# Recommend some old-timey songs for me **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 28, 2012, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-old-timey-songs-for-me/623381 "2012-05-28T21:28:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-old-timey-songs-for-me/623381/21 "2012-05-29T12:28:34Z")
Actually, the Old Timey Singalongs do very well at the Seniors Home. Not everyone was hip to Gershwin in that era. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-old-timey-songs-for-me/623381/22 "2012-05-29T13:00:22Z")
For the 70-75 crowd (my group) it would probably hit closer to their heyday if you focus on the 50’s instead of the 40’s. The early years of RnR, early doo-wop, late big band, and maybe even the early 60’s and pre-Beatle times. As I see it, the 40’s were more for my parents’ generation. They’ve been dead since the 90’s. The gap generation between my parents and me (80’s-90’s) might prefer WWII-era tunes, but it would be safer and more generally appealing to come forward in time to the Eisenhower years for a place to get your playlist. And for me personally I would listen to covers of things up to and including Funk, Disco, Bossa Nova, and other late 60’s and early 70’s stuff. My tastes didn’t stagnate in high school. And I don’t think a lot of folks my age would object to more recent stuff, either. I might suggest slowing down with Rap, though. One more thing: Country from that period plays well with most audiences. Ray Price, Eddy Arnold, Johnny Cash, Sonny James, Marty Robbins, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-old-timey-songs-for-me/623381/23 "2012-05-29T13:08:37Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Honestly, were these people exclusively in the “over-110” demographics? If my parents were still alive, they’d be 99 this year, and they’d consider these songs very old-fashioned. My dad (86 years old, born 1926) is in a nursing home, so I know the crowd. The staff is grateful for entertainment for the residents, who are old and usually physically and mentally impaired. To get them to sing along, the songs have to be easy to sing, with words everybody knows; this is more important than the age of the songs. My mom (90, born 1922) came of age in the 1940s and relates best to music of that era. She’s been complaining about the new-fangled music since the 1950s: Dinah Shore could sing, Mariah Carey is just caterwauling. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-old-timey-songs-for-me/623381/24 "2012-05-29T15:25:00Z")
The [Great American Songbook](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_American_Songbook). ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-old-timey-songs-for-me/623381/25 "2012-05-29T15:48:57Z")
Something I’ve discovered: the older people get, the more eclectic their musical tastes become. I’m now 57, and find that I like most styles and genres of music, all the way from classical to big band to the '60s and beyond. I even have a soft spot for those corny sing-a-longs from the turn of the last century because I grew up hearing them in Harveytoons on TV. The more you’re exposed to different styles and genres, the more you come to appreciate them, especially when they remind you of a certain time and place. When _Saturday Night Fever_ came out, I hated the soundtrack. Now I look back on it with pure nostalgia. I think it’d be great for you to do a musical tour of the 20th century. By the time you get to the Disco Era, those old folks will be out of their chairs cuttin’ a rug! ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-old-timey-songs-for-me/623381/26 "2012-05-29T15:52:24Z")
Look at barbershop favorites, and also Mel Tormé/Rat Pack-type stuff. ---
**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:** [May 29, 2012, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-old-timey-songs-for-me/623381/27 "2012-05-29T17:03:13Z")
_Bye Bye Blackbird_ is always a hit. Second _La Vie en Rose_. _Summertime_ and _Swanee River_. _Stormy Weather_ is one of Holiday’s that everybody knows. Try some of Nat King Cole’s songs for livelier tunes, and perhaps some Ray Charles. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-old-timey-songs-for-me/623381/28 "2012-05-29T18:02:24Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > _Bye Bye Blackbird_ is always a hit. Second _La Vie en Rose_. _Summertime_ and _Swanee River_. _Stormy Weather_ is one of Holiday’s that everybody knows. Try some of Nat King Cole’s songs for livelier tunes, and perhaps some Ray Charles. _Bye Bye Blackbird_ was my first thought. And _Mockingbird Hill_. One thing to remember about people my age (mid 60’s) is that while we grew up with Elvis and the Beatles, we also have fond memories of music our parents and grandparents enjoyed. My grandma loved Guy Mitchell and Frankie Laine and Johnny Ray. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-old-timey-songs-for-me/623381/29 "2012-05-29T18:32:16Z")
I made my grandfather a CD of his favorite music a few years ago when he was in his late 90s (he was born in 1910). He requested Duke Ellington, [Ben Bernie & His Orchestra](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Bernie), [Paul Whiteman & His Ambassador Orchestra](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Whiteman), [Hoagy Carmichael](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoagy_Carmichael), and [Vincent Lopez & His Orchestra](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Lopez), among others. My grandfather was from New York City and I don’t know if this was peculiar to him or if this was the way things were regarding music back then, but he only liked band leaders that were from the East Coast. I had suggested putting [Ted Fio Rito & His Orchestra](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Fio_Rito) on the CD, but my grandfather turned up his nose at him for being a _West_ Coast band leader. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-old-timey-songs-for-me/623381/30 "2012-05-29T18:54:32Z")
Did someone say “sing-along”? [Don’t Dilly-Dally On The Way](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfW3TxQhy20)! I also cast a vote for [The Log-Driver’s Waltz](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upsZZ2s3xv8). ---
**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:** [May 29, 2012, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-old-timey-songs-for-me/623381/31 "2012-05-29T22:41:52Z")
Bobby Darin’s songs are catchy and memorable, even if not written by him. _Mack The Knife_ and _La Mer_ (Beyond the Sea) come readily to mind. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-old-timey-songs-for-me/623381/32 "2012-05-29T23:07:33Z")
A couple more – [Side by Side](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjNX_gayY1E) and [Sparrow in the Treetop](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwufFgtylus&feature=related). I sang these songs with my friends in the 50’s, but I think the songs are from the 30’s and 40’s. Midwestern oldsters will know these – not sure about Coastal oldsters (might be too sophisticated). ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-old-timey-songs-for-me/623381/33 "2012-05-29T23:32:05Z")
Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions 🙂 > [@Max\_Torque](#): > > Did someone say “sing-along”? [Don’t Dilly-Dally On The Way](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfW3TxQhy20)! > > I also cast a vote for [The Log-Driver’s Waltz](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upsZZ2s3xv8). I think everyone in Canada knows the Log-Driver’s Waltz. Hehe. I actually have its composer’s autograph. ---
**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:** [May 30, 2012, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-old-timey-songs-for-me/623381/34 "2012-05-30T17:51:42Z")
When you say you play music, do you mean you perform it yourself or you play recorded music? ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-old-timey-songs-for-me/623381/35 "2012-05-31T00:59:34Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > When you say you play music, do you mean you perform it yourself or you play recorded music? I perform music. I mostly play tunes unaccompanied on the clarinet (I try to find music that’ll work for just clarinet.) I sometimes play with a pianist (accompanied by a pianist), and sometimes I play ukulele and sing (though I’m not that great at the ukulele.) ---
**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:** [May 31, 2012, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-old-timey-songs-for-me/623381/36 "2012-05-31T18:16:05Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > I perform music. . . OK. I think this means that things like big band swing wouldn’t work for you. It would probably be better to stick to songs. One approach you could take is to play popular hits from the time your target audience was young. Most people form their tastes in popular music when they are between fourteen and twenty-five years old. Someone who is eighty today would have been fourteen in 1946 and twenty-five in 1957. Here are some songs from those years: 1946 Beware (Brother, Beware) (Louis Jordan) Let the Good Times Roll (also Jordan) Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Cryin’ (also Jordan) Ain’t Nobody Here but Us Chickens (also Jordan) Choo Choo Ch’Boogie (also Jordan) Oh, but I Do (Nat “King” Cole) I’m in the Mood for Love (Get Your Kicks on) Route 66 You Call It Madness (but I Call It Love) The Frim Fram Sauce I Don’t Know Why (I Just Do) On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe One for My Baby (and One More for the Road) Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans? 1947 Almost Like Being in Love Beyond the Sea Heartaches Move It on Over (Hank Williams) Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette) 1948 Baby Face (this song had a revival that year) Cool Water A Couple of Swells I’m Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover (also revived that year) Life Gets Tee-just, Don’t It On a Slow Boat to China Put 'Em in a Box, Tie 'Em with a Ribbon, and Throw ‘Em in the Deep Blue Sea St. James Infirmary (Louis Armstrong had a hit with this in 1948) Steppin’ Out with My Baby The Streets of Laredo 1949 Always True to You in My Fashion Another Op’nin’, Another Show Baby, It’s Cold Outside Bali Ha’i A Cock-Eyed Optimist Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball? Happy Talk I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry (Hank Williams) I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts Johnson Rag Mule Train Red Roses for a Blue Lady Riders in the Sky (AKA Ghost Riders in the Sky) Saturday Night Fish Fry (Louis Jordan) She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (revived that year by the movie of the same name) Some Enchanted Evening That Lucky Old Sun There Is Nothin’ Like a Dame Too Darn Hot A Wonderful Guy You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught I’ll post some more titles shortly. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-old-timey-songs-for-me/623381/37 "2012-05-31T18:22:01Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > They’d have to be relatively ancient (well up in their '80s) for songs of 1942 to be relevant. > > I now have this rather dreadful image of the oldsters in another ten years wanting to hear “It’s My Party And I’ll Cry If I Want To”. :(:eek: I’m shuddering myself at being in my 80s and everywhere I go that panders to my demographic playing the hell out of some soul pop :rolleyes: \<– at marketers not you ---
**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:** [May 31, 2012, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-old-timey-songs-for-me/623381/38 "2012-05-31T18:38:39Z")
Here are some more: 1950: Adelaide’s Lament Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo C’est Si Bon Goodnight, Irene Guys and Dolls If I Knew You Were Comin’ I’d’ve Baked a Cake If I Were a Bell If You’ve Got the Money (I’ve Got the Time) I’ve Never Been in Love Before La Vie en Rose Life Is So Peculiar (Louis Jordan) Luck Be a Lady Mona Lisa Music! Music! Music! My Time of Day Rag Mop Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat So Long, It’s Been Good to Know You Tennessee Waltz Tzena, Tzena, Tzena 1951 Blue Velvet (first made popular by Tony Bennett that year) Cold, Cold Heart (Hank Williams) Come on-a My House Hey, Good Lookin’ Hot Rod Race How High the Moon In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening I Whistle a Happy Tune Kisses Sweeter Than Wine A Kiss to Build a Dream on On Top of Old Smoky (the Weavers had a hit with it that year) Rocket “88” Shall We Dance? They Call the Wind Maria Unforgettable 1952 Bourbon Street Parade The Glow-Worm (the Mills Brothers revived it that year) High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me) Jambalaya Lullaby of Birdland Walkin’ My Baby Back Home (Johnny Ray revived it that year) Wimoweh (The Lion Sleeps Tonight) Your Cheatin’ Heart More later. . . ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-old-timey-songs-for-me/623381/39 "2012-05-31T23:20:13Z")
Thanks! 🙂 ---
**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 1, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-old-timey-songs-for-me/623381/40 "2012-06-01T02:15:45Z")
Continuing: 1953 (This was a bad year for pop music in the U.S.): Doggie in the Window (I hate this song, but your audience might like it) Eh, Cumpari! Hound Dog (the Big Mama Thornton version - Elvis’s version came three years later) Istanbul (Not Constantinople) Matilda, Matilda (Harry Belafonte) Rags to Riches (Tony Bennett) Stranger in Paradise That’s Amore That’s Entertainment Vaya Con Dios (May God Be with You) 1954 (another thin year): Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words) Hey There (Rosemary Clooney) Mister Sandman Misty Papa Loves Mambo (I hate this one, too, but. . .) Shake, Rattle and Roll Sh-Boom (Life Could Be a Dream) Three Coins in the Fountain 1955: Ain’t That a Shame Arrivederci, Roma Autumn Leaves The Ballad of Davy Crockett Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots Bo Diddley (by the artist of the same name) Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine) Flip Flop and Fly (Big Joe Turner) Love and Marriage Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing Maybellene Rock Around the Clock Sixteen Tons Unchained Melody The Yellow Rose of Texas I’ll finish up on the next posting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-old-timey-songs-for-me/623381.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-old-timey-songs-for-me/623381.md?page=3)