You Are My Sunshine
Encyclopedia
"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.
The original tune however, is very similar to a much older Ukrainian folk song entitled "Ой, там на горі" (Oj, tam na hori - Up there, on the mountain), leading many to believe that neither Jimmie Davis nor Oliver Hood wrote the music.
, 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 songwriter
s 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.
and Bill Haley & His Comets
also exist. The Haley performance was recorded in 1969 and was sung by the band's bass player, Ray Cawley; it was not released until the early 1990s. Jump, Little Children used to play a song called "Pink Lemonade" which borrowed the chorus and was a success with fans. The song has also been recorded by Johnny Cash
, Bob Dylan
, Brian Wilson
, Trini Lopez
, Ray Charles
, and Aretha Franklin
from Aretha Arrives
(1967), among others. Charles' version was the most popular, commercially, reaching #1 on the soul singles chart, and #7 on the Billboard Hot 100
chart, using a modified melody that little resembled the original. A duet between Charles and Chris Isaak
was included in Charles' 2005 duets album Genius & Friends
.
Northern Irish hard rockers Therapy?
recorded an excerpt of the song, which was released as a bonus track on their 1994 album Troublegum. Songwriter Conor Oberst
uses the chorus of the song in dramatic effect on "The Calendar Hung Itself" by Bright Eyes. The outro of the song "Flowers and Football Tops" by the Scottish band Glasvegas
features the first verse of "You Are My Sunshine".
s, television shows, television commercials, and radio commercial
s. Winifred Burkle
sings lines from "You Are My Sunshine" in the Angel
episode "A Hole in the World", marking a turning point in the season plot. It is frequently sung in the 1980s TV show, The A-Team
when a distraction is needed to drug B. A. Baracus
or stall for time. The artist Brother Love
has covered the song for a Saturn commercial. The song was anachronistically featured in the 2000 movie O Brother, Where Art Thou?
. All My Children
character Dixie Martin sings the song to her son while an infant. It played lightly at the death of her character, and the song was featured prominently during her return to Pine Valley on All My Children. The song was also sung by the Doctor (Robert Picardo) and Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) in the episode "Someone to Watch over Me" of the fifth season of Star Trek: Voyager.
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
first recorded in 1939
1939 in music
-Events:*March 23 – Béla Bartók's Violin Concerto No. 2 is premiered by Zoltán Székely and the Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Willem Mengelberg...
. It has been declared one of the state songs of Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
as a result of its association with former state governor and country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
singer Jimmie Davis
Jimmie Davis
James Houston Davis , better known as Jimmie Davis, was a noted singer of both sacred and popular songs who served two nonconsecutive terms as the 47th Governor of Louisiana...
. The song is copyright 1940 Peer International Corporation, words and music by Jimmie Davis
Jimmie Davis
James Houston Davis , better known as Jimmie Davis, was a noted singer of both sacred and popular songs who served two nonconsecutive terms as the 47th Governor of Louisiana...
and Charles Mitchell
Charles Mitchell (songwriter)
Charles Mitchell is a songwriter, best known as a collaborator with Jimmie Davis. Davis's best known composition, "You Are My Sunshine", was co-written by Mitchell.- References :...
. According to a 1990 article by Theodore Pappas
Theodore Pappas
Theodore N. "Ted" Pappas is the current executive editor of Encyclopædia Britannica. Earlier he was managing editor of the paleoconservative magazine Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. He has also written Plagiarism and the Culture War: The Writings of Martin Luther King Jr. and Other...
, the original song was written by Oliver Hood.
The original tune however, is very similar to a much older Ukrainian folk song entitled "Ой, там на горі" (Oj, tam na hori - Up there, on the mountain), leading many to believe that neither Jimmie Davis nor Oliver Hood wrote the music.
History
Two versions of "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, LouisianaShreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
, 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
Charles Mitchell (songwriter)
Charles Mitchell is a songwriter, best known as a collaborator with Jimmie Davis. Davis's best known composition, "You Are My Sunshine", was co-written by Mitchell.- References :...
are the credited songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
s 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
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
music business. Some early versions of the song, however, do credit the Rice Brothers. According to some accounts, clarinetist Pud Brown
Pud Brown
Albert Francis "Pud" Brown was an American jazz reed player.Though he was born in Delaware, Brown's parents raised him in Shreveport, Louisiana. Brown was fluent on saxophone by age five, and toured throughout North America in a family band at the age of seven...
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
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
and Gene Autry
Gene Autry
Orvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...
, 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.
Recordings
"You Are My Sunshine" has been recorded many times. It is today a widely recognized song and a standard for traditional country music and traditional jazz performers. Early chart versions include: Bing Crosby, Bob Atcher and Bonnie Blue Eyes, Gene Autry, and the Airport Boys. In one or more of these versions, the song was in Billboard's country charts for over one year. Rock and roll performances by Tony SheridanTony Sheridan
Tony Sheridan , is an English rock and roll singer-songwriter and guitarist...
and Bill Haley & His Comets
Bill Haley & His Comets
Bill Haley & His Comets was an American rock and roll band that was founded in 1952 and continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band, also known by the names Bill Haley and The Comets and Bill Haley's Comets , was the earliest group of white musicians to bring rock and roll to the attention of...
also exist. The Haley performance was recorded in 1969 and was sung by the band's bass player, Ray Cawley; it was not released until the early 1990s. Jump, Little Children used to play a song called "Pink Lemonade" which borrowed the chorus and was a success with fans. The song has also been recorded by Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
, Trini Lopez
Trini Lopez
Trini Lopez is an American singer, guitarist and actor.-Career:Lopez was born in Dallas, Texas, on Ashland Street in the Little Mexico neighborhood. He began his entertainment career in Dallas playing at the Vegas Club, a nightclub owned by Jack Ruby...
, Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
, and Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
from Aretha Arrives
Aretha Arrives
Aretha Arrives is a 1967 album by Aretha Franklin. Its only single release was "Baby I Love You" , a million-selling Gold 45 which hit #1 R&B and #4 on the Billboard Hot 100....
(1967), among others. Charles' version was the most popular, commercially, reaching #1 on the soul singles chart, and #7 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart, using a modified melody that little resembled the original. A duet between Charles and Chris Isaak
Chris Isaak
Christopher Joseph "Chris" Isaak is an American rock musician and occasional actor.-Early life:Isaak was born in Stockton, California, the son of Dorothy , a potato chip factory worker, and Joe Isaak, a forklift driver. Isaak's mother is Italian American, originating from Genoa...
was included in Charles' 2005 duets album Genius & Friends
Genius & Friends
Genius & Friends is a 2005 studio album by rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles, consisting of previously unreleased duets between Charles and musicians recorded during 1997 to 2005...
.
Northern Irish hard rockers Therapy?
Therapy?
Therapy? is an alternative metal band from Northern Ireland. The band was formed in 1989 by guitarist–vocalist Andy Cairns from Ballyclare and drummer-vocalist Fyfe Ewing from Larne, Northern Ireland. The band initially recorded their first demo with Cairns filling in on bass guitar...
recorded an excerpt of the song, which was released as a bonus track on their 1994 album Troublegum. Songwriter Conor Oberst
Conor Oberst
Conor Mullen Oberst is an American singer-songwriter best known for his work in Bright Eyes. He has also played in several other bands, including Desaparecidos, Norman Bailer , Commander Venus, Park Ave., Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, and Monsters of Folk.-Musical career:Oberst began...
uses the chorus of the song in dramatic effect on "The Calendar Hung Itself" by Bright Eyes. The outro of the song "Flowers and Football Tops" by the Scottish band Glasvegas
Glasvegas
Glasvegas are a Scottish indie rock band from Glasgow. The band consists of James Allan , Rab Allan , Paul Donoghue and Jonna Löfgren . The band received critical acclaim for their debut album Glasvegas which was released in September 2008, reaching No...
features the first verse of "You Are My Sunshine".
Film and television features
The song has been featured in numerous filmFilm
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s, television shows, television commercials, and radio commercial
Radio commercial
Commercial radio stations make most of their revenue selling “airtime” to advertisers. Of total media expenditures, radio accounts for 6.9%. Radio advertisements or “spots” are available when a business or service provides valuable consideration, usually cash, in exchange for the station airing...
s. Winifred Burkle
Winifred Burkle
Winifred "Fred" Burkle is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon and introduced by Shawn Ryan and Mere Smith on the television series Angel. The character is portrayed by Amy Acker.-Character history:...
sings lines from "You Are My Sunshine" in the Angel
Angel (TV series)
Angel is an American television series, a spin-off of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The series was created by Buffys creator, Joss Whedon, in collaboration with David Greenwalt, and first aired on October 5, 1999...
episode "A Hole in the World", marking a turning point in the season plot. It is frequently sung in the 1980s TV show, The A-Team
The A-Team
The A-Team is an American action adventure television series about a fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces personnel who work as soldiers of fortune, while on the run from the Army after being branded as war criminals for a "crime they didn't commit". The A-Team was created by...
when a distraction is needed to drug B. A. Baracus
B. A. Baracus
Sergeant Bosco Albert "B. A." Baracus is a fictional character in the 1980s action/adventure television series The A-Team, played by Mr. T. B. A. Baracus appeared on The A-Team from the series beginning in 1983 until its cancellation in 1987. He is arguably the breakout character of the series...
or stall for time. The artist Brother Love
Brother Love (artist)
Brother Love, also known as Larry Florman, is perhaps the first artist to receive truly large-scale recognition through his involvement in podsafe music...
has covered the song for a Saturn commercial. The song was anachronistically featured in the 2000 movie O Brother, Where Art Thou?
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a 2000 comedy film directed by Joel and Ethan Coen and starring George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, and Charles Durning. Set in 1937 rural Mississippi during the Great Depression, the film's story is a modern satire loosely...
. All My Children
All My Children
All My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. The show features Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most...
character Dixie Martin sings the song to her son while an infant. It played lightly at the death of her character, and the song was featured prominently during her return to Pine Valley on All My Children. The song was also sung by the Doctor (Robert Picardo) and Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) in the episode "Someone to Watch over Me" of the fifth season of Star Trek: Voyager.
See also
- List of number-one R&B singles of 1962 (U.S.)
- List of number-one R&B singles of 1963 (U.S.)