Glenn Weiser Favorite 19th Century American Songs

Glenn Weiser: Favorite 19th Century American Songs

Glenn Weiser’s book Favorite 19th Century American Songs for Fingerstyle Guitar covers 47 songs. The book doesn’t rank the songs but I have created a ranking by looking at how many other lists the songs are featured on. Publication years for songs and the songwriters are indicated, but no specific artist is attached to each song. Click here to see other lists from critics and individuals and here to see other lists from publications and/or organizations “The Battle Hymn of the Republic (aka ‘Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!’)” (1861) by Julia Ward Howe & William Steffe “The Star-Spangled Banner” (1814) by Francis Scott Key & John Stafford Smith “Home on the Range” (1873) by Dr. Brewster M. Higley & Daniel E. Kelly “Oh! Susanna” (1847) by Stephen Foster “After the Ball” (1892) by Charles K. Harris “Dixie” (1859) by Daniel Decatur Emmett “Camptown Races (Gwine to Run All Night)” (1850) by Stephen Foster “Daisy Bell (A Bicycle Built for Two)” (1892) by Hary Dacre “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” (1873) by Wallace Willis, arranged by Henry Thacker Burleigh “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” (1868) by Joseph M. Scriven, Hatius Bonar, & Charles Crozat Converse “The Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)” (1851) “Home Sweet Home” (1823) by John Howard Payne, arranged by Sir Henry Rowley Bishop “My Old Kentucky Home” (1853) by Stephen Foster “Jimmy Crack Corn (The Blue Tail Fly)” (1846) by Daniel Decatur Emmett “The Sidewalks of New York” (1894) by Charles B. Lawlor & James W. Blake “The Battle Cry of Freedom” (1862) by Geoge Frederick Root “Carry Me Back to Old Virginny” (1878) by James A. Bland “The Man on the Flying Trapeze” (1867) by Alfred Lee & George Leybourne The Band Played On (1895) by Charles B. Ward & John F. Palmer “Listen to the Mocking Bird (aka “The Mocking Bird”)” (1856) by Septimus Winner (as Alice Hawthorne) & Richard Milburn “Grandfather’s Clock” (1876) by Henry C. Work “I Dream of Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair” (1854) by Stephen Foster “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho” (1865) traditional “Lorena” (1857) by Rev. Henry David Webster & Joseph Philbick Webster “Dem Golden Slippers” (1879) by James A. Bland “Go Down Moses (Let My People Go)” (1861) traditional “When You and I Were Young, Maggie” (1866) by George W. Johnson & J.A. Butterfield “Tenting on the Old Campground” (1864) by Walter Kittredge “Tramp! Tramp! Tramp” (1864) by Geoge Frederick Root “Darling Nellie Gray” (1856) by Benjamin Russell Hanby “Old Black Joe” (1860) by Stephen Foster “The Wayfaring Stranger” (1858) unknown “Simple Gifts” (1848) by Joseph Brackett “Follow the Drinking Gourd” (1860) by Epe Sargent & Henry Russell “There’s a Tavern in the Town” (1883) anonymous “Marching Through Georgia” (1865) by Henry Clay Work “Hard Times Come Again No More” (1854) by Stephen Foster “Deep River” (1867) arranged by Harry Thacker Burleigh “Gentle Annie” (1856) by Stephen Foster & Lame Jack Cousens “Massa’s in the Cold, Cold Ground” (1852) by Stephen Foster “Kingdom Coming” (1862) by Henry Clay Work “The Rose of Alabama” (1846) by S.S. Steele/anonymous “Aloha Oe (Farewell to Thee)” (1924) by H.M. Queen Liliuokalani “Keep Your Hand on the Plow” (1917) unknown “Old Uncle Ned” (1848) by Stephen Foster “Sweet Hour of Prayer” (1845) by William W. Walford “Ring de Banjo” (1851) by Stephen Foster Resources/Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: “lists from critics and individuals’ Dave’s Music Database: “Lists from publications and/or organizations” Glenn Weiser (3/1/2019). Favorite 19th Century American Songs for Fingerstyle Guitar. Centerstream Publications. First posted 12/22/2025.

 

Today in Music (1911): “Camptown Races” charted

Camptown Races (Gwine to Run All Night) Billy Murray

Writer(s): Stephen Foster (see lyrics here) First Published: February 1850 First Charted: November 11, 1911 Peak: 9 PM, 3 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 7.93 video, 3.32 streaming

Awards (Stephen Foster): Click on award for more details. Awards (Billy Murray):

About the Song: Stephen Foster was the pre-eminent songwriter of the 19th century in America. He is often referred to as “the Father of American Music.” BA The Songwriter Hall of Fame inductee was born in 1826 in Pennsylvania and wrote over 200 songs during his short 37 years. BA He was 18 when he published his first song, “Open They Lattice, Love.” MF He had his first hit with “Oh! Susanna” in 1848. SS His next big hit, in 1850, was “Camptown Races.” It was first published in Plantation Melodies SA in February 1850 by F.D. Benteen. WK Foster wrote the song after traveling through Camptown, a small village in the mountains of northeast Pennsylvania. WK The lyrics, about transients who bet on horses, were written in a stereotypical African Ameican dialect with the specific intention that the song would be performed in minstrel shows, which are widely considered to have been racist. WK The song may have used Dan Emmett’s “Old Dan Tucker” (1843), which was performed by the Virginia Minstrels, as a model. BF “Camptown Races” was introduced to the public by Christy’s Minstrels and it became a hit with other minstrel troupes throughout the country. WK It went on to become “one of the most popular folk/Americana tunes of the nineteenth century.” WK The song was first recorded by Billy Murray in 1911 and performed by Al Jolson in Swanee River, a 1939 biopic about Foster. Bing Cosby, Frankie Laine, Julie London, and Kenny Rogers are among the artists to record the song. WK It was also featured in the 1974 Mel Brooks comedy, Blazing Saddles, and was a favorite of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons. WK The tune was used at one point for a political campaign song. SA Resources: BA BalladOfAmerica.org BF Battlefields.org MF MentalFloss.com (7/29/2008). “10 Candidates for the World’s First Pop Song” by Mark Juddery SA SongOfAmerica.org SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Pages 264-5. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 11/27/2025.