Showing posts with label Jingle Bells. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jingle Bells. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 24, 2025

The Top 100 Songs of Pre-Recorded Music History

Pre-Recorded Music History:

Top 100 Songs

The history of recorded music is generally marked as beginning with the introduction of the phonograph by Thomas Edison in 1877. With a few exceptions, this list focuses on music written before that era. These are songs which have been around 150 years or more and have entered the public conscience because of the song itself instead of its performance by a specific artist. This list consists of Christmas songs, children’s songs and nursery rhymes, hymns, and patriotic songs. Songs are listed first by the writers (m=music, w=words), song titles, and year of publication.

Click here to see other song lists focused on specific eras.

DMDB Top 1%:

  1. Katharine Lee Bates (lyrics) & Samuel A. Ward (music) “America the Beautiful” (1895)
  2. James M. Black & Katharine E. Purvis (songwriters) “When the Saints Go Marching In” (1896)
  3. Joseph Mohr (w), Franz Gruber (m), John Freeman Young (English translation) “Silent Night” (1818)
  4. Francis Scott Key (lyrics), John Stafford Smith (music) “The Star-Spangled Banner” (1814)
  5. Stephen Foster (lyrics/music) “The Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)” (1851)
  6. John Newton (w) “Amazing Grace” (1779)
  7. John Kelly, later adapted by Don George “The Yellow Rose of Texas” (1853)
  8. Patty S. Hill & Mildred J. Hill (songwriters) “Happy Birthday to You” (1893)
  9. Julia Ward Howe (w) and William Steffe (m) “The Battle Hymn of the Republic (aka ‘Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!’)” (1861)
  10. Stephen Foster (m/w) “Oh! Susanna” (1847)

  11. Dr. Brewster M. Higley (w), Daniel E. Kelly (m) “Home on the Range” (1874)
  12. traditional/George Washington Dixon, Bob Farrell, Otto Bunnell “Turkey in the Straw” (1820)
  13. Richard Milburn (m), Septimus Winner as Alice Hawthorne (w) “Listen to the Mocking Bird (aka “The Mocking Bird”)” (1856)
  14. Dr. Richard Schukburgh (w), traditional (m) “Yankee Doodle (aka ‘Yankee Doodle Went to Town’)” (1754)
  15. Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore (w), unknown (m) “When Johnny Comes Marching Home” (1863)
  16. John Howard Payne (w), Sir Henry Rowley Bishop (m) “Home Sweet Home” (1823)
  17. Daniel Decatur Emmett (m/w) “Dixie” (1859)
  18. James S. Pierpont (m/w) “Jingle Bells” (1857)
  19. Stephen Foster (m/w) “Camptown Races (Gwine to Run All Night)” (1850)
  20. Robert Burns (adapted by) “Auld Lang Syne” (1796)

  21. Frank Kidson “Scarborough Fair” (1891)
  22. Samuel Francis Smith (w), traditional (m) “God Save the King” (1740) / “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” (1831)
  23. traditional “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” (1894)
  24. Thomas d’Urfey (m), Frederick Thomas Nettleingham (w) “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” (1706)
  25. Jane Taylor (w), unknown (m) “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” (1806) / “The Alphabet Song (The ABC Song)” (1834) / “Baa Baa Black Sheep” (1879)
  26. Percy Montrose “Clementine” (1884)
  27. Wallace Willis, Henry Thacker Burleigh (arranged by) “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” (1872)
  28. traditional/credited to Daniel Decatur Emmett “Jimmy Crack Corn (The Blue Tail Fly)” (1846)
  29. traditional “On Top of Old Smoky” (1841)
  30. Effie I. Canning (m/w) “Rock-a-Bye Baby” (1884)

  31. traditional “She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain” (1899)
  32. Charles E. Pratt “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean” (1881)
  33. George Frideric Handel (m), Isaac Watts (w), Lowell Mason (arranged) “Joy to the World” (1719)
  34. unknown “O Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)” (1751)
  35. Felix Mendelssohn (m), Charles Wesley (w) “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” (1855)
  36. James A. Bland (m/w) “Dem Golden Slippers” (1879)
  37. George Leybourne & Alfred Lee “The Man on the Flying Trapeze” (1867)
  38. Cool White (w) “Buffalo Gals (Will You Come Out Tonight)” (1844)
  39. Eliphalet Oram Lyte “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” (1852)
  40. writer(s) unknown “Greensleeves” (1580) / William Chatterton Dix (w), “Greensleeves” (m) “What Child Is This?” (1865)

  41. traditional “Red River Valley” (1896)
  42. “Ave Maria” (Schubert/Scott: 1825, J.S. Bach/Gounod: 1859)
  43. George F. Root (composer) “The Battle Cry of Freedom” (1862)
  44. Lowell Mason (m), Sarah Josepha Hale (w) “Mary Had a Little Lamb” (1830)
  45. unknown (w/m) “Shenandoah” (1837)
  46. James Ramsey Murray (m) and Charles H. Gabriel (w) “Away in a Manger” (1882)
  47. traditional “Michael Row the Boat Ashore” (1863)
  48. Daniel Decatur Emmett “Polly Wolly Doodle (All the Day)” (1843)
  49. Augustus Montague Toplady (w), Thomas Hastings (m) “Rock of Ages” (1763)
  50. Carl Sandburg “Skip to My Lou” (1832)

  51. Stephen Foster (m/w) “Beautiful Dreamer” (1864)
  52. writer(s) unknown “London Bridge is Falling Down” (1744)
  53. Stephen Foster (m/w) “I Dream of Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair” (1854)
  54. Eugene Raymond (adapted by) “Pop Goes the Weasel” (1852)
  55. anonymous “Froggie Went A-Courtin’” (1549)
  56. Davies Gilbert “The First Noel” (1823)
  57. Thomas P. Westendorf (m/w) “I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen” (1875)
  58. Lewis Redner (m), Phillips Brooks (w) “O Little Town of Bethlehem” (1868)
  59. unknown “Frère Jacques (Are You Sleeping?)” (1780)
  60. Henry C. Work (m/w) “Grandfather’s Clock” (1876)

  61. Septimus Winner (m/w) “O Where, O Where Has My Little Dog Gone” (1864)
  62. John Henry Hopkins Jr. (m/w) “We Three Kings of Orient Are” (1857)
  63. Adolphe Adam and John Sullivan Dwight (composers) “O Holy Night” (1847)
  64. Rev. Edmund Hamilton Sears (w) and Richard Storrs Willis (m) “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” (1850)
  65. Daniel Decatur Emmett “Old Dan Tucker” (1843)
  66. traditional “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” (1709)
  67. traditional “God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman” (1760)
  68. Sanford F. Bennett (w), Joseph Philbrick Webster (m) “In the Sweet By-and-By” (1868)
  69. Rev. H.D.L. Webster (w), Joseph Philbrick Webster (m) “Lorena” (1857)

    DMDB Top 2%:

  70. Sabine Baring-Gould (w) and Sir Arthur Sullivan (m) “Onward Christian Soldiers” (1871)

  71. traditional “Alouette” (1879)
  72. Philip Phile (m), Joseph Hopkinson (w) “Hail Columbia (The President’s March)” (1789)
  73. Frederic Austin, traditional “Twelve Days of Christmas” (1780)
  74. traditional “This Old Man (Nick Nack Pattiwack)” (1842)
  75. Bill Dooley “Frankie and Johnny” (1899)
  76. unknown “What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor?” (1740)
  77. unknown “Three Blind Mice” (1609)
  78. Joseph Eastburn Winter “The Little Brown Jug” (1869)
  79. Thomas Oliphant (w), Nos Galan (m) “Deck the Halls” (1862)
  80. Billy Reeves (w), Frank Campbell (m), and Rollin Howard (arranger) “Shoo Fly Don’t Bother Me” (1869)

  81. Jay Roberts (copyrighted by) “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho” (1865)
  82. unknown “Bingo (B-I-N-G-O)” (1780)
  83. James Sanderson (m), Albert Gamse (w) “Hail to the Chief” (1810)
  84. unknown “Blow the Man Down” (1849)
  85. Johannes Brahms (composer) “Brahms’ Lullaby (Wiegenleid) (aka “Cradle Song”) (1868)
  86. Dr. Theodore Baker (translated and arranged by) “We Gather Together (Thanksgiving Prayer)” (1630)
  87. unknown “Old King Cole” (1708)
  88. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (writer) “Go Tell Aunt Rhody” (1752)
  89. Hartius Bonar (w), Charles Crozat Converse (m) “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” (1868)
  90. traditional “Sing a Song of Sixpence” (1744)

  91. John Wesley Work (composer) “Go Tell It on the Mountain” (1865)
  92. Ben Johnson (w), traditional (m) “Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes” (1616)
  93. unknown “The Hokey Pokey” (1826)
  94. unknown “Humpty Dumpty” (1797)
  95. Carl Boberg (w) “How Great Thou Art” (1885)
  96. unknown “The Wayfaring Stranger” (1807)
  97. Thomas Haynes Bayly (m/w) “Long, Long Ago” (1843)
  98. unknown “The Farmer in the Dell” (1883)
  99. traditional/James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps (publisher) “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush” (1842)
  100. Ernst Anschütz (w), “Ach Tannenbaum” (m) “O Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum)” (1824)

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Originally posted 6/30/2021. Last updated 12/24/2025.
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Saturday, September 15, 2007

On This Day in Music (1857): “Jingle Bells” first performed in public

Jingle Bells

John S. Pierpont (words and music)

Writer(s): John S. Pierpont (see lyrics here)

Published: 1857

First Performed: September 15, 1857

First Charted: October 26, 1935 (Benny Goodman)

Peak (different versions): 5 PM, 15 GA, 40 HR, 11 AC, 49 CW, 5 UK (Click for codes to charts.)

Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, 6.0 world (Bing Crosby)

Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 655.67 video, -- streaming

Awards (Pierpont):

Click on award for more details.

Awards (Crosby):

About the Song:

“Jingle Bells” isn’t just a holiday favorite, but “one of the most recognizable songs in the English language.” VU “The repetition and tempo make it appealing to kids, it’s easy to remember…it’s easy to parody.” VU It was the first song to be broadcast from space on December 16, 1965, when Gemini 6 astronauts Wally Schirra Jr. and Thomas P. Stafford playfully teased ground control that they saw a UFO being piloted by somewhere wearing a red suit. They then played “Jingle Bells” on harmonica, backed by miniature sleigh bells. CNN

The now-perennial holiday classic originally had no relation to Christmas (there’s no mention of the holiday in the lyrics), only being associated with the holiday in the 1860s and ‘70s. VU It was written by composer James Lord Pierpont and published in 1857. There is some controversy as to where the song originated, but Professor Kyna Hamill, director of Boston University’s Core Curriculum, says it is most likely he wrote it in the summer of 1857 while living temporarily in a rooming house in downtown Boston. HC

Pierpont was born in Boston in 1822 and ran away from boarding school at age 14 to join the crew of a whaling ship, spending almost ten years at sea. HC He was “a controversial, disreputable figure” UD who left his wife and kids in 1849 to move to California during the Gold Rush. HC After striking out, he returned to a career as a music teacher, church organist, and songwriter RB writing in many genres including “ballads, light opera, and polkas.” RB He left his family again in 1853 to go to Savannah, Georgia, to be the organist at a church where his brother was the pastor. HC When his first wife died in 1856, he left his two children with their grandfather and returned to Savannah where he married the daughter of the mayor HC and had several more children. He fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War, writing songs in support of the soldiers fighting to defend slavery. UD He died in 1893 without making any significant money from “Jingle Bells.” UD He was, however, inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.

The song was originally titled “One Horse Open Sleigh” and was “a slightly racy romance song about an unchaperoned ride.” UD It was written at a time when sleigh songs were all the rage. Hamill wrote an article in 2017 saying that such songs were a synonym for youth much like fast cars are today; sleighs were a place young people could sneak off together in private. RB The song consisted not just of the familiar opening verse and chorus typically sung today, but three more verses about a youthful courtship ritual in which a young couple are in a fast-moving sleigh which overturns and lands them in the snow. RB The “jingle bells” on the horses’ harnesses were used to alter other riders to their presence to avoid collisions. TD

Pierpont wrote it to conform to the conventions of minstrel shows of the time in hopes of having financial success with it. RB A playbill from the Ordway minstrel hall in Boston suggests “One Horse Open Sleigh” was first publicly performed on September 15, 1857 by Johnny Pell in blackface. Minstrel shows were a “racist form of entertainment demeaning to blacks” RB but the lyrics themselves were not racist. RB Historian Christopher Klein asserts that the song was first performed at a Thanksgiving church service. CNN

The first recording of “Jingle Bells” appears to be an instrumental recording made on an Edison wax cylinder in 1889 by a banjo player named Will Lyle. TD That would give it the distinction of being the first Christmas song ever recorded, but all of Lyle’s versions have long been lost. TD There is, however, a surviving recording on wax cylinder in 1898 in which the vocal harmony group the Edison Male Quartett recorded it as part of a Christmas medley titled “Sleigh Ride Party.” TD

There have been chart versions of the song by Benny Goodman (#18 PM, 1935), Glenn Miller (#5 PM, 1941), Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters (#19 PM, 1943), Primo Scala (#24 PM, 1949), Les Paul (#10 PM, 1952), PM and Perry Como (#74 BB, 1957). It has also been recorded by Louis Armstrong, the Barenaked Ladies, Count Basie, The Beatles, Andrea Bocelli and the Muppets, Booker T. & the MG’s, Dave Brubeck, Michael Bublé, Jimmy Buffett, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Al Green, Etta James, Peggy Lee, Brad Paisley, Smokey Robinson, Frank Sinatra, Gwen Stefani, George Strait, Barbra Streisand, and James Taylor.

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First posted 8/29/2023; last updated 12/20/2023.

 
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Friday, December 1, 1995

50 years ago: Bing Crosby charted with Christmas album

First posted 3/2/2008; updated 9/29/2020.

Merry Christmas (aka “White Christmas”)

Bing Crosby

Charted: December 1, 1945

Peak: 139 US, 45 UK, -- CN, -- AU

Sales (in millions): 4.0 US, -- UK, 15.0 world (includes US and UK)

Genre: traditional pop/Christmas

Tracks:

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

  1. Silent Night (12/21/35, 7 US, 8 UK, sales: 10 million)
  2. Adeste Fideles (O, Come All Ye Faithful) (12/12/60, 45 US)
  3. White Christmas (with the Ken Darby Singers and the John Scott Orchestra) (10/3/42, 114 US, 110 HP, 77 CA, 11 HR, 12 GA, 3 AC, 13 RB, 5 UK, 120, sales: 56 million)
  4. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
  5. Faith of Our Fathers
  6. I’ll Be Home for Christmas (12/4/43, 3 US, 8 RB, sales: 1 million)
  7. Jingle Bells (with The Andrews Sisters & Vic Schoen) (12/25/43, 19 US)
  8. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (with Carol Richards and John Scott Trotter & His Orchestra) (12/25/43, 22 US)
  9. Silver Bells (with Carol Richards and John Scott Trotter & His Orchestra) (12/27/52, 20 US)
  10. It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
  11. Christmas in Killarney
  12. Mele Kalikimaka (with The Andrews Sisters & Vic Shoen)

Total Running Time: 27:24

Rating:

4.159 out of 5.00 (average of 11 ratings)

Quotable: --

Awards:

About the Album:

“Try to forget the fact that Bing Crosby probably never had to record another song in his life after he immortalized White Christmas. If you can do that, you’ll find plenty more to like in this crooning Christmas collection.” AZ

“White Christmas” is the best-selling song of all time, but this album didn’t too shabby either. When it comes to seasonal recordings, only Elvis Presley’s Christmas Album has sold more at 19 million copies worldwide. However, Merry Christmas reached the lofty heights of 39 whopping weeks at #1 on the Billboard album chart, thanks to multiple reissues, repackagings, and rereleases over the years.

The original album was packaged as five 78 records, each with two songs. All of the songs had been released previously and were Christmas-themed with the exception of “Danny Boy.” When a second edition was released in 1947, “Danny Boy” and “Let’s Start the New Year Right” were omitted and new recordings of “White Christmas” and Silent Night from March 19, 1947 were added. WK

In 1955, the vinyl reissue of the album followed the 1947 track listing and added four tracks, including Silver Bells and three tracks with the Andrews Sisters: Jingle Bells, Mele Kalikimaka, and Santa Claus Is Coming to Town. The 1955 version of the album has been continually in print ever since. Only the original cast recording of Oklahoma! has been in print longer. WK It’s also this cover with Crosby in a Santa Claus stocking cap which became the standard, replacing the original cover which had Crosby’s floating head on a blue background. WK

The album finds “‘Der Bingle’ in two distinctly different moods: from the solemnity of ‘Silent Night’ and Adeste Fidelis (sung in Latin and English) to the playfulness (‘gonna have a lotta fun’) on ‘Jingle Bells,’ with The Andrews Sisters providing some smiles with their ‘Ji-ji-jingle’ vocals.” AMG

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Monday, December 31, 1973

Fred & Irwin Silber Folksinger’s Wordbook

Fred & Irwin Silber:

Folksinger’s Wordbook

First published in 1973, this book collects lyrics for nearly 1000 standards, predominantly from before the 20th century. There is no commentary or ranking of the songs in the book, but I have created a top 100 ranking by looking at how many other lists the songs in this book appeared on. Publication years for songs 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.

1. “Amazing Grace” (1772)
2. “The Battle Hymn of the Republic (aka ‘Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!’)” (1861)
3. “When the Saints Go Marching In” (1880)
4. “The Star-Spangled Banner” (1814)
5. “Silent Night” (1818)
6. “Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home?” (1902)
7. “Home on the Range” (1873)
8. “America the Beautiful” (1895)
9. “Jingle Bells” (1857)
10. “Yankee Doodle (aka ‘Yankee Doodle Went to Town’)” (1754)

11. “Oh! Susanna” (1846)
12. “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” (1706)
13. “Hello Ma Baby” (1899)
14. “After the Ball” (1892)
15. “When Johnny Comes Marching Home” (1863)
16. “Dixie” (1859)
17. “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” (1894)
18. “Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis” (1904)
19. “O Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)” (1751)
20. “Camptown Races (Gwine to Run All Night)” (1850)

21. “In the Good Old Summertime” (1902)
22. “Joy to the World” (1719)
23. “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” (1852)
24. “The Yellow Rose of Texas” (1853)
25. “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” (1739)
26. “Sweet Adeline (You’re the Flower of My Heart)” (1903)
27. “Auld Lang Syne” (1799)
28. “Daisy Bell (A Bicycle Built for Two)” (1892)
29. “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” (1873)
30. “On Top of Old Smoky” (1841)

31. “She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain” (1899)
32. “Clementine” (1884)
33. “Frère Jacques (Are You Sleeping?)” (1780)
34. “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” (1868)
35. “The Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)” (1851)
36. “Home Sweet Home” (1823)
37. “Turkey in the Straw” (1820)
38. “My Old Kentucky Home” (1853)
39. “Rock-a-Bye Baby” (1884)
40. “Danny Boy” (1913)

41. “Jimmy Crack Corn (The Blue Tail Fly)” (1846)
42. “The Sidewalks of New York” (1894)
43. “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean” (1881)
44. “Rock of Ages” (1763)
45. “Away in a Manger” (1882)
46. “The First Noel” (1823)
47. “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” (1927)
48. “School Days (When We Were a Couple of Kids)” (1907)
49. “Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie” (1905)
50. “Skip to My Lou” (1832)

51. “O Little Town of Bethlehem” (1868)
52. “The Battle Cry of Freedom” (1862)
53. “Ta-Ra-Ra Boom-De-Ay” (1891)
54. “Pop Goes the Weasel” (1853)
55. “This Old Man (Nick Nack Paddiwak)” (1842)
56. “Bingo (B-I-N-G-O)” (1780)
57. “Casey Jones (The Brave Engineer)” (1909)
58. “Polly Wolly Doodle (All the Day)” (1843)
59. “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” (1760)
60. “Hush Little Baby” (1918)

61. “The Man on the Flying Trapeze” (1867)
62. “Beautiful Dreamer” (1864)
63. “The Band Played On” (1895)
64. “Red River Valley” (1896)
65. “Shenandoah” (1837)
66. “On the Banks of the Wabash” (1897)
67. “In the Sweet By-and-By” (1868)
68. “Michael Row the Boat Ashore” (1863)
69. “Twelve Days of Christmas” (1780)
70. “Listen to the Mocking Bird (aka “The Mocking Bird”)” (1855)

71. “My Wild Irish Rose” (1899)
72. “Buffalo Gals (Will You Come Out Tonight)” (1844)
73. “Grandfather’s Clock” (1876)
74. “A Bird in a Gilded Cage” (1900)
75. “What Child Is This?” (1865)
76. “I Dream of Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair” (1854)
77. “I’ll Take You Home Again, Kathleen” (1875)
78. “Ragtime Cowboy Joe” (1912)
79. “Froggie Went A-Courtin’” (1549)
80. “Nearer My God to Thee” (1841)

81. “Alouette” (1879)
82. “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen” (1867)
83. “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho” (1865)
84. “Deck the Halls” (1862)
85. “Lift Every Voice and Sing” (1900)
86. “We Shall Overcome” (1963)
87. “The Green Grass Grew All Around” (1912)
88. “Can the Circle Be Unbroken (By and By)” (1935)
89. “Greensleeves” (1580)
90. “Alabamy Bound” (1925)

91. “Old Dan Tucker” (1843)
92. “The Little Brown Jug” (1869)
93. “The Old Grey Mare” (1915)
94. “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” (1709)
95. “Onward Christian Soldiers” (1871)
96. “Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean” (1843)
97. “Give Me That Old Time Religion” (1865)
98. “Down by the Riverside” (1918)
99. “Angels We Have Heard on High” (1862)
100. “Lorena” (1857)

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First posted 12/5/2025; last updated 12/7/2025.

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