THE 100 MOST-RECORDED SONGS 1890-1954*
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.