Video Information

• Choir: singing safari
• Piece: You are my sunshine
• Arranger:  Chris Rowbury
• Conductor:  Chris Rowbury
• Voices:  SATB
• Genres: Contemporary
• A popular song first recorded in 1939. It has been declared one of the state songs of Louisiana as a result of its association with former state governor and country music singer Jimmie Davis who, along with one Charlie Mitchell, bought the "rights" to th...  moreA popular song first recorded in 1939. It has been declared one of the state songs of Louisiana as a result of its association with former state governor and country music singer Jimmie Davis who, along with one Charlie Mitchell, bought the "rights" to the song from Paul Rice (of the Rice Brothers Gang who first recorded it) for $35 in late 1939; Jimmie Davis published it, with "words and music by Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell".
  
  There are still people alive, however, who remember hearing the song long before 1937 and what these people remember is the name of the musician with whom Paul Rice played in the early 1930's: Oliver Hood of LaGrange, Georgia.
  
  Contrary claims notwithstanding, Oliver Hood wrote "You Are My Sunshine." He wrote the words to the song on the back of a brown paper sack, which his children still possess, and he first performed the song at a VFW convention in LaGrange in 1933; he sang it through a megaphone out of a hotel window, and he sang no less than twenty verses, most of which are lost. (SOURCE: http://www.rosemontrecords.com/historical.html)
  
  This concert was the culmination of a six-week project which creates a choir from scratch for one night only. Each winter and summer, Chris Rowbury gathers a random bunch of singers from in and around Ipswich. There are no auditions and all songs are taught and learnt by ear. Usually eight songs are learnt in six two-hour sessions and in the winter are performed at St. Peters by the Waterfront, Ipswich. http://chrisrowbury.com  less