Traditional Pop/Vocal Jazz: Top 25 Albums

Traditional Pop/Vocal Jazz: The Top 25 Albums

While traditional pop and vocal jazz aren’t quite the same thing, they share a lot of commonalities. Traditional pop is considered a genre of music that generally pre-dates rock and roll in the 1950s and generally consists of artists performing standards from the American songbook. Crooners such as Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Perry Como are popular singers of the genre. Musically, the singers were frequently backed by swing bands. Vocal jazz is a sub-genre of jazz in which a singer’s voice is used as an instrument, which includes techniques such as vocal improvisations and scatting in which the singer imitates the instruments. It emerged out of the New Orleans jazz tradition which was built on the field hollers and work songs of African-American slaves. Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Sarah Vaughan are some of the genre’s most notable performers. Like traditional pop, it often leans on standards. 18 sources focused on the best traditional pop, vocal jazz, and standards albums were aggregtated to create this exclusive Dave’s Music Database list. Check out other best-of-genre/category lists here. 1. Norah Jones Come Away with Me (2002) 2. Frank Sinatra Songs for Swingin’ Lovers! (1956) 3. Frank Sinatra In the Wee Small Hours (1955) 4. Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook (1956) 5. Natalie Cole Unforgettable…With Love (1991) 6. Billie Holiday Lady in Satin (1958) 7. Judy Garland Judy at Carnegie Hall (live, 1961) 8. Ray Charles The Genius of Ray Charles (1959) 9. Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely (1958) 10. Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy (1954) 11. Frank Sinatra Come Dance with Me (1959) 12. Frank Sinatra Come Fly with Me (1957) 13. Frank Sinatra September of My Years (1965) 14. Frank Sinatra A Swingin’ Affair (1957) 15. Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong Ella & Louis (1957) 16. John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman (1963) 17. Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Songbook (box set: recorded 1959) 18. Chet Baker Chet Baker Sings (1954) 19. Frank Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim Francis Albert Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim (1967) 20. Frank Sinatra Songs for Young Lovers (1953) 21. Billie Holiday Lady Sings the Blues (1956) 22. Nina Simone Pastel Blues (1965) 23. Nina Simone Wild Is the Wind (1966) 24. Billie Holiday Songs for Distingué Lovers (1957) 25. Sarah Vaughan & Clifford Brown Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown (1955) Resources and Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: other best-of-genre lists Dave’s Music Database: “Top 100 Songs of the American Songbook” First posted 9/15/2024; last updated 2/28/2026.

Standards of the American Songbook: Top 100

American Songbook Standards: Top 100 Songs

Songs which have become known as standards or those comprising the great American songbook are generally popular songs from the early 20th century. These are songs from an era when songwriters were more at the forefront, penning songs for theater and film that were often recorded by multiple artists and spawned multiple chart versions. This list has been created by aggregating 31 lists (see sources at the bottom of the page) which focused on 20th century song titles not recorded by any specific artist. Here are the top 100 songs listed with their songwriters and first year of appearance: 1. Irving Berlin “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” (1911) 2. Cole Porter “Night and Day” (1932) 3. Hoagy Carmichael and Mitchell Parish “Stardust” (1927) 4. W.C. Handy “St. Louis Blues” (1914) 5. Irving Berlin “White Christmas” (1942) 6. Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II “All the Things You Are” (1939) 7. Harold Arlen and E.Y. “Yip” Harburg “Over the Rainbow” (1939) 8. Cole Porter “Begin the Beguine” (1935) 9. George M. Cohan “Give My Regards to Broadway” (1904) 10. George M. Cohan “Over There” (1917) 11. Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields “On the Sunny Side of the Street” (1930) 12. Fats Waller “Ain’t Misbehavin’” (1929) 13. George Gershwin and Irving Caesar “Swanee” (1920) 14. Isham Jones and Gus Kahn “It Had to Be You” (1924) 15. Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” (1928) 16. Hughie Cannon and Johnnie Queen “Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home” (1902) 17. George and Ira Gershwin “I Got Rhythm” (1930) 18. Vincent Youmans and Irving Caesar “Tea for Two” (1925) 19. Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields “The Way You Look Tonight” (1936) 20. Cole Porter “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” (1936) 21. Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II “Ol’ Man River” (1927) 22. Jerome Kern and Otto Harbach “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” (1933) 23. Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler “Stormy Weather (Keeps Rainin' All the Time)” (1933) 24. Irving Berlin “Cheek to Cheek” (1935) 25. Richard H. Gerard and Harry Armstrong “Sweet Adeline (You’re the Flower of My Heart)” (1903) 26. Duke Ellington, Mitchell Parish, and Irving Mills “Sophisticated Lady” (1933) 27. Gus Kahn, Raymond B. Egan, and Richard Whiting “Ain’t We Got Fun?” (1921) 28. Ernie Burnett and George A. Norton “My Melancholy Baby” (1928) 29. Gus Kahn and Walter Donaldson “Carolina in the Morning” (1923) 30. Kurt Weill, Mark Blitzstein, and Berthold Brecht “Mack the Knife” (1928) 31. Jack Norworth and Albert von Tilzer “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” (1908) 32. Jay Gorney and E.Y. “Yip” Harburg “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” (1932) 33. Duke Ellington “Mood Indigo” (1931) 34. Herman Hupfield “As Time Goes By” (1931) 35. Jimmy Monaco and Joseph McCarthy “You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)” (1913) 36. George & Ira Gershwin “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” (1937) 37. Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer “Blues in the Night (My Mama Done Tol’ Me)” (1941) 38. George & Ira Gershwin “Someone to Watch Over Me” (1926) 39. Walter Donaldson and George A. Whiting “My Blue Heaven” (1927) 40. Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart “Manhattan” (1925) 41. Arthur B Sterling and Kerry Mills “Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis” (1904) 42. Irving Berlin “Blue Skies” (1927) 43. Vernon Duke and E.Y. “Yip” Harburg “April in Paris” (1932) 44. Jerome Kern and P.G. Wodehouse “They Didn't Believe Me” (1914) 45. George Meyer, Edgar Leslie, and E. Ray Goetz “For Me and My Gal” (1917) 46. traditional, adapted by Fred Weatherly “Danny Boy” (1913) 47. George M. Cohan “You’re a Grand Old Flag (aka “The Grand Old Rag”)” (1906) 48. Irving Berlin “God Bless America” (1939) 49. Edward Madden and Percy Wenrich “Moonlight Bay” (1912) 50. Irving Berlin “Always” (1926) 51. Harry H. Williams and Egbert Van Alstyne “In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree” (1905) 52. Harry Warren and Al Dubin “I Only Have Eyes for You” (1934) 53. Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson “September Song” (1905) 54. Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart “Blue Moon” (1935) 55. John Schonberger, Richard Coburn, and Vincent Rose “Whispering” (1920) 56. Shelton Brooks “Darktown Strutters’ Ball” (1917) 57. Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed “Singin’ in the Rain” (1929) 58. Johnny Green, Eddie Heyman, Robert Sour, and Frank Eyton “Body and Soul” (1930) 59. Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell “Georgia on My Mind” (1930) 60. Richard A. Whiting and Raymond B. Egan “Till We Meet Again” (1919) 61. Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields “I’m in the Mood for Love” (1935) 62. Andy Razaf and Joe Garland “In the Mood” (1939) 63. Buddy DeSylva and Louis Silvers “April Showers” (1922) 64. Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart “My Funny Valentine” (1937) 65. Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart “Lover” (1933) 66. Irving Berlin “Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning” (1918) 67. Fred Fisher “Chicago (That Toddlin’ Town)” (1922) 68. Cole Porter “Just One of Those Things” (1935) 69. Edward Madden and Gus Edwards “By the Light of the Silvery Moon” (1909) 70. George Powell (aka Charles Asaf) and Felix Powell “Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile” (1915) 71. Alfred Bryan and Fred Fisher “Peg O’ My Heart” (1913) 72. Max Freedman and Jimmy DeKnight “We’re Gonna Rock Around the Clock” (1954) 73. Paul Dresser “My Gal Sal” (1905) 74. Richard Whiting “The Japanese Sandman” (1920) 75. Ren Shields and George Evans “In the Good Old Summertime” (1902) 76. Ren Shields and George Evans “In My Merry Oldsmobile” (1902) 77. Jack Norworth and Nora Bayes “Shine on, Harvest Moon” (1908) 78. Sam M. Lewis, Joe Young, and Jean Schwartz “Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody” (1918) 79. Milton Ager and Jack Yellen “Happy Days Are Here Again” (1930) 80. Leigh Harline and Ned Washington “When You Wish Upon a Star” (1940) 81. George M. Cohan “Yankee Doodle Boy” (1905) 82. Leo Friedman and Beth Slater Whitson “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” (1910) 83. Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn “My Buddy” (1922) 84. George & Ira Gershwin “Summertime” (1935) 85. Shelton Brooks “Some of These Days” (1910) 86. Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer “That Old Black Magic” (1943) 87. Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” (1941) 88. Vernon Duke and Ira Gershwin “I Can’t Get Started” (1938) 89. Walter Donaldson and Arthur Fields “The Aba Daba Honeymoon” (1914) 90. Cole Porter “I Get a Kick Out of You” (1934) 91. Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive” (1945) 92. Harry Warren and Al Dubin “42nd Street” (1933) 93. Jerome Kern and Ira Gershwin “Long Ago and Far Away” (1944) 94. Walter Gross and Jack Lawrence “Tenderly” (1947) 95. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II “It Might As Well Be Spring” (1945) 96. Nat D. Ayer and Seymour Brown “Oh You Beautiful Doll” (1911) 97. Walter Donaldson, Sam Lewis, and Joy Young “My Mammy (The Sun Shines East, the Sun Shines West)” (1920) 98. George & Ira Gershwin “Embraceable You” (1930) 99. George & Ira Gershwin “The Man I Love” (1928) 100. Turner Layton and Henry Creamer “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans” (1922) Resources and Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: “Other Genre/Category Song Lists AmericanMusicPreservation.com “American Music History Timeline (1820-1920)” AmericanMusicPreservation.com (2017). “100 Essential Songs (1861-1961)” ASCAP (1999). “Top 25 Songs of the Century” ASCAP All-Time Hit Parade (1985) as found in Don Tyler’s Hit Parade 1920-1955. New York, NY: Quill. Billboard (1953). “Disc Jockey Poll: All-Time Favorite Songs” as found in Joel Whitburn’s Pop Memories, page 639. BBC Radio 2 (1999). “100 Favourite Songs of the Century” BMI (1999). “Top 100 Songs of the Century” Café Songbook (2018). “Catalog of the Great American Songbook” Doug Clark (2008). “Popular Music in the First Half of the 20th Century” Peter Evans and Peter Lavender (1999). Great Songs of the 20th Century: 1900-1950 Roger Hall (2018). “100 Essential Songs of the 20th Century” Ronald Herder (1997). 500 Best-Loved Song Lyrics David A. Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. LastMinuteMusicians.com (2020). “Top 100 Most Popular Cover Songs from 2500+ Set Lists” Alan Lewens (2001). Popular Song – Soundtrack of the Century. Billboard Books: New York, NY. Julius Mattfield (1971). Variety Music Cavalcade, 1620-1969 Max Morath (2002). The NPR Curious Listener's Guide to Popular Standards National Public Radio (1999). “The Most Important American Musical Works of the 20th Century” ParlorSongs.com (2020): catalog ParlorSongs.com (2002). “Enduring American Song Hits: The Best of American Popular Song, Part One 1890-1910” PopCultureMadness.com: “1900s’ Pop Song Hits” (1900-1919) Public Domain Music (2020). “World War I Music from 1914-1918” Theodore Raph (1964). The Songs We Sang RimChiGuy.com “The Old Songs (1900-1929)” Songbook “1890-1969 Selected Standards and Hits Index” Don Tyler (1985). Hit Parade 1920-1955. New York, NY: Quill. Variety (1/4/1956). “Hit Parade of a Half Century” (as published in Don Tyler’s Hit Parade 1920-1955 Wikipedia.org (2020). “List of Pre-1920 Jazz Standards” Wikipedia.org (2000). “Great American Songbook” Alec Wilder (1990). American Popular Song: The Great Innovators, 1900-1950 First posted 4/11/2020; last updated 4/16/2020.

100 years ago: Al Jolson hit #1 with “Swanee”

Swanee Al Jolson with Charles Prince’s Orchestra

Writer(s): Irving Caesar/George Gershwin (see lyrics here) First Charted: May 8, 1920 Peak: 19 US, 11 GA, 12 SM (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 4.0 (includes 1.0 in sheet music) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.75 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: George Gershwin may be America’s greatest songwriter. He began his music career making piano rolls of other composers’ works, giving him valuable insight into the makings of a hit song. LW By 1919, he had already written two Broadway revues, one of which included the song “Swanee.” LW It became his first major hit and his best-selling song in terms of both sheet music and record sales. DJ It was also the first major hit for co-writer Irving Caesar, who later wrote “Tea for Two.” Caesar worked first as a Ford Motor Company mechanic and met Gershwin in a New York restaurant. By the time they took the bus back to Gershwin’s house, Caesar had completed the lyrics and, according to legend, Gershwin had the music down 15 minutes later. LW However, when introduced in New York City’s Demi-Tasse Revue, the number got lost amidst the lush staging. RCG It didn’t become a million seller until Caesar persuaded his friend Al Jolson to use it in his Broadway show Sinbad; LW he subsequently recorded it in January 1920. WK That year, the All-Star Trio and Peerless Quartet each got to #11 with their versions of the song. The 1954 movie A Star Is Born also featured a memorable performance of the song by Judy Garland. However, the song is primarily attributed to Jolson NRR and specifically his performance of it in blackface. The practice of white men donning black face paint is horrifically racist in hindsight, but was popular entertainment in the minstrel shows of the day. Lyrically, “the racism remains embedded in every word, practically in every note” DS of the song. The song parodies Stephen Foster’s 1851 song “Old Folks at Home,” WK also known as “Way Down Upon the Swanee River.” Caesar even incorporated the line “I love the old folks at home” in “Swanee.” RCG “Old Folks” had mythologized the Suwanee River (which Foster misspelled as “Swanee”) in southern Georgia as a symbol of nostalgia for emancipated slaves. DS It came to represent freedom not just for blacks, but for immigrants. On a larger scale, “the larger-than-life, tirelessly productive image America had of itself following the First World War” DS was well represented by Jolson, “the undisputed king of popular culture.” DS Resources: DS Don’t Stay Up Too Late (2011). Top 100 Lists DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 185. LW Alan Lewens (2001). Popular Song – Soundtrack of the Century. Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 42. NRR National Recording Registry RCG RimChiGuy.com The Old Songs (1900-1929) WK Wikipedia.org Related Links: First posted 11/9/2011; last updated 1/28/2023.

100 years ago: “Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody” hits #1

Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody Al Jolson with the Charles Prince Orchestra

Writer(s): Sam Lewis, Joe Young, Jean Schwartz (see lyrics here) First Charted: August 10, 1918 Peak: 18 US, 3 GA (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Crooner Bing Crosby once said of “Broadway’s most charismatic performer,” “Nobody could sell a song like Jolson.” LW “Rock-a-Bye” was one of his signature songs, debuting alongside 26 other musical numbers in the stage play Sinbad. PS The show, which starred Jolson in his familiar black face, LW opened at the Winter Garden on February 14, 1918 and ran for 164 performances. PS Jean Schwartz, who was a native Hungarian, wrote the music. His sister had studied under composer Franz Liszt and taught Schwartz to play piano. LW The lyrics were penned by Tin Pan Alley writers Sam Lewis and Joe Young, who also wrote for the vaudeville circuit and penned hits such as “Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue” and “Sitting on Top of the World.” Lewis had previously worked as a café singer while Young demoed songs for publishing houses. LW The “Stephen Foster sound-a-like song” even mentions the famous writer’s “Old Black Joe” and “Swanee River.” RCG Jolson took the song to #1 in 1918; that same year Arthur Fields’ version went to #9. Jolson integrated the song in his vaudeville act and performed the song in three films – 1939’s Rose of Washington Square, 1946’s The Jolson Story, and 1946’s Jolson Sings Again. The song was also featured in 1929’s The Show of Shows and 1944’s The Merry Monahans. PS The song resurfaced in 1956 as a top ten, million-selling hit for comedian Jerry Lewis JA and Aretha Franklin hit #37 with he song in 1961. Cher, Sammy Davis Jr., Connie Francis, Judy Garland, and Brenda Lee also recorded versions. RCG Resources: JA David A. Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 165. LW Alan Lewens (2001). Popular Song – Soundtrack of the Century. Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 40. PS ParlorSongs.com RCG RimChiGuy.com The Old Songs (1900-1929) Related Links: First posted 8/17/2016; last updated 11/24/2022.