"You Are My Sunshine" | |
---|---|
Single by Jimmie Davis with Charles Mitchell's Orchestra | |
B-side | "Old Timer" |
Released | 1940 |
Recorded | February 5, 1940[1] |
Studio | Decca Recording, New York, New York State, U.S. |
Genre | Country, Old-time |
Length | 2:47 |
Label | Decca |
Songwriter(s) | Disputed |
Producer(s) | Jimmie Davis, Charles Mitchell |
"You Are My Sunshine" is an American standard of Old-time and Country music and one of the official state songs 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]