‘You are my Sunshine’ Louisiana’s singing governor’s history explored in book

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – A Louisiana historian is reevaluating the song that projected a Shreveport musician into the governorship.

Jimmie Davis, known as the “singing governor,” is credited with making the song “You Are My Sunshine” a worldwide hit in 1939. Davis was from Shreveport, and the song’s fame helped him win elections for Louisiana Governor twice, from 1944 to 1948 and again from 1960 to 1964.

Author and historian Robert Mann analyzes the song’s complicated legacy in his newest book, “You Are My Sunshine: Jimmie Davis and the Biography of a Song.”

Part of Mann’s research is based on materials from the Northwest Louisiana Archives, which has detailed records and recordings of Davis’ personal life in Shreveport and his music career, starting with KWKH’s Saturday Night Roundup in the 1930s.

“Davis sang on the Saturday Night Roundup, which was hosted in the Municipal Auditorium and broadcast on the radio long before the Louisiana Hayride came into existence,” said Laura McLemore, head archivist of the Northwest Louisiana Archives.“

Robert Mann primarily used the Robert and Laurie Gentry Collection, an extensive compilation of the music of this region, especially the Louisiana Hayride.

“He also used parts of our Bob Hill collection and interviews from our oral history collection, which covers a wide range of subjects and topics.”

Davis came to the area as a history teacher at Dodd College for Girls and stayed for the musical scene and industry connections, which included the Louisiana Hayride. Davis served as Shreveport’s public safety commissioner from 1938 to 1942 and then as Louisiana’s public service commissioner before winning the governor’s seat for the first time in 1944.

Davis was the third to record “You Are My Sunshine publicly.” His version helped to make the song popular, and artists like Bing Crosby recorded their own versions in the next few years. The song appeared in Gene Autry’s 1941 movie “Back in the Saddle.”

The tune had been recorded by 350 artists in 30 different languages by the year 2000, earning the song a Grammy Hall of Fame award and the No. 73 country song of all-time in CMT’s 100 Greatest Songs of Country Music.

The Northwest Louisiana Archives has a Jimmie Davis exhibit that includes Davis’ version of the song as well as earlier recordings by The Pine Ridge Boys and The Rice Brothers earlier in 1939. The exhibit also features press clippings and other Jimmie Davis items.

Davis won his second term as Louisiana governor in 1960 by pledging to fight desegregation. The exhibit also includes press clippings from The Shreveport Sun, the city’s black-owned newspaper, which shows local and national stories from the 1950s and 1960s.

The biography is Mann’s 10th book on Louisiana and political history, as he is arguably the most revered source in that field.

Mann will host a discussion and book signing at the LSU Shreveport campus inside the Noel Memorial Library on Wednesday, April 2, at 11 a.m. Hardcover books can be purchased for $29.95, and e-books are available on the Leaf e-reader app for $19.95. The book was published by LSU Press.