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 (1893): “Daisy Bell” hit #1

Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two) Dan Quinn

Writer(s): Hary Dacre (music & words) (see lyrics here) First Charted: September 16, 1893 Peak: 19 PM (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

Awards (Dan Quinn): Click on award for more details. Awards (Edward M. Favor): Awards (Max Mathews, John L. Kelly Jr., & Carol Lockbaum):

About the Song: “Daisy Bell” was written in 1892 by British songwriter Harry Dacre (born Henry Decker). It became better known as “A Bicycle Built for Two.” When Dacre first came to America, he had to pay an import duty on his bicycle – the era’s “most popular mode of transportation.”SS His friend and fellow songwriter William Jerome said, “It’s lucky you didn’t bring a bicycle built for two, otherwise you’d have to pay double duty.” WK As for the song’s namesake, it was inspired by British socialite and philanthropist Daisy Greville – the Countess of Warwick and a mistress of King Edward VII. WK Katie Lawrence popularized the song at a London music hall. In the United States, Jennie Lindsay helped popularize the song by performing it in early 1892 at the Atlantic Gardens on New York’s Bowery as well as the Winter Garden on Union Square. SS Dan Quinn was the first to record and release the song. He was “one of the three top recording stars of the 1890s (along with George J. Gaskin and Len Spencer).” PM Over a twenty-year career, he recorded over 2500 songs. He charted 34 times from 1892 to 1907, including seventeen chart-toppers. “Daisy Bell” was one of his biggest hits, spending nine weeks at #1. Only “The Band Played On” from 1895 spent more weeks on top (10). PM The song has the distinction of being the first to be sung via computer speech synthesis. The feat was accomplished in 1961 with the IBM 7094. WK It was used in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey as the dying words sung by the HAL 9000 computer. It was inducted into the National Recording Registry in 2009. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Dan Quinn SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Page 512. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Pages 360-1. WK Wikipedia First posted 6/24/2024.