Robert Mann’s 10th book, “You Are My Sunshine: Jimmie Davis & the Biography of a Song,” wraps musicology and social and political history into 161 concise pages. Straightforward though ...

Each put in $17.50.” If that is to be believed that it would be clear that Paul Rice wrote the song and then, needing money, sold it. Said Rice, “I wrote ‘You Are my Sunshine’ in 1937.

The official state song is “ Give Me Louisiana,” written in 1970 by Doralice Fontane, and not only former Gov. Jimmie Davis’ version of “ You Are My Sunshine, ” as many thought.

The pair’s version of “You Are My Sunshine” effectively turns the tables, recasting Morgane as the bandleader and Chris as the backup singer. In the video above, the two perform the folk ...

Ray Charles's rendition of "You Are My Sunshine" helped disassociate it from its connection to segregation. The song's journey to becoming Louisiana's state song is detailed in Mann's book.