I had a lot of fun with the Rolling Stone Top 500 list awhile back, and when I was going through that I also came across the Songs Of The Century, as compiled by the Recording Industry of America and the National Endowment for the Arts. This is a 365 song list, and as you’ll see it’s quite different in composition than the Rolling Stone list, though there is some overlap. Without further ado, here are the first ten songs from my collection on that list. As before, if I have the original I will list it even if I have a cover version, and if all I have are cover versions I will list all of them.
1. Over the Rainbow – Julie Murphy (#1, Judy Garland)
2. White Christmas – Ella Fitzgerald/Charlie Parker (#2, Bing Crosby)
3. This Land Is Your Land – Woody Guthrie (#3)
4. American Pie – Don McLean (#5)
5. Take Me Out To The Ball Game – The Hold Steady (#8, Bill Murray)
6. You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling – Phosphorescent (#9, Righteous Brothers)
7. In The Mood – Glenn Miller (#11)
8. Rock Around The Clock – Bill Haley & The Comets (#12)
9. You Are My Sunshine – Norman Blake/Ray Charles (#14, Jimmie Davis)
10. Mack The Knife – Bobby Darin (#15)
As you’ll see, this list is heavy on what you’d call “standards”, which largely means show tunes, swing music, and some folk songs. It also has some jazz on it. Because of this, some of the artists they list for the songs are not necessarily the original artists, or the ones you might associate with the song. Bill Murray for “Take Me Out To The Ball Game”, for instance, though for sure that’s an excellent choice. I’m listing who they list, so if you don’t like it take it up with them.
I can’t let this week’s list go without a video of the best song from one of the best movies ever:
To think, it almost didn’t survive the final cut because it supposedly slowed the movie down too much.
Round 2 song report: Started with “Blue Moon”, by the Georgetown Chimes. Finished with “Copperhead Road”, by Steve Earle, song #187, for 89 this week. The last B song was “By My Side”, from the “Godspell” original motion picture soundtrack, which is far superior to and thus not to be confused with the stage show cast recording. The first C song was “C’Etait Toi”, by Billy Joel.