Showing posts with label folk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label folk. Show all posts

Friday, November 21, 2025

20th Century Americana: Top 100 Songs

20th Century Americana:

Top 100 Songs

Americana music is a celebration of roots-oriented musical forms that are heavily associated with the United States. It reaches back hundreds of years to traditional music, gospel, Negro spirituals, folk, blues, and country for its influence although it is framed in a more modern context. It really surfaced in the late ‘60s as an outgrown of the folk rock movement with artists like The Band and The Grateful Dead becoming some of the best known groups to incorporate it into their music.

To create this list, 27 lists focused on Americana songs were aggregated alongside lists about folk, folk rock, country, and country rock. Added into the mix were other songs from artists featured on those lists. Those songs appearing on the most lists were then ranked based on their overall status in Dave’s Music Database. This list is focused on Americana music in the 20th century. A separate list has been created that focuses on Americana music in the 21st century.

Click here to see other genre-specific song lists.

1. The Band “The Weight” (1968)
2. The Band (1969), Joan Baez (1971) “The Night They Drove Ol’ Dixie Down”
3. The Band “Up on Cripple Creek” (1969)
4. The Grateful Dead “Truckin’” (1970)
5. The Black Crowes “Hard to Handle” (1990)
6. Bonnie Raitt “Something to Talk About” (1991)
7. The Grateful Dead “Uncle John’s Band” (1970)
8. Neil Young “Harvest Moon” (1992)
9. Steve Earle “Copperhead Road” (1988)
10. Jerry Jeff Walker (1968), The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (1970) “Mr. Bojangles”

11. The Grateful Dead (1970), Lyle Lovett (1991) “Friend of the Devil”
12. The Grateful Dead “A Touch of Grey” (1987)
13. Bonnie Raitt “I Can’t Make You Love Me” (1991)
14. Steve Goodman (1971), Arlo Guthrie (1972), Willie Nelson (1984) “City of New Orleans”
15. Stray Cats “Rock This Town” (1981)
16. Bruce Springsteen “Atlantic City” (1982)
17. John Stewart “Gold” (1979)
18. Lyle Lovett & Randy Newman “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” (1995)
19. Townes Van Zandt (1972), Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard (1983) “Pancho and Lefty”
20. Bonnie Raitt “Love Sneakin’ Up on You” (1994)

21. Bonnie Raitt “Nick of Time” (1989)
22. The Grateful Dead “Sugar Magnolia” (1970)
23. The Black Crowes “Remedy” (1992)
24. The Byrds “Hickory Wind” (1968)
25. Traveling Wilburys “Handle with Care” (1988)
26. Tom Petty “You Don’t Know How It Feels” (1994)
27. Gram Parsons “Return of the Grievous Angel” (1974)
28. Lyle Lovett “If I Had a Boat” (1988)
29. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band “An American Dream” (1979)
30. The Grateful Dead “Dark Star” (1968)

31. The Flying Burrito Brothers (1969), Emmylou Harris (1975) “Sin City”
32. The Traveling Wilbuys “End of the Line” (1988)
33. The Byrds “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” (1968)
34. Bruce Cockburn “If I Had a Rocket Launcher” (1984)
35. The Black Crowes “Jealous Again” (1990)
36. Bruce Springsteen “The Ghost of Tom Joad” (1995)
37. The Band “Rag Mama Rag” (1969)
38. John Prine (1971), Bonnie Raitt (1971) “Angel from Montgomery”
39. The Black Crowes “She Talks to Angels” (1990)
40. The Grateful Dead “Casey Jones” (1970)

41. Bob Dylan “Mississippi” (1997)
42. Lyle Lovett “She’s No Lady” (1988)
43. Lyle Lovett “Nobody Knows Me” (1989)
44. Lucinda Williams “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road” (1998)
45. The Flying Burrito Brothers “Christine’s Tune (Devil in Disguise)” (1969)
46. Gram Parsons “She” (1973)
47. The Byrds “Ballad of Easy Rider” (1969)
48. Robbie Robertson “Somewhere Down the Crazy River” (1987)
49. The Jayhawks “Blue” (1995)
50. The Byrds “One Hundred Years from Now” (1968)

51. John Hiatt “Have a Little Faith in Me” (1987)
52. Stray Cats “Stray Cat Strut” (1981)
53. Bruce Cockburn “Lovers in a Dangerous Time” (1984)
54. Lyle Lovett “Private Conversation” (1996)
55. The Grateful Dead “Ripple” (1970)
56. The Flying Burito Brothers “Hot Burrito #1” (1969)
57. The Grateful Dead “Box of Rain” (1970)
58. Bruce Springsteen “We Shall Overcome” (1998)
59. Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris “Love Hurts” (1974)
60. The Band “I Shall Be Released” (1968)

61. Emmylou Harris “Boulder to Birmingham” (1975)
62. Cracker “Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now)” (1992)
63. The Flying Burrito Brothers “Wild Horses” (1970)
64. Dillard & Clark “Train Leaves Here This Morning” (1968)
65. Lyle Lovett “Pontiac” (1988)
66. Bruce Springsteen “Johnny 99” (1982)
67. Billy Bragg & Wilco “California Stars” (1998)
68. Son Volt “Drown” (1996)
69. Little Feat “Willin’” (1978)
70. Lyle Lovett “Step Inside This House” (1998)

71. Lyle Lovett “Give Back My Heart” (1987)
72. The Jayhawks “Waiting for the Sun” (1992)
73. Lyle Lovett “L.A. County” (1988)
74. Lyle Lovett “Cowboy Man” (1986)
75. Lyle Lovett “Here I Am” (1989)
76. Bob Dylan “Everything Is Broken” (1989)
77. The Grateful Dead “Alabama Getaway” (1980)
78. John Hiatt “Memphis in the Meantime” (1987)
79. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band “Make a Little Magic” (1980)
80. Steve Earle “Guitar Town” (1986)

81. John Prine “Hello in There” (1971)
82. John Hiatt “Drive South” (1988)
83. Stray Cats “She’s Sexy + 17” (1983)
84. The Black Crowes “Thorn in My Pride” (1992)
85. The Byrds “Chestnut Mare” (1970)
86. The Traveling Wilburys “She’s My Baby” (1990)
87. Bonnie Raitt “Love Letter” (1989)
88. John Hiatt “Child of the Wild Blue Yonder” (1990)
89. John Hiatt “Slow Turning” (1988)
90. Gram Parsons “Brass Buttons” (1974)

91. Bonnie Raitt “Thing Called Love” (1989)
92. John Hiatt “Tennessee Plates” (1988)
93. Lyle Lovett “Church” (1992)
94. Robbie Robertson & BoDeans “Showdown at Big Sky” (1987)
95. Lyle Lovett & Keb’ Mo’ “Till It Shines” (1999)
96. Neil Young “Philadelphia” (1994)
97. The Grateful Dead “Dire Wolf” (1970)
98. Bob Dylan “Dignity” (1989)
99. John Stewart “Midnight Wind” (1979)
100. Lyle Lovett “You Can’t Resist It” (1986)

Resources/Related Links:

First posted 11/20/2025; last updated 11/21/2025.

at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday, November 18, 2025

Folk Rock: Top 100 Songs

Folk Rock:

Top 100 Songs

Originally this was a list of the top top folk and folk rock songs. However, I’ve now split it into two lists – one focused on folk and traditional songs and this one focused on folk rock songs. These lists were generated by aggregating multiple lists that focused on folk and folk rock and then reordering the songs based on their overall status in Dave’s Music Database.

Click here to see other genre-specific song lists.

1. Simon & Garfunkel “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (1970)
2. Bob Dylan “Like a Rolling Stone” (1965)
3. The Animals “The House of the Rising Sun” (1964)
4. Rod Stewart “Maggie May” (1971)
5. Simon & Garfunkel “The Sounds of Silence” (1965)
6. The Byrds (1965), Bob Dylan (1965) “Mr. Tambourine Man”
7. Buffalo Springfield “For What It’s Worth” (1966)
8. The Mamas & the Papas “California Dreamin’” (1966)
9. Neil Young “Heart of Gold” (1972)
10. Simon & Garfunkel “Mrs. Robinson” (1968)

11. James Taylor “Fire and Rain” (1970)
12. Bob Dylan (1963), Peter, Paul & Mary (1963) “Blowin’ in the Wind”
13. The Turtles “Happy Together” (1967)
14. Carole King “It’s Too Late” (1971)
15. The Byrds (1965), Judy Collins (1963), Pete Seeger (1959) “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)”
16. Sonny & Cher “I Got You Babe” (1965)
17. America “A Horse with No Name” (1971)
18. Crosby, Stills & Nash “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” (1969)
19. Bob Dylan “The Times They Are A-Changin’” (1964)
20. Bob Dylan “Tangled Up in Blue” (1975)

21. Joni Mitchell “Big Yellow Taxi” (1970)
22. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young “Ohio” (1970)
23. The Mamas & the Papas “Monday Monday” (1966)
24. The Beatles “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” (1965)
25. The Lovin’ Spoonful “Summer in the City” (1966)
26. The Youngbloods “Get Together” (1967)
27. Simon & Garfunkel “The Boxer” (1969)
28. Scott McKenzie “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)” (1967)
29. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young “Teach Your Children” (1970)
30. Bob Dylan “Subterranean Homesick Blues” (1965)

31. America “Ventura Highway” (1972)
32. Donovan “Sunshine Superman” (1966)
33. Cat Stevens “Morning Has Broken” (1971)
34. Gordon Lightfoot “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” (1976)
35. Simon & Garfunkel “Scarborough Fair/Canticle” (1966)
36. Neil Young “Cinnamon Girl” (1969)
37. Leonard Cohen “Suzanne” (1967)
38. Harry Nilsson “Everybody’s Talkin’” (1968)
39. Barry McGuire “Eve of Destruction” (1965)
40. Joni Mitchell “A Case of You” (1971)

41. The Lovin’ Spoonful “Do You Believe in Magic?” (1965)
42. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young “Our House” (1970)
43. Neil Young “Old Man” (1972)
44. Love “Alone Again Or” (1967)
45. The Searchers “Needles and Pins” (1964)
46. Bob Dylan “Hurricane” (1975)
47. Bob Dylan “Positively 4th Street” (1965)
48. Joni Mitchell (1970), Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (1970), Matthews’ Southern Comfort (1970), Assembled Multitude (1970) “Woodstock”
49. Janis Ian “At Seventeen” (1975)
50. Pete Seeger (1963), Joan Baez (1963) “We Shall Overcome”

51. Donovan “Mellow Yellow” (1966)
52. Cat Stevens “Wild World” (1970)
53. Crosby, Stills & Nash “Marrakesh Express” (1969)
54. Simon & Garfunkel “Homeward Bound” (1966)
55. Bob Dylan (1963), Peter, Paul & Mary (1963) “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”
56. Bob Dylan “Just Like a Woman” (1966)
57. Bob Dylan “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” (1966)
58. The Rooftop Singers “Walk Right In” (1962)
59. The Byrds “So You Wanna Be a Rock and Roll Star” (1967)
60. Neil Young “Southern Man” (1970)

61. The Lovin’ Spoonful “Daydream” (1966)
62. Judy Collins (1968), Joni Mitchell (1969), Dave Van Ronk (1969) “Both Sides Now”
63. Peter, Paul & Mary “Puff the Magic Dragon” (1963)
64. Bob Dylan (1964, The Byrds (1967) “My Back Pages”
65. Simon & Garfunkel “I Am a Rock” (1966)
66. Donovan “Catch the Wind” (1965)
67. Buffalo Springfield “Mr. Soul” (1967)
68. Pete Seeger (1963), Peter, Paul & Mary (1962), Trini Lopez (1963) “If I Had a Hammer”
69. The Mamas & the Papas “Creeque Alley” (1967)
70. Bob Dylan “I Want You” (1966)

71. Arlo Guthrie “Alice’s Restaurant” (1967)
72. Crosby, Stills & Nash “Wooden Ships” (1969)
73. Peter, Paul & Mary (1969), John Denver (1969) “Leaving on a Jet Plane”
74. The Byrds “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better” (1965)
75. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young “Helplessly Hoping” (1969)
76. You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away (1965)
77. The Grass Roots “Let’s Live for Today” (1967)
78. Neil Young “Down by the River” (1969)
79. The Turtles “It Ain't Me Babe” (1965)
80. The Mamas & the Papas “Twelve Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon)” (1967)

81. Country Joe & the Fish “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag” (1967)
82. Led Zeppelin “Gallows Pole” (1970)
83. Hedy West (1961), Bobby Bare (1963), Peter, Paul & Mary (1963), Joan Baez (1965) “500 Miles”
84. The Brothers Four “Greenfields” (1960)
85. Joan Baez “Diamonds and Rust” (1975)
86. The Association “Along Comes Mary” (1966)
87. The Lovin’ Spoonful “You Didn’t Have to Be So Nice” (1965)
88. Bob Dylan “Masters of War” (1963)
89. Joni Mitchell “The Circle Game” (1970)
90. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young “Helpless” (1970)

91. Simon & Garfunkel “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)” (1966)
92. Leonard Cohen “Famous Blue Raincoat” (1971)
93. Pete Seeger (1962), The Kingston Trio (1962), Joan Baez (1965) “Where Have All the Flowers Gone”
94. Gale Garnett “We'll Sing in the Sunshine” (1964)
95. Neil Young “After the Gold Rush” (1970)
96. Tim Hardin (1967), Bobby Darin (1966) “If I Were a Carpenter”
97. Buffy Sainte-Marie (1964), Donovan (1965) “Universal Soldier”
98. Janis Ian “Society’s Child (Baby I’ve Been Thinking)” (1967)
99. The Mamas & the Papas “I Saw Her Again” (1966)
100. Phil Ochs “I Ain't Marchin’ Anymore” (1965)

Resources/Related Links:

First posted 4/19/2020; last updated 11/18/2025.

at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

Friday, March 22, 2024

The Top 60 Folk/Folk Rock Albums of All Time

Folk/Folk Rock:

The Top 60 Albums

Call it folk, folk-rock, roots music, country rock, or whatever else floats your fancy. Music typically driven by acoustic instruments or which harkens back to musical forms of a century ago has played a large role in shaping popular music and then responding to popular music trends. The DMDB aggregated more than 30 lists and then took those albums from 3 or more lists and ranked them according to overall DMDB points.

This has since been divided into two lists. This one focuses on folk and folk rock, roughly music from the 1930s through the 1980s. A second list has been been dedicated to what I’m calling “New Americana.” Like folk and folk rock, this is music which is roots-based, but tends to have a more modern spin as it is largely comprised of albums from the 21st century with representation of the ‘80s and ‘90s as well. In addition to Americana, this music is also referred to as indie folk and alt-country.

Make sure you also check out the DMDB list of top country albums as there is a lot ocross-polination between country, folk, and Americana. I’ve created three separate lists for these genres and allowed an album to only show up on one of the three lists. Check out those and other best-of-genre/category lists here.

1. Simon & Garfunkel Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970)
2. Bob Dylan Blonde on Blonde (1966)
3. Carole King Tapestry (1971)
4. Bob Dylan Highway 61 Revisited (1965)
5. Bob Dylan Blood on the Tracks (1975)
6. Van Morrison Astral Weeks (1968)
7. Joni Mitchell Blue (1971)
8. Neil Young After the Gold Rush (1970)
9. Neil Young Harvest (1972)
10. Love Forever Changes (1967)

11. The Band The Band (1969)
12. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Déjà Vu (1970)
13. Robert Johnson The Complete Recordings (1936-37)
14. Bob Dylan Bringing It All Back Home (1965)
15. Van Morrison Moondance (1970)
16. The Band Music from Big Pink (1968)
17. George Harrison All Things Must Pass (1970)
18. Creedence Clearwater Revival Cosmo’s Factory (1970)
19. Tracy Chapman Tracy Chapman (1988)
20. Grateful Dead American Beauty (1970)

21. Bob Dylan The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963)
22. Crosby, Stills & Nash Crosby, Stills & Nash (1969)
23. Nick Drake Five Leaves Left (1969)
24. Bruce Springsteen Nebraska (1982)
25. Bob Dylan Love and Theft (2001)
26. Leonard Cohen The Songs of Leonard Cohen (1967)
27. Simon & Garfunkel Bookends (1968)
28. Neil Young Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (1969)
29. The Byrds Younger Than Yesterday (1967)
30. The Byrds Mr. Tambourine Man (1965)

31. Grateful Dead Workingman’s Dead (1970)
32. Bob Dylan Time Out of Mind (1997)
33. Various Artists compiled by Harry Smith Anthology of American Folk Music (box set, recorded 1926-32, released 1952)
34. James Taylor Sweet Baby James (1970)
35. Bob Dylan John Wesley Harding (1967)
36. Bob Dylan Modern Times (2006)
37. John Cougar Mellencamp Scarecrow (1985)
38. Nick Drake Bryter Layter (1970)
39. Fairport Convention Liege and Lief (1969)
40. Nick Drake Pink Moon (1972)

41. Cat Stevens Tea for the Tillerman (1970)
42. Buffalo Springfield Again (1967)
43. Woody Guthrie Dust Bowl Ballads (1940)
44. Simon & Garfunkel Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme (1966)
45. Bob Dylan The Royal Albert Hall Concert (The Bootleg Series Volume 4) (live, 1966)
46. Richard & Linda Thompson I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight (1974)
47. Neil Young On the Beach (1974)
48. Bob Dylan Nashville Skyline (1969)
49. Bob Dylan Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964)
50. John Prine John Prine (1972)

51. Richard & Linda Thompson Shoot Out the Lights (1982)
52. The Kingston Trio At Large (1959)
53. Randy Newman 12 Songs (1970)
54. Bob Dylan The Times They Are A-Changin’ (1964)
55. Indigo Girls Indigo Girls (1989)
56. Leonard Cohen Songs of Love and Hate (1971)
57. Tim Buckley Starsailor (1970)
58. Fairport Convention Unhalfbricking (1969)
59. Bob Dylan Rough and Rowdy Ways (2020)
60. Eagles Eagles (1972)

Resources and Related Links:

First posted 3/4/2013; last updated 3/22/2024.

at 8 comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, April 3, 2023

Joni Mitchell: Top 20 Songs

Joni Mitchell

Top 20 Songs

Folk singer/songwriter, guitarist, and pianist born Roberta Joan Anderson on 11/7/1943 in Fort McLeod, Alberta, Canada. Raised in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Moved to New York in 1966. Her albums Blue (1971) and Court and Spark (1974) rank in the DMDB’s top 1000 albums of all time. She is one of only five artists to receive the Gershwin Prize, Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, Kennedy Center Honors, and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame.

For a complete list of this act’s DMDB honors, check out the DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry.

Click here to see other acts’ best-of lists.

Spotify Podcast:

Check out the Dave’s Music Database podcast Joni Mitchell: Top 10 Songs based on this list. Debut: April 4, 2023, at 7pm CST. New episodes based on Dave’s Music Database lists are posted every Tuesday at 7pm CST.

Awards:

Top 20 Songs

Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists, appearances on compilations and live albums by the featured act, and songs’ chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards.

DMDB Top 2%:

1. Big Yellow Taxi (1970)

DMDB Top 5%:

2. Help Me (1974)
3. River (1971)

DMDB Top 10%:

4. A Case of You (1971)
5. Both Sides Now (1969)

DMDB Top 20%:

6. Free Man in Paris (1974)
7. You Turn Me On, I’m a Radio (1972)
8. Carey (1971)
9. Raised on Robbery (1973)

Beyond the DMDB Top 20%:

10. Woodstock (1970)
11. In France They Kiss on Main Street (1975)
12. Coyote (1976)
13. The Circle Game (1970)
14. Amelia (1976)
15. For the Roses (1972)
16. Hissing of Summer Lawns (1975)
17. The Last Time I Saw Richard (1971)
18. Little Green (1971)
19. California (1971)
20. Urge for Going (1972)

Resources and Related Links:

First posted 4/3/2023; last updated 4/4/2023.

at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Friday, June 1, 2018

Today in Music (1968): Simon & Garfunkel hit #1 with “Mrs. Robinson”

Mrs. Robinson

Simon & Garfunkel

Writer(s): Paul Simon (see lyrics here)

Released: April 5, 1968

First Charted: April 27, 1968

Peak: 13 US, 14 CB, 11 GR, 13 HR, 4 AC, 1 CL, 4 UK, 12 CN, 8 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.)

Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, -- UK, 1.0 world (includes US + UK)

Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 7.0 radio, 103.2 video, 515.93 streaming

Awards:

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

“Mrs. Robinson” and its resulting soundtrack kickstarted an industry. Previously, getting kids to plop down cash for the mood-setting music of a movie “was considered absurd.” TB Ironically, though, that song was the only new cut amongst a collection of previously released Simon & Garfunkel songs. Even then, the version of “Mrs. Robinson” which is best known is not the one from the movie, but the more-fleshed out radio version available on S&G’s Bookends album. TB

Director Mike Nichols tapped the famed folk duo to do music for his film The Graduate. The iconic film starred Dustin Hoffman as a young man seduced by his girlfriend’s mother (Mrs. Robinson – played by Anne Bancroft). However, while Paul Simon was working up new material, Nichols was temporarily filling those spots with the duo’s older songs. In the end, Nichols grew fond of the older material and only one new song made it into the film – “Mrs. Robinson.” FB

The song began life as an instrumental and, at one time, was being written as “Mrs. Roosevelt”, seemingly about Eleanor Roosevelt. SF It was Art Garfunkel who suggested naming the song after Bancroft’s character. Simon then fleshed the song out to become an even broader commentary on American culture in the ‘60s, famously using baseball player Joe DiMaggio as a symbol of people searching for heroes. In a 1990 interview with SongTalk magazine, Simon said “it’s one of the most well-known lines that I’ve ever written.” SF

Interestingly, the song would seem to have been a perfect candidate to win an Oscar for Best Song from a Movie, but S&G never filled out the forms necessary to have the song considered. SF

Resources:

Related Links:

First posted 4/27/2012; updated 10/111/2023.

at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)