THE 100 MOST-RECORDED SONGS 1890-1954*
During the pre-rock era,one of the most important indicators of a song's enduring musical greatness was the number of artists to record it.This list represents the most comprehensive survey ever made of the pre-1955 songs which have been recorded by the most artists (multiple versions by an artist do not count).It encompasses:Edison and Columbia cylinders:all 78s in the extensive collections of the Library of Congress,the New York Public Library and the Syracuse,Stanford and Yale University Libraries:and all new Recordaid listings from the 1950s to the 1980s. Songs written before 1955 but most popular later,such as "Misty" and "Autumn Leaves",are not included.The year published and the songwriters are shown after the title.
1 SILENT NIGHT (1818)-JOSEPH MUHR & FRANZ GRUBER
2 ST.LOUIS BLUES (1914)-W.C. Handy
3 STAR DUST (1929)-Hoagy Carmichael & Mitchell Parish
4 BODY AND SOUL (1930)-Johnny Green,Ed Heyman,Robert Sauer & Frank Eyton
5 SUMMERTIME (1935)-George Gershwin & Dubose Heyward
6 THE OLD FOLKS AT HOME (SWANEE RIVER) (1851)-Stephen Foster
7 TEA FOR TWO (1925)-Vincent Youmans & Irving Caesar
8 WHITE CHRISTMAS (1942)-Irving Berlin
9 ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE (1939)-Jerome Kern & Oscar Hammerstein II
10 NIGHT AND DAY (1932)-Cole Porter
11 Begin The Beguine (1935)-Cole Porter
12 Danny Boy (1913)-Traditional,adapted by Fred Weatherby
13 Sweet Georgia Brown (1925)-Maceo Pinkard,Kenneth Casey & Ben Bernie
14 The Man I Love (1924)-George Gershwin & Ira Gershwin
15 Over The Rainbow (1939)-Harold Arlen & E.Y. Harburg
16 Caravan (1937)-Duke Ellington,Juan Tizol & Irving Mills
17 After You've Gone (1918)-Turner Layton & Harry Creamer
18 Yesterdays (1933)-Jerome Kern & Otto Harbach
19 Ain't Misbehavin' (1929)-Fats Waller,Harry Brooks & Oscar Hammerstein II
20 Lover,Come Back To Me (1928)-Sigmund Romberg & Oscar Hammerstein II
21 What Is This Thing Called Love? (1930)-Cole Porter
22 I Can't Get Started (1936)-Vernon Duke & Ira Gershwin
23 Jingle Bells (1857)-J.S. Pierpont
24 I Can't Give You Anything But Love (1928)-Jimmy McHugh & Dorothy Fields
25 My Old Kentucky Home (1853)-Stephen Foster
26 When The Saints Go Marching In (1896)-James Black & Kathrine Purvis
27 Tenderly (1947)-Walter Gross & Jack Lawrence
28 Blue Skies (1927)-Irving Berlin
29 September Song (1938)-Kurt Weill & Maxwell Anderson
30 My Blue Heaven (1927)-Walter Donaldson & George Whiting
31 Always (1925)-Irving Berlin
32 Tiger Rag (1917)-Harry DeCosta & Original Dixieland Jazz Band
33 The Rosary (1898)-Ethelbert Nevins & Robert Cameron Rogers
34 Home,Sweet Home (1823)-Henry Bishop & John Howard Payne
35 Smoke Gets In Your Eyes (1933)-Jerome Kern & Otto Harbach
36 These Foolish Things (Remind Me Of You) (1936)-Jack Starchey,Harry Link & Holt Marvell
37 Ol' Man River (1928)-Jerome Kern & Oscar Hammerstein II
38 Limehouse Blues (1924)-Phillip Braham & Douglas Furber
39 Sheik Of Araby (1923)-Ted Snyder,Harry B.Smith & Francis Wheeler
40 Embraceable You (1930)-George Gershwin & Ira Gershwin
41 My Funny Valentine (1937)-Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart
42 Stormy Weather (1933)-Harold Arlen & Ted Koehler
43 12th Street Rag (1914)-Euday L.Brown
44 Blue Moon (1935)-Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart
45 The Battle Hymn Of The Republic (1863)-Julia Ward Howe & William Steffe
46 My Melancholy Baby (1913)-Ernie Burnett & George Norton
47 I Got Rhythm (1930)-George Gershwin & Ira Gershwin
48 Honeysuckle Rose (1929)-Fats Waller & Andy Razaf
49 Love's Old Sweet Song (1884)-G.Clifton Bingham & James Mulloy
50 The Stars And Stripes Forever (1896)-John Phillip Sousa
51 Where Or When (1937)-Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart
52 Laura (1945)-David Raskin & Johnny Mercer
53 Mood Indigo (1931)-Duke Ellington,Barney Bigard & Irving Mills
54 The Christmas Song (1946)-Mel Torme & Robert Wells
55 Love For Sale (1930)-Cole Porter
56 Georgia On My Mind (1930)-Hoagy Carmichael & Stuart Gorrell
57 San Antonio Rose (1939)-Bob Wills
58 How High The Moon (1940)-Morgan Lewis & Nancy Hamilton
59 Someone To Watch Over Me (1926)-George Gershwin & Ira Gershwin
60 I Only Have Eyes For You (1934)-Harry Warren & Al Dubin
61 Sweet Sue,Just You (1928)-Victor Young & Will Harris
62 The Darktown Strutters' Ball (1917)-Shelton Brooks
63 On The Sunny Side Of The Street (1930)-Jimmy McHugh & Dorothy Fields
64 Silver Threads Among The Gold (1877)-Hart P.Danks & Eben Rexford
65 I'm In The Mood For Love (1935)-Jimmy McHugh & Dorothy Fields
66 Deep Purple (1939)-Peter DeRose & Mitchell Parish
67 Sometimes I'm Happy (1925)-Vincent Youmans & Irving Caesar
68 I've Got You Under My Skin (1934)-Cole Porter
69 The Star-Spangled Banner (1814)-Francis Scott Key
70 Easy To Love (1936)-Cole Porter
71 Avalon (1921)-B.G. DeSylva,Vincent Rose & Al Jolson
72 Willow Weep For Me (1932)-Ann Ronell
73 Dinah (1925)-Harry Aksi,Sam Lewis & Joe Young
74 Moonglow (1934)-Will Hudson,Eddie DeLange & Irving Mills
75 Auld Lang Syne (1711)-adapted by Robert Burns
76 Carry Me Back To Old Virginny (1879)-James A.Bland
77 Alexander's Ragtime Band (1911)-Irving Berlin
78 Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town (1934)-J. Fred Coots & Haven Gillespie
79 Basin Street Blues (1929)-Spencer Williams
80 Sweet Lorraine (1935)-Clifford Burwell & Mitchell Parish
81 I'll Remember April (1942)-Don Raye,Gene DePaul & Patricia Johnston
82 Rudolph,The Red-Nosed Reindeer (1949)-Johnny Marks
83 Solitude (1934)-Duke Ellington
84 Some Of These Days (1910)-Shelton Brooks
85 Stella By Starlight (1947)-Victor Young & Ned Washington
86 Maple Leaf Rag (1899)-Scott Joplin
87 Lover (1933)-Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart
88 The Way You Look Tonight (1936)-Jerome Kern & Dorothy Fields
89 Pennies From Heaven (1936)-Arthur Johnston & John Burke
90 Dancing In The Dark (1931)-Howard Dietz & Arthur Schwartz
91 Indiana (1917)-James Hanley & Ballad MacDonald
92 April In Paris (1932)-Vernon Duke
93 As Time Goes By (1931)-Herman Hupfield
94 Royal Garden Blues (1923)-Spencer Williams & Clarence Williams
95 The Very Thought Of You (1934)-Ray Noble
96 Lover Man (1942)-Jimmy Davis,Roger Ramirez & Jimmy Sherman
97 'Round Midnight (1947)-Thelonious Monk & Cootie Williams
98 Perdido (1942)-Juan Tizol,Ervin Drake & Hans Lengsfelder
99 All Of Me (1931)-Seymour Simons & Gerald Marks
100 What's New? (1939)-Johnny Burke & Robert Haggart
* This list was compiled by data from the book titled
"Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954"(1986) by
Billboard Publications,Inc.
