Tony Russell states, 'though Mitchell's name appears on the copyright listing, he had already sold his half share to Davis.' This is not reflected in the records of the United States Copyright Archives, which give the name, date and renewal number, 'Charles Mitchell (A) 2Feb67 R403742'. When interviewed by Dorothy Horstman for her 1975 book Sing Your Heart Out Country Boy, he didn't claim authorship of the song, but instead related its history of popularity. I had a gal write me from California that she wrote it.' ĭavis lived to be 101 years old and gave a number of conflicting accounts. I got the idea for the song and put a tune to it.'Īccording to Rice, 'at least 20 people claimed to have written 'You Are My Sunshine'. And she was talking about how I was her sunshine. Where I got the idea for it, a girl over in South Carolina wrote me this long letter-it was long about seventeen pages. Each put in $17.50.' Paul Rice said, 'I wrote 'You Are My Sunshine' in 1937. He sold 'Sunshine' to Davis and Mitchell for $35. Paul's wife was in the hospital and he needed cash to pay her bills. Ī newspaper article in the Shreveport Times related, 'on a day in 1939-no one seems to remember the exact date-Charles Mitchell and Jimmie Davis called the station KWKH to see Paul Rice (who was playing there at the time). Though some early versions of the song credit the Rice Brothers, descendants and associates of Oliver Hood, a musician who collaborated with Rice, state that Hood wrote the song in the early 1930s and first performed it in 1933, at a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention at LaGrange. He asserts that Davis never actually claimed authorship because he bought the song, along with all the rights, from Paul Rice before copyrighting and publishing-a practice not uncommon in the pre- World War II music business. Claims of ownership Īccording to a November 1990 article by Theodore Pappas, in Chronicles Magazine, the true writer of the song was Oliver Hood of LaGrange, Georgia. is still run by the Peer Family, though BMI now lists it under American Performing Rights Society, Inc., also known by its acronym, APRS, c/o Peermusic. Both received song-writing credit and when the copyright was renewed on Februboth of their names were on it. The pair recorded the song on February 5, 1940, at Decca Studios in New York. On January 30, 1940, 'You Are My Sunshine' was copyrighted by Davis and Mitchell and published by Southern Music Publishing Co., Inc. Paul and Hoke Rice sold the music to Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell shortly before 1940. The songwriter was listed as 'Paul Rice'. This group was originally from Northern Georgia, but relocated to Shreveport, Louisiana, where they performed on the radio station KWKH. The Rice Brothers' Gang recorded the song next for Decca, on September 13, 1939, and released it the following month. The song was recorded in Atlanta, Georgia, where the Pine Ridge Boys were from. The Pine Ridge Boys (Marvin Taylor and Doug Spivey) recorded the song under the title 'You Are My Sunshine' on August 22, 1939, and released it on Octofor Bluebird Records.

History Earliest performances and recordings 'You Are My Sunshine' 73 on CMT's 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music.

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. Its best-known covers include a recording by Johnny Cash in 1989. In 1977, the Louisiana State Legislature decreed 'You Are My Sunshine' the state song in honor of Davis. 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. Written and recorded as early as 1939, the song was first published and copyrighted in 1940 by Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell. Though its original writer is disputed, according to the performance rights organisation BMI in 2000, the song had been recorded by over 350 artists and translated into 30 languages. ' You Are My Sunshine' is a standard of American old-time country music and one of the official state songs of Louisiana. Single by Jimmie Davis with Charles Mitchell's Orchestra

1940 song copyrighted and published by Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell 'You Are My Sunshine'

Nursery rhymes you are my sunshine