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100 Essential Songs (1861 - 1961)
This list is one of the Century Classics series.
All songs are in English or translated into English and were written between The Civil War and The Cold War.
The classification of a song is one having both words and music. Thus, there are no instrumental works included.
The songs include classical, folk, jazz, pop, theater, movie, country & western, and rock categories.
They were chosen because they are representative of a musical style, for their originality, and their popularity.
This survey list of 100 songs is not based on any survey such as the Billboard charts, but the authoritative reference books by Joel Whitburn were used as sources and are indicated where appropriate.
If you're a musician or music lover in search of vintage American music collections and CDs, go here:
Music Titles from PineTree Press
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A Century of American Songs
(1861 - 1961)Selected by Roger Hall, music preservationist
+ = Top 100 hits (8 or more weeks at No. 1) in Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories, 1890 - 1954.
* = Top 100 Singles, 1955-1995 (3 or more weeks at No. 1) in The Billboard Top 100 Singles, 1955-1995, compiled by Joel Whitburn. Note: Songs are arranged by date, not by popularity or Billboard listing, and emphasis is given to songs written before 1950 due to their historical significance.
30 of the songs listed below [ # ]are available on this CD:
America in Song, Volume II - From The Civil War to The Cold War (1861-1961)
w= words/ m = music
I. The Civil War (1861 - 1865)
1.# "Dixie" (1861) - w & m: Daniel Decateur Emmett
2. "The Bonnie Blue Flag" (1861) - w: Harry McCarthy
3. # "Aura Lea (or Lee)(1861) - w & m: W.W. Fosdick and George Poulton (the tune later used for "Love Me Tender" in 1956)
4. "The Vacant Chair" (1861) - w: H.J. Washburn/ m: George F. Root
5. # "Battle Hymn of the Republic" (1862) - w: Julia Ward Howe/
m: William Steffe6. # Go Down, Moses" (c. 1862) - Afro-American Spiritual
7. # "A Prayer for the Captive" (1862) - w & m: Cecilia DeVere (Shaker Pacifist Spiritual)
8. "The Battle Cry of Freedom" (1862) - w & m: George F. Root
9. # "Willie Has Gone to the War" (1863) - w & m: Stephen Foster
10. "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (1864) - w & m: Patrick Gilmore
II. 1869 - 1889
11. # "Angel of Peace" (1869) - w: Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes/
m: Mathias Keller (National Peace Jubilee in Boston)12. "Peace and Music" (1872) - w & m: Dudley Buck (World's Peace Jubilee in Boston)
13. # "Home on the Range" (1873) - w: Dr. Brewster M. Higley/
m: Daniel E. Kelley14. # "Grandfather's Clock" (1876) - w & m: Henry Clay Work
III. The 1890s
15. # "After the Ball" (1892) - w & m: Charles K. Harris
16. # "Waltz" (1894) - w & m: Charles Ives
17. # "Payer of Thanksgiving (We Gather Together)" (1894) -
translated by Dr. Theodore Baker18. # "On the Banks of the Wabash" (1897) - w & m: Paul Dreiser
19. # "Hello, Ma Baby" (1899) - w & m: Joseph E. Howard & Ida Emerson
IV. The Sentimental Age (1900-1910):
20. "Lift Every Voice and Sing" (1900) - w: James W. Johnson/
m: J. Rosamond Johnson21. +"Sweet Adeline" (1903) - w: Richard H. Gerard/ m: Harry Armstrong
22. "Toyland" (1903) - words: Glen McDonough/ music: Victor Herbert
23. +"Meet Me in St. Louis" (1904) - w: Arthur B. Sterling/ m: Kerry Mills
24. # "Give My Regards To Broadway" (1904) - words & music: George M. Cohan
25. "I Love You Truly" (1906) - w & m: Carrie Jacobs-Bond
26. # +"You're a Grand Old Flag" (1906) - words & music: George M. Cohan
27. +"My Gal Sal"(1907) - w & m: Paul Dresser
28. "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" (1908) - words: Jack Norwoth/
m: Albert von Tilzer29. +"By the Light of the Silvery Moon" (1909) - w: Edward Madden/
m: Gus Edwards
V. Great Songwriters (1911-1919):
30. +"Alexander's Ragtime Band" (1911) - w & m: Irving Berlin
31. "My Melancholy Baby" (1912) - w: George A. Norton/
m: Ernie Burnett32. +"On Moonlight Bay" (1912) - w: Edward Madden/ m: Percy Weinrich
33. "Danny Boy"(1913) - w & m: Frederick Edward Weatherly
34. "St. Louis Blues" (1914) - w & m: W.C. Handy
35. "They Didn't Believe Me?" (1914) - w: Michael E. Rourke/
m: Jerome Kern36. +"Over There" (1917) - w & m: George M. Cohan
37. "The Lament of Ian the Proud" (1918) - w: Fiona MacLeod/
m: Charles Tomlinson Griffes38. +"Rock-a-Bye Your Baby" (1918) - w: Sam Lewis & Joe Young/
m: Jean Schwartz39. # +"Swanee" (1919) - w: Irving Caesar/ m: George Gershwin
VI. The Roaring Twenties (1920-1929):
40. +"Whispering" (1920) - w & m: John Schonberger, Richard Coburn, Vincent Rose
41. "Ain't We Got Fun?" (1921) - w & m: Richard A. Whiting, Raymond B. Egan, Gus Kahn
42. +"April Showers" (1921) - w: Buddy De Sylva/ m: Louis Silvers
43. "Manhattan" (1925) - w: Lorenz Hart/ m: Richard Rodgers
44. "Someone to Watch Over Me" (1926) - w: Ira Gershwin/
m: George Gershwin45. # +"My Blue Heaven" (1927) - w: George Whiting/
m: Walter Donaldson46. "Ol' Man River" (1927) - w: Oscar Hammerstein II/ m: Jerome Kern
47. "I Can't Give You Anything But Love"(1928) - w: Dorothy Fields/ m: Jimmy McHugh
48. # "Star Dust" (1929) - w: Mitchell Parrish/ m: Hoagy Carmichael
49. "Ain't Misbehavin'" (1929) - w: Andy Razaf/ m: Fats Waller
VII. The Great Depression (1930-1938):
50. "I Got Rhythm" (1930) - w: Ira Gershwin/ m: George Gershwin
51. "Mood Indigo" (1931) - w & m: Edward "Duke" Ellington and Irving Mills
52. # "Brother Can You Spare A Dime?" (1932) - w: E.Y. Harburg/
m: Jay Gorney53. +"Night and Day" (1932) - w & m: Cole Porter
54. # +"The Last Round-Up" (1933) - w & m: Billy Hill
55. "Sophisticated Lady" (1933) - w: Mitchell Parrish, Irving Mills/
m: Duke Ellington56. +"Stormy Weather" (1933) - w: Ted Koehler/ m: Harold Arlen
57. "Solitude" (1934) - w: Eddie DeLange, Irving Mills/m: Duke Ellington
58. "Begin the Beguine" (1935) - w & m: Cole Porter
59. +"Cheek to Cheek" (1935) - w & m: Irving Berlin
60. "I've Got You Under My Skin" (1935) - w & m: Cole Porter
61. "The Way You Look Tonight" (1936) - w: Dorothy Fields/
m: Jerome Kern62. "They Can't Take That Away From Me" (1937) - w: Ira Gershwin/
m: George Gershwin63. "Our Love is Here to Stay" (1937) - w: Ira Gershwin/
m: George Gershwin64. # "God Bless America" (1938) - w & m: Irving Berlin
VIII. Big Bands and Singers (1939-1949):
65. # "All the Things You Are" (1939) - w: Oscar Hammerstein II/
m: Jerome Kern66. "Over the Rainbow" (1939) - w: E.Y. Harburg/ m: Harold Arlen
67. +"In the Mood" (1939) - w: Andy Razaf/ m: Joe Garland
68. "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" (1940) - w: Lorenz Hart/
m: Richard Rodgers69. "When You Wish Upon a Star" (1940) - w: Ned Washington/
m: Leigh Harline70. # +"I'll Never Smile Again" (1940) - w & m: Ruth Lowe
71. "Blues in the Night" (1941) - w: Johnny Mercer/ m: Harold Arlen
72. # +"Chattanooga Choo-Choo" (1941) - w: Mack Gordon/
m: Harry Warren73. +"White Christmas" (1942) - w & m: Irving Berlin
74. # "People Will Say We're in Love'"(1943) - w: Oscar Hammerstein II/
m: Richard Rodgers75. # "Ac-cent-tchuate the Positive" (1945) - w: Johnny Mercer/
m: Harold Arlen76. "It Might As Well Be Spring" (1945) - w: Oscar Hammerstein II/
m: Richard Rodgers77. "There's No Business Like Show Business" (1946) - w & m: Irving Berlin
78. +"Near You" (1947) - w: Kermit Goell/m: Francis Craig
79. +"Ghost Riders in the Sky" (1949) w & m: Stan Jones
IX. The Early Fifties (1950-1954):
80. # "Mona Lisa" (1950) - w: Ray Evans/ m: Jay Livingston
81. +"Goodnight, Irene" (1950) - w & m: Huddie Ledbetter & Alan Lomax
82. "High Noon" (1952) - w: Ned Washington/ m: Dimitri Tiomkin
83. +"You Belong to Me" (1952) - w & m: Pee Wee King, Redd Stewart, Chilton Price
84. # "Cold, Cold Heart" (1952) - w & m: Hank Williams
85. "Secret Love" (1953) - w: Paul Francis Webster/ m: Sammy Fain
86. "Earth Angel" (1954) - w & m: Curtis Williams
X. The Cold War (1955-1961):
87. *"Rock Around the Clock" (1955) - w & m: Max Freedman and Jimmy DeKnight
89. # *"Sincerely" (1955) - w & m: Harvey Fuqua & Alan Freed
90. *"Don't Be Cruel" (1956) - w & m: Otis Blackwell (not co-written by Elvis Presley)
91. "On the Street Where You Live" (1956) - w: Alan Jay Lerner/
m: Frederick Loewe92. "This Land is Your Land" (written in 1940/ published 1956) -
w & m: Woody Guthrie93. "True Love" (1956) - w & m: Cole Porter
94. "All the Way" (1957) - w: Sammy Cahn/ m: James Van Heusen
95. "Maria" (1957) - w: Stephen Sondheim/ m: Leonard Bernstein
96. *"Mack the Knife" (1955/1959) - w: Bertold Brecht (trans. by Marc Blitzstein)/m: Kurt Weill
97. "Small World" (1959) - w: Stephen Sondheim/ m: Jule Styne
98. "Camelot" (1960) - w: Alan Jay Lerner/ m: Frederick Loewe
99. "Crazy (1961) - w & m: Willie Nelson
100. "Moon River" (1961) - w: Johnny Mercer/ m: Henry Mancini
For a listing of birth anniversraies, go to:
Songwriters with 2 or more songs on the Top 100:
Harold Arlen = 4 [1933, 1939, 1941, 1945]
Irving Berlin = 4 [1911, 1938, 1942, 1946]
Sammy Cahn = 2 [1957, 1963]
George M. Cohan = 3 [1904, 1906,1917]
Duke Ellington = 3 [1931, 1933, 1934]Dorothy Fields = 2 [1928, 1936]
George Gershwin = 5 [1919, 1926, 1930, 1937 (2) ]
Ira Gershwin = 4 [1926, 1930, 1937 (2) ]
Oscar Hammerstein II = 4 [1927, 1939, 1943, 1945]
E.Y. Harburg = 2 [1932, 1939]
Lorenz Hart = 2 [1925, 1941]
Jerome Kern = 4 [1921, 1927, 1936, 1940]
Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe = 2 [ 1956, 1960]
Johnny Mercer = 3 [1941, 1945, 1961]
Mitchell Parrish = 2 [1929, 1933]
Cole Porter = 4 [1932, 1935 (2), 1956]
Richard Rodgers = 4 [1925, 1941, 1943, 1945]
George F. Root = 2 [1861, 1862]
Stephen Sondheim = 2 [1956, 1959]
Ned Washington = 2 [1940, 1952]
TOTAL = 60 songs by the above 21 songwriters in the Top 100 list
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For additional information see
Other links for popular songs and songwriters:
- American Popular Song
- Greatest Songwriters of 20th Century
- Popular Songwriters and Songs
- Sheet Music Magazine
- Songwriters Hall of Fame
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