The Post-1955 Great American Songbook. What songs qualify?

Cafe Society
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The Great American Songbook is a non-specified, vague canon of pre-rock American songs including (in the abbreviated version, from 1920-1950) songs by Gershwin, Hoagy Carmichael, Richard Rogers, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter (and others) and in the unabridged version is expanded to include songs from 19th-century, early 20th-century artists like Stephen Foster, George M Cohan, Scott Joplin, Sousa. If songs came to mind while reading the above list, the song is very likely to be in the GAS.

These ‘standards’ are commonly associated with Tin Pan Alley and many were also written for Broadway and Hollywood… ‘When You Wish Upon a Star’ or ‘Over The Rainbow’ are familiar to us 80+ years later.

My question then, what songs are in the post-1955 Great American Songbook? How does one qualify?

For starters, for our globalized world, a rule: If the song was written by a American or an American emigre (during their ‘American period’), the song counts. Songs written by non-Americans do not count. For example, let’s look at Fleetwood Mac. Stevie and Lindsey’s songs qualify for the Great American songbook… but you know what doesn’t count? The song which represented the winning 1992 Presidential campaign, “Don’t Stop” as it was written by the very British Christine McVie.

Another thing: the song has to be familiar among multiple generations. Now I understand that this handicaps a lot of more recent songs, but we’ll live… we have 65 years of songs to add, we won’t die if we can’t add Cardi B.

I also think an associative effect… the song being widely associated with another piece of art or an era or emotion… makes one a strong candidate for inclusion. Just an opinion, though.

Please: Up to three songs per response, please. Don’t spam with a list of 25 songs, that’s boring as fuck. Just list a song or two or three, explaining (if you want) why you think they deserve inclusion.

My first entrants are:

Fortunate Son by Creedence. A song which, in American folklore, specifically recalls a certain period and attitude and itself is used as shorthand for that era in movies and TV.

God Bless The USA. Yeah, I know. Nothing says the song has to be complex, the best of its kind, or anything. But it is without question that GBTUSA, loathed or loved as you may see fit, is now a standard, a song you would expect to hear at certain times and situations.

Rock Around the Clock. Akin to ‘Fortunate Son’ above, Rock is used as a common metaphor/simile/shorthand for ‘The 50s’, or more specifically, the early-Rock days.

These are my first three entries. Hell, they’re not even songs I particularly like (the CCR is good, the Haley is OK, the Greenwood is… there), but there is no doubt that these three songs are recognizable to hundreds of millions in this country and that they will live in the public’s eye far longer than I’ll be around.

All right, what songs do you think fit? (Remember, this isn’t necessarily a list of your favorite songs, but of those rock-era American songs which will stand the test of time.)

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Bridge Over Troubled Water written by Paul Simon. It’s been covered a lot, and I expect it will be for many, many years to come.

**The Times They Are a-Changin’ ** written by Bob Dylan. The lyrics are general and vague enough to be applicable to virtually any era you’d like.

I might be able to make a case for any number of songs by both of these artists, but these two came first to mind.

Take Me Home, Country Roads written by Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert, and John Denver. I have heard this song literally all over the world, and everyone sings along, regardless of race, creed, or native language.

Stand By Me written by Ben E. King, Jerry Lieber, and Mike Stoller. In fact, I think you could put an awful lot of Lieber & Stoller songs in the canon

I’ll Take You There written by Al Bell, originally performed by The Staples Singers. Iconic.

Too many Motown and Stax hits to enumerate right now.

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I had … Country Roads on my short list for the OP. My Dylan song would’ve been… well, I’ll see if another mentions it.

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For " A song which, in American folklore, specifically recalls a certain period and attitude", Springsteen’s ‘Born in the USA’ probably counts, and you could not only make a case for others of his songs (like Born To Run), but also that he’s been writing for The Great American Songbook for 40 years.

The other ‘iconic’ Dylan song would presumably be ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’, but again he’s written a fair amount that you could suggest.

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God Only Knows (Brian Wilson)

Night Life (Willie Nelson)

Girl Talk (Bobby Troup, Neal Hefti)

That last one is kind of a dark horse, and culturally fits in better with pre-1955. But IMO a beautiful melody and chord progression.

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Bad, Bad Leroy Brown (Jim Croce)

American Pie (Don McLean)

Joy to the World (Three Dog Night, written by Hoyt Axton)

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Good ones, Shakespeare. I myself think the Willie song most likely to place in the GAS is Always On My Mind, an immediately iconic song which started getting covered almost the second it was released. Hell, it’s the only song to reach the top-5 in the Billboard charts twice in the 1980s, both times by different artists (Willie and the Pet Shop Boys).

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Great idea for a thread. For starters, I’ll list:

Bob Dylan, Just Like A Woman
Tom Waits, Downtown Train
Laura Nyro, Wedding Bell Blues

If I were to choose a Bobby Troup song, it would be The Meaning Of The Blues (though Route 66 is probably best qualified for the OP).

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One criterion I would add:

“Great American Songbook” implies that it’s the song itself, as opposed to a particular artist’s recording or performance of it, that’s iconic.

Among the songs that have been suggested so far, I see some very worthy choices (“Bridge Over Troubled Water” was for some reason the first thing I thought of). Certainly Bob Dylan needs to be represented—by “The Times They Are a-Changin’,” or “Blowin’ In the Wind,” or “Mr Tabourine Man”? “God Only Knows” and “Always On My Mind” are great choices too.

Maybe “Just the Way You Are,” by Billy Joel?

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Man, it’s hard to choose just one song from a catalog (and, after all, The Great American Song Book is not just one song by Cole Porter, for example, but really most of his work).

That said, I’ll add a few that might get overlooked:

Bein’ Green - Joe Raposo

Rainbow Connection - Paul Williams/Kenneth Ascher

. . . these are both, of course, made famous by and originally performed by Jim Henson/The Muppets. Beautiful, sincere, and well crafted. And, they’ve both been performed by dozens of artists (which, in my mind, is automatic entry into the “song book”, as it makes it clear that it’s the song and not just a specific performance that endures.

It’s You I Like - Fred Rogers

Mr. Rogers wrote all of the songs for Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. For kids growing up over a swath of decades, Rogers’ music (with the assist of pianist/MD Johnny Costa) was a soundtrack of sophisticated yet accessible songs with strong, affirming messages. No, they don’t get air play, and no, I don’t think they get played or performed much at all these days (though I don’t have kids, so who knows). But, for the wide reach and impact of his music across generations, Rogers deserved to be recognized in TGASB.
Also, it’s worth noting that Rise Up Singing does a decent though limited job at representing TGASB, at least up through the early 80s.

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Excellent suggestions, Eonwe!

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To me, for a song to be part of the GAS, it must be a standard that has been performed and interpreted by many singers. There are many great songs that are associated with just one performer or band. In fact, the singer/songwriter movement made that the norm. I’d say that, since rock came along, most songs in the GAS have come from musicals.

That being said, here are my nominations:

My Favorite Things from The Sound of Music
Send in the Clowns from A Little Night Music
Sunrise, Sunset from Fiddler on the Roof

If you asked me tomorrow I might come up with a different set of songs.

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And Disney movies?

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That’s a good distinction, Jeff. My only counter is that the criteria of ‘sung by many artists’, while a metric worth measuring for entry, is more of a metric for a less mono-cultural age. The Creedence song for example is only iconographic in the famous recorded version because that’s the version which has been used in multiple movies, shows, plays, etc for the past 50 years.

However, it’s an internet thread, not a scholarly paper, so all inputs are welcome.

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This will probably get me shit on, but it’s very interesting that the. “American Songbook” complied this far is essentially monochromatic. A reflection on the board (aging white men) itself no doubt.

Reminds me of how “All American” is used as a description (outside of sports).

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Just wait until you read the Wiki links in the OP! :wink:

Point taken. Though I will say that for many of us familiar with the old GAS, we probably would look for similar song styles. And, to your point, the old GAS was almost exclusively white male so ‘similar song styles’ would likely lead to ‘similar composer demographics’, would it not?

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I Heard it Through the Grapevine, written by Normal Whitfield and Barrett Strong
I Will Always Love You, written by Dolly Parton
Theme from New York, New York, written by John Kander and Fred Ebb
Sweet Caroline, written by Neil Diamond

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“I Remember It Well” from Gigi. Professionally, I have heard it performed by Maurice Chevalier and by the Mickey Mouse Club. It’s a standard among a high school and college choral groups, though usually performed by kids much too young for the lyrics. :slight_smile:

“If I Were a Rich Man” from Fiddler on the Roof.

Something from Hair. “Good Morning, Starshine” has been covered by more professionals, but “Hair” is more fun to sing.

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Do you have some suggestions that are less “monochromatic”?

I was reminded of the ancient, but recently revived, thread Great US Composers Not Black or Jewish? (Though I consider “composer” and “songwriter” to be separate categories, albeit with some overlap.)

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Take Five - Paul Desmond (recorded by the Brubeck Quartet)
The Girl From Ipanema - Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinícius de Moraes (recorded by Joao Gilberto and Stan Getz
I Only Have Eyes For You - Harry Warren and lyricist Al Dubin (performed by The Flamingos
Naima - John Coltrane