You are my sunshine
I must be one of a very few 30-year-olds who enjoy the music of the late and great Jimmie Davis. I will never forget the day back in 1999 – it was Easter Sunday – when I was listening to a popular country station which broadcast in Canada at the time, and there came a recitation by Jimmie called ‘The Three Nails’. I was completely blown away. Jimmie put so much feeling in that recitation, words can’t begin to express how moved I was. It was from his Songs Of Consolation album. From then on, I just knew there was something so special about that man and I knew I had to collect all his releases.
Jimmie Davis is a legend for both country and sacred music. I own every one of his albums and rare singles for Decca.
I have been blind since birth and music means the world to me. I live in Moratuwa and use a computer with speech.
James Houston Davis was born September 11, 1899 in Quitman, Jackson Parish, Louisiana. Jimmie served for two nonconsecutive terms from 1944 to 1948 and from 1960 to 1964 as the governor of his native Louisiana. He was a popular country music and gospel singer from the ’30s through the ’60s and performed occasionally up to the ’90s. He was inducted into no less than six halls of fame, some of which are the Country Music hall of fame, the Gospel Music hall of fame, and the Louisiana Music hall of fame.
In a performing career spanning eight decades of the 20th century, Davis recorded country blues numbers and then later switched to traditional gospel music, where he was to have his largest success. Jimmie signed with the RCA Victor label in 1929 and recorded almost 70 sides for the label.
Jimmie’s parents were sharecroppers. The family was so poor that young Jimmie, one of 11 children, didn’t have a bed to sleep on, until he was nine years old. He graduated from Beech Springs High School and the New Orleans Campus of Soule Business College. He received his bachelor’s degree in history from the Baptist-affiliated Louisiana college in Pineville in Rapides Parish, and a master’s degree from the Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. In the late 20s, Jimmie taught history and also yodelling.
Jimmie’s music career began in 1928. His early work was in the style of the late Blue Yodeller, Jimmie Rodgers. He was accompanied on some of these recordings by guitarist Oscar Buddy Woods. Jimmie moved to Decca Records in 1934 and gained his first major hit and my favourite song, ‘Nobody’s Darling But Mine’.
Another hit, ‘It Makes No Difference Now’, was bought from Floyd Tillman. However, Jimmie’s biggest success, came from his own copyright, ‘You Are My Sunshine’. Jimmie first recorded it in 1940 and the song quickly entered the first rank of popular and country music standards and recorded many many times over the years.
Jimmie Davis became the popular singing governor of Louisiana who often performed at his campaign stops. During his first term for governor, he had a No.1 hit with ‘There’s A New Moon Over My Shoulder’. Jimmie recorded for decades for Decca Records and released more than 40 albums. I am proud to say I have them all! A long time member of the Baptist faith, he also recorded a number of southern gospel albums, and I have all of them too. He served as president for the Gospel Music Association in 1967.
Jimmie appeared in three Westerns from 1942 to 1944, and in 1947, starred in the somewhat autobiographical Louisiana!
After his first term as governor, Jimmie moved back to full-time recording in 1948. After a short stint for Capitol, he moved back to Decca. Some of his country singles like ‘Suppertime’ began to please gospel listeners and he switched to a more sacred sound. Jimmie moved back to the governorship in 1960 and served another term until 1964. He reached the Top 20 on the country charts with ‘Where The Old Red River Flows’ in 1962. He was back to gospel music in 1964 and recorded heavily throughout the ’60s and ’70s.
Jimmie’s contract with Decca ended in the mid ’70s, but he continued to perform and record up until the ’90s. He passed away at the age of 101 on November 5, 2000 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.