Survey of American Song, 1759-1961

SONG OF THE OLD FOLKS (tune: AULD LANG SYNE)
No. 46 on this Survey

Survey
of
Essential American Songs
1759-1961

Calling All Teachers, Historians,
Students and Listeners!

With so much music available today it is surprising that much less is readily available from earlier America, especially before the 20th century.
If you are looking for early American songs, here is your opportunity to have music examples to supplement your class teaching, research projects or listening enjoyment.
All the recorded music listed below comes from the American Music Recordings Archive.

The classification of a song is one having both words and music.
Thus, there are no instrumental works included in this Survey of Essential American Songs [or SEAS].
The SEAS categories include:
folk ballads
Christmas songs
patriotic songs
religious music
sentimental songs
war songs
classical songs
folk songs
blues songs
jazz songs
easy listening songs
theater songs
movie songs
country and western
rhythm & blues
rock n' roll
No claim is made to be comprehensive or include all the popular songs of the time. This list is meant to be representative and a reference list for students, teachers, historians and listeners.
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 one or more of these criteria:
1. songs which are representative of a musical style.
2. songs evoking their historical period.
3.songs chosen because of their popularity.
The list of 200 songs is divided into two sections:
Part One, 1759-1859 = 50 songs
Part Two, 1861-1961 = 150 songs
The songs in Part Two are 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.

Two CDs available
Some, but not all, of the songs listed on the survey (marked with + for Volume 1 and ++ for Volume 2) are available on two CDs. Some of the 20th century music is performed by the songwriters themselves.
These specially prepared CDs are for educational and personal use only, available for a specific donation to help support this preservation website and keep it online. These are the two CDs:

AMERICA IN SONG, Volume 1 (1759-1859)
25 tracks

AMERICA IN SONG, Volume 2 (1861-1961)
25 tracks

Payment for one CD (Volume 1 or 2) is $20, or $35 for both Volumes 1 and 2, by donation with a credit card, payable to PineTree Productions, through safe and secure PayPal. Free Shipping is included.

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To insure proper delivery,
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Send to:
America in Song

For any questions, write to:
SEAS

Click on these links for each section:
Part One
From Rebellion and Revolution
to
Sentiment and Abolition
(1759 - 1859)
I. Rebellion (Nos. 1-4)
II. The American Revolution (Nos. 5-12)
III. The Federalist Era (Nos. 13-17)
IV. From Singing Masters to Shakers (Nos. 18-37)
V. Songs of Stepehn Collins Foster (Nos. 38-42)
VI. Songs of Sentiment and Abolition (Nos. 43-50)

Part Two
From The Civil War to The Cold War
(1861- 1961)
VII. The Civil War (1861-1865) (Nos. 51-62)

VIII. The Sentimental Age (1869-1889)(Nos. 63-66)
IX. The 1890s (Nos. 67-75)
X. Rise of Tin Pan Alley (1900-1910) (Nos. 76-90)
XI. Home Life and World War I (1911-1919)(Nos. 91-105)
XII. The Roaring Twenties (1920-1929) (Nos. 106-122)
XIII. The Great Depression (1930-1938) (Nos. 123-150)
XIV. Radio, Movies and World War II (1939-1949)(Nos. 151-173)
XV. The Early Fifties (1950-1954)(Nos. 174-185)
XVI. The Cold War and Youth Market (1955-1959)(Nos. 186-200)

Take part in the annual event known as
National Carry A Tune Week

Part One:

From Rebellion and Revolution
to
Sentiment and Abolition

(1759 -1859)
Selected by Roger Lee Hall, music preservationist

I. Rebellion

From the Library of Congress website:
"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

+ = America in Song, Volume 1

1.+ "My Days Have Been So Wondrous Free" (1759) -
w & m: Francis Hopkinson -- First American secular song
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
7. +"Father and I Went Down to Camp" (1776) - w: Edward Bangs/ tune: YANKEE DOODLE

8. +"Chester" (1770/ 1778) - w & m: William Billings (first popular patriotic song with words and music by an American)
9. " Lamentation Over Boston" (1778) - m: William Billings (words adapted from Biblical passages)
10. "A Toast" (1778) - w & m: Francis Hopkinson (written in tribute to George Washington)
11. "Warren" (unknown) - m: Abraham Wood
12. +"Hymn of Thanksgiving " (unknown) -
m: Williiam Billings, 1778

III. The Federalist Era

13. +"U.S. Constitution Ratification Song" (1788) -
tune: YANKEE DOODLE
14. "Beneath a Weeping Willow's Shade" (1788) -
w & m: Francis Hopkinson (dedicated to George Washington)
15. +"Ode to the President of the United States" (1789) - w: Samuel Low/ tune: GOD SAVE THE KING (written for the First Presidential Inauguration of George Washington in New York)
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. "The Bird" (1790) - m: William Billings
19. +"Victory" (1793) - m: Daniel Read
20. "Jubilant" (1794) - m: Supply Belcher
21. +"New Jerusalem" (1796) - m: Jeremiah Ingalls
22. +"Dormant" (1802) - m: Jacob French
23. "Jefferson and Liberty" (1803) - author unknown
24. +"The Star Spangled Banner" (1814) - w: Francis Scott Key/
tune: TO ANACREON IN HEAVEN
25."There's Nothing True But Heaven" (ca. 1817) - w: Sir Thomas More/ m: Oliver Shaw
26. "Home, Sweet Home" (1823) - w: John Howard Payne/
m: Sir Henry Bishop
27. +"My Country 'Tis of Thee" (1831) - w: Samuel F. Smith/
tune: GOD SAVE THE KING
28."Old Dan Tucker" (c. 1830) - w & m: Daniel Decatur Emmett
29. "Amazing Grace (1835) - w: John Newton/
m: NEW BRITAIN (unknown composer)
30. "Woodman! Spare That Tree!" (1837) - w: George P. Morris/
m: Henry Russell
31. "Columbia the Land of the Brave (1843) - w & m: David T. Shaw
32. "The Old Granite State" (1843) - w & m: The Hutchinson Family
33. +"The Erie Canal" - author unknown
34. +"Buffalo Gals" (1844) - w & m:Cool White/ later a 1940s hit song and also sung in the popular film, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE
35."Joy to the World" (1839) - m: Lowell Mason ("arr. from Handel")
36. "Followiers of the Lamb" (c. 1847) - w & m: attributed to Clarissa Jacobs (Shaker revival hymn)
37. +"Simple Gifts" (1848) - w & m: Joseph Brackett Jr.
(Shaker dance song)

V. Songs by Stephen 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 [see No. 27] (Anti-salvery song)
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
46. +"Song of the Old Folks" (1855) - w: adapted by Albert Laighton/ tune: AULD LAND SYNE
47. "Darling Nellie Gray" (1856) - w & m: Benjamin Hanby
48. "We Three Kings of Orient Are" (1857) -
w & m: John H. Hopkins
49. "Jingle Bells (or The One Horse Open Sleigh)" (1857) -
w & m: James Pierpont
50. +"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:

From The Civil War
to
The Cold War

(1861 - 1961)

++ = on specially prepared CD (Volume 2)
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.

VII. The Civil War (1861-1865)

51. ++"John Brown (or John Brown's Body)" (1861) -
w: unknown/ m: "Glory, Hallelujah!"
52. ++"Battle Hymn of the Republic" (1862) -
w: Julia Ward Howe/ m: "Glory, Hallelujah!"
53. "The Vacant Chair" (1861) - w: H.J. Washburn/
m: George F. Root
54. "The Bonnie Blue Flag" (1861) - w: Harry McCarthy
55. ++"A Prayer for the Captive" (1862) - w & m: Cecilia DeVere
(Shaker pacifist hymn)
56. ++"Go Down, Moses" (c. 1862) - Afro-American Spiritual
57. "The Battle Cry of Freedom" (1862) - w & m: George F. Root
58. "Lorena" (1862) - w: Henry D. Webster/
m: Joseph P. Webster
59. ++"Willie Has Gone to the War" (1863) -
w & m: Stephen Foster
60. "Weeping Sad and Lonely (When This Cruel War is Over)"
w: Charles C. Sawyer/ m: Henry Tucker
61. "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (1863) -
w & m: Patrick S. Gilmore (aka: "Louis Lambert")
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

IX. The 1890s

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

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 Wenrich
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

91. *"Alexander's Ragtime Band" (1911) - w & m: Irving Berlin
92. "Oh, You Beautiful Doll" (1911) - w: A. Seymour Brown/
m: Nat A. Ayer
93. "My Melancholy Baby" (1912) - w: George A. Norton/
m: Ernie Burnett
94. *"On Moonlight Bay" (1912) - w: Edward Madden/
m: Percy Weinrich
95. "Danny Boy" (1913) - w & m: Frederick Edward Weatherly
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. "K-K-K-Katy" (1918) - w & m: Geoffrey O'Hara
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

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. *"Paper Doll" (1943) - w & m: Johnny S. Black
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
167. "On The Atcheson, Topeka and Sante 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

XV. The Early 1950s

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 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. The Cold War and Youth Market

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 )
190. "On the Street Where You Live" (1956) - w: Alan Jay Lerner/ m: Frederick Loewe (from stage musical, MY FAIR LADY)
191. "This Land is Your Land" (written in 1940 but not published until 1956) - w & m: Woody Guthrie
192. "True Love" (1956) - w & m: Cole Porter

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. "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" (1959) - w: Oscar Hammerstein II/ m: Richard Rodgers (from stage musical, THE SOUND OF MUSIC)
197. $"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
198. "Small World" (1959) - w: Stephen Sondheim/ m: Jule Styne (from stage musical, GYPSY)
199. "Camelot" (1960) - w: Alan Jay Lerner/m: Frederick Loewe
200. "Moon River" (1961) - w: Johnny Mercer/ m: Henry Mancini

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 = 6 [1936, 1937, 1941, 1945, 1946, 1961]
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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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.

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Recordings for all the above songs are in the
American Music Recordings Archive (AMRA)

National Carry A Tune Week

For other lists on this American Music Preservation website,
click on these links:
Essential American Recordings Survey (EARS)
100 American Songs of the 20th Century
Essential Film Scores of the 20th Century (1933-1993)
50 Song Hits 1962
50 Song Hits 1961

50 Song Hits 1960

50 Song Hits 1959

50 Song Hits 1958

50 Song Hits 1957

50 Song Hits 1956

Send comments or questions to:
Survey of Essential American Songs

If you are in search of vintage
American music collections and CDs,
go to the
AMP Store