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A Century
of
American Songs
(1861 - 1961)
The classification of a song is a short piece
having both words and music.Therefore, there are no instrumental works included on this list.The categories include:
classical, folk, blues, jazz, pop (or easy listening), stage musicals, movie songs, country & western, rhythm & blues, and rock .
Naturally not all the great songs could be included. It is a matter of subjective opinion which song might be greater than another. There is no way to please everyone's musical tastes.
The survey is based on three criteria:
1. songs which are representative of a musical style.
2. songs evoking their historical period.
3. songs chosen because of popularity in sheet music or record sales.The list of 100 songs is not based solely on surveys such as the Billboard charts, but the authoritative reference books by Joel Whitburn were used as sources and are indicated where appropriate.
Click on these links for each section:
I. The Civil War (1861-1865)
II. The Sentimental Age (1869-1889)IV. Rise of Tin Pan Alley (1900-1910)
V. Home Life and World War I (1911-1919)
VI. The Roaring Twenties (1920-1929)
VII. The Great Depression (1930-1938)
VIII. Radio, Movies and World War II (1939-1949)
IX. The Early Fifties (1950-1954)
X. Youth Market and The Cold War(1955-1961)
Essential American Recordings Survey
The year 2009 marked the the 250th anniversary of the
FIRST SONG WRITTEN BY AN AMERICAN.To honor this anniversary, a survey of recommended recordings has been compiled listing essential American music.
The recordings include a cross section of music, including 18th century psalm tunes, 19th century patriotic songs; 20th century classical, jazz, stage & screen, and popular songs.
To read this survey, go to:
The Civil War
to
The Cold War
(1861 - 1961)Selected br Roger Hall
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 WhitburnSongs listed below marked with # are available on
America in Song, Volune 2 (1861 - 1961)
Note: Songs are arranged by date, not by popularity or Billboard listing.
w = words/lyrics
m = music
I. The Civil War
(1861 - 1865)
1.# "John Brown (John Brown's Body") (1861) -
w: attributed to C.S. Hall/ m: unknown
this song and "Battle Hymn of the Republic"
performed by Old Stoughton Musical Society Chorus -- click here
2. "The Vacant Chair" (1861) - w: H.J. Washburn/ m: George F. Root
3. "The Bonnie Blue Flag" (1861) - w: Harry McCarthy
4.# "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" (1862) -
w: Julia Ward Howe/ m: unknown
Note: the music incorrectly attributed to William Steffe5. # "A Prayer for the Captive" (1862) - w & m: Cecilia DeVere
(Shaker Pacifist Hymn)6. # "Go Down, Moses" (c. 1862) - Afro-American Spiritual
7. "The Battle Cry of Freedom" (1862) - w & m: George F. Root
8. # "Willie Has Gone to the War" (1863) - w & m: Stephen C. Foster
9. "Weeping Sad and Lonely ( When This Cruel War is Over)" --
w: Charles C. Sawyer/ m: Henry Tucker10. "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (1863) -
w & m: Patrick S. Gilmore
II. The Sentimental Age
(1869-1889)
11. # "Hymn of Peace" (1869) - w: Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes/
m: Matthias Keller (written for National Peace Jubilee in Boston)12. # "Home on the Range" (1873) -
w: Dr. Brewster M. Higley/ m: Daniel E. Kelley13. # "Grandfather's Clock" (1876) - w & m: Henry Clay Work
14. "Oh, Promise Me!" (1889) -
w: Clement Scott/m: Reginald De Koven
15. # "After the Ball" (1892) - w & m: Charles K. Harris
16. # "Waltz" (1894) - w & m: Charles Ives
17. # "Prayer of Thanksgiving (We Gather Together)" (1894) -
translated and arranged 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. Rise of Tin Pan Alley
(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 Armstrong22. "Toyland" (1903) - words: Glen McDonough/
music: Victor Herbert23. +"Meet Me in St. Louis" (1904) - w: Arthur B. Sterling/
m: Kerry Mills24. # "Give My Regards To Broadway" (1904) -
w & m: George M. Cohan25. "I Love You Truly" (1906) - w & m: Carrie Jacobs-Bond
26. # +"You're a Grand Old Flag" (1906) -
w & m: George M. Cohan27. +"My Gal Sal"(1907) - w & m: Paul Dresser
28. "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" (1908) - words: Jack Norworth/
m: Albert Von Tilzer29. +"By the Light of the Silvery Moon" (1909) -
w: Edward Madden/ m: Gus Edwards
V. Home Life
and
World War I
(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 Weinrich33. "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 Rose41. +"April Showers" (1921) - w: Buddy De Sylva/ m: Louis Silvers
42. "Charleston" (1923) - w: Cecil Mack/ m: James P. Johnson
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 Kern47. "I Can't Give You Anything But Love"(1928) -
w: Dorothy Fields/ m: Jimmy McHugh48. # "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 Ellington58. "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. Radio, Movies
and
World War II
(1939-1949)
65. # "All the Things You Are" (1939) - w: Oscar Hammerstein II/
m: Jerome Kern - recording sung by Tony Martin with Jerome Kern at piano66. "Over the Rainbow" (1939) - w: E.Y. Harburg/ m: Harold Arlen
67. "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" (1940) -
w: Lorenz Hart/ m: Richard Rodgers68. "When You Wish Upon a Star" (1940) - w: Ned Washington/
m: Leigh Harline69. "This Land is Your Land" (1940) - w & m: Woody Guthrie
70. "Blues in the Night" (1941) - w: Johnny Mercer/
m: Harold Arlen71. # +"Chattanooga Choo-Choo" (1941) - w: Mack Gordon/
m: Harry Warren72. +"White Christmas" (1942) - w & m: Irving Berlin
73. # "People Will Say We're in Love'"(1943) - w: Oscar Hammerstein II/ m: Richard Rodgers
74. # "Ac-cent-tchuate the Positive" (1944) - w: Johnny Mercer/
m: Harold Arlen75. "Laura" (1945) - w: Johnny Mercer/m: David Raksin
76. "Stella By Starlight" (1946) - w: Ned Washington/m: Victor Young
77. "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. "Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin'" from HIGH NOON (1952)
- w: Ned Washington/ m: Dimitri Tiomkin83. +"You Belong to Me" (1952) - w & m: Pee Wee King,
Redd Stewart, Chilton Price84. # "Cold, Cold Heart" (1952) - w & m: Hank Williams
85. "Secret Love" (1953) - w: Paul Francis Webster/ m: Sammy Fain
86. "Three Coins in the Fountain" (1954) -
w: Sammy Cahn/ m: Jule Styne
X. Youth Market
and
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. $ "Love Me Tender" (1956) - w & m: Ken Darby (adapted from the 1861 song "Aura Lee" - not co-written by Elvis Presley )
92. " On the Street Where You Live" (1956) - w: Alan Jay Lerner/
m: Frederick Loewe93. "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. $ "Don't" (1958) - w & m: Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
97. "Small World" (1959) - w: Stephen Sondheim/ m: Jule Styne
98. "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" (1959) - w: Oscar Hammerstein II/
m: Richard Rodgers99. "Camelot (1960) - w: Alan Jay Lerner/m: Frederick Loewe
100. "Moon River" (1961) - w: Johnny Mercer/ m: Henry Mancini
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
Songs listed above marked with # are available on
America in Song, Volume 2 -
From Civil War to Cold War
(1861-1961)
Also recommended is this CD set:
Carousel of American Music:
The Fabled 24 September 1940 San Francisco Concerts
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 [1954, 1957]
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, 1959]
E.Y. Harburg = 2 [1932, 1939]
Lorenz Hart = 2 [1925, 1941]
Jerome Kern = 3 [1927, 1936, 1939]
Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe = 2 [ 1956, 1960]
Johnny Mercer = 4 [1941, 1945 (2), 1961]Mitchell Parrish = 2 [1929, 1933]
Cole Porter = 4 [1932, 1935 (2), 1956]
Richard Rodgers = 4 [1925, 1940, 1943, 1945]
George F. Root = 2 [1861, 1862]
Stephen Sondheim = 2 [1956, 1959]
Ned Washington = 2 [1940, 1952]
TOTAL = 60 songs by the above 20 songwriters in the Top 100 list
All of the above songs are located in the archive of the
American Music Recordings Collection (AMRC)
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