You Are My Sunshine

"You Are My Sunshine"
Single by Jimmie Davis with Charles Mitchell's Orchestra
B-side"Old Timer"
Released1940 (1940)
RecordedFebruary 5, 1940[1]
StudioDecca Recording, New York, New York State, U.S.
GenreCountry, Old-time
Length2:47
LabelDecca
Songwriter(s)Disputed
Producer(s)Jimmie Davis, Charles Mitchell

"You Are My Sunshine" is an American standard of old-time and country music and the state song of Louisiana. Its original writer is disputed.[2][3][4] According to the performance rights organization BMI, by the year 2000 the song had been recorded by over 350 artists and translated into 30 languages.[5]

Written and recorded as early as 1939, the song was first published and copyrighted in 1940 by Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell. Davis went on to be governor of Louisiana from 1944 to 1948 and again from 1960 to 1964, and used the song for his election campaign.[3] In 1977, the Louisiana State Legislature decreed "You Are My Sunshine" the state song in honor of Davis.[6] Its best-known covers include a recording by Johnny Cash in 1989.[7] In 1999, "You Are My Sunshine" was honored with a Grammy Hall of Fame award, and the Recording Industry Association of America named it one of the Songs of the Century. In 2003, it was ranked as No. 73 on CMT's 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music.[8]

  1. ^ "Decca matrix 67157. You are my sunshine / Jimmie Davis". Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library. Archived from the original on January 5, 2022. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  2. ^ Pappas, Theodore (November 1990). "The 'Theft' of an American Classic". Chronicles. The Rockford Institute. Archived from the original on 2008-09-29. Retrieved 2008-04-24.
  3. ^ a b Sparkman, Darby (2021-04-07). "Chris and Morgane Stapleton's Version of 'You Are My Sunshine' Still Gives Us Chills". Wide Open Country. Archived from the original on 2023-05-09. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
  4. ^ Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third Series, Volume 21, Part 5, Number1, Section 1 – Music January–June 1967. US Copyright Office. 1967. p. 916. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  5. ^ "'You Are My Sunshine' Writer Jimmie Davis Dies". BMI.com. November 5, 2000. Archived from the original on August 5, 2016. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  6. ^ "State songs". Georgia Secretary of State. 2014. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  7. ^ "Bob Saget on Johnny Cash's 'You Are My Sunshine'". WSJ. Archived from the original on 2024-04-07. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
  8. ^ "CMT 100 Greatest Country Songs". Archived from the original on 2023-09-11. Retrieved 2024-04-07.