”Nobody’s Darling (But Mine)” was a song written by Jimmie Davis and first recorded by him on September 21, 1934 and released in April the following year. My own version of this perennial favourite was done in the early ’60s at my parents makeshift garage, one of the very first tracks I recorded there. The usual setup as far as the instrumentation went was my Hagström guitar handling both lead, rhythm and bass parts. The vocal has a lot more to wish for, cause I had a really sore throat at the time and was really battling my way through to get the blasted thing in the can. That’s about all I can remember, so, happy listening…
TRIVIA:
James Houston "Jimmie" Davis (September 11, 1899 - November 5, 2000) was a singer and songwriter of both sacred and popular songs who served for two nonconsecutive terms from 1944-48 and from 1960-64 as the governor of his native Louisiana.
Davis was born to a sharecropping couple, the former Sarah Elizabeth Works (1877-1965) and Samuel Jones Davis (1873-1945), in the now-ghost town of Beech Springs southeast of Quitman in Jackson Parish in north Louisiana. He was a nationally popular country music and gospel singer from the 1930s into the 1960s, occasionally recording and performing as late as the early 1990s. He was inducted into six halls of fame, including the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Southern Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame (SGMA), and the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.
Davis became a commercially successful singer of rural music before he entered politics. His early work was in the style of early country music luminary Jimmie Rodgers, and he was also known for recording energetic and raunchy blues tunes such as "Red Nightgown Blues" and ”High Geared Daddy”. In the later part of the ’30s he was backed by (Milton) Brown’s Musical Brownies (!), consisting of Lefty Perkins on steel guitar, Papa Calhoun on piano and Buck Buchanan on fiddle. Some of these records also included slide guitar accompaniment by black bluesman Oscar "Buddy" Woods. During his first run for governor, opponents reprinted the lyrics of some of these songs in order to undermine Davis's campaign. In one case, anti-Davis forces played some records over an outdoor sound system only to give up after the crowds started dancing, ignoring the double-entendre lyrics. Until the end of his life, Davis never denied or repudiated those records.
In 1999, "You Are My Sunshine" was honored with a Grammy Hall of Fame Award and the Recording Industry Association of America named it one of the Songs of the Century. It was also ranked in 2003 as No. 73 on CMT's 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music. Until his death, Davis insisted that he wrote the song. In any case, it will forever be associated with him. Virginia Shehee, the Shreveport businesswoman, philanthropist, and state senator, introduced legislation to make "You Are My Sunshine" the official state song.
Davis became the popular "singing governor" of Louisiana who often performed during his campaign stops. While governor, he had a No. 1 hit single in 1945 with "There's a New Moon Over My Shoulder". Davis recorded for Decca Records for decades and released more than 40 albums. A long-time member of the Baptist faith, he also recorded a number of Southern gospel albums and in 1967 served as president of the Gospel Music Association. He was a close friend of the North Dakota-born band leader Lawrence Welk who frequently reminded viewers of his television program of his association with Davis.
A number of his songs were used as part of motion picture soundtracks, and Davis himself appeared in half a dozen films, one with Ozzie and Harriet. Members of Davis' last band included Allen "Puddler" Harris of Lake Charles, who had also been an original pianist for Ricky Nelson.