# Most important songs 1900-1959 (HURRY please!!!) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 14, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-songs-1900-1959-hurry-please/543198 "2010-06-14T21:09:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-songs-1900-1959-hurry-please/543198/21 "2010-06-15T03:41:14Z")
Here are some more ideas. 20s: The Sheik of Araby - Inspired by the silent movie _The Sheik_ starring Rudolph Valentino. It might be worth pointing out that, in the twenties, Arabs were considered sexy in this country. Canal Street Blues - King Oliver’s first record. An important milestone in the history of jazz. King Porter Stomp - Another Jelly Roll Morton composition. This one became popular again in the swing era. Star Dust - Hoagy Carmichael’s most-recorded song. A real classic. Happy Days Are Here Again - Written in 1929 **before** the stock market crash. It was the theme song of the Democratic Party for decades, until Bill Clinton replaced it with Don’t Stop in 1992. 30s: St. James Infirmary - Best-known recording is by Cab Calloway. Night and Day - Gotta have something by Cole Porter! Summertime - Widely-recorded Gershwin song from _Porgy and Bess_. Great instrumental version by Sidney Bechet. Sing, Sing, Sing/Christopher Columbus - Benny Goodman mixed these two compositions into one in a 1937 recording, and also in his 1938 Carnegie Hall concert. A centerpiece of the swing era. In the Mood - Andy Razaf and Joe Garland took a riff from the Wingy Manone composition Tar Paper Stomp when they wrote this number, which became Glenn Miller’s biggest hit. 40s: Take the “A” Train - If you use this, be sure to credit composer Billy Strayhorn. Der Fuehrer’s Face - First featured in the Disney cartoon _Donald Duck in Nutsy Land_. Spike Jones had a hit with this song. While it’s not a milestone in the history of music, it’s funny and historically interesting. I’ll Be Seeing You - This is one of the best of many homesickness songs written during World War II - a response to the war’s separation of people from their loved ones. 50s: Rocket “88” - Claimed by some to be the first rock ‘n’ roll song. Jambalaya - An early Hank Williams hit. Ain’t That a Shame - Fats Domino’s first hit, and the introduction of the New Orleans piano sound to the rest of the country. Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash’s first hit. Maybellene - Chuck Berry’s first hit. ---
**Author:** ![Sinisterniik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/51bf81/32.png) [@Sinisterniik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinisterniik)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-songs-1900-1959-hurry-please/543198/22 "2010-06-15T16:52:11Z")
Ok. I think it’s time to post a revised list. Outstanding suggestions so far -I wish I could add all of them. I’m making these decisions based on what I think fits my friend’s needs the most. She isn’t teaching a music history lesson, so I’m still leaving out some songs and musicians that are essential to American music history in favor of some songs that impacted/reflected our actual history. As a result, George M. Cohan makes this list twice but Irving Berlin doesn’t make it once. Bill Haley makes it, but Chuck Berry doesn’t. And so on… I’m also placing a limit of three songs for each decade (although many, if not all of your suggestions will still get relayed to her so that she can make a final decision). With that in mind: 1900s: Maple Leaf Rag - Scott Joplin (pub. 1899, but whatever) Give My Regards To Broadway - George M. Cohan (1904) Take Me Out To The Ball Game - Norworth/Von Tilzer (pub. 1908) 1910s: The Preacher And The Slave - Joe Hill (1911) St. Louis Blues - W.C. Handy (1912) Over There - George M. Cohan (comp. 1917) 1920s: Potato Head Blues - Louis Armstrong (1927)\* Rhapsody In Blue - Gershwin (1924) Happy Days Are Here Again - Ager/Yellen (1929) \*This one seems to be arguable, but it predates West End Blues by one year and is also famous for being (arguably) the best Armstrong solo -or at least one of his most important ones. More nudging might change my mind, but for now I’m sticking with it. 1930s: Cross Road Blues - Robert Johnson (1937) Brother, Can You Spare A Dime? - Hapburg/Gorney (1931) Sing, Sing, Sing - Benny Goodman (1938 from the Carnegie Hall Concert) 1940s: Strange Fruit - Billie Holiday (1939, but it gained fame in the 40s) Koko - Charlie Parker (1945) This Land Is Your Land - Woody Guthrie (1940) 1950s: Rock Around The Clock - Bill Haley And His Comets (1954) Ain’t That A Shame - Fats Domino (1955) So What - Miles Davis (1959) I still wish that I could fit in some classical and country music, but I still haven’t come across anything that reflects the culture at the time. “Take The A Train” might replace “Sing, Sing, Sing” because of the Harlem Renaissance, but the composition was much more in reaction to the movement than a part of it. So what do you guys think now? Any happier? Did I make it worse? ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-songs-1900-1959-hurry-please/543198/23 "2010-06-15T17:12:10Z")
1920s: [The Prisoner’s Song](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prisoner%27s_Song). One of the first million-selling songs and represents the underrecognized country/hillbilly genre. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-songs-1900-1959-hurry-please/543198/24 "2010-06-15T17:20:45Z")
> [@Sinisterniik](#): > > Yeah. I was tossing that one over in my head. Any other votes for Bill Haley over Elvis? I would say either Haley or the Carl Perkins release of **Blue Suede Shoes** which preceded the Elvis recording. Perkins’ songs were the definitive examples of rockabilly music, the precursor to rock & roll. James Brown established funk music in 1956 with **Please, Please, Please** , and could arguably be called the father of soul music along with the likes of Ray Charles, Jackie Wilson and Sam Cooke. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-important-songs-1900-1959-hurry-please/543198.md?page=1)