From the Wayback Machine website: “The Western Writers of America surveyed its members for the top 100 Western Songs of all time. The list was presented at the WWA’s Annual Convention Knoxville, Tennessee. This list is an interesting mixture of old, traditional songs, songs from the movies and songs which many might label ‘country.’” WB
Surprisingly, the list does not appear to be on the Western Writers of America website but has been posted on other sites, such as the Wayback Machine. The list seems to have originally been posted on October 19, 2010. The list did not indicate years or artists but I have filled in that information as much as possible. Some of these are well-established standards not associated with a particular artist but others are very identified with specific acts and have been indicated as such.
Click here to see other lists from publications and/or organizations.
1. Marty Robbins “Ghost Riders in the Sky (A Cowboy Legend)” (1969)
2. Marty Robbins “El Paso” (1959)
3. The Sons of the Pioneers “Cool Water” (1941)
4. Frank H. Maynard (writer) “Streets of Laredo/Cowboy’s Lament” (1911)
5. Gene Autry “Back in the Saddle Again” (1939)
6. Tex Ritter “High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me)” (1952)
7. unknown (w/m) “Shenandoah” (1837)
8. The Sons of the Pioneers “Tumbling Tumbleweeds” (1934)
9. Dr. Brewster M. Higley (w), Daniel E. Kelly (m) “Home on the Range” (1874)
10. traditional “Red River Valley” (1896)
11. Marty Robbins “Big Iron” (1959)
12. Bing Crosby with the Andrews Sisters “Don’t Fence Me In” (1944)
13. Unknown (w/m) “Bury Me Not in the Lone Prairie” (1910)
14. Eagles “Desperado” (1973)
15. Michael Martin Murphey “Wildfire” (1975)
16. Eddy Arnold “Cattle Call” (1955)
17. Townes Van Zandt (w/m) “Pancho and Lefty” (1972) / Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard (1983)
18. Howard “Jack” Thorp (writer) “Little Joe, the Wrangler” (1908)
19. Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe (writers) “They Call the Wind Mariah” (1951)
20. Don Edwards “Coyotes” (1993)
21. Dinah Shore “Along the Navaho Trail” (1945)
22. Roy Rogers “Happy Trails” (1948)
23. Frankie Laine “Rawhide” (1958)
24. Mitch Miller “The Yellow Rose of Texas” (1955)
25. Waylon Jennings & Willie Nelson “Mammas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys” (1978)
26. Bill Hayes “Ballad of Davy Crockett” (1955)
27. Gogi Grant “Wayward Wind” (1956)
28. Curley Fletcher (writer) “The Strawberry Roan” (1915)
29. D.J. O’Malley (w), traditional (music) “When the Works All Done This Fall” (1910)
30. Bing Crosby “Empty Saddles in the Old Corral” (1936)
31. Marty Robbins “Ballad of the Alamo” (1960)
32. Tennessee Ernie Ford “Mule Train” (1949)
33. Willie Nelson “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys” (1979)
34. Bob Dylan “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” (1973)
35. George Strait “Amarillo by Morning” (1983)
36. Gene Pitney “Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” (1962)
37. Mike Blakely “The Last Comanche Moon” (1999)
38. Percy Montrose (writer) “Clementine (aka ‘Oh My Darling Clementine’)” (1884)
39. Johnny Cash “The Rebel (Johnny Yuma)” (1959)
40. Johnny Cash “Ballad of Ira Hayes” (1964)
41. Johnny Horton “North to Alaska” (1960)
42. Dean Martin & Ricky Nelson “My Rifle, My Pony and Me” (1959)
43. Johnny Cash “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town” (1958)
44. Shep Fields with Hal Derwin “South of the Border (Down Mexico Way)” (1939)
45. Jerry Jeff Walker “Desperadoes Waiting for a Train” (1973)
46. Owen Wister (writer) “Get Along, Little Dogies” (1893)
47. Cool White (w) “Buffalo Gals (Will You Come Out Tonight)” (1844)
48. Bing Crosby “I’m an Old Cowhand from the Rio Grande” (1935)
49. Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys “New San Antonio Rose” (1940)
50. Frankie Laine “Gunfight at the OK Corral” (1957)
51. John Denver with Emmylou Harris “Wild Montana Skies” (1983)
52. The Highwaymen “Last Cowboy Song” (1985)
53. Duane Eddy “Ballad of Paladin” (1962)
54. Tom Russell “Tonight We Ride” (2004)
55. Alfred Drake & the Oklahoma Cast “Oklahoma!” (1943)
56. Lou Fishback, Carl Copeland, and Jack Williams (writers) “I’d Like to Be in Texas for the Roundup in the Spring” (1927)
57. Brenn Hill “Call You Cowboy” (2001)
58. Al Caiola & His Orchestra “Bonanza” (1961)
59. Chris LeDoux “Old Double Diamond” (1975)
60. Rev. H.D.L. Webster (w), Joseph Philbrick Webster (m) “Lorena” (1857)
61. Marty Robbins “The Hanging Tree” (1959)
62. The Hotmud Family “Dust Eatin’ Cowboys” (1981)
63. Elton Britt “Cowpoke” (1951)
64. Waylon Jennings “Old Timer” (1975)
65. Willie Nelson “Red Headed Stranger” (1975)
66. Mike Blakely “Last Wild White Buffalo” (2008)
67. unknown (writer) “Jesse James” (1887)
68. Tom T. Hall “Faster Horses” (1975)
69. George Alexander & the Mellomen “El Dorado” (1966)
70. Charley Willis “Goodbye Old Paint” (1921)
71. The Kingston Trio “Tom Dooley” (1958)
72. Patsy Montana & the Prairie Ramblers “I Want to Be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart” (1936)
73. Bill Monroe & His Bluegrass Boys “Wayfaring Stranger” (1958)
74. Mike Blakely “The Old Cantina” (2003)
75. Margaret Larkin & Lynn Riggs (writers) “I Ride an Old Paint” (1927)
76. The Judds “Grandpa (Tell Me ‘Bout the Good Old Days)” (1986)
77. Ian & Sylvia “Someday Soon” (1964)
78. Ian Tyson “Summer Wages” (1987)
79. Johnny Horton “The Battle of New Orleans” (1959)
80. Kay Kyser with Harry Babbitt & Julie Conway “Jingle, Jangle, Jingle” (1942)
81. Roy Rogers & the Sons of the Pioneers “Blue Shadows on the Trail” (1948)
82. Stephen Foster (m/w) “Oh! Susanna” (1847)
83. traditional “Sweet Betsy from Pike” (1851)
84. Carl Sandburg (published) “Colorado Trail” (1927)
85. Bill Barwick “When Roy Rogers Was Around” (2004)
86. Ian Tyson & Tom Russell (writers) “Navajo Rug” (1986)
87. Tex Ritter “Remember the Alamo” (1955)
88. The Sons of the Pioneers “Billy the Kid” (1937)
89. M.E. Abbey (w), Charles Davis Tillman (m) “Life Is Like a Mountain Railway” (1891)
90. traditional “Old Chisholm Trail” (1910)
91. The Statler Brothers “Whatever Happened to Randolph Scott” (1974)
92. The Kingston Trio “Desert Pete” (1963)
93. John Denver “Rocky Mountain High” (1972)
94. The Sons of the Pioneers “Theme from the Searchers” (1956)
95. Everett Marshall “Wagon Wheels” (1934)
96. Les Paul & Mary Ford “Vaya Con Dios (May God Be with You)” (1953)
97. Gene Autry “Ridin’ Down the Canyon” (1942)
98. Vivian Clark Gilbert & Mary Margaret Hadler (writers) “Shifting, Whispering Sands” (1955)
99. Woody Guthrie “Oklahoma Hills” (1945)
100. Marty Robbins “Master’s Call” (1959)
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First posted 12/3/2025. | 
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