You Are My Sunshine - by Robert Mann (Hardcover)

About the Book

""You Are My Sunshine" is the story of one of the best-known and most loved American songs. One of Louisiana's two official state songs, "You Are My Sunshine" began its journey toward worldwide fame and popularity in the late 1930s, when two obscure "hillbilly" groups-one of them in Shreveport-first recorded it. Jimmie Davis's 1940 recording of "Sunshine" would be the ninth most popular pop recording of the year. The following year, Gene Autry, Bing Crosby, and Wayne King would each record hit versions of the song. In the decades to come, more than 350 recording artists would release their interpretations of the song, including Jerry Lee Lewis, Aretha Franklin, Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, Carly Simon, and Johnny Cash. Along the way, "Sunshine" became Jimmie Davis's theme song and a useful, sometimes-vital component in his Louisiana political campaigns. The cherry, memorable tune not only reminded audiences of the candidate's wholesome music and his motion picture stardom; it also helped to obscure his early recording career, when he had released a series of raunchy blues tunes that were, by the mid-1940s, squarely at odds with his gospel-singing cowboy image. As it grew even more popular, "Sunshine" amplified Davis's popularity and helped him burnish an image as a song-writing genius. Because he had purchased rights to the song, he was-and still is-listed as "Sunshine's" co-author (an accepted practice in the early half of the twentieth century). While Davis sometimes acknowledged that he did not write it, he usually neglected to discourage journalists, fans, and others from believing that it was his composition. On occasion, he told reporters he wrote the song while a graduate student at LSU. As the song's popularity and legend grew over the decades so did its association with Louisiana's "singing governor." In the 1977, the Louisiana Legislature made "Sunshine" one of two official state songs. It may be unique among such songs in that it never mentions or references its state and was likely written by a resident of Georgia who was thinking, not of Louisiana, but unrequited love. Such was the song's association with Louisiana and Davis that during his second term in office in the 1960s, the state named a bridge over the Mississippi River at Donaldsonville the "Sunshine Bridge." The name stuck. More than simply the story of Davis and his role in the song's popularity, this book explores the song's controversial provenance (a small-time Georgia musician, Oliver Hood, claimed he wrote it and sold the rights to a friend, who then sold it to Davis); its importance as cultural touchstone and, oddly, as a popular song during World War II, one that even Winston Churchill considered his favorite; why this simple song-despite its cheery title and chorus, it's a song about heartbreak and loss-is still so popular in the twenty-first century; the song's ubiquity in popular culture and advertising; and, how it became and remains one of the state songs of Louisiana"--

Book Synopsis

In You Are My Sunshine, Robert Mann weaves together the birth of country music, Louisiana political history, World War II, and the American civil rights movement to produce a compelling biography of one of the world's most popular musical compositions. This is the story of a song that, despite its simple, sweet melody and lyrics, holds the weight of history within its chords.

The song's journey to global fame began in 1939, when two obscure "hillbilly" groups recorded it. By the century's end, it was a cultural phenomenon covered by hundreds of artists spanning every genre. It entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry in 2012.

At the center of this story is Jimmie Davis, who capitalized on his country music stardom to win two terms as Louisiana's governor. In 1940, Davis became the third artist to record "Sunshine," after he bought it and claimed it as his composition. The song became his anthem and a staple of his political rallies, radiating warmth and wholesomeness. Its sunny tune encouraged listeners to forget Davis's earlier recording career, marked by risqué blues recordings that clashed with the upright, gospel-singing image he later cultivated. As "You Are My Sunshine" grew in popularity, so did its link to Louisiana's "singing governor." In 1977, the Louisiana Legislature made it a state song.

In this biography, equal parts the story of Davis and the odyssey of his song, we discover that "Sunshine" shaped the early rise of country music but became tangled in Davis's pro-segregation policies, briefly overshadowing its legacy. You Are My Sunshine explores the song's contested origins, its rise to legendary status, and its ongoing resonance with millions. This is more than the story of a simple song; it's a biography of a cultural icon, enduring and ubiquitous as sunshine itself.

Review Quotes

"'You Are My Sunshine' has conferred impressive wealth and political power while holding close its many secrets like a coy lover. But with the flair of a mystery writer and the rigor of the admired scholar he is, Robert Mann may have finally shone true light on one of America's beloved standards."--Michael Streissguth, author of Johnny Cash: The Biography

"In You Are My Sunshine, Robert Mann fuses the story of a song, from its remote origins when Jimmie Davis purchased the rights, across the years of Davis's fame as a country star and twice-elected Louisiana governor. Mann adroitly shows how the genial Davis became a cipher for white supremacists' attack on integrated schools in the early 1960s. Behind the song's sweet lyrics--refashioned by blues rocker Ray Charles in 1962--lay a governor who spent four decades out of office using music to whitewash his dark political record. What a story! Bob Mann is a Louisiana treasure."--Jason Berry, author of City of a Million Dreams: A History of New Orleans at Year 300

"Robert Mann, who knows more about Louisiana politics than just about anyone, draws upon his love of country music to give us a fascinating account of two-time governor Jimmie Davis. Forever associated with 'You Are My Sunshine, ' Davis used this song as the foundation for a dual career as politician and musical performer. Mann's exploration of the song's obscure origins, widespread appeal, and myriad recordings is a masterpiece of cultural history, and his analysis of Davis's political transformation from easygoing moderate to outspoken segregationist is spot-on. But you don't need to be a country music fan or a student of Louisiana politics to enjoy this book. ​Mann's blend of creative scholarship and exuberant prose is sure to attract a much wider audience. It is a thoroughly rewarding, and illuminating, read."--Adam Fairclough, author of Race and Democracy: The Civil Rights Struggle in Louisiana, 1915-1972

About the Author

Robert Mann is the author of ten books on U.S. and Louisiana political history. He was a senior aide to US senators Russell Long and John Breaux and Louisiana governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco. He served on the faculty of LSU's Manship School of Mass Communication for eighteen years before retiring in 2024. He lives in Baton Rouge.