and-wife musical team Les Paul and Mary Ford. Between 1950 and 1954, the couple had 16 top-ten hits, including “How High the Moon” and Vaya con Dios”, which were number one hits on the Billboard charts. In 1951 alone they sold six million records. With Paul, Ford became one of the early practitioners of multi-tracking.
Lyrics
You are my sunshine My only sunshine You make me happy When the skies are grey You’ll never know dear How much I love you So please don’t take My sunshine Away
The other night dear As I lay sleeping I dreamed I held you in my arms When I awoke dear I was mistaken And I held My head And cried
You are my sunshine My only sunshine You make me happy When the skies are grey You’ll never know dear How much I love you Please don’t take My sunshine Away
You are my sunshine My only sunshine You make me happy When the skies are grey You’ll never know dear How much I love you Please don’t take My sunshine Away
Please don’t take my sunshine away