Thursday, April 26, 2018

April 26, 1733: First possible performance of Bach's Mass in B minor

Last updated August 31, 2018.

Mass in B minor, for soloists, chorus, & orchestra, BWV 232 (BC E1)

Johann Sebastian Bach (composer)


Composed: 1733-1749


First possible performance: 4/26/1733


Sales: - NA -


Peak: - NA -

Quotable: --


Genre: classical > choral music


Parts/Movements:

  1. [Part I: Missa, Kyrie] Kyrie eleison
  2. [Part I: Missa, Kyrie] Christe eleison
  3. [Part I: Missa, Kyrie] Kyrie eleison
  4. [Part I: Missa, Gloria] Gloria in excelsis Deo
  5. [Part I: Missa, Gloria] Et in terra pax
  6. [Part I: Missa, Gloria] Laudamus te
  7. [Part I: Missa, Gloria] Gratias agimus tibi
  8. [Part I: Missa, Gloria] Domine Deus, rex coelestis
  9. [Part I: Missa, Gloria] Qui tollis peccata mundi
  10. [Part I: Missa, Gloria] Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris
  11. [Part I: Missa, Gloria] Quoniam tu solus sanctus
  12. [Part I: Missa, Gloria] Cum Sancto Spiritu
  13. [Part II: Symbolum Nicenum, Credo] Credo in unum Deum
  14. [Part II: Symbolum Nicenum, Credo] Patrem omnipotentem
  15. [Part II: Symbolum Nicenum, Credo] Et in unum Dominum
  16. [Part II: Symbolum Nicenum, Credo] Et incarnatus est
  17. [Part II: Symbolum Nicenum, Credo] Cruxifixus
  18. [Part II: Symbolum Nicenum, Credo] Et resurrexit
  19. [Part II: Symbolum Nicenum, Credo] Et in Spiritum Sanctum
  20. [Part II: Symbolum Nicenum, Credo] Confiteor in unum baptisma
  21. [Part II: Symbolum Nicenum, Credo] Et expecto
  22. [Part III: Sanctus] Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth
  23. [Part IV: Osanna, Benedictus] Pleni sunt coeli et terra
  24. [Part IV: Osanna, Benedictus] Osanna in excelsis
  25. [Part IV: Osanna, Benedictus] Benedictus qui venit
  26. [Part IV: Osanna, Benedictus] Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi
  27. [Part IV: Osanna, Benedictus] Dona nobis pacem

Average Length: 113:40

Review:

“In 1733, Bach wrote a letter petitioning Friedrich August II, the Catholic Elector of Saxony, to grant him a courtly title that might be of value to him in getting his due respect from the powers in Leipzig. To warm up the sovereign to his cause, he enclosed two pieces of music as special proof of his dedication to the composition of church music; these pieces were the Kyrie and Gloria of the Mass in B minor, a juggernaut of religious music that Bach didn’t complete until the very end of his life. Why a composer who must have normally worked at blinding speed took 15 years with a single mass is not known, since there was no opportunity for its performance. As a mass, it’s far too vast for liturgical use, and earnest religious music couldn’t have been welcomed in secular, courtly programs.” DM

There is debate about when the mass was first performed. “Arnold Shering…asserted that it was performed in Leipzig on April 26, 1733, when Augustus III of Poland visited.” WK However, modern scholars have argued otherwise for various reasons, including that “the proposed date fell during an official period of mourning "when concerted music was forbidden in Saxon churches.” WK “Christoph Wolff argues that on July 26, 1733 at the Sophienkirche in Dresden, where Wilhelm Friedemann Bach had been organist since June,” WK but Peter Williams noted that “there is no record of performers being assembled for such an event.” WK There is evidence of Bach performing organ recitals at the Sophienkirche on 9/14/1731, 6/23/1733, and 12/1/1736, WK and he may have performed part of the mass on those dates.

“It definitely wasn’t entirely performed while Bach lived, but it seems possible he didn’t intend it to be performed that way at all. Many movements are highly effective revisions of past works, often cantatas, spanning much of his career, and the others were composed expressly for the mass. These facts, and the wide differences in style the work contains, suggest it was intended as a summation of his whole oeuvre, but that can never be known.” DM

“Of course, the mystery of its purpose and origins have fed the fire of enthusiasm that surrounds the mass. For once, the hype is mostly worth believing. Commentators stumble over each other to praise it, treating it like a St. Peter’s of music for good reasons; the Mass in B minor positively crackles with energy, and almost everything that is good about Bach is found in it. Hearing even the brooding Kyrie for the first time can be like having of a pair of jumper cables applied to the heart. Unfortunately, the size, scale, and historical importance of the mass, taken together, seem to confuse certain interpreters into performing it with the overblown orchestral forces and exaggerated expression of late Romantic music. It becomes an overstated banality when treated that way; smaller orchestras can bring out of it an amazing, galvanized lyricism and mechanical power. The range and depth of moods is itself incredible enough; listeners almost prefer to hear the movements discretely to be able to properly take them in. From the most ecstatic, trumpeting orchestral jubilation of the start of the Gloria, to the tender, pained longing in the soprano and tenor duet of the Laudamus te, or the unstoppable fugue of the Cum sancto Spiritu. the Mass in B minor is as exhilarating to the listeners as it is exhausting to performers. Some lighter, simpler choral movements, like the Gratias agimus tibi, have a minor function of granting needed rest, but there don’t seem to be quite enough of them to make it really functional as a concert piece. For the highly trainable medium of the compact disc, however, it’s just right.” DM-


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Awards:


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Friday, April 20, 2018

Sting and Shaggy released 44/876

44/876

Sting & Shaggy


Released: April 20, 2018


Peak: 40 US, 9 UK, -- CN, 38 AU


Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, 0.06 world (includes US and UK)


Genre: rock/reggae


Tracks:

Song Title [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts.

  1. 44/876 (with Morgan Heritage and Aldonia) [2:59]
  2. Morning Is Coming [3:11]
  3. Waiting for the Bfreak of Day [3:18]
  4. Gotta Get Back My Baby [2:56] (9/28/18)
  5. Don’t Make Me Wait [3:35] (1/26/18, 29 AA)
  6. Just One Lifetime [3:30] (3/1/19)
  7. 22nd Street [4:00]
  8. Dreaming in the U.S.A. [3:08]
  9. Crooked Tree [3:37]
  10. To Love and Be Loved [3:29]
  11. Sad Trombone [5:43]
  12. Night Shift [3:26]

Songs were written by Sting & Shaggy with their backing musicians.


Total Running Time: 42:52

Rating:

2.538 out of 5.00 (average of 10 ratings)

About the Album:

For Sting who, during the 21st century, had written a Broadway show, sang songs for Disney, done a Christmas album, and released an album of lute recordings, this was “another detour.” RS The man behind classics such as “Every Breath You Take” and “Roxanne” partnered with “Jamaican reggae-pop growler Shaggy” RS for this “island-influenced album.” AZ

44/876 “reflects their mutual love of Jamaica – its music, the spirit of its people and vibrancy of its culture. Sting and Shaggy wrote and jammed together for a few weeks in New York City, creating music that seamlessly blends Caribbean rhythms-in traditional and modern styles-with pop craftsmanship and rock energy.” AZ

“Even when the material falls flat, as it frequently does, there’s some pleasure in picturing these two entirely unobjectionable personalities living their best lives, knocking back Coronas while gently busting each other’s chops.” PF It is amusing to hear “Sting, one of the stateliest and most humorless of all of rock elder statesmen,” PF alongside the singer who sang “banging on the bathroom floor” in his cheeky #1 hit “It Wasn’t Me.”

The title refers to the country calling code for their respective home countries – United Kingdom (+44) and Jamaica (876). Shaggy spent the first 18 years of his life in Jamaica before moving to New York City. Sting’s music with the Police was inspired by the region and they spent some time in Jamaica in the 1980s. Sting wrote his biggest hit, “Every Breath You Take,” there. FB

Shaggy noted the Police “were brilliant. They could spot a sound that was cool, the 'it’ sound. That sound was reggae. They put their style to it, then it got played on mainstream airwaves. So for us older reggae guys who were there, it was: ‘Wow, our sound is on the radio!’ ‘Roxanne’ would be playing in Jamaica. It’s cool now at this stage of the game. I'm rockin’ and doing an album with an icon, who is somewhat a pioneer of my genre.” FB

He says of the album, “It’s kind of mash-up…The beauty about what he has done with The Police and even after is he blends all these different styles of music. The basis of what we are doing is reggae, but in some of these songs you might hear jazz chords.” FB “Nobody will mistake [Shaggy] for one of reggae’s greats, but he’s a game performer, down for whatever the album throws at him, be it dub, rocksteady, or yacht rock. His toasts color otherwise colorless songs without disrupting the tasteful romantic vibe Sting sets so carefully.” PF

Sting “evokes the ghost of Bob Marley on the buoyant title trackRS and Morning Is Coming “approximates Marley’s ‘Three Little Birds.’” RS “While 44/876 appears to begin in Jamaica, it gradullay hones in on the pair’s mutual admiration for American life and culture. Beach Boys harmonies drive Dreaming in the U.S.A..” RS

Sting’s “voice has taken on a smoky hue that can work for him when he leans into it, especially on the jazzy, The Dream of the Blue Turtles-styled Waiting for the Break of Day or the torchy Sad Trombone,” PF in which “Sting revisits his inner Tin Pan Alley.” RS This is “actually one of Sting’s more enjoyable albums, simply because he’s actually having fun here.” PF

44/876 won the Grammy for Best Reggae Album.


Notes: The Digital Deluxe and Target Exclusive editions added “If You Can’t Find Love,” “Love Changes Everything,” “16 Fathoms,” and a remix of “Don’t Make Me Wait.” A super deluxe edition bonus disc included live performances of “Don’t Make Me Wait” along with Sting’s “Englishman in New York,” “Fields of Gold,” “Message in a Bottle,” and “Roxanne.” Finally, a CD Deluxed Softpack Edition added two versions of “GOtta Get Back My Baby,” the song “Skank Up (Oh Lawd),” and live versions of “If You Can’t Find Love,” “Message in a Bottle,” “Every Breath You Take,” “Don’t Make Me Wait,” and “Fields of Gold.”

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Other Related DMDB Pages:


First posted 11/18/2021.

Saturday, April 14, 2018

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:

500 (+) Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll

In 2004, James Henke, chief curator for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with the help of music writers and critics, selected 500 songs (not only rock songs) that they believe have been most influential in shaping rock and roll. The list is alphabetical by artist.

Several sources indicate that the original list from 2004 was expanded at some point to 660 songs, but none of those sources seem to indicate exactly when this was done. The revised list added songs up through 2006. Surprisingly, a search on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame doesn’t even turn up the original list. However, a list of the original 500 and the 160 added songs can be found here. Those songs which were added later are marked with an asterisk (*).

At the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony on April 14, 2018, six songs were recognized as singles which shaped rock and roll but are not recorded by artists currently in the Hall. It was reported by Billboard magazine as a new induction category, but there is no mention of it on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame website and no indication that it was done again in 2019. The six songs are “Rocket 88” by Jackie Breston and his Delta Cats (1951), “Rumble” by Link Wray and his Ray Men’s (1958), “The Twist” by Chubby Checker (1960), “Louie Louie” by The Kingsmen (1963), “A Whiter Shade of Pale” by Procolu Harum (1967), and “Born to Be Wild” by Steppenwolf (1968). They are noted below with a carat (^).

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


A


  • AC/DC “Highway to Hell” (1979)
  • AC/DC “Back in Black” (1980)
  • Roy Acuff and the Smoky Mountain Boys “Wabash Cannonball” (1938)
  • Aerosmith “Dream On” (1973)
  • Aerosmith “Toys in the Attic” (1975)
  • The Allman Brothers Band “Ramblin’ Man” (1973)
  • The Allman Brothers Band “Whipping Post” (1969)
  • The Animals “The House of the Rising Sun” (1964)
  • The Animals “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” (1965)
  • Louis Armstrong “West End Blues” (1928)
  • Arrested Development “Tennessee” (1992)
  • Average White Band “Pick Up the Pieces” (1974) *

B


  • LaVern Baker “Jim Dandy” (1956)
  • Afrika Bambaataa “Planet Rock” (1982)
  • The Band “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” (1969)
  • The Band “The Weight” (1968)
  • Bauhaus “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” (1979) *
  • Beach Boys “California Girls” (1965)
  • Beach Boys “Don't Worry Baby” (1964)
  • Beach Boys “God Only Knows” (1966)
  • Beach Boys “Good Vibrations” (1966)
  • Beach Boys “Surfin’ U.S.A.” (1963)
  • The Beastie Boys “Hey Ladies” (1989) *
  • The Beastie Boys “You Gotta Fight for Your Right to Party” (1986)
  • The Beatles “A Day in the Life” (1967)
  • The Beatles “Help!” (1965)
  • The Beatles “Hey Jude” (1968)
  • The Beatles “I Want to Hold Your Hand” (1963)
  • The Beatles “In My Life” (1965) *
  • The Beatles “Norwegian Wood” (1965)
  • The Beatles “Strawberry Fields Forever” (1967)
  • The Beatles “Yesterday” (1965)
  • The Beau Brummels “Laugh Laugh” (1965)
  • Beck “Loser” (1993)
  • Jeff Beck Group “Plynth (Water Down the Drain)” (1969)
  • The Bee Gees “Stayin’ Alive” (1977)
  • Archie Bell & the Drells “Tighten Up” (1968)
  • Chuck Berry “Brown-Eyed Handsome Man” (1956) *
  • Chuck Berry “Johnny B. Goode” (1958)
  • Chuck Berry “Maybellene” (1955)
  • Chuck Berry “Rock and Roll Music” (1957)
  • Chuck Berry “Roll Over Beethoven” (1956) *
  • The B-52's “Rock Lobster” (1979)
  • The Big Bopper “Chantilly Lace” (1958)
  • Big Brother and the Holding Company “Piece of My Heart” (1968)
  • Big Star “September Gurls” (1974)
  • Black Flag “T.V. Party” (1982) *
  • Black Sabbath “Iron Man” (1970)
  • Black Sabbath “Paranoid” (1970)
  • Bobby Blue Bland “Turn On Your Love Light” (1961)
  • Blondie “Heart of Glass” (1978)
  • Kurtis Blow “The Breaks” (1980)
  • Gary U.S. Bonds “Quarter to Three” (1961)
  • Booker T. & the M.G.'s “Green Onions” (1962)
  • Boston “More Than a Feeling” (1976)
  • David Bowie “Changes” (1972) *
  • David Bowie “Fame” (1975)
  • David Bowie “Space Oddity” (1969)
  • David Bowie “Ziggy Stardust” (1972)
  • The Box Tops “The Letter” (1967)
  • Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats “Rocket 88” (1951) *^
  • Charles Brown “Driftin’ Blues” (1945)
  • James Brown “Get Up, I Feel Like Being a Sex Machine” (1970) *
  • James Brown “I Got You (I Feel Good)” (1965)
  • James Brown “Please, Please, Please” (1956)
  • James Brown “Say It Loud — I’m Black and I’m Proud” (1968)
  • Ruth Brown “Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean” (1953)
  • Jackson Browne “Late for the Sky” (1974)
  • Buffalo Springfield “For What It’s Worth” (1967)
  • Solomon Burke “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love” (1964)
  • Johnny Burnette & the Rock ‘N’ Roll Trio “Train Kept a-Rollin'“ (1956)
  • Buzzcocks “Ever Fallen in Love” (1978) *
  • The Byrds “Eight Miles High” (1966)
  • The Byrds “Hickory Wind” (1968)
  • The Byrds “Mr. Tambourine Man” (1965)

C


  • Leroy Carr “How Long How Long Blues” (1928) *
  • The Carter Family “Keep On the Sunny Side” (1928) *
  • Johnny Cash “Folsom Prison Blues” (1955)
  • Johnny Cash “I Walk the Line” (1956)
  • The Champs “Tequila” (1958)
  • Gene Chandler “Duke of Earl” (1962)
  • The Chantays “Pipeline” (1963)
  • The Chantels “Maybe” (1958) *
  • Ray Charles “Hallelujah I Love Her So” (1956)
  • Ray Charles “I Can’t Stop Loving You” (1962) *
  • Ray Charles “I Gotta Woman” (1955)
  • Ray Charles “What’d I Say” (1959)
  • Chubby Checker “The Twist” (1960) ^
  • Chic “Le Freak” (1978)
  • Chic “Good Times” (1979) *
  • The Chi-Lites “Have You Seen Her” (1971) *
  • The Chords “Sh-Boom” (1954) *
  • Eric Clapton “After Midnight” (1970)
  • Eric Clapton “Tears in Heaven” (1992) *
  • Dave Clark Five “Glad All Over” (1964)
  • The Clash “London Calling” (1979)
  • The Clash “White Man in Hammersmith Palais” (1978) *
  • Jimmy Cliff “Many Rivers to Cross” (1972)
  • Jimmy Cliff “The Harder They Come” (1969)
  • Patsy Cline “I Fall to Pieces” (1961)
  • Patsy Cline “Walkin’ after Midnight” (1957) *
  • George Clinton “Atomic Dog” (1983) *
  • The Clovers “Love Potion No. 9” (1959)
  • The Coasters “Yakety Yak” (1958)
  • The Coasters “Young Blood” (1957)
  • Eddie Cochran “C'mon Everybody” (1958)
  • Eddie Cochran “Summertime Blues” (1958)
  • Joe Cocker “With a Little Help from My Friends” (1968)
  • Cocteau Twins “Ivo” (1984) *
  • Leonard Cohen “Suzanne” (1967) *
  • Coldplay “Yellow” (2000) *
  • Nat “King” Cole “Straighten Up and Fly Right” (1944) *
  • Lyn Collins “Think About It” (1972) *
  • The Contours “Do You Love Me?” (1962)
  • Sam Cooke “Bring It on Home to Me” (1962)
  • Sam Cooke “A Change Is Gonna Come” (1965)
  • Sam Cooke “You Send Me” (1957)
  • Alice Cooper “I'm Eighteen” (1971)
  • Elvis Costello “Pump It Up” (1978)
  • Elvis Costello “What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace, Love, and Understanding” (1978) *
  • The Count Five “Psychotic Reaction” (1966)
  • Country Joe and the Fish “The Fish Cheer and I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag” (1967)
  • Don Covay “Mercy Mercy” (1964)
  • Cream “Crossroads” (1969)
  • Cream “Sunshine of Your Love” (1967)
  • Creedence Clearwater Revival “Fortunate Son” (1969)
  • Creedence Clearwater Revival “Green River” (1969)
  • Creedence Clearwater Revival “Proud Mary” (1969)
  • Crosby, Stills and Nash “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” (1969)
  • Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young “Ohio” (1970)
  • The Crows “Gee” (1953)
  • The Crystals “Da Doo Ron Ron (When He Walked Me Home)” (1963)
  • The Crystals “He’s a Rebel” (1962)
  • Culture Club “Time (Clock of the Heart)” (1982)
  • The Cure “In Between Days” (1985) *

D


  • Dick Dale and the Del-Tones “Let's Go Trippin’” (1961)
  • The Damned “New Rose” (1976)
  • Danny & the Juniors “At the Hop” (1957)
  • Bobby Darin “Mack the Knife” (1959) *
  • Bobby Darin “Splish Splash” (1958)
  • Spencer Davis Group “Gimme Some Lovin’” (1966)
  • De La Soul “Me Myself and I” (1989)
  • The Dead Boys “Sonic Reducer” (1977) *
  • The Dead Kennedys “Holiday in Cambodia” (1980) *
  • Deep Purple “Smoke on the Water” (1973)
  • Desmond Dekker & the Aces “Israelites” (1969) *
  • The Dells “Oh, What a Night” (1956)
  • The Delmore Brothers “Hillbilly Boogie” (1946)
  • The Del-Vikings “Come Go With Me” (1957)
  • Depeche Mode “People Are People” (1984) *
  • Derek and the Dominos “Layla” (1970)
  • Devo “Whip It” (1980)
  • Bo Diddley “Bo Diddley” (1955)
  • Bo Diddley “Say Man” (1959) *
  • Dion “Runaround Sue” (1961) *
  • Dion and the Belmonts “A Teenager in Love” (1959)
  • Dire Straits “Sultans of Swing” (1978)
  • The Dixie Cups “Chapel of Love” (1964)
  • The Dixie Hummingbirds “I'll Live Again” (1952)
  • Bill Doggett “Honky Tonk” (1956)
  • Fats Domino “Ain't That a Shame” (1955)
  • Fats Domino “Blueberry Hill” (1956)
  • The Dominoes “Sixty Minute Man” (1951)
  • Lonnie Donegan “Rock Island Line” (1956)
  • Donovan “Sunshine Superman” (1966)
  • The Doobie Brothers “What a Fool Believes” (1978) *
  • The Doors “The End” (1967)
  • The Doors “Light My Fire” (1967)
  • Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg “Nuthin’ But a ‘G’ Thang” (1992)
  • Dr. John “Right Place Wrong Time” (1973)
  • The Drifters “Money Honey” (1953)
  • The Drifters “On Broadway” (1963) *
  • The Drifters “There Goes My Baby” (1959)
  • The Drifters “Up on the Roof” (1962)
  • Duran Duran “Hungry Like the Wolf” (1982)
  • Bob Dylan “Blowin’ in the Wind” (1963)
  • Bob Dylan “Like a Rolling Stone” (1965)
  • Bob Dylan “Subterranean Homesick Blues” (1965)
  • Bob Dylan “Tangled Up in Blue” (1975)
  • Bob Dylan “The Times They Are a-Changin’” (1964)

E



F


  • Fatboy Slim “Rockafeller Skank” (1998) *
  • The Five Royales “Think” (1957) *
  • The Five Satins “In the Still of the Nite (I’ll Remember)” (1956)
  • The Flamingos “I Only Have Eyes for You” (1959)
  • Fleetwood Mac “Go Your Own Way” (1977)
  • The Flying Burrito Brothers “Sin City” (1969)
  • The Four Seasons “Big Girls Don’t Cry” (1962)
  • The Four Seasons “Walk Like a Man” (1963)
  • The Four Tops “Baby I Need Your Loving” (1964)
  • The Four Tops “Reach Out (I’ll Be There)” (1966)
  • Aretha Franklin “Chain of Fools” (1967)
  • Aretha Franklin “I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You” (1967)
  • Aretha Franklin “Respect” (1967)
  • Aretha Franklin “You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman” (1967) *
  • Free “All Right Now” (1970)
  • The Fugees “Ready or Not” (1996) *
  • The Bobby Fuller Four “I Fought the Law” (1966)
  • Lowell Fulson “Reconsider Baby” (1954)
  • Funkadelic “One Nation Under a Groove” (1978)

G


  • Peter Gabriel “Biko” (1980)
  • Peter Gabriel “In Your Eyes” (1986) *
  • Gang of Four “What We All Want” (1981) *
  • Pvt. Cecil Gant “We're Gonna Rock” (1950)
  • Marvin Gaye “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” (1968)
  • Marvin Gaye “Sexual Healing” (1982)
  • Marvin Gaye “What’s Going On” (1971)
  • Genesis “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway” (1974) *
  • Gerry & the Pacemakers “How Do You Do It?” (1963)
  • Geto Boys “Mind Playing Tricks on Me” (1991) *
  • Gary Glitter “Rock and Roll Part 2” (1972)
  • Gnarls Barkley “Crazy” (2006) *
  • Go-Go's “We Got the Beat” (1982)
  • Golden Gate Quartet “Rock My Soul” (1938)
  • The Benny Goodman Orchestra featuring Charlie Christian “Solo Flight” (1938)
  • Grand Funk Railroad “We're an American Band” (1973)
  • Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five “The Message” (1982)
  • The Grateful Dead “Dark Star” (1968)
  • The Grateful Dead “Uncle John's Band” (1970)
  • Al Green “Let’s Stay Together” (1971)
  • Green Day “Basket Case” (1994) *
  • Guitar Slim “The Things That I Used to Do” (1952)
  • Guns N’ Roses “Welcome to the Jungle” (1987)
  • Woody Guthrie “Pastures of Plenty” (1941)
  • Woody Guthrie “Pretty Boy Floyd” (1943)
  • Woody Guthrie “This Land Is Your Land” (1944)

H


  • Bill Haley and His Comets “We’re Gonna Rock Around the Clock” (1954)
  • Daryl Hall & John Oates “She’s Gone” (1976) *
  • Lionel Hampton “Flying Home” (1940) *
  • Slim Harpo “Rainin’ in My Heart” (1961)
  • Wynonie Harris “Good Rockin’ Tonight” (1948)
  • Wilbert Harrison “Kansas City” (1959)
  • P.J. Harvey “Dress” (1991) *
  • Dale Hawkins “Suzy-Q” (1957)
  • Screamin’ Jay Hawkins “I Put a Spell on You” (1956)
  • Isaac Hayes “Theme from Shaft” (1971) *
  • Heart “Barracuda” (1977) *
  • Richard Hell & the Voidoids “(I Belong to the) Blank Generation” (1976)
  • The Jimi Hendrix Experience “All Along the Watchtower” (1968)
  • The Jimi Hendrix Experience “Purple Haze” (1967)
  • The Jimi Hendrix Experience “Little Wing” (1967) *
  • The Jimi Hendrix Experience “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” (1968)
  • Billie Holiday “Strange Fruit” (1939) *
  • The Hollies “Bus Stop” (1966)
  • Buddy Holly & the Crickets “Peggy Sue” (1957)
  • Buddy Holly and The Crickets “That’ll Be the Day” (1957)
  • John Lee Hooker “Boogie Chillen” (1949)
  • John Lee Hooker “Boom Boom” (1962)
  • Howlin’ Wolf “The Little Red Rooster” (1961)
  • Howlin’ Wolf “Smokestack Lightning” (1956)
  • Howlin’ Wolf “Spoonful” (1960)
  • Human League “Don’t You Want Me?” (1981)
  • Mississippi John Hurt “Stack O’ Lee Blues” (1928)
  • Hüsker Dü “Turn on the News” (1984)

I


  • The Impressions featuring Jerry Butler “For Your Precious Love” (1958) *
  • The Impressions “People Get Ready” (1965)
  • The Ink Spots “If I Didn't Care” (1939)
  • Iron Butterfly “In-a-Gadda-da-Vida” (1968)
  • The Isley Brothers “It's Your Thing” (1969)
  • The Isley Brothers “Shout” (1959)

J


  • The Jackson 5 “I Want You Back” (1969)
  • The Jackson 5 “ABC” (1970)
  • Janet Jackson “Control” (1986) *
  • Mahalia Jackson “Move on Up a Little Higher” (1948)
  • Michael Jackson “Beat It” (1982)
  • Michael Jackson “Billie Jean” (1982)
  • Little Walter Jacobs & His Night Cats “Juke” (1952)
  • The Jam “In the City” (1977) *
  • Elmore James “Dust My Broom” (1952)
  • Elmore James “Shake Your Moneymaker” (1961)
  • Etta James “At Last” (1960) *
  • Etta James “Tell Mama” (1967)
  • Etta James & the Peaches “The Wallflower (Roll with Me Henry)” (1955) *
  • Rick James “Super Freak” (1981)
  • Tommy James & the Shondells “Crimson & Clover” (1968) *
  • Tommy James & the Shondells “Hanky Panky” (1966)
  • Jan & Dean “Surf City” (1963)
  • Jane's Addiction “Been Caught Stealin'“ (1990)
  • Jay-Z “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)” (1998) *
  • Jefferson Airplane “Somebody to Love” (1967)
  • Jefferson Airplane “White Rabbit” (1967)
  • Blind Lemon Jefferson “Matchbox Blues” (1927)
  • Jethro Tull “Aqualung” (1971)
  • Joan Jett and the Blackhearts “I Love Rock and Roll” (1981)
  • Billy Joel “Just the Way You Are” (1977)
  • Billy Joel “Piano Man” (1974) *
  • Elton John “Bennie and the Jets” (1973)
  • Elton John “Your Song” (1970)
  • Little Willie John “Fever” (1956)
  • Blind Willie Johnson “Motherless Children” (1927)
  • Robert Johnson “Cross Road Blues (aka ‘Crossroads’)” (1936)
  • Robert Johnson “Hell Hound on My Trail” (1937)
  • Robert Johnson “Love in Vain” (1937)
  • Robert Johnson “Sweet Home Chicago” (1936)
  • Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five “Caldonia” (1945)
  • Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five “Saturday Night Fish Fry” (1949)
  • Joy Division “Love Will Tear Us Apart” (1980)
  • Judas Priest “Breaking the Law” (1980) *

K


  • Albert King “Born Under a Bad Sign” (1967)
  • B.B. King “Sweet Little Angel” (1956)
  • B.B. King “Three O’Clock Blues” (1951) *
  • B.B. King “The Thrill Is Gone” (1969)
  • Ben E. King “Spanish Harlem” (1960)
  • Ben E. King “Stand by Me” (1961)
  • Carole King “You’ve Got a Friend” (1971)
  • Freddy King “Hide Away” (1961)
  • Saunders King “S.K. Blues” (1942) *
  • King Crimson “In the Court of the Crimson King” (1969) *
  • The Kingsmen “Louie Louie” (1963) ^
  • The Kinks “Lola” (1970)
  • The Kinks “Waterloo Sunset” (1967) *
  • The Kinks “A Well Respected Man” (1965)
  • The Kinks “You Really Got Me” (1964)
  • Kiss “Rock and Roll All Nite” (live, 1975)
  • Buddy Knox “Party Doll” (1957)
  • Korn “Freak on a Leash” (1998) *
  • Kraftwerk “Autobahn” (1974)

L


  • The La’s “There She Goes” (1988) *
  • Cyndi Lauper “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” (1983)
  • Led Zeppelin “Dazed and Confused” (1969)
  • Led Zeppelin “Kashmir” (1975) *
  • Led Zeppelin “Rock and Roll” (1972)
  • Led Zeppelin “Stairway to Heaven” (1971)
  • Led Zeppelin “Whole Lotta Love” (1969)
  • Huddie “Leadbelly” Ledbetter “The Midnight Special” (1940)
  • The Left Banke “Walk Away Renee” (1966)
  • John Lennon “Give Peace a Chance” (1969)
  • John Lennon “Imagine” (1971)
  • John Lennon “Instant Karma (We All Shine On)” (1970)
  • Jerry Lee Lewis “Great Balls of Fire” (1957)
  • Jerry Lee Lewis “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” (1957)
  • Joe Liggins & His Honeydrippers “The Honeydripper” (1945) *
  • Little Eva “The Loco-Motion” (1962)
  • Little Feat “Dixie Chicken” (1978)
  • Little Richard “Good Golly, Miss Molly” (1958)
  • Little Richard “Long Tall Sally” (1956)
  • Little Richard “Tutti Frutti” (1955)
  • LL Cool J “Mama Said Knock You Out” (1991)
  • Lene Lovich “Lucky Number” (1978) *
  • The Lovin’ Spoonful “Do You Believe in Magic” (1965)
  • Nick Lowe “Heart of the City” (1978) *
  • Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers “I'm Not a Juvenile Delinquent” (1956)
  • Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers “Why Do Fools Fall in Love” (1956)
  • Lynyrd Skynyrd “Free Bird” (1973)
  • Lynyrd Skynyrd “Sweet Home Alabama” (1974) *

M


  • Madonna “Like a Virgin” (1984)
  • Madonna “Vogue” (1990) *
  • The Mamas & the Papas “California Dreamin’” (1966)
  • The Marcels “Blue Moon” (1961)
  • Bob Marley & the Wailers “Get Up Stand Up” (1973)
  • Bob Marley & the Wailers “I Shot the Sheriff” (1973)
  • Bob Marley & the Wailers “Lively Up Yourself” (1975)
  • Bob Marley & the Wailers “No Woman, No Cry” (1974)
  • Bob Marley & the Wailers “Redemption Song” (1980) *
  • Bob Marley & the Wailers “Three Little Birds” (1980) *
  • Dave Matthews Band “Ants Marching” (1993) *
  • Curtis Mayfield “Superfly” (1972)
  • M.C. Hammer “U Can’t Touch This” (1990)
  • Paul McCartney “Maybe I'm Amazed” (1970)
  • Stick McGhee “Drinking Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee” (1949) *
  • Barry McGuire “Eve of Destruction” (1965)
  • Don McLean “American Pie” (1971)
  • Blind Willie McTell “Statesboro Blues” (1928)
  • John Cougar Mellencamp “Pink Houses” (1983) *
  • John Cougar Mellencamp “Authority Song” (1983)
  • Metallica “Enter Sandman” (1991)
  • Miami Sound Machine “Conga” (1985) *
  • Midnight Oil “Beds Are Burning” (1988)
  • The Midnighters “Work With Me Annie” (1954)
  • Amos Milburn “Chicken Shack Boogie” (1948) *
  • Amos Milburn “Let's Have a Party” (1957)
  • Steve Miller Band “Fly Like an Eagle” (1976)
  • Lucky Millinder “Who Threw the Whiskey in the Well” (1945) *
  • Ministry “Stigmata” (1988) *
  • The Miracles “Going to a Go-Go” (1965)
  • The Miracles “Shop Around” (1960) *
  • The Miracles “The Tracks of My Tears” (1965)
  • The Miracles “You've Really Got a Hold on Me” (1962)
  • Joni Mitchell “Help Me” (1974)
  • Moby “Porcelain” (2000) *
  • Moby Grape “Omaha” (1967)
  • The Monkees “I’m a Believer” (1966)
  • The Monkees “Last Train to Clarksville” (1966)
  • The Monotones “Book of Love” (1958)
  • Bill Monroe “Blue Moon of Kentucky” (1947) *
  • Bill Monroe “Mule Skinner Blues” (1940)
  • The Moody Blues “Nights in White Satin” (1967)
  • The Moonglows “Sincerely” (1955)
  • Wild Bill Moore “Rock and Roll” (1948) *
  • Alanis Morrisette “You Oughta Know” (1995) *
  • Van Morrison “Brown-Eyed Girl” (1967)
  • Van Morrison “Madame George” (1968)
  • Van Morrison “Moondance” (1970)
  • Mott the Hoople “All the Young Dudes” (1972)
  • My Chemical Romance “Welcome to the Black Parade” (2006) *

N


  • Naughty by Nature “O.P.P.” (1991) *
  • Ricky Nelson “Hello Mary Lou” (1961)
  • Aaron Neville “Tell It Like It Is” (1966)
  • New Order “Blue Monday” (1983) *
  • New York Dolls “Personality Crisis” (1973)
  • Randy Newman “Sail Away” (1972)
  • Nine Inch Nails “Head Like a Hole” (1990) *
  • Nirvana “All Apologies” (1993) *
  • Nirvana “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (1991)
  • N.W.A. “Fuck tha Police” (1989) *

O


  • Oasis “Wonderwall” (1995) *
  • Phil Ochs “I Ain't Marchin’ Anymore” (1965)
  • O’Jays “Love Train” (1973)
  • Roy Orbison “(Oh) Pretty Woman” (1964)
  • Roy Orbison “Only the Lonely” (1960) *
  • The Orioles “Crying in the Chapel” (1953)
  • Ozzy Osborne “Crazy Train” (1980) *
  • Johnny Otis “Willie and the Hand Jive” (1958)
  • OutKast “Hey Ya!” (2003) *

P


  • Parliament “Tear the Roof off the Sucker (Give Up the Funk)” (1976)
  • Les Paul and Mary Ford “How High the Moon” (1951)
  • Pearl Jam “Jeremy” (1991)
  • The Penguins “Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine)” (1954)
  • Pere Ubu “Final Solution” (1976) *
  • Carl Perkins “Blue Suede Shoes” (1956)
  • Carl Perkins “Matchbox” (1957)
  • Peter & Gordon “A World Without Love” (1964)
  • Peter, Paul and Mary “If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song)” (1962)
  • Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers “American Girl” (1976)
  • Phish “Chalk Dust Torture” (1992) *
  • Wilson Pickett “In the Midnight Hour” (1965)
  • Pink Floyd “Another Brick in the Wall Part II” (1979)
  • Pink Floyd “Money” (1973)
  • Pink Floyd “See Emily Play” (1967)
  • The Pixies “Where Is My Mind?” (1988) *
  • The Platters “The Great Pretender” (1955)
  • The Police “< a href="http://davesmusicdatabase.blogspot.com/2012/07/police-hit-1-with-every-breath-you-take.html">Every Breath You Take” (1983)
  • The Police “Roxanne” (1978)
  • Elvis Presley “Heartbreak Hotel” (1956)
  • Elvis Presley “Hound Dog” (1956) *
  • Elvis Presley “Jailhouse Rock” (1957)
  • Elvis Presley “Love Me Tender” (1956)
  • Elvis Presley “Mystery Train” (1955)
  • Elvis Presley “Suspicious Minds” (1969)
  • Elvis Presley “That’s All Right, Mama” (1954)
  • Jimmy Preston “Rock this Joint” (1949) *
  • The Pretenders “Brass in Pocket (I’m Special)” (1979)
  • Lloyd Price “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” (1952)
  • Prince “Little Red Corvette” (1982)
  • Prince & the Revolution “Purple Rain” (1984) *
  • Prince “Sign o’ the Times” (1987) *
  • Prince “When Doves Cry” (1984)
  • Procol Harum “A Whiter Shade of Pale” (1967) ^
  • Professor Longhair & His Shuffling Hungarians “Mardi Gras in New Orleans” (1949) *
  • Professor Longhair (Roy Byrd & His Scholars) “Tipitina” (1953)
  • Public Enemy “Fight the Power” (1989)

Q



R


  • Radiohead “Karma Police” (1997) *
  • Ma Rainey & Her Tub Jug Washboard Band “Prove It on Me Blues” (1928)
  • Bonnie Raitt “Something to Talk About” (1991)
  • Ramones “Blitzkrieg Bop” (1976) *
  • Ramones “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker” (1977)
  • The (Young) Rascals “Groovin’” (1967)
  • The (Young) Rascals “Good Lovin’” (1966)
  • Johnnie Ray & the Four Lads “Cry” (1951) *
  • Red Hot Chili Peppers “Give It Away” (1991)
  • Otis Redding “Shake” (1965)
  • Otis Redding “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay” (1968)
  • Otis Redding “Try a Little Tenderness” (1966)
  • Jimmy Reed “Big Boss Man” (1961)
  • Jimmy Reed “Bright Lights, Big City” (1961)
  • Lou Reed “Walk on the Wild Side” (1972)
  • Martha Reeves & the Vandellas “Dancing in the Street” (1964)
  • Martha Reeves & the Vandellas “Heat Wave” (1963)
  • R.E.M. “Losing My Religion” (1991)
  • R.E.M. “Radio Free Europe” (1983)
  • The Replacements “Here Comes a Regular” (1985) *
  • The Replacements “I Will Dare” (1984)
  • Paul Revere and The Raiders “Just Like Me” (1965)
  • Cliff Richard and the Drifters “Move It” (1958)
  • The Righteous Brothers “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” (1964)
  • Billy Riley & His Little Green Men “Red Hot” (1957)
  • Jimmie Rodgers “Blue Yodel No. 9 (Standing on the Corner)” (1928)
  • The Rolling Stones “Honky Tonk Women” (1969)
  • The Rolling Stones “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (1965)
  • The Rolling Stones “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” (1968)
  • The Rolling Stones “Miss You” (1978)
  • The Rolling Stones “Paint It Black” (1966) *
  • The Rolling Stones “Sympathy for the Devil” (1968)
  • The Rolling Stones “Time Is on My Side” (1964)
  • The Rolling Stones “Wild Horses” (1971) *
  • The Ronettes “Be My Baby” (1963)
  • Roxy Music “Love Is the Drug” (1975)
  • The Runaways “Cherry Bomb” (1976) *
  • Run-D.M.C. with Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler & Joe Perry “Walk This Way” (1986)
  • Rush “The Spirit of Radio” (1980)
  • Otis Rush “I Can't Quit You Baby” (1956)
  • Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels “Devil With a Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly” (1966)

S


  • Salt-n-Pepa “Let's Talk About Sex” (1990) *
  • Sam & Dave “Soul Man” (1967)
  • Sam the Sham & the Pharoahs “Wooly Bully” (1965)
  • Santana “Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen” (1970)
  • The Searchers “Needles and Pins” (1964)
  • The Seeds “Pushin’ Too Hard” (1966)
  • Pete Seeger “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” (1964)
  • Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band “Night Moves” (1976)
  • Sex Pistols “Anarchy in the U.K.” (1976)
  • Sex Pistols “God Save the Queen” (1977)
  • The Shadows of Knight “Gloria” (1966)
  • Tupac (2pac) Shakur & Dr. Dre with Roger Troutman “California Love” (1996) *
  • Tupac (2pac) Shakur “Me Against the World (or Keep Ya Head Up)” (1995) *
  • The Shangri-Las “Leader of the Pack” (1964)
  • Del Shannon “Runaway” (1961)
  • Arkie Shibley “Hot Rod Race” (1950) *
  • Shirelles “Dedicated to the One I Love” (1959)
  • Shirelles “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” (1960)
  • Paul Simon “Graceland” (1986)
  • Simon and Garfunkel “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (1970)
  • Simon and Garfunkel “The Sounds of Silence” (1965)
  • Siouxie and the Banshees “Cities in Dust” (1986) *
  • Sir Douglas Quintet “She's About a Mover” (1965)
  • Sister Sledge “We Are Family” (1979)
  • The Skatalites “Guns of Navarrone” (1967) *
  • Percy Sledge “When a Man Loves a Woman” (1966)
  • Sly & the Family Stone “Dance to the Music” (1968)
  • Sly & the Family Stone “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” (1969)
  • Little Millie Small “My Boy Lollipop” (1964) *
  • Arthur Smith “Guitar Boogie” (1945) *
  • Bessie Smith “Down Hearted Blues” (1923)
  • Clarence “Pine Top” Smith “Pine Top’s Boogie Woogie” (1929)
  • Huey “Piano” Smith & His Clowns “Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie-Woogie Flu” (1957)
  • Mamie Smith “Crazy Blues” (1920) *
  • Patti Smith Group “Dancing Barefoot” (1979) *
  • Patti Smith “Gloria (in Excelsis Deo)” (1976)
  • Trixie Smith “My Man Rocks Me with One Steady Roll” (1922) *
  • The Smiths “Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now” (1984)
  • The Smiths “How Soon Is Now?” (1984) *
  • Sonic Youth “Teenage Riot” (1988)
  • The Soul Stirrers “By and By” (1959)
  • The Specials “Ghost Town” (1981) *
  • Dusty Springfield “Wishin’ and Hopin’” (1964) *
  • Bruce Springsteen “Born in the U.S.A.” (1984) *
  • Bruce Springsteen “Born to Run” (1975)
  • Bruce Springsteen “Dancing in the Dark” (1984)
  • Bruce Springsteen “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” (1973)
  • Bruce Springsteen “Streets of Philadelphia” (1994) *
  • The Standells “Dirty Water” (1966)
  • The Staple Singers “I’ll Take You There” (1972) *
  • The Staple Singers “Respect Yourself” (1971)
  • Edwin Starr “War” (1970)
  • Steely Dan “Reeling in the Years” (1973)
  • Steppenwolf “Born to Be Wild” (1968) ^
  • Rod Stewart “Maggie May” (1971)
  • The Stooges “Search and Destroy” (1973)
  • The Stooges “I Wanna Be Your Dog” (1969)
  • Strafe “Set It Off” (1984) *
  • Stray Cats “Rock This Town” (1982)
  • Barrett Strong “Money (That's What I Want)” (1960)
  • The Sugarhill Gang “Rapper’s Delight” (1979)
  • Donna Summer “Love to Love You Baby” (1975)
  • The Supremes “Stop! In the Name of Love” (1965)
  • The Supremes “You Can’t Hurry Love” (1966)
  • The Surfaris “Wipe Out” (1963)
  • Swinging Blue Jeans “Hippy Hippy Shake” (1963)

T


  • T. Rex “Get It On (Bang a Gong)” (1971)
  • Talking Heads “Life During Wartime” (1979)
  • Talking Heads “Once in a Lifetime” (1980)
  • Talking Heads “Psycho Killer” (1978) *
  • Tampa Red “It’s Tight Like That” (1928) *
  • James Taylor “Fire and Rain” (1970)
  • Television “Little Johnny Jewel” (1975)
  • The Temptations “Ain't Too Proud to Beg” (1966)
  • The Temptations “My Girl” (1964)
  • The Temptations “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” (1972)
  • Sister Rosetta Tharpe “This Train” (1922)
  • Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton “Ball ‘N’ Chain” (1968)
  • Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton “Hound Dog” (1953)
  • Toots & the Maytals “Pressure Drop” (1970)
  • Peter Tosh “Legalize It” (1976)
  • Traffic “Dear Mr. Fantasy” (1967)
  • The Trammps “Disco Inferno” (1977)
  • The Troggs “Wild Thing” (1966)
  • Big Joe Turner & Pete Johnson “Roll ‘Em Pete” (1938) *
  • Big Joe Turner “Shake, Rattle and Roll” (1954)
  • Ike and Tina Turner “River Deep, Mountain High” (1966)
  • Tina Turner “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” (1984) *
  • The Turtles “Happy Together” (1967) *
  • The Turtles “It Ain't Me Babe” (1965)

U



V


  • Ritchie Valens “La Bamba” (1958)
  • Van Halen “Jump” (1984)
  • Van Halen “Runnin’ with the Devil” (1978)
  • Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble “Pride and Joy” (1983)
  • Velvet Underground “Heroin” (1965)
  • Velvet Underground “White Light/White Heat” (1968)
  • Velvet Underground “Sweet Jane” (1969) *
  • The Ventures “Walk Don't Run” (1960)
  • Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps “Be-Bop-A-Lula” (1956)

W


  • Tom Waits “Hang on St. Christopher” (1987) *
  • Junior Walker & the All Stars “Shotgun” (1965)
  • T-Bone Walker “Call It Stormy Monday” (1948)
  • War “Low Rider” (1975) *
  • War “Slippin’ into Darkness” (1971)
  • Clara Ward & the Ward Singers “How I Got Over” (1950)
  • Dionne Warwick “Walk on By” (1964) *
  • Dinah Washington “Am I Asking Too Much” (1948)
  • Muddy Waters “Got My Mojo Working” (1957)
  • Muddy Waters “Hoochie Coochie Man” (1954)
  • Muddy Waters “Mannish Boy” (1955)
  • Muddy Waters “Rollin’ Stone” (1950)
  • The Weavers “Goodnight Irene” (1950)
  • Weezer “Undone (The Sweater Song)” (1994) *
  • Mary Wells “My Guy” (1964)
  • The Who “Baba O’Riley” (1971)
  • The Who “Go to the Mirror Boy” (1969)
  • The Who “I Can See for Miles” (1967) *
  • The Who “My Generation” (1965)
  • Big Joe Williams “Baby Please Don't Go” (1941)
  • Hank Williams “Lovesick Blues” (1949) *
  • Hank Williams “Move It on Over” (1947) *
  • Larry Williams “Bony Maronie” (1957)
  • Marion Williams “Packing Up” (1958)
  • Sonny Boy (John Lee) Williamson “Good Morning Little School Girl” (1937)
  • Chuck Willis “C. C. Rider” (1957)
  • Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys “Ida Red” (1951) *
  • Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys “Take Me Back to Tulsa” (1941)
  • Jackie Wilson “Lonely Teardrops” (1958) *
  • Jackie Wilson “Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher and Higher” (1967)
  • Little Stevie Wonder “Fingertips (Part 2)” (1963) *
  • Stevie Wonder “Living for the City” (1973)
  • Stevie Wonder “Master Blaster (Jammin’)” (1980)
  • Stevie Wonder “Superstition” (1972)
  • Stevie Wonder “Uptight (Everything's Alright)” (1965)
  • Link Wray “Rumble” (1958) ^

X


  • X “Los Angeles” (1980)

Y


  • Jimmy Yancey “Midnight Stomp” (1954)
  • The Yardbirds “Shapes of Things” (1966)
  • Yes “Roundabout” (1972)
  • Neil Young “Down by the River” (1969)
  • Neil Young “Heart of Gold” (1972)
  • Neil Young “My My Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)” (1979)

Z


  • Frank Zappa “Montana” (1973) *
  • Frank Zappa (The Mothers of Invention) “Brown Shoes Don't Make It” (1967)
  • The Zombies “Time of the Season” (1968) *
  • ZZ Top “La Grange” (1973) *
  • ZZ Top “Legs” (1984)

Resources/Related Links:


First posted 11/9/2004; last updated 11/12/2023.

Friday, April 13, 2018

On This Day (1918): “Darktown Strutters’ Ball” hits #1

Darktown Strutters’ Ball

Original Dixieland Jazz Band

Writer(s): Shelton Brooks (see lyrics here)


First Charted: October 13, 1917


Peak: 2 US, 18 GA, 18 SM (Click for codes to charts.)


Sales (in millions): 3.0 (sheet music sales)


Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.23 video, -- streaming

Darktown Strutters’ Ball

Arthur Collins and Byron G. Harlan


First Charted: March 30, 1918


Peak: 11 US, 12 GA (Click for codes to charts.)


Sales (in millions): 3.0 (sheet music sales)


Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

Awards (Original Dixieland Jazz Band):

Click on award for more details.


Awards (Collins/Harlan):

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

Shelton Brooks, who also wrote Sophie Tucker’s “Some of These Days,” was inspired to write “Ball” by a 1915 social gathering during the Panama Pacific International Exposition he attended in San Francisco. SS Tucker would then introduce the song on vaudeville. SS In 1917, the Original Dixieland Jazz Band recorded an instrumental version, “whose recording was never imitated.” JA Their version charted at #2 and, in 2006, was named to the Grammy Hall of Fame.

The next year, however, the song had its greatest success when the “masters of minstrel/blackface-styled romps, Arthur Collins and Byron G. Harlan” SS “unveiled [the song] in all its rowdy glory.” SS Collins and Harlan paired up in 1901 and charted eighty-nine times over the next seventeen years. “Ball” was their 88th chart hit and the last of their dozen trips to #1. PM Individually, Collins racked up another 47 solo hits of which 11 hit #1 PM and Harlan charted 54 times, also hitting the peak 11 times. PM All told, they compiled 34 #1 hits collectively and independently.

Others to chart with the song include Alan Dale and Connie Haines (#29, 1948), the Jaudas’ Society Orchestra (#9, 1918), Ted Lewis (#12, 1927), Lou Monte (#7, 1954), and the Six Brown Brothers (#10, 1917) PM Others to record the song included Ray Anthony, the Boswell Sisters, Larry Clinton, Jimmy Dorsey, Arthur Fields, Phil Harris, Pee Wee Hunt, Fats Waller, and Chick Webb. WK

The song was featured in the movie The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971), sung by Paul Frees during a murder scene. Robert Redford sang it in The Natural (1984) and Kristin Scott Thomas sang it in The English Patient (1996). WK The song has also been used in TV shoes, including Tom and Jerry (“Saturday Evening Puss,” 1950), M*A*S*H (premiere episode in 1971), and The Simpsons (“Old Money”). WK In 1972, “Strutters’ Ball” was one of ten songs named to the Songwriters Hall of Fame as an historic standard. SS


Resources:


Related Links:


Last updated 9/6/2023.

April 13, 1742: Handel's 'Messiah' first performed

Last updated August 26, 2018.

Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56

George Friedrich Händel (composer)


Composed: 8/22/1741 – 9/12/1741


First Performed: 4/13/1742


Sales: - NA -


Peak: - NA -

Quotable: --


Genre: classical > choral music > oratorio


Parts/Movements:

Act I: 1) Sinfonia in E minor 2) “Comfort ye my people", Recitative for tenor 3) "Ev'ry valley shall be exalted", Air for tenor 4) "And the glory of the Lord", Chorus 5) "Thus saith the Lord of Hosts", Recitative for bass 6) "But who may abide the day of His coming", Air for bass 7) "And He shall purify the sons of Levi", Chorus 8) "Behold, a virgin shall conceive", Recitative for alto 9) "O thou that tellest good tiding to Zion", Air for alto 10) "For behold, darkness shall cover the earth", Recitative for bass 11) "The people that walked in darkness", Air for bass 12) "For unto us a Child is born", Chorus 13) Pifa in C major 14) "There were shepherds abiding in the field", Recitative for soprano 15) "And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them", Recitative for soprano 16) "But lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them", Arioso for soprano 17) "And the angel said unto them", Recitative for soprano 18) "And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude", Recitative for soprano 19) "Glory to God in the highest", Chorus 20) "Rejoice greatly", Air for soprano 21) "Then shall the eyes of the blind be open'd", Recitative for soprano 22) "He shall feed His flock like a shepherd", Air for soprano 23) "His yoke is easy, His burden is light", Chorus

Act II: 1) "Behold the Lamb of God", Chorus 2) "He was dispised and rejected", Air for alto 3) "Surely, He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows", Chorus 4) "And with His stripes we are healed", Chorus 5) "All we like sheep", Chorus 6) "All they that see Him, laugh Him to scorn", Recitative for tenor 7) "He trusted in God that He would deliver Him", Chorus 8) "Thy rebuke hat broken His heart", Recitative for tenor 9) "Behold, and see if there be any sorrow", Arioso for tenor 10) "He was cut off out of the land of the living", Recitative for tenor 11) "But Thou didst not leave His soul in hell", Air for tenor 12) "Lift up your heads, O ye gates", Chorus 13) "Unto which of the angels said He at any time", Recitative for tenor 14) "Let all the angels of God worship Him", Chorus 15) "Thou art gone up on high", Air for bass/alto 16) "Great was the company of the preachers", Chorus 17) "How beautiful are the feet of them", Air for soprano 18) "Their sound is gone out into all the lands", Arioso for tenor 19) "Their sound is gone out into all the lands", Chorus 20) "Why do the nations so furiously rage together", Air for bass 21) "The Kings of the earth rise up", Air for bass 22) "Let us break their bonds asunder", Chorus 23) "He that dwelleth in heaven", Recitative for tenor 24) "Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron", Air for tenor 25) "Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron", Recitative for tenor 26) "Hallelujah", Chorus

Act II: 1) "I know that my Redeemer liveth", Air for soprano 2) "Since by man came death", Chorus 3) "Behold, I tell you a mystery", Recitative for bass 4) "The trumpet shall sound", Air for bass 5) "Then shall be brought to pass the saying", Recitative for alto 6) "O death, where is thy sting?", Duet for alto & tenor 7) "But thanks to be to God", Chorus 8) "Worthy is the Lamb was slain", Chorus 9) "Amen", Chorus 10) "Thus saith the Lord of Hosts", Supplemental Recitative for bass


Average Length: 140:00

Review:

“With the arguable exception of the Water Music, the oratorio Messiah is the one work of Handel’s which is universally known. Yet it was composed at a time when Handel’s fortunes were at a low ebb. His final attempt to return to opera with Imeneo (1740) and Deidamia (1741) had proved a failure, and rumor even had it that, having despaired of the London public, he was preparing to leave England. Fortuitously, the clergyman and writer Charles Jennens, Handel’s collaborator in Saul, lured Handel back to the idea of English oratorio; at much the same time, the composer received an offer from William Cavendish, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, to take part in the following season of oratorio performances in Dublin. The libretto offered to Handel by Jennens was based around the birth and Passion of Christ. It was called Messiah. Handel set to work on the libretto on August 22, 1741, completing the score just over three weeks later on September 12.” BR

“The resulting sacred, non-dramatic oratorio was a first for Handel, and, although it heralded the composer’s final great phase of oratorio composition, he never wrote one like it again. Messiah is therefore completely atypical within the context of Handel’s oratorios, the majority of which relate to Old Testament or Apocryphal stories in dramatized form. As a statement of Christian faith it moves the worldly Handel closer to Bach than any other work of his, although not sufficiently to prevent contemporary accusations of operatic influences. It is also worth recalling that during Handel’s day Messiah was more frequently performed in theaters than in churches.” BR

“Jennens divided his text into three parts, the first of which deals with the Prophecy of the Messiah and its fulfillment. The second takes us from the Passion to the triumph of the Resurrection, while the final part deals with the role of the Messiah in life after death. Handel’s setting consists of the usual juxtaposition of recitative, arias, and choruses. Jennens’ libretto draws across a wide spectrum of both Old and New Testament sources, but uniquely among Handel’s oratorios there are no named characters. The drama is thus articulated purely through the textual message, most powerfully through the overwhelming choruses that have ensured the enduring popularity of the oratorio. The first performance took place at the New Music Hall in Dublin on April 13, 1742. It was received with huge acclaim, the Dublin Journal proclaiming that ‘Messiah was allowed by the greatest Judges to be the finest Composition of Musick that ever was heard.’ The following year the triumph was repeated at Covent Garden, when Handel added two more solos. Further revisions took place in 1745 at the famous Foundling Hospital performances, leaving all subsequent conductors with editorial problems as to Handel’s ‘final’ intentions. By the time of the composer’s death in 1758 Messiah had already attained an iconic status it has never relinquished.” BR

“Alongside its immensely popular choruses – of which the Hallelujah is king – Messiah’s primary allure is its effective arias and recitatives for solo voices. The opening Every Valley, sung by tenor, sets the tone for tunefulness and expressive charm, and is well-matched by the soprano’s Rejoice Greatly, the alto’s He was Despised and the bass’ The Trumpet Shall Sound.” BR


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