Showing posts with label Take Me Out to the Ball Game. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Take Me Out to the Ball Game. Show all posts

Monday, February 17, 2025

Roud Folk Song Index: Top 100 Songs

Roud Folk Song Index:

Top 100 Songs

Steve Roud created the Roud Folk Song Index which, as explained at Wikipedia, has “references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world.” Roud combines the Broadside Index (printed sources before 1900), all printed sources in the Child Ballads compiled by Francis James Child, and a field-recording index. More than 5000 of the titles are listed on Wikipedia. The entire database is searchable online at the Vaughn Williams Memorial Library .

This page is a ranked of the 100 highest-ranked titles in Dave’s Music Database. Only the song titles and earliest known dates of songs’ publications are listed here.

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

1. “Over the Rainbow” (1939)
2. “St. Louis Blues” (1914)
3. “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” (1911)
4. “The House of the Rising Sun” (1933)
5. “After the Ball” (1892)
6. “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” (1908)
7. “Over There” (1917)
8. “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” (1938)
9. “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (1949)
10. “When the Saints Go Marching In” (1896)

11. “Give My Regards to Broadway” (1904)
12. “Silent Night” (1818)
13. “The Star-Spangled Banner” (1814)
14. “Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home” (1902)
15. “Happy Birthday to You” (1893)
16. “The Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)” (1851)
17. “Shine on, Harvest Moon” (1908)
18. “You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)” (1913)
19. “All the Things You Are” (1939)
20. “Sixteen Tons” (1955)

21. “This Land Is Your Land” (1944)
22. “Jingle Bells” (1857)
23. “Amazing Grace” (1772)
24. “The Prisoner’s Song” (1925)
25. “Listen to the Mocking Bird (aka “The Mocking Bird”)” (1855)
26. “Turkey in the Straw” (1820)
27. “It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary” (1912)
28. “A Hot Time in the Old Town” (1896)
29. “Oh Susanna” (1846)
30. “Goodnight Irene” (1933)

31. “Home on the Range” (1873)
32. “When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again” (1863)
33. “Down by the Old Mill Stream” (1910)
34. “Dixie” (1859)
35. “Yankee Doodle” (1754)
36. “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” (1934)
37. “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” (1832)
38. “You Are My Sunshine” (1940)
39. “The Yellow Rose of Texas” (1853)
40. “Joy to the World” (1719)

41. “Darktown Strutters’ Ball” (1917)
42. “Camptown Races (Gwine to Run All Night)” (1850)
43. “O Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)” (1905)
44. “Auld Lang Syne” (1799)
45. “It Ain’t Gonna Rain No Mo’” (1923)
46. “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” (1855)
47. “The Little Drummer Boy” (1958)
48. “Wabash Cannonball” (1882)
49. “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” (1706)
50. “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” (1806)

51. “Tom Dooley” (1940)
52. “Clementine” (1863)
53. “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” (1873)
54. “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” (1894)
55. “O Holy Night (Minuit, Chrétiens)” (1847)
56. “On the Banks of the Wabash” (1897)
57. “The Arkansaw Traveler” (1863)
58. “The First Noel” (1823)
59. “Hello Central, Give Me Heaven” (1901)
60. “Ave Maria” (1825)

61. “Away in a Manger” (1882)
62. “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean” (1881)
63. “O Little Town of Bethlehem” (1868)
64. “The Man on the Flying Trapeze” (1867)
65. “She’ll Be Comin’ ‘Round the Mountain” (1899)
66. “Wildwood Flower” (1928)
67. “Jimmy Crack Corn (The Blue Tail Fly)” (1846)
68. “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” (1850)
69. “The Battle Cry of Freedom” (1862)
70. “We Three Kings of Orient Are” (1857)

71. “Baa Baa Black Sheep” (1744)
72. “Greensleeves” (1580)
73. “Rock of Ages” (1763)
74. “Buffalo Gals (Buffalo Girls Will You Come Out Tonight)” (1844)
75. “London Bridge Is Falling Down” (1744)
76. “I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen” (1875)
77. “On Top of Old Smoky” (1841)
78. “Danny Boy” (1913)
79. “God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman” (1760)
80. “Drill, Ye Terriers, Drill” (1888)

81. “Shenandoah” (1837)
82. “O Where, O Where Has My Little Dog Gone” (1864)
83. “Grandfather's Clock” (1876)
84. “Rock-a-Bye Baby” (1884)
85. “The Twelve Days of Christmas” (1951)
86. “Alphabet Song (The ABC Song)” (1761)
87. “Skip to My Lou” (1832)
88. “Beautiful Dreamer” (1864)
89. “Pop Goes the Weasel” (1853)
90. “Michael Row the Boat Ashore” (1867)

91. “Hail Columbia (The President’s March)” (1789)
92. “Row Row Row Your Boat” (1852)
93. “Mary Had a Little Lamb” (1830)
94. “Froggie Went a Courtin'“ (1700)
95. “Polly Wolly Doodle (All the Day)” (1843)
96. “Goodbye Dolly Gray” (1897)
97. “Among My Souvenirs” (1928)
98. “In the Sweet By-and-By” (1868)
99. “What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor?” (1740)
100. “Lorena” (1857)

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First posted 2/16/2025.

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Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Dave's Music Database Hall of Fame: Song Inductees (April 2020)

Originally posted 4/22/2020.

In honor of the 10th anniversary of the DMDB blog on January 22, 2019, Dave’s Music Database launched its own Hall of Fame. This is the sixth set of song inductees. These songs appear on the Dave’s Music Database list of standards. The top 100 list has been reordered based on overall DMDB points and the top ten songs not previously inducted have been included here.

American Quartet “Over There” (1917)

Inducted April 2020 as “Top Standard”

George M. Cohan’s “biggest song not written for Broadway” RCG became World War I’s most famous song. JA He penned the patriotic number after reading in the newspaper that the United States had declared war on Germany. He expanded the opening phrase of “Johnny Get Your Gun,” a popular song from 1886, into “a lyric that is both a call to arms and a vow not to come home till ‘it’s over, over there’.” RCGThe American Quartet, the Peerless Quartet, Nora Bayes, and Enrico Caruso all recorded #1 versions of the song. Read more.

Fred Astaire with Ginger Rogers & Leo Reisman’s Orchestra “Cheek to Cheek” (1935)

Inducted April 2020 as “Top Standard”

Composer Irving Berlin crafted thirteen songs which landed in Fred Astaire movies. “Cheek to Cheek,” which Berlin wrote in a day, TM was one of three to hit #1. It wasn’t just any #1, though; it “became one of Berlin’s greatest commercial successes,” TY spending more weeks atop the pop charts than any other song from 1935. WHC The song received an Academy Award nomination for best song. Read more.

Bobby Darin “Mack the Knife” (1959)

Inducted April 2020 as “Top Standard”

“Mack the Knife” originated in 1928 as “Moritat,” which translates to “murder deed.” RCG Bertlot Brecht and Kurt Weill wrote the original German song about “a bloodthirsty Berlin gangster” RS500 on the prowl for the musical The Three Penny Opera. Despite the song’s gruesome subject matter, the irresistible melody made the song hit-worthy. KL Instead of translating the lyrics literally, Marc Blitzstein gave the song a rewrite. SJ It became a standard, charting six times in 1956 alone, with Bobby Darin’s the biggest of all. The song transformed his image into that of “a finger-snapping sophisticate at home in the cocktail lounge.” RS500 Read more.

Al Jolson “Swanee” (1920)

Inducted April 2020 as “Top Standard”

George Gershwin may be America’s greatest songwriter. By 1919, he had already written two Broadway revues, one of which included the song “Swanee.” LW Co-writer Irving Caesar (who later wrote “Tea for Two”) persuaded his friend Al Jolson to use it in his Broadway show Sinbad. LW It became Gershwin’s first major hit and his best-selling song in terms of both sheet music and record sales. JA The song parodies Stephen Foster’s 1851 song “Old Folks at Home,” WK which came to be a symbol of freedom and emancipated slaves. Jolson performed the song in blackface, which is horrifically racist in hindsight, but was popular entertainment in the minstrel shows of the day. Read more.

Al Jolson “April Showers” (1922)

Inducted April 2020 as “Top Standard”

“April Showers” ranks as “one of America’s greatest ballads.” PS Louis Silvers composed the music and B.G. “Buddy” DeSylva wrote the lyrics. Al Jolson introduced “April Showers” in the 1921 Broadway musical, Bombo. It was his 13th #1 song and biggest hit to date PM and became “a well-known Jolson trademark.” WK Only “Sonny Boy,” from 1928, would spend more weeks on top of the chart (twelve). PM The song also became the biggest hit of 1922. WHC Read more.

Billy Murray & Haydn Quartet “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” (1908)

Inducted April 2020 as “Top Standard”

“The unofficial anthem of American baseball” RCG has been “affectionately referred to…as the ‘other’ national anthem.” SH It is “one of the most easily recognized songs in America,” SH behind only “Happy Birthday” and “The Star Spangled Banner,” SH having been sung at nearly every U.S. professional baseball game for the last 100 years. PS Surprisingly, neither the song’s composer (Albert Von Tilzer) nor lyricist (Jack Norworth) had ever seen a baseball game prior to writing the song. PS It got its start on vaudeville where Norworth’s wife, singer Nora Bayes, introduced it. JA-188 In 1908 Billy Murray’s recording of the song with the Haydn Quartet became the biggest song of the year. WHC Read more.

Peerless Quartet “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” (1911)

Inducted April 2020 as “Top Standard”

“Sweetheart” was “a tremendous hit in vaudeville” JA which “became a favourite around player pianos and community sings.” RCG It “is a straightforward declaration of love that came to be more of a sing-a-long than a ballad. Lou Friedman wrote the music in a waltzing tone while Beth Slater Whitson wrote the lyrics, [in] which he proclaims his love and asks the other to ‘whisper that you love me too.’” RCG With over 6 million sales of the sheet music, it is one of the top ten best selling sheet music songs of the first half of the century. PM Read more.

Artie Shaw “Begin the Beguine” (1938)

Inducted April 2020 as “Top Standard”

“Beguine” refers to a 1930s’ Cuban dance similar to a rumba. Depending on the account one chooses to believe, songwriter Cole Porter experienced it for the first time on a luxury cruise during a stop in Martinique or a Paris dance hall frequented by Martinique imigrants. He adopted the dance’s rhythm for a big production number for Jubilee, a musical comedy which debuted in 1935. SB Xavier Cugat had a #13 hit with it that year. However, it was Artie Shaw’s version three years later which became a #1 PM-476 and “one of the most popular jazz standards.” SB Read more.

Ethel Waters “Stormy Weather (Keeps Rainin' All the Time)” (1933)

Inducted April 2020 as “Top Standard”

In the early 1930s, the famed Cotton Club in Harlem, New York, featured African-American performers on stage although they weren’t allowed to sit in the audience. TM Harold Arlen, a cantor’s son, and Ted Koehler wrote this “bluesy perennial” TM for Cab Calloway to introduce in a Cotton Club revue, but decided it was more fitting for a female singer and gave it to Ethel Waters. TY When she performed “Stormy Weather” in the show Cotton Club Parade, she sang it “with all her soul…expressing the anguish of people who found nothing but gloom and misery…because of the Depression.” TY Metronome magazine called it “1933’s biggest hit.” SS “It has become a cabaret standard.” JA Read more.

Paul Whiteman “Whispering” (1920)

Inducted April 2020 as “Top Standard”

This was the debut chart single for Paul Whiteman, and what a beginning it was. It was the second biggest hit of the year WHC and the biggest chart success of Whiteman’s career. It was the first of Whiteman’s 30 songs to go all the way to the top and helped him to become the most popular bandleader of the pre-swing era and the dominant force in American popular recording. PM “Whispering” sold over two million copies which, considering the number of record players in use then, would be the equivalent today of sales of 20 million. TY The online All Music Guide says more than 700 different versions of the song have been recorded, including versions to chart in four different decades. Read more.
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Saturday, May 25, 2019

Billy Murray: Top 100 Songs

First posted 11/26/2017; updated 5/25/2019.

Tenor singer known as “The Denver Nightingale.” Born William Thomas Murray on 5/25/1877 to Irish immigrants in Philadelphia, PA. His family moved to Denver, Colorado in 1882. Died 8/17/1954. His popularity lasted through the first quarter of the 20th century, a time when, what he called his “hammering” style of shouting into an acoustic recording horn, was the technology prior to the rise of the electric microphone, which ushered in the era of crooners.

He joined a vaudeville troupe in 1893 and performed in minstrel shows early in his career. He started recording regularly in New York in 1903. He became the definitive interpreter of George M. Cohan, recording the hit version of nearly every Cohan song from 1905 on. In addition to his solo recordings, he worked with the Haydn Quartet (1898-1914), Columbia Comedy Trio (1907), with Ada Jones (1907-22), American Quartet (1910-25?) and the Heidelberg Quintet (1911-15).

Murray has eight songs (“You’re a Grand Old Flag,” “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” “Give My Regards to Broadway,” “By the Light of the Silvery Moon,” Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis,” “Yankee Doodle Boy,” “Casey Jones,” and “In My Merry Oldsmobile”) featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Pre-Rock Era, 1890-1953.

For a complete list of this act’s songs and albums honored by the DMDB, check out the DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry.

Top 100 Songs
Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists as well as chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards.

AQ = American Quartet, HQ = Haydn Quartet, AJ = Ada Jones. Songs which hit the top of the U.S. pop charts are noted (#1).

DMDB Top 1%:

1. You’re a Grand Old Flag (aka “The Grand Old Rag”) (1906) #1
2. Take Me Out to the Ball Game (w/ HQ, 1908) #1
3. Give My Regards to Broadway (1905) #1
4. By the Light of the Silvery Moon (w/ HQ, 1910) #1
5. Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis (1904) #1
6. Yankee Doodle Boy (1905) #1
7. Casey Jones (w/ AQ, 1910) #1
8. In My Merry Oldsmobile (1905) #1
9. Harrigan (1907) #1

10. Oh, You Beautiful Doll (w/ AQ, 1911) #1
11. Come Josephine in My Flying Machine (w/ AJ, 1911) #1
12. Pretty Baby (1916) #1
13. Cuddle Up a Little Closer, Lovey Mine (w/ AJ, 1908) #1
14. That Old Gang of Mine (w/ Ed Smalle, 1923) #1
15. Navajo (1904) #1
16. K-K-K-Katy (Stammering Song) (1918)
17. Be My Little Baby Bumble Bee (w/ AJ, 1912) #1

DMDB Top 5%:

18. Everybody Works But Father (1905) #1
19. Come Take a Trip in My Air Ship (1905) #1
20. Let’s Take an Old-Fashioned Walk (w/ AJ, 1907) #1

21. I Love a Piano (1916) #1
22. Alexander’s Ragtime Band (1911)
23. Shine on, Harvest Moon (w/ AJ, 1909) #1
24. Under the Anheuser Busch (1904)
25. Alexander (Don’t You Love Your Baby No More?) (1904) #1
26. Under Any Old Flag at All (1908) #1
27. When We Are M-A-R-R-I-E-D (w/ AJ, 1908) #1
28. Teasing (I Was Only Teasing You) (1904)
29. Waltz Me Around Again, Willie (w/ HQ, 1906)
30. Forty-Five Minutes from Broadway (1906)

31. I’ll See You in C-U-B-A (1920)
32. He’d Have to Get Under, Get Out to Get Under, to Fix Up His Automobile (1914)
33. Play a Simple Melody (w/ Edna Brown, 1916)
34. Bedelia (1904) #1
35. Carrie (Carrie Marry Harry) (1910) #1
36. Make Believe (w/ AJ, 1908)
37. No Wedding Bells for Me (1907)
38. All Alone (w/ AJ, 1911)
39. Down by the O-hi-O (I’ve Got the Sweetest Little O, My! O!) (w/ Billy Jones, 1921)
40. Camptown Races (Gwine to Run All Night) (1911)

41. I’m Afraid to Come Home in the Dark (1908)
42. Cheyenne (Shy Anne) (1906)
43. The Gaby Glide (1912)
44. He’s a Devil in His Own Home Town (1914)
45. College Life (1906)
46. I’ve Taken Quite a Fancy to You (w/ AJ, 1908)
47. He Goes to Church on Sunday (1907)
48. Smarty (w/ AJ, 1908)
49. Over There (1917)
50. Wouldn’t You Like to Have Me for a Sweetheart? (w/ AJ, 1908) #1

51. Up in a Cocoanut Tree (1903)
52. When You’re All Dressed Up and No Place to Go (1914)
53. What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For? (w/ AJ, 1917)
54. It Looks Like a Big Night Tonight (1908)
55. For Me and My Gal (1917)
56. San Antonio (Cowboy Song) (1907)
57. What’s the Matter with Father? (1910)
58. Won’t You Be My Honey? (w/ AJ, 1907)
59. Bagdad (1913)
60. The Vamp (w/ Joseph C. Smith & Harry MacDonough, 1919)

61. They Were All Out of Step But Jim (1918)
62. I’m Awfully Glad I Met You (w/ AJ, 1909)
63. I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now (1910)
64. Tessie (You Are the Only Only) (1903)
65. I Can’t Do the Sum (1904)
66. On San Francisco Bay (1907)
67. Take Me Around Again (1907)
68. Not Because Your Hair Is Curly (1906)

DMDB Top 10%:

69. I Wish I Had a Girl (1909)
70. It Had to Be You (w/ Aileen Stanley, 1924)

71. Yes! We Have No Bananas (w/ Great White Way Orchestra, 1923)
72. Just As We Used To (1919)
73. There’s No Moon Like the Honeymoon (w/ AJ, 1908)
74. Any Place the Old Flag Flies (1912)
75. The Twentieth Century Rag (1914)
76. Alcoholic Blues (1919)
77. Take Me Up with You, Dearie (w/ HQ, 1909)
78. After You’ve Gone (w/ Gladys Rice, 1919)
79. Ain’t It Funny What a Difference a Few Hours Can Make (1904)
80. The Little Ford Rambled Right Along (1915)

81. Keep on Smiling (w/ HQ, 1908)
82. Streets of New York (1907)
83. Dance of the Grizzly Bear (w/ AQ, 1911)
84. Because I’m Married Now (1907)
85. Any Little Girl That’s a Nice Girl Is the Right Little Girl for Me (w/ the AQ, 1910)
86. The Wedding Glide (w/ AJ, 1912)
87. My Sweetie Went Away (w/ Ed Salle, 1923)
88. Bon Bon Buddy (1908)
89. The Game of Peek-a-Boo (I’d Like to See a Little More of You) (1907)
90. It’s Nice to Have a Sweetheart (w/ AJ, 1907)

91. Dixie Land, I Love You (1909)
92. Stumbling (1922)
93. Yankee Doodle Blues (w/ Ed Smalle, 1922)
94. It’s Great to Be a Soldier Man (1907)
95. Hello Hawaii, How Are You? (1916)
96. I Wonder Where My Baby Is Tonight (w/ Henry Burr, 1926)
97. The Hat My Father Wore on St. Patrick’s Day (w/ HQ, 1909)
98. Hinky Dinky Parlay Voo (Mademoiselle from Armentieres) (w/ Ed Smalle, 1924)
99. Keep on the Sunny Side (1906)
100. Are You from Dixie? ‘Cause I’m from Dixie Too (w/ Irving Kaufman, 1916)

Awards:

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Wednesday, March 14, 2012

James J. Fuld The Book of World-Famous Music

James J. Fuld:

The Book of World-Famous Music

First published in 1966, this book offers insights into more than 700 standards. While the songs aren’t ranked, 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. “White Christmas” (1942) 2. “Stardust” (1927)
3. “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” (1911)
4. “St. Louis Blues” (1914)
5. “Summertime” (1935)
6. “Over the Rainbow” (1939)
7. “Body and Soul” (1930)
8. “Night and Day” (1932)
9. “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” (1908)
10. “Begin the Beguine” (1935)

11. “Ain’t Misbehavin’” (1929)
12. “All the Things You Are” (1939)
13. “The Battle Hymn of the Republic (aka ‘Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!’)” (1861)
14. “God Bless America” (1939)
15. “When the Saints Go Marching In” (1880)
16. “Over There” (1917)
17. “You’re a Grand Old Flag (aka “The Grand Old Rag”)” (1906)
18. “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (1949)
19. “The Star-Spangled Banner” (1814)
20. “Tea for Two” (1924)

21. “The Man I Love” (1928)
22. “April in Paris” (1932)
23. “Silent Night” (1818)
24. “Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home?” (1902)
25. “Home on the Range” (1873)
26. “I Got Rhythm” (1930)
27. “America the Beautiful” (1895)
28. “Give My Regards to Broadway” (1904)
29. “Stormy Weather (Keeps Rainin' All the Time)” (1933)
30. “You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)” (1913)

31. “Mack the Knife” (1928)
32. “Sophisticated Lady” (1933)
33. “Jingle Bells” (1857)
34. “Yankee Doodle (aka ‘Yankee Doodle Went to Town’)” (1754)
35. “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” (1806)
36. “Oh! Susanna” (1846)
37. “Darktown Strutters’ Ball” (1917)
38. “Some of These Days” (1911)
39. “Shine on Harvest Moon” (1908)
40. “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” (1706)

41. “Swanee” (1920)
42. “Hello Ma Baby” (1899)
43. “After the Ball” (1892)
44. “As Time Goes By” (1931)
45. “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” (1938)
46. “When Johnny Comes Marching Home” (1863)
47. “Tiger Rag” (1918)
48. “Twelfth Street Rag” (1916)
49. “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” (1928)
50. “Dixie” (1859)

51. “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” (1936)
52. “My Blue Heaven” (1927)
53. “My Melancholy Baby” (1928)
54. “Rhapsody in Blue” (1924)
55. “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” (1894)
56. “Someone to Watch Over Me” (1926)
57. “September Song” (1939)
58. “O Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)” (1751)
59. “Camptown Races (Gwine to Run All Night)” (1850)
60. “April Showers” (1921)

61. “For Me and My Gal” (1917)
62. “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” (1933)
63. “By the Light of the Silvery Moon” (1909)
64. “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” (1910)
65. “In the Good Old Summertime” (1902)
66. “Dancing in the Dark” (1941)
67. “Joy to the World” (1719)
68. “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” (1852)
69. “The Yellow Rose of Texas” (1853)
70. “Ol’ Man River” (1927)

71. “Peg O’ My Heart” (1913)
72. “Anchors Aweigh (U.S. Navy Song)” (1906)
73. “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” (1739)
74. “Sweet Adeline (You’re the Flower of My Heart)” (1903)
75. “Whispering” (1920)
76. “Always” (1926)
77. “Oh, You Beautiful Doll” (1911)
78. “Auld Lang Syne” (1799)
79. “Daisy Bell (A Bicycle Built for Two)” (1892)
80. “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” (1873)

81. “On Top of Old Smoky” (1841)
82. “She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain” (1899)
83. “Clementine” (1884)
84. “Happy Days Are Here Again” (1930)
85. “Mary Had a Little Lamb” (1830)
86. “London Bridge is Falling Down” (1744)
87. “Frère Jacques (Are You Sleeping?)” (1780)
88. “The Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)” (1851)
89. “Home Sweet Home” (1823)
90. “Turkey in the Straw” (1820)

91. “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans” (1922)
92. “My Old Kentucky Home” (1853)
93. “Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning” (1918)
94. “Happy Birthday to You” (1893)
95. “What Is This Thing Called Love?” (1930)
96. “I Want a Girl Just Like the Girl Who Married Dear Old Dad” (1911)
97. “Rock-a-Bye Baby” (1884)
98. “Sometimes I’m Happy” (1927)
99. “Jimmy Crack Corn (The Blue Tail Fly)” (1846)
100. “I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now” (1909)

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First posted 12/10/2025.

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Friday, October 31, 2008

100 years ago: “Take Me Out to the Ball Game" hit #1

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Harvey Hindermeyer

First Charted: August 31, 1908

Peak: 3 US, 12 GA, 12 SM (Click for codes to singles charts.)

Sales (in millions): 1.0 (sheet music)

Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.03 video, -- streaming

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Billy Murray & the Haydn Quartet

Writer(s): Jack Norworth/Albert von Tilzer (see lyrics here)

First Charted: October 24, 1908

Peak: 17 US, 12 GA, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.)

Sales (in millions): 1.0 (sheet music)

Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.03 video, -- streaming

Awards (Murray):

Click on award for more details.

Awards (Hindermeyer):

About the Song:

“The unofficial anthem of American baseball” RCG and the sport’s most famous song TY2 has been “affectionately referred to…as the ‘other’ national anthem.” SH It is “one of the most easily recognized songs in America;” SH only “Happy Birthday” and “The Star Spangled Banner” have been played or sung more in the United States. TY2

Surprisingly, neither the song’s composer (Albert Von Tilzer) nor lyricist (Jack Norworth) had ever seen a baseball game prior to writing the song. PS Norworth’s lyrical inspiration came from a sign reading “Baseball Today – Polo Grounds” which he saw while riding the subway. SH The song is not written from the perspective of someone actually watching a game, but someone eager to attend one.

The song has become a “seventh inning stretch requirement” PS sung at nearly every U.S. professional baseball game for the last 100 years, PS but it got its start in vaudeville where Norworth’s wife, singer Nora Bayes, introduced it. DJ Harvey Hindermeyer was the first to record the song. SM His version and one by Edward Mekker both hit the top 5 in 1908. PM However, it was Billy Murray’s recording of the song with the Haydn Quartet which went to #1 and became the biggest song of the year. WHC

Most people only know the refrain, but the full song showcases a story in which Katie tells her beau she would rather go to a baseball game than a show, only to find her team losing. RCG Norworth “shrewdly crafted [the words] so as not to name or favor any one team” SH while Von Tilzer gave the song its “waltz-like rhythms and unforgettable melody.” SH

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First posted 7/10/2012; last updated 12/15/2022.

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