Wednesday, December 31, 1997

American Music Preservation: Top 250+ Songs

American Music Preservation:

Top 250 Songs+

The Center for American Music Preservation (or AmericanMusicPreservation.com) focuses on “American vocal music (classical, folk, popular) from the 18th century to the 20th century.” Roger Lee Hall is identified as the center’s director. The website says he is “a respected musicologist and music preservationist, who has researched and written about American music for over 50 years.”

The primitive-looking website appears to have been created in the early 2000s and not touched since, even though the copyright date on it says 1998-2025. As expected, the website isn’t well-organized in terms of navigation. However, with some poking around I found five different lists which celebrate more than 250 songs covering more than 350 years of music, a much wider span than the usual music sources which barely acknowledge the existence of music prior to the rock and roll era. Because of that, I have consolidated those lists into the list here. Songs are identified by title and year of publication.

Click here to see other lists from publications and/or organizations.

1620: “Shout to Jehovah All the Earth (Psalm 100)”
1630: “We Gather Together (Thanksgiving Prayer)”
1719: “Joy to the World”
1726 “100 Psalm Tune New”
1754: “Yankee Doodle (aka ‘Yankee Doodle Went to Town’)”
1759: “My Days Have Been So Wondrous Free”
1768: “The Liberty Song”
1770: “Free America”
1770: “The Massachusetts Song of Liberty”
1770: “Warren”
1771: “The Hill Tops: A Hunting Song”
1772: “Amazing Grace”
1775: “The American Hero”
1775: “The Lexington March”
1776: “Father and I Went Down to Camp”
1778: “Chester (Let Tyrants Shakre Their Iron Rod)”
1778: “Majesty”
1778: “Lamentation Over Boston”
1783: “To Anacreon in Heaven”
1783: “Thanksgiving Song”
1787: “The Grand Constitution”
1788: “U.S. Constitution Ratification Song”
1788: “Beneath a Weeping Willow’s Shade”
1789: “Hail Columbia (The President’s March)”
1789: “Ode to the President of the United States”
1791: “The Death Song of an Indian Chief”
1793: “Victory”
1794: “The Continental Harmony”
1794: “Jubilant”
1796: “New Jerusalem”
1797: “The Battle of Trenton”
1797: “Washington's March”
1798: “Adams and Liberty (The Boston Patriotic Song)”
1799: “Auld Lang Syne”
1799: “Funeral Dirge on the Death of General Washington”
1802: “Dormant”
1803: “Jefferson and Liberty”
1814: “The Star-Spangled Banner”
1822: “The Hunters of Kentucky”
1827: “The Minstrel’s Return from the War”
1829: “There's Nothing True But Heaven”
1832: “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”
1835: “Come Life, Shaker Life”
1840: “The Old Arm Chair”
1841: “Nearer My God to Thee”
1843: “The Old Granite Site”
1843: “Clumbia the Land of the Brave”
1844: “Buffalo Gals (Buffalo Girls Will You Come Out Tonight)”
1844: “Get Off the Track”
1846: “Oh Susanna”
1847: “Followers of the Lamb”
1848: “Simple Gifts”
1851: “The Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)”
1853: “My Old Kentucky Home”
1854: “I Dream of Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair”
1854: “There's Music in the Air”
1855: “Song of the Old Folks”
1855: “Listen to the Mocking Bird (aka “The Mocking Bird”)”
1856: “Darling Nellie Gray”
1856: “Gentle Annie”
1856: “The Last Hope”
1857: “Jingle Bells”
1857: “We Three Kings of Orient Are”
1857: “Lorena”
1860: “Dixie”
1861: “The Battle Hymn of the Republic (aka ‘Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!’)”
1861: “The Bonnie Blue Flag”
1861: “Go Down Moses (Let My People Go)”
1861: “John Brown's Body”
1861: “The Vacant Chair”
1861: “Aura Lea”
1862: “A Prayer for the Captive”
1862: “The Battle Cry of Freedom”
1863: “When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again”
1863: “Willie Has Gone to the War”
1863: “Give Us This Day”
1863: “Weeping Sad and Lonely “
1864: “Beautiful Dreamer”
1864: “Tenting on the Old Campground”
1869: “Hymn of Peace”
1872: “Festival Hymn”
1872: “Jubilee Waltz”
1872: “Peace and Music”
1873: “Home on the Range”
1876: “Grandfather’s Clock”
1876: “Centennial Meditation of Columbia”
1881: “Song of Our Saviour”
1889: “Oh Promise Me”
1892: “After the Ball”
1894: “Waltz”
1894: “The Sidewalks of New York”
1895: “America the Beautiful”
1895: “The Band Played On”
1897: “On the Banks of the Wabash”
1898: “When You Were Sweet Sixteen”
1899: “Maple Leaf Rag”
1899: “Hello Ma Baby”
1900: “Lift Every Voice and Sing”
1903: “Toyland”
1903: “Sweet Adeline (You’re the Flower of My Heart)”
1904: “Give My Regards to Broadway”
1904: “Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis”
1905: “My Gal Sal”
1906: “You’re a Grand Old Flag (aka “The Grand Old Rag”)”
1906: “I Love You Truly”
1907: “School Days (When We Were a Couple of Kids)”
1908: “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”
1909: “By the Light of the Silvery Moon”
1909: “Put on Your Old Grey Bonnet”
1910: “Some of These Days”
1910: “Let Me Call You Sweetheart”
1910: “Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life”
1911: “Alexander’s Ragtime Band”
1911: “A Real Slow Drag”
1912: “Moonlight Bay”
1912: “It’s All in the Game”
1913: “Danny Boy”
1913: “You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)”
1913: “Peg O’ My Heart”
1914: “St. Louis Blues”
1914: “They Didn't Believe Me”
1914: “Play a Simple Melody”
1917: “Over There”
1918: “Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody”
1918: “The Lament of Ian the Proud”
1918: “Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning”
1918: “Land of Our Hearts”
1919: “A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody”
1920: “Swanee”
1920: “Whispering”
1920: “Two Sketches on American Indian Themes”
1921: “Ain’t We Got Fun?”
1921: “Three O’Clock in the Morning”
1922: “April Showers”
1922: “Goin’ Home”
1924: “Tea for Two”
1924: “Charleston”
1925: “Manhattan”
1925: “Fascinating Rhythm”
1926: “Someone to Watch Over Me”
1927: “Stardust”
1927: “My Blue Heaven”
1927: “Ol’ Man River”
1928: “My Melancholy Baby”
1928: “Mack the Knife”
1928: “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love”
1928: “Sonny Boy”
1929: “Ain’t Misbehavin’”
1929: “You Were Meant for Me”
1930: “I Got Rhythm”
1930: “Body and Soul”
1930: “Happy Days Are Here Again”
1931: “Mood Indigo”
1931: “As Time Goes By”
1932: “Night and Day”
1932: “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?”
1932: “The Song Is You”
1933: “Sophisticated Lady”
1933: “Stormy Weather (Keeps Rainin' All the Time)”
1933: “Goodnight Irene”
1933: “The Last Round-Up”
1933: “42nd Street”
1934: “Solitude”
1934: “Anything Goes”
1935: “Begin the Beguine”
1935: “Cheek to Cheek”
1935: “Summertime”
1935: “Blue Moon”
1935: “Lullaby of Broadway”
1936: “The Way You Look Tonight”
1936: “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”
1936: “Pennies from Heaven”
1936: “I’m an Old Cowhand from the Rio Grande”
1937: “They Can’t Take That Away from Me”
1937: “Thanks for the Memory”
1937: “Hooray for Hollywood”
1937: “Sweet Leilani”
1938: “Love Is Here to Stay”
1938: “Jerusalem, My Glorious Home”
1939: “Over the Rainbow”
1939: “In the Mood”
1939: “All the Things You Are”
1939: “God Bless America”
1939: “Deep Purple”
1940: “When You Wish Upon a Star”
1940: “I’ll Never Smile Again”
1940: “I’ll Be Seeing You”
1941: “Blues in the Night (My Mama Done Tol’ Me)”
1941: “Chattanooga Choo Choo”
1941: “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered”
1941: “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”
1941: “Because of You”
1942: “White Christmas”
1942: “Jingle Jangle Jingle”
1943: “People Will Say We’re in Love”
1943: “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’”
1944: “This Land Is Your Land”
1945: “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive”
1945: “It Might As Well Be Spring”
1945: “Laura”
1945: “On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe”
1946: “There's No Business Like Show Business”
1946: “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah”
1947: “Near You”
1947: “Stella by Starlight”
1948: “Riders in the Sky (A Cowboy Legend)”
1948: “Tennessee Waltz”
1949: “Mona Lisa”
1949: “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
1951: “Cold, Cold Heart”
1951: “Cry”
1952: “You Belong to Me”
1952: “High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh, My Darlin’)”
1953: “Vaya Con Dios (May God Be with You)”
1953: “Your Cheatin’ Heart”
1954: “We’re Gonna Rock Around the Clock”
1954: “Sincerely”
1954: “Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine)”
1954: “Secret Love”
1954: “Three Coins in the Fountain”
1956: “Don’t Be Cruel”
1956: “On the Street Where You Live”
1956: “Love Me Tender”
1956: “True Love”
1956: “Young Love”
1957: “All the Way”
1957: “Maria”
1957: “Tammy”
1957: “At the Hop”
1959: “Small World”
1959: “Climb Ev'ry Mountain”
1961: “Moon River”
1961: “Crazy”
1961: “At Last”
1963: “I Want to Hold Your Hand”
1963: “Blowin’ in the Wind”
1963: “Call Me Irresponsible”
1965: “Yesterday”
1965: “The Shadow of Your Smile (Love Theme from The Sandpiper)”
1967: “Camelot”
1967: “What a Wonderful World”
1968: “Hey Jude”
1968: “Mrs. Robinson”
1969: “My Way”
1970: “Bridge Over Troubled Water”
1970: “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”
1971: “American Pie”
1972: “You Are the Sunshine of My Life”
1973: “The Way We Were”
1977: “Night Fever”
1977: “Just the Way You Are”
1985: “That's What Friends Are For”
1985: “We Are the World”
1991: “Beauty and the Beast”
1992: “I Will Always Love You”
1997: “Candle in the Wind 1997 (Goodbye England’s Rose)”
1997: “My Heart Will Go On”

Resources/Related Links:

Dave’s Music Database: “Lists from other publications and/or organizations”
AmericanMusicPreservation.com “American Music Timeline Part One: 1620-1818”
AmericanMusicPreservation.com “American Music Timeline Part Two: 1822-1920”
AmericanMusicPreservation.com “American Song History Survey: 1759-1959”
AmericanMusicPreservation.com “A Century of American Songs (1861-1961)”
AmericanMusicPreservation.com “100 Songs of the 20th Century”

First posted 2/13/2025.

Thursday, December 25, 1997

Today in Music (1847): “O Holy Night” premiered

12/25/1847: “O Holy Night” premiered

O Holy Night (Minuit, Chrétiens)

Adolphe Adam (music), Placide Cappeau (French lyrics), John Sullivan Dwight (English lyrics)

Writer(s): Adolphe Adam (music, Placide Cappeau (French lyrics), John Sullivan Dwight (English lyrics) (see lyrics here)

Premiered: December 25, 1847

First Charted: January 1, 1997 (Martina McBride)

Peak (all versions): 1² AC, 41 CW, 39 UK, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.)

Sales (in millions): --

Airplay/Streaming (in millions – all versions): -- radio, 233.12 video, 147.71 streaming

Awards:

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

In 1843, Placide Cappeau, a French poet and wine merchant, wrote the Christmas poem “Minuit, Chrétiens” at the request of his parish priest. The original text “offers connotations of the birth of Jesus and the subsequent redemption of humanity.” ^GMN The idea that all men and women could have souls was considered highly radical. It was also controversial that Cappeau was an atheist. Similarly, Adolphe Adam, who composed accompanying music for the poem that year, was not Christian, but a Jew.

The song was premiered in 1847 by opera singer Emily Laurey, a friend of Adam’s. She performed it at the Christmas midnight mass in the church of St. Jean-Baptiste et Jean l’Évangeliste. ^WE In 1855, John Sullivan Dwight, a Unitarian minister, music critic, and editor, ^WK translated the words into English in 1855. His version focused on the universality of the human spirit. ^GMN

The song was at the center of a unique historical event in 1871 during the Franco-Prussian War. A French soldier suddenly stood up in his trench in the middle of the fighting on Christmas eve and started singing “O Holy Night.” Legend has it that the Germans started singing one of their own carols and hostilities ceased for 24 hours and the soldiers celebrated Christmas. ^GMN

On Christmas Eve in 1906, the song again took center stage when a Canadian inventor named Reginald Fessenden started playing “O Holy Night” into a microphone. Sailors across the Atlantic were stunned to hear music and a man’s voice from the wireless machine that usually transmitted morse codes. ^GMN

Among the artists who have recorded the song over the years: Clay Aiken (2004, #37 AC), Andrea Bocelli, Boy Band (2022, #14 AC), Mariah Carey, Tracy Chapman, Nat “King” Cole, Celine Dion, the Drifters, Edens Edge (2012, #59 CW), Ella Ftizgerald, Josh Gracin (2006, #59 CW), Josh Groban (2002, #1 AC), Il Volo (2013, #27 AC), Mahalia Jackson, Ladywell Primary School (2012, #39 UK), Richard Marx (2011, #19 AC), Martina McBride (1997, #41 CW), LeAnn Rimes (2003, #14 AC), and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. The 1963 version by Andy Williams is featured in the DMDB book Dave’s Faves: The Grand Library.

Resources:

DMDB encyclopedia entry for Adolphe Adam
^GMN GalaxyMusicNotes.com “How ‘O Holy Night’ Became a Popular Christmas Carol”
^WE WashingtonExaminer.com (12/22/2017). “The Surprising History of ‘O Holy Night’” by Priscilla M. Jensen
^WK Wikipedia

First posted 12/20/2023.

Monday, December 1, 1997

Robbie Williams charted with “Angels”