Celebrate
National Carry A Tune Week!
October 1-7, 2017
Read about this Free Annual Online Event
Part One
(1759 -1859)
"The first extant art songs composed in the United States are credited to Francis Hopkinson, a friend of George Washington and signer of the Declaration of Independence. Hopkinson, the only American-born composer for whom there is evidence of having written songs prior to 1800, penned "My Days Have Been So Wondrous Free" (words by Doctor [Thomas] Parnell) in 1759. Scored for voice and harpsichord by Hopkinson is America's earliest surviving secular composition."
w = words/lyrics
m = music
2. "The Liberty Song" (1768) - w: John Dickinson/
tune: HEART OF OAK -- First propaganda song
3. "The Massachusetts Song Of Liberty" (1770) - w: Dr. Benjamin Church/tune: HEART OF OAK -- Tory rebuttal to "The Liberty Song"
4. "Free America" (1770) - w: Dr. Joseph Warren/
tune: BRITISH GRENADIERS
II. The American Revolution
5. "The American Hero" (1775) - w: Nathaniel Niles/
tunes: BUNKER HILL and HEROISM
6. "The Lexington March"(c. 1775) - author unknown/
tune: YANKEE DOODLE
9. "Lamentation Over Boston" - w & m: William Billings
10. "A Toast" (1778) - w & m: Francis Hopkinson
(written in tribute to General George Washington)
11. "Warren" (1770s) - m: Abraham Wood
12. "Thanksgiving Song" (ca. 1783) - unknown author
(written at the end of the American Revolution)
13. U.S. Constitutuion Ratification Song (1788) -
tune: YANKEE DOODLE
14. "Beneath a Weeping Willow's Shade" (1788) -
w & m: Francis Hopkinson (dedicated to George Washington)
16. "Hail, Columbia! (1799) - w: Joseph Hopkinson/
tune: THE PRESIDENT'S MARCH
17. "Adams and Liberty" (1798) - w: Thomas R.T. Paine/
tune: TO ANACREON IN HEAVEN
IV. From Singing Masters to Shakers
18. "Majesty" (1778) - m: William Billings
19. "Victory" (1793) - m: Daniel Read
20."Jubilant" (1794) - m: Supply Belcher
21. "New Jerusalem" (1796) - m: Jeremiah Ingalls
22. "New Bethlehem" (1799) - Edward French
23. "Dormant" (1802) - m: Jacob French
24. "Jefferson and Liberty" (1803) - author unknown
26. "The Hunters of Kentucky" - words: Samuel Woodworth, ca. 1822/
tune: UNFORTUNATE MILL BAILEY
27. "There's Nothing True But Heaven"(1829) -
w: Sir Thomas More/ m: Oliver Shaw
28. "My Country 'Tis of Thee" (1831) - w: Samuel F. Smith/
tune: GOD SAVE THE KING
29. "Amazing Grace (1835) - w: John Newton/
m: NEW BRITAIN (unknown composer)
30. "Come Life, Shaker Life" (1835) - Issachar Bates
31. "Joy to the World" (1839) - m: Lowell Mason ("arr. from Handel")
32. "Clumbia the Land of the Brave (1843) - w & m: David T. Shaw
33. "The Old Granite State" (1843) - w & m: The Hutchinson Family
34. "The Erie Canal" (ballad)
35. "Buffalo Gals" (1844)- attributed w & m: Cool White/
later a 1940s hit song and also sung in the popular film,
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE
36. "Followers of the Lamb" (1847) - w & m: Clarissa Jacobs
V. Songs by Stephen Collins Foster
38. "Oh, Susanna" (1848)
39. " Old Folks at Home" (1850)
40. "My Old Kentucky Home" (1853)
41. "Jeannie With the Light Brown Hair" (1854)
42. "Gentle Annie" (1856)
VI. Songs of Sentiment and Abolition
43. "Get Off The Track" (1844) - w: Jesse Hutchinson/
tune: Old Dan Tucker
44. "There's Music in the Air" (1854) - w: Fanny Crosby/
m: George F. Root
45. "Listen to the Mockingbird" (1855) - w: Alice Hawthorne (Septimus Winner)/ m: Richard Milburn
47. "Darling Nellie Gray" (1856) - w & m: Benjamin Hanby
48. "We Three Kings of Orient Are" (1857) -
w & m: John H. Hopkins
49. "The One Horse Open Sleigh (or Jingle Bells)(1857) -
w & m: James Pierpont
50. "Dixie's Land (or Dixie) (1859) - w & m: Daniel Decatur Emmett
Songwriters with 2 or more songs on above list:
William Billings = 4 [Nos. 8, 9, 12, 18]
Daniel Decatur Emmett = 2 [Nos. 27 and 50]
Stephen Collins Foster = 5 [Nos. 38 - 42]
Francis Hopkinson = 3 [Nos. 1, 10, 14]
Hutchinson Family = 2 [Nos. 32, 43 ]
Part Two
(1861 - 1899)
w = words/ lyrics
m = music
|
* = Top 100 hits (8 or more weeks at No. 1) in
Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories, 1890 - 1954
|
Note: Songs are arranged by date, not by popularity.
VII. The Civil War (1861-1865)
51. "John Brown (or John Brown's Body)(1861) - w: unknown/
m: "Glory, Hallelujah!"
53."The Bonnie Blue Flag" (1861) - w: Harry McCarthy
54. "A Prayer for the Captive" (1862) - w & m: Cecilia DeVere
(Shaker pacifist hymn)
55. "Go Down, Moses"(c. 1862) - Afro-American Spiritual
56. "The Battle Cry of Freedom" (1862) - w & m: George F. Root
57."Lorena" (1862) - w: Henry D. Webster/
m: Joseph P. Webster
58. "Willie Has Gone To The War" (1863) -
w & m: Stephen Foster
59. "Weeping Sad and Lonely (When This Cruel War is Over)" -w: Charles C. Sawyer/ m: Henry Tucker
60. "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (1863) -
w & m: Patrick S. Gilmore (aka: Louis Lambert)
61."Tenting On The Old Camp Ground" (1864)
w & m: Walter Kittredge
62. "Beautiful Dreamer" (1864) -
w & m: Stephen Foster
VIII. The Sentimental Age (1869-1889)
63."Hymn of Peace (aka: Angel of Peace) (1869) - w: Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes/ m: Matthias Keller (written for the National Peace Jubilee commemorating the end of the Civil War)
64."Home on the Range" (1873) -
w: Dr. Brewster M. Higley/ m: Daniel E. Kelley
65."Grandfather's Clock" (1876) - w & m: Henry Clay Work
66. "Oh, Promise Me!" (1889) -
w: Clement Scott/m: Reginald De Koven
Charles Ives
67. "After the Ball" (1892) - w & m: Charles K. Harris
68."The Sidewalks of New York" (1894) - w & m: James W. Blake and Charles B. Lawlor
69. "Waltz" (1894) - w & m: Charles Ives
70. "We Gather Together" (aka: Prayer of Thanksgiving) (1894) - translated and arranged by Dr. Theodore Baker
71. "America the Beautiful" (1895) - w: Katharine Lee Bates/
m: Samuel A. Ward, 1882
72. "The Band Played On" (1895) - w: John F. Palmer/
m: Charles B. Ward
73. "On the Banks of the Wabash" (1897) -
w & m: Paul Dreiser
74. "When You Were Sweet Sixteen" (1898)
75. "Hello, Ma Baby" (1899) -
w & m: Joseph E. Howard & Ida Emerson
Part Three
(1900 -1929)
IV. Rise of Tin Pan Alley
76. "Lift Every Voice and Sing" (1900) - w: James W. Johnson/
m: J. Rosamond Johnson
77. *"Sweet Adeline" (1903) -
w: Richard H. Gerard/ m: Harry Armstrong
78. "Toyland" (1903) - w: Glen McDonough/
m: Victor Herbert
79."Give My Regards To Broadway" (1904) -
w & m: George M. Cohan
80. "Meet Me in St. Louis" (1904) - w: Arthur B. Sterling/
m: Kerry Mills
81. "I Love You Truly" (1906) - w & m: Carrie Jacobs-Bond
82. "You're a Grand Old Flag" (1906) -
w & m: George M. Cohan
83. "My Gal Sal"(1907) - w & m: Paul Dresser
84. *"School Days" (1907) - w: Will D. Cobb/
m: Gus Edwards
85. "Take Me Out To The Ball Game"(1908) - words: Jack Norworth/ m: Albert Von Tilzer
86. *"By the Light of the Silvery Moon" (1909) -
w: Edward Madden/ m: Gus Edwards
87. *"Put On Your Old Grey Bonnet" (1909) - w: Stanley Murphy/ m: Percy Weinrich
88. "Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life" (1910) - w: Rida Johnson Young/ m: Victor Herbert
89. "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" (1910) -
w & m: Beth Slater Whitson and Leo Friedman
90. "Some Of These Days (1910) - w & m: Shelton Brooks
(theme song of singer, Sophie Tucker)
XI. Home Life and World War I
92. "A Real Slow Drag" (1911) - w & m: Scott Joplin
93. "My Melancholy Baby" (1912) - w: George A. Norton/
m: Ernie Burnett
94. *"On Moonlight Bay" (1912) - w: Edward Madden/
m: Percy Weinrich
95. *"Peg O' My Heart" (1913) - w: Alfred Bryan/
m: Fred Fisher (revived in 1947)
96. "You Made Me Love You" (1913) - w: Joseph McCarthy/
m: James V. Monaco
97. "Play A Simple Melody" (1914) - w & m: Irving Berlin
98. "St. Louis Blues" (1914) - w & m: W.C. Handy
99. "They Didn't "Believe Me" (1914) - w: Michael E. Rourke/
m: Jerome Kern
100. "Over There" (1917) - w & m: George M. Cohan
101. "Oh, How I Hate To Get Up In The Morning" (1918)
- w & m: Irving Berlin
102. "The Lament of Ian the Proud" (1918) - w: Fiona MacLeod/
m: Charles Tomlinson Griffes
103. *"Rock-a-Bye Your Baby" (1918) - w: Sam Lewis &
Joe Young/ m: Jean Schwartz
104. "A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody" (1919) - w & m: Irving Berlin
105. "Swanee" (1919) - w: Irving Caesar/
m: George Gershwin
XII. The Roaring Twenties
106. *"Whispering" (1920) - w & m: John Schonberger,
Richard Coburn, Vincent Rose
107. *"April Showers" (1921) - w: Buddy De Sylva/
m: Louis Silvers
108. *"Three O'Clock In The Morning (1921) -
w: Theodora Morse/ m: Julian Robledo
109. "Goin' Home"(1922) - w & m arr. by Williams Arms Fisher(based on Dvorak's "Largo" theme from New World Symphony)
110. "Charleston" (1923) - w: Cecil Mack/ m: James P. Johnson
111. "Tea For Two" (1924) - w: Irving Caesar/
m: Vincent Youmans
112. "Fascinating Rhythm" (1924) - w: Ira Gershwin/
m: George Gershwin
113. "Manhattan" (1925) - w: Lorenz Hart/ m: Richard Rodgers
114. "Someone to Watch Over Me" (1926) - w: Ira Gershwin/
m: George Gershwin
115. *"My Blue Heaven" (1927) - w: George Whiting/
m: Walter Donaldson
116. "Ol' Man River" (1927) - w: Oscar Hammerstein II/
m: Jerome Kern
117. "I Can't Give You Anything But Love"(1928) -
w: Dorothy Fields/ m: Jimmy McHugh
118. *"Sonny Boy" (1928) - w & m: Al Jolson, B.G. DeSylva,
Lew Brown, Ray Henderson
119. *"Star Dust" (1929) - w: Mitchell Parrish/
m: Hoagy Carmichael
120. "Ain't Misbehavin'" (1929) - w: Andy Razaf/ m: Fats Waller
121. "You Were Meant For Me" (1929) - w: Arthur Freed/
m: Nacio Herb Brown
122. "Happy Days Are Here Again" (1929) - w: Jack Yellen/
m: Milton Ager (recorded the day before the Stock Market Crash)
Part Four
w = words/ lyrics
m = music
|
* = 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.
XIII. The Great Depression
123. "Body and Soul" (1930) - w: Frank Eyton, Edward Heyman, Robert Sour/ m: Johnny Green
124. "I Got Rhythm" (1930) - w: Ira Gershwin/
m: George Gershwin
125. *"As Time Goes By" (1931) - w & m: Herman Hupfeld
126. "Mood Indigo" (1931) - w & m: Edward "Duke" Ellington and Irving Mills
127. "Brother Can You Spare A Dime?" (1932) -
w: E.Y. Harburg/ m: Jay Gorney
128. "The Last Round-Up"(1933) - w & m: Billy Hill
129. *"Night and Day" (1932) - w & m: Cole Porter
130. *"The Song Is You" (1932) - w: Oscar Hammerstein II/
m: Jerome Kern
131. *"Forty-Second Street" (1933) - w: Al Dubin/
m: Harry Warren
132. "Sophisticated Lady" (1933) - w: Mitchell Parrish, Irving Mills/ m: Duke Ellington
133. *"Stormy Weather" (1933) - w: Ted Koehler/
m: Harold Arlen
134. "Anything Goes" (1934) - w & m: Cole Porter
135. *"Blue Moon" (1934) - w: Lorenz Hart/ m: Richard Rodgers
136. "Solitude" (1934) - w: Eddie DeLange, Irving Mills/
m: Duke Ellington
137. "Begin the Beguine" (1935) - w & m: Cole Porter
138. *"Cheek to Cheek" (1935) - w & m: Irving Berlin
139. "I've Got You Under My Skin" (1935) - w & m: Cole Porter
140. "Lullaby of Broadway" (1935) - w: Al Dubin/ m: Harry Warren (Oscar-winning song from GOLD DIGGERS OF 1935)
141. "Summertime" (1935) - w: DuBose Heyward/
m: George Gershwin (from opera, PORGY AND BESS)
142."I'm An Old Cow Hand (From The Rio Grande)" (1936) -
w & m: Johnny Mercer
143. *"Pennies From Heaven"(1936) - w: Johnny Burke/
m: Arthur Johnston
144. "The Way You Look Tonight" (1936) - w: Dorothy Fields/
m: Jerome Kern (Oscar-winning song from SWING TIME)
145. *"Hooray For Hollywood" (1937) - w: Johnny Mercer/
m: Richard Whiting
146: "They Can't Take That Away From Me" (1937) -
w: Ira Gershwin/ m: George Gershwin
147. "Our Love is Here to Stay" (1938) - w: Ira Gershwin/
m: George Gershwin
148. *"Sweet Leilani" )1938) - w & m: Harry Owens (Oscar-winning song from WAIKIKI WEDDING)
149. "God Bless America" (1938) - w & m: Irving Berlin
150. "Thanks For The Memory" (1938) - w: Leo Robin/
m: Ralph Rainger (Oscar-winning song from THE BIG BROADCAST OF 1938, and later the theme song for Bob Hope)
XIV. Radio, Movies and World War II
151. "All the Things You Are" (1939) -
w: Oscar Hammerstein II/ m: Jerome Kern
152. "Over the Rainbow" (1939) - w: E.Y. Harburg/
m: Harold Arlen
153. *"Deep Purple (1939) - w: Mitchell Parrish/
m: Peter DeRose
154. "In The Mood"(1939) - w: Andy Razaf/ m: Joe Garland
155. "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" (1940) -
w: Lorenz Hart/ m: Richard Rodgers
156. "When You Wish Upon a Star" (1940) - w: Ned Washington/ m: Leigh Harline
157. "Blues in the Night" (1941) - w: Johnny Mercer/
m: Harold Arlen
158. "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy Of Company B (1941) -
w & m: Don Raye and Hughie Prince
159. *"Chattanooga Choo-Choo" (1941) - w: Mack Gordon/
m: Harry Warren
160. "At Last" (1942) - w: Mack Gordon/m: Harry Warren
161. *"White Christmas" (1942) - w & m: Irving Berlin
162. "Jingle, Jangle, Jingle" (1942) - w: Frank Loesser/
m: Joseph J. Lilley
163. "People Will Say We're in Love'"(1943) - w: Oscar Hammerstein II/ m: Richard Rodgers
164."Ac-cent-tchuate the Positive" (1944) - w: Johnny Mercer/ m: Harold Arlen
165. "I'll Be Seeing You" (1944) - w: Irving Kahal/
m: Sammy Fain
166. "Laura" (1945) - w: Johnny Mercer/m: David Raksin
XV. The Post War Singers Era
167."On The Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe" (1946) -
w: Johnny Mercer/ m: Harry Warren
(Oscar-winning song from THE HARVEY GIRLS)
168. "Stella By Starlight" (1946) - w: Ned Washington/
m: Victor Young
169. "There's No Business Like Show Business" (1946) -
w & m: Irving Berlin
170. "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" (1946) - w: Ray Gilbert/
m: Allie Wrubel (Oscar-winning song from SONG OF THE SOUTH)
171. *"Near You" (1947) - w: Kermit Goell/ m: Francis Craig
172. *"Ghost Riders in the Sky" (1949) - w & m: Stan Jones
173. *"Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" (1949) -
w & m: Johnny Marks
174."Mona Lisa"(1950) - w: Ray Evans/ m: Jay Livingston
175. *"Goodnight, Irene" (1950) - w & m: Huddie Ledbetter & Alan Lomax
176. *"The Tennessee Waltz" (1950) - w & m: Redd Stewart
and Pee Wee King (official State of Tennessee song)
177. *"Because Of You" (1940/ 1951) - w: Arthur Hamilton/
m: Dudley Wilkinson
178. "Cold, Cold Heart" (1952) - w & m: Hank Williams Sr.
179. *"Cry" (1951) - w & m: Churchill Kohlman
180. "Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin' (1952) -
w: Ned Washington/ m: Dimitri Tiomkin
(Oscar-winning song from the film, HIGH NOON)
181. *"You Belong To Me" (1952) - w & m: Pee Wee King,
Redd Stewart, Chilton Price
182. "Secret Love" (1953) - w: Paul Francis Webster/
m: Sammy Fain (Oscar-winning song from CALAMITY JANE)
183. *"Vaya Con Dios (May God Be With You)" (1953) -
w & m: Larry Russell, Inez James, Buddy Pepper
184. "Earth Angel" (1954) - w & m: Curtis Williams
185."Three Coins in the Fountain" (1954) - w: Sammy Cahn/
m: Jule Styne
XVI. Musical Theater
and Rock n' Roll Revolution
186. $ "Rock Around the Clock" (1955) - w & m: Max Freedman and Jimmy DeKnight
187. $"Sincerely" (1955) - w & m: Harvey Fuqua & Alan Freed
188. $"Don't Be Cruel" (1956) - w & m: Otis Blackwell
(not co-written by Elvis Presley)
189. $"Love Me Tender" (1956) - w & m: Ken Darby (adapted from the Civil War era song, "Aura Lee" - not co-written by Elvis Presley and Vera Matson)
190. "On the Street Where You Live" (1956) - w: Alan Jay Lerner/
m: Frederick Loewe
191. $"Young Love" (1957) - w & m: Ric Cartey and Carole Joyner
193."All The Way" (1957) - w: Sammy Cahn/ m: James Van Heusen (Oscar-winning song from THE JOKER IS WILD)
194. $"Tammy" (1957) - w & m: Jay Livingston and Ray Evans
195."Maria" (1957) - w: Stephen Sondheim/
m: Leonard Bernstein (from stage musical, WEST SIDE STORY)
196. $"At The Hop" (1958) - w & m: Artie Singer, David White, John Medora
197. $"It's All In The Game" (1958) - w: Carl Sigman/ m: Charles Gates Dawes (melody originally written in 1912)
198. "Climb Every Mountain" (1959) - w: Oscar Hammerstein II/ m: Richard Rodgers (from stage musical, THE SOUND OF MUSIC)
199. $"Mack The Knife" (1952/ 1959) - w: Bertolt Brecht (English translation: Marc Blitstein)/ m: Kurt Weill (from THREE PENNY OPERA) - Grammy Award as Record of the Year for Bobby Darin
200. "Small World" (1959) - w: Stephen Sondheim/ m: Jule Styne
(from stage musical, GYPSY)
Recordings for all the above songs are in the
Songwriters with 2 or more songs on the above list:
Harold Arlen = 4 [1933, 1939, 1941, 1945]
Irving Berlin = 6 [1911, 1914, 1919, 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 = 7 [1919, 1924, 1926, 1930, 1935,
1937, 1938 ]
Ira Gershwin = 5 [1924, 1926, 1930, 1937, 1938 ]
Oscar Hammerstein II = 5 [1927, 1934, 1939, 1943, 1959]
E.Y. Harburg = 2 [1932, 1939]
Lorenz Hart = 3 [1925, 1934, 1941]
Victor Herbert = 2 [1903, 1910]
Jerome Kern = 4 [1927, 1934, 1936, 1939]
Jay Livingston & Ray Evans = 2 [1950, 1957]
Johnny Mercer = 5 [1936, 1937, 1941, 1945, 1946]
Mitchell Parrish = 3 [1929, 1933, 1939]
Cole Porter = 5 [1932, 1934, 1935 (2), 1956]
Richard Rodgers = 5 [1925, 1934, 1940, 1943, 1945]
George F. Root = 2 [1861, 1862]
Stephen Sondheim = 2 [1956, 1959]
Harry Warren = 5 [1933, 1935, 1941, 1942, 1946]
Ned Washington = 2 [1940, 1952]
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