Feature Song: “You Are My Sunshine”
“You are my sunshine/my only sunshine/you make me happy/When skies are gray…” Come on, admit it, you started singing that as soon as you saw the song title! “You Are My Sunshine” is a standard of American old-time country music and one of the official state songs of Louisiana. Though its original writer is disputed (similar to the backstory behind “House of the Rising Sun” featured in DUTC#39), according to performance rights organization BMI in 2000, the song has been recorded by over 350 artists and translated into 30 languages!
Written and recorded as early as 1939, the song was first published and copyrighted in 1940 by Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell. Following his music career, Davis went on to be the governor of Louisiana from 1944 to 1948 and again from 1960 to 1964, using the song for his election campaign. In 1977, the Louisiana State Legislature decreed “You Are My Sunshine” the state song in honor of Davis. One of its best known covers is a recording by Johnny Cash in 1989. The song received a Grammy Hall of Fame award in 1999, while the Recording Industry Association of America named it one of the Songs of the Century.
After copyrighting the song, Davis and Mitchell recorded it on February 5, 1940, at Decca Studios in New York. Both received song-writing credit and when the copyright was renewed in 1967, both of their names were on the copyright. As is usually the case with these older songs of convoluted ownership, musicologists among others are always looking to set the records straight regarding ownership, which is especially true of a song that has been recorded so many times. According to a 1999 article by Theodore Pappas written for Chronicle Magazine, the “true” writer of the song was Oliver Hood of LeGrange, Georgia. Pappas asserts that Davis never actually claimed authorship because he bought the song, along with its rights, from Paul Rice before copyrighting and publishing – a common practice in the pre-World War ll music business. I’m willing to bet that in another 24 years, there just might be new revelations about the song and its writer.
The song was one of Davis’ biggest-selling records, with one source claiming it to be “among the top five country music recordings of that year,” and it has enjoyed continual success since. The fact that the cover version I am featuring was recorded in 2021 definitely gives credence to this claim. While the Johnny Cash cover might be the best know, there were many other covers before 1989, including the likes of Gene Autry (1941), Bing Crosby (1941), Doris Day (1951), Ray Charles with the Raelettes and Margie Hendrix (1962), to name a few.
With so many covers to choose, from I decided to go with a fairly recent one for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I wanted to provide the exclamation mark to the sentiment that the song has enjoyed “continual success.” Secondly, in searching for that cover, I stumbled upon one by The Dead South, the band that I featured in the above mentioned DUTC#39 which, as I mentioned, is yet another old song of unknown origins. The symmetry was too good to pass up. First up the original, followed by The Dead South’s very interesting official video for “You Are My Sunshine.” Enjoy!
Jimmie Davis. “You Are My Sunshine.” 1940.
The Dead South. “You Are My Sunshine.” [Official Music Video]. 2021
Los Angeles 2023
Like many early song standards – which in sharp contrast to classical music, tended to be rather simple both melodically and lyrically, “You Are My Sunshine” has never been a favorite of mine. That said, I much prefer The Dead South’s rendition, though it’s a decidedly darker interpretation of what’s supposed to be a happy tune.
Living (pun intended) up to their name I guess🤗.
It’s a happy little ditty, turned dirge by the Dead South. Like you said…