1941

[SavoyBG]

I'm starting work on the 1941 Top 100 for DDD. Here's what I have so far.

1. God Bless The Child - Billie Holiday
2. Take The "A" Train - Duke Ellington / Delta Rhythm Boys
3. Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy - Andrews Sisters
4. Chattanooga Choo Choo - Glenn Miller (Tex Beneke and the Modernaires)
5. Walking The Floor Over You - Ernest Tubb
6. Cool Water - Sons Of The Pioneers
7. Green Eyes - Jimmy Dorsey (Bob Eberly & Helen O'Connell)
8. A String Of Pearls - Glenn Miller
9. I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire - Ink Spots / Horace Heidt
10. Confessin' The Blues - Jay McShann (Walter Brown)
11. The Midnight Special - Lead Belly and the Golden Gate Quartet
12. Junker Blues - Champion Jack Dupree
13. Blues in the Night - Woody Herman / Cab Calloway
14. I Got it Bad and That Ain't Good - Duke Ellington (Ivie Anderson)
15. Solo Flight - Benny Goodman (Charlie Christian)
16. Gloomy Sunday (The Famous Hungarian Suicide Song) - Billie Holiday
17. Worried Life Blues - Big Maceo
18. Goin' To Chicago Blues - Count Basie (Jimmy Rushing)
19. Why Don't You Do Right - Lil Green
20. Amapola - Jimmy Dorsey (Bob Eberly & Helen O'Connell)
21. All of Me - Billie Holiday
22. Jump For Joy - Duke Ellington (Ivie Anderson)
23. Key To The Highway - Big Bill Broonzy
24. Dry Bones - Delta Rhythm Boys
25. Take Me Back To Tulsa - Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys
26. Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin' - Duke Ellington
27. Let Me Off Uptown - Gene Krupa (Anita O'Day)


Blue Flame - Woody Herman
The Hut-Hut Song (A Swedish Serenade) - Horace Heidt
Song of the Volga Boatmen - Glenn Miller
(There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover - Kay Kyser / Glenn Miller
You and I - Glenn Miller
Elmer's Tune - Glenn Miller (Ray Eberle & Modernaires)
(I'll Be With You) In Apple Blossom Time - Andrews Sisters
Let's Get Away From It All - Tommy Dorsey (Pied Pipers)
Oh, Look At Me Now - Tommy Dorsey (Frank Sinatra, Connie Haines & Pied Pipers)
The Mole - Harry James
Tonight (Perfidia) - Jimmy Dorsey / Glenn Miller
Georgia On My Mind - Mills Brothers
Milk Cow Blues - Johnny Lee Wills
Yes Indeed - Tommy Dorsey (Jo Stafford & Sy Oliver)
Boulder Bluff - Glenn Miller
Pinetop's Boogie Woogie - Louis Jordan
Dancing in the Dark - Artie Shaw
Rocks In My Bed - Joe Turner
All By Myself - Big Bill Broonzy
The Sidewalks of New York - Duke Ellington
If I Get Lucky - Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup
Joltin' Joe DiMaggio - Les Brown (Betty Bonney)
Someone's Rocking My Dreamboat - Ink Spots
That's When Your Heartaches Begin - Ink Spots
Until The Real Thing Comes Along - Ink Spots
Daddy - Sammy Kaye
Corrine, Corrina - Art Tatum (Joe Turner)
Woo Woo - Harry James (Albert Ammons)
Dig These Blues - Four Clefs
All That Meat And No Potatoes - Fats Waller
Dupree Shake Dance - Champion Jack Dupree
Flamingo - Duke Ellington (Herb Jeffries)
Going Down Slow - St. Louis Jimmy
I Feel My Time Ain't Long - Selah Jubilee Singers
Jelly, Jelly - Earl Hines (Billy Eckstine)
Me and My Chauffeur Blues - Memphis Minnie
Ring, Telephone, Ring - Ink Spots
Please Take A Letter, Miss Brown - Ink Spots
Sweet Lorraine - Nat "King" Cole
Saxa-Woogie - Louis Jordan
Take A Little Walk With Me - Robert Lockwood
There'll Be Some Changes Made - Una Mae Carlisle
We'll Meet Again - Ink Spots
Wee Baby Blues - Art Tatum (Joe Turner)
When I Been Drinking - Big Bill Broonzy
I'm In A Low Down Groove - Billie Holiday
Solitude - Billie Holiday
Pick A Bale of Cotton - Lead Belly
Drum Boogie - Gene Krupa


Any suggestions are very welcome. I'm just getting started here.

[sonofsamiam]

Any suggestions are very welcome. I'm just getting started here.

Looking really good so far, my only initial comments would be:

1. God Bless The Child - Billie Holiday
2. Take The "A" Train - Duke Ellington / Delta Rhythm Boys

I think this is the correct Top 2, though they could be flipped. Really tough call.

Any of the below could be higher, IMO. However, some of those above them may have been bigger at the time, so I'm sure that's taken into account, it's your call...

11. The Midnight Special - Lead Belly and the Golden Gate Quartet
14. I Got it Bad and That Ain't Good - Duke Ellington (Ivie Anderson)
15. Solo Flight - Benny Goodman (Charlie Christian)
16. Gloomy Sunday (The Famous Hungarian Suicide Song) - Billie Holiday
25. Take Me Back To Tulsa - Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys
27. Let Me Off Uptown - Gene Krupa (Anita O'Day)

[SavoyBG]

Any suggestions are very welcome. I'm just getting started here.

Looking really good so far, my only initial comments would be:

1. God Bless The Child - Billie Holiday
2. Take The "A" Train - Duke Ellington / Delta Rhythm Boys

Well, "A Train" was a bigger hit initially, getting to #11 while "God Bless" only got to #25. I think that "God Bless" wins the lasting popularity battle, maybe because of the movie with Diana Ross, or because there have been more remakes of the song than of "A Train," but "God Bless" is better known these days by mainstream music fans than "A Train" IMO.

As for influence, I think "God Bless The Child" was much more influential on singers than "A Train" was on musicians, and certainly for a longer period of time. And "God Bless The Child" is more acclaimed, it's #601 on this site while "Take The A Train" is #659. Both songs are in the NARAS hall of fame.

I agree it's not a no brainer choice between the two, but I think "Child" wins a close race.

[nicolas]

Hi SavoyBG

This is what I have from 1941 in my favorite songs list. Sorry I don't have much free time at the moment so I can't sort all this but maybe that might be of some help to you

Big Maceo - County Jail Blues
Memphis Minnie - Me And My Chauffeur
Tommy McClennan - Deep blue sea blues
Gene Autry - You Are My Sunshine
Naftule Brandwein - Nifty's Freilach
Lil' Green - Why Don't You Do Right ?
Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys - Who Walks In When I Walk Out ?
Big Bill Broonzy - All By Myself
Tampa Red - It Hurts Me Too
Big Maceo - Worried Life Blues
Robert Petway - Catfish Blues
Hi-Flyers - Watcha Gonna Do?
The Sons Of the West - Panhandle Shuffle
Lucky Millinder and his Orchestra feat. Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Shout, Sister, Shout
Buddy Jones - Red Wagon
Gene Krupa - Drum Boogie
Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra (featuring Frank Sinatra) - Let's Get Away From It All

Other important blues/folk songs
Son House - Walkin' Blues
Jay Mc Shann - Fore Day Rider
Big Joe Williams - Please Don't Go
Sam Price - I know how to do it
Robert Jr Lockwood - Take A Little Walk With Me
Curtis Jones - Tin Pan Alley
Almanach Singers - Which Side Are You On?

Important country songs
Ernest Tubb: “Walking the Floor Over You” (Decca 1941)
Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys: “Take Me Back to Tulsa” (OKeh 1941)
Sons of the Pioneers: “Cool Water” (Decca 1941)
Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys: “Twin Guitar Special” (OKeh 1941)
Wiley & Gene: “When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again” (OKeh 1941)

[SavoyBG]

Lucky Millinder and his Orchestra feat. Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Shout, Sister, Shout

Great record, but it's from 1942.

[SavoyBG]

Hi SavoyBG

This is what I have from 1941 in my favorite songs list. Sorry I don't have much free time at the moment so I can't sort all this but maybe that might be of some help to you

Big Maceo - County Jail Blues
Memphis Minnie - Me And My Chauffeur
Tommy McClennan - Deep blue sea blues
Gene Autry - You Are My Sunshine
Naftule Brandwein - Nifty's Freilach
Lil' Green - Why Don't You Do Right ?
Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys - Who Walks In When I Walk Out ?
Big Bill Broonzy - All By Myself
Tampa Red - It Hurts Me Too
Big Maceo - Worried Life Blues
Robert Petway - Catfish Blues
Hi-Flyers - Watcha Gonna Do?
The Sons Of the West - Panhandle Shuffle
Lucky Millinder and his Orchestra feat. Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Shout, Sister, Shout
Buddy Jones - Red Wagon
Gene Krupa - Drum Boogie
Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra (featuring Frank Sinatra) - Let's Get Away From It All

Other important blues/folk songs
Son House - Walkin' Blues
Jay Mc Shann - Fore Day Rider
Big Joe Williams - Please Don't Go
Sam Price - I know how to do it
Robert Jr Lockwood - Take A Little Walk With Me
Curtis Jones - Tin Pan Alley
Almanach Singers - Which Side Are You On?

Important country songs
Ernest Tubb: “Walking the Floor Over You” (Decca 1941)
Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys: “Take Me Back to Tulsa” (OKeh 1941)
Sons of the Pioneers: “Cool Water” (Decca 1941)
Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys: “Twin Guitar Special” (OKeh 1941)
Wiley & Gene: “When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again” (OKeh 1941)

Thanks for the help. A couple of these I have as 1940 or 1942.

[SavoyBG]

Just wrapped this up and sent it in:

Criteria: - These records were chosen and ranked based on their initial & lasting popularity, acclaim, and their impact on the overall scope of musical history.


1. God Bless The Child - Billie Holiday
2. Take The "A" Train - Duke Ellington / Delta Rhythm Boys
3. Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy - Andrews Sisters
4. Chattanooga Choo Choo - Glenn Miller (Tex Beneke and the Modernaires)
5. Walking The Floor Over You - Ernest Tubb
6. Cool Water - Sons Of The Pioneers
7. Blues in the Night - Woody Herman / Cab Calloway / Artie Shaw (Hot Lips Page)
8. A String Of Pearls - Glenn Miller
9. Confessin' The Blues - Jay McShann (Walter Brown)
10. I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire - Ink Spots / Horace Heidt / Tommy Tucker
11. The Midnight Special - Lead Belly and the Golden Gate Quartet
12. I Got it Bad and That Ain't Good - Duke Ellington (Ivie Anderson)
13. Green Eyes - Jimmy Dorsey (Bob Eberly & Helen O'Connell)
14. Junker Blues - Champion Jack Dupree
15. Solo Flight - Benny Goodman (Charlie Christian)
16. Gloomy Sunday (The Famous Hungarian Suicide Song) - Billie Holiday
17. Worried Life Blues - Big Maceo
18. Goin' To Chicago Blues - Count Basie (Jimmy Rushing)
19. Why Don't You Do Right - Lil Green
20. Let Me Off Uptown - Gene Krupa (Anita O'Day)
21. Jump For Joy - Duke Ellington (Ivie Anderson)
22. All of Me - Billie Holiday
23. Amapola - Jimmy Dorsey (Bob Eberly & Helen O'Connell)
24. Dry Bones - Delta Rhythm Boys
25. Maria Elena - Jimmy Dorsey (Bob Eberly) / Wayne King
26. Take Me Back To Tulsa - Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys
27. Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin' - Duke Ellington
28. Key To The Highway - Big Bill Broonzy
29. Solitude - Billie Holiday
30. (I'll Be With You) In Apple Blossom Time - Andrews Sisters
31. Daddy - Sammy Kaye
32. (There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover - Kay Kyser / Glenn Miller
33. Elmer's Tune - Glenn Miller (Ray Eberle & Modernaires)
34. Dancing in the Dark - Artie Shaw
35. Drum Boogie - Gene Krupa
36. Dolores - Tommy Dorsey (Frank Sinatra & Pied Pipers) / Bing Crosby
37. The Things I Love - Jimmy Dorsey (Bob Eberly)
38. Blue Flame - Woody Herman
39. Yes Indeed - Tommy Dorsey (Jo Stafford & Sy Oliver)
40. Jelly, Jelly - Earl Hines (Billy Eckstine)
41. Let's Get Away From It All - Tommy Dorsey (Pied Pipers)
42. That's When Your Heartaches Begin - Ink Spots
43. The Sidewalks of New York - Duke Ellington
44. If I Get Lucky - Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup
45. Joltin' Joe DiMaggio - Les Brown (Betty Bonney)
46. The Hut-Hut Song (A Swedish Serenade) - Horace Heidt / Freddy Martin
47. (Lights Out) 'Til Reveille - Kay Kyser / Bing Crosby
48. Song of the Volga Boatmen - Glenn Miller
49. Me and My Chauffeur Blues - Memphis Minnie
50. Sweet Lorraine - King Cole Trio
51. Yours - Jimmy Dorsey (Bob Eberly & Helen O'Connell)
52. Winter Weather - Benny Goodman (Peggy Lee & Art Lund)
53. Do I Worry? - Tommy Dorsey (Frank Sinatra)
54. You and I - Glenn Miller
55. Oh, Look At Me Now - Tommy Dorsey (Frank Sinatra, Connie Haines & Pied Pipers)
56. Tonight (Perfidia) - Jimmy Dorsey / Glenn Miller / Benny Goodman
57. My Sister And I - Jimmy Dorsey (Bob Eberly)
58. Someone's Rocking My Dreamboat - Ink Spots
59. Going Down Slow - St. Louis Jimmy
60. Dig These Blues - Four Clefs
61. All That Meat And No Potatoes - Fats Waller
62. Flamingo - Duke Ellington (Herb Jeffries)
63. Corrine, Corrina - Art Tatum (Joe Turner)
64. Big Fat Mama - Lucky Millinder (Trevor Bacon)
65. We'll Meet Again - Ink Spots
66. Wee Baby Blues - Art Tatum (Joe Turner)
67. When I Been Drinking - Big Bill Broonzy
68. I'm In A Low Down Groove - Billie Holiday
69. High On A Windy Hill - Jimmy Dorsey / Gene Krupa
70. The Wise Old Owl - Al Donohue (Dee Keating)
71. You Made Me Love You - Harry James
72. The Shrine of St. Cecelia - Andrews Sisters
73. Along The Santa Fe Trail - Bing Crosby
74. Blue Champagne - Jimmy Dorsey (Bob Eberly)
75. Worried Mind - Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
76. Catfish Blues - Robert Petway
77. Boulder Bluff - Glenn Miller
78. You Are My Sunshine - Gene Autry / Bing Crosby
79. This Love of Mine -Tommy Dorsey
80. Down, Down, Down - Count Basie / Mills Brothers / Charioteers
81. Until The Real Thing Comes Along - Ink Spots
82. The Mole - Harry James
83. Milk Cow Blues - Johnny Lee Wills
84. There'll Be Some Changes Made - Una Mae Carlisle
85. Rocks In My Bed - Joe Turner
86. The Bells of San Raquel - Mills Brothers
87. Dupree Shake Dance - Champion Jack Dupree
88. I Feel My Time Ain't Long - Selah Jubilee Singers
89. County Jail Blues - Big Maceo
90. Ring, Telephone, Ring - Ink Spots
91. Please Take A Letter, Miss Brown - Ink Spots
92. Take A Little Walk With Me - Robert Lockwood
93. Trouble in Mind - Lucky Millinder (Sister Rosetta Tharpe)
94. '41 Blues - Peter Cleighton
95. I See A Million People (But All I Can See is You) - Una Mae Carlisle
96. Walkin' By The River - Una Mae Carlisle
97. Southern Exposure - Buddy Johnson
98. I Feel So Good - Big Bill Broonzy
99. Music Makers - Harry James
100. Twin Guitar Special - Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys

101. When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again - Wiley & Gene
102. All By Myself - Big Bill Broonzy
103. Walking Blues - Son House
104. 1913 Massacre - Woody Guthrie
105. Pinetop's Boogie Woogie - Louis Jordan
106. Egyptian Fantasy - Sidney Bechet
107. Pick A Bale of Cotton - Lead Belly
108. Saxa-Woogie - Louis Jordan
109. Hootie Blues - Jay McShann (Walter Brown)
110. Knockin' Myself Out - Lil Green
111. City Called Heaven - Una Mae Carlisle
112. Bear Cat Crawl - Maude Lux Lewis
113. Peach Orchard Mama - Big Joe Williams
114. Piano Concerto in B Flat - Freddy Martin
115. Jim - Dinah Shore / Ella Fitzgerald
116. If It's True - Mills Brothers
117. Shout For Joy - Albert Ammons
118. Slide Mr. Trombone - Lucky Millinder
119. This Will Make You Laugh - King Cole Trio
120. Keep Cool, Fool - Ella Fitzgerald / Erskine Hawkins / Ink Spots


Bruce's Choice - An unheralded great record from 1941.
Georgia On My Mind - Mills Brothers

[o.m.]

Hi SavoyBG, good to see you in this forum...I'm a real worshiper of DDD since the first days - especially for your sections on hip hop and dance music - and really value your comments...I was just wondering the other day why you didn't join in earlier on AM...Anyway, here are the choices of the book 1001 SONGS YOU MUST HEAR BEFORE YOU DIE for the year 1941...I'm not sure if you heard about this book (the one concerning the albums is more well known) but it has become a kind of a music bible (along with AM of course). Robert Dimery selected only three songs:

BILLIE HOLIDAY - Gloomy Sunday - First recorded in 1936 by Hal Kemp & His Orchestra...Has attracted covers from the likes of E.Costello, P.Robeson, S.Gainsbourg and Bjork...Accompanied by Teddy Wilson & His Orchestra...The words written by Sam Lewis added the chilling line "Wouls they be angry if I thought of joining you?" implying suicide - something left vague in the original...BBC banned it outright...Bizarrely, over the years the song became associated with a string of genuine suicides. Gloomy indeed!

JOSEITO FERNANDEZ - Guantanamera - The most widely recognized song of all time...The tune was already ingrained in Cuba's collective psyche, when Pete Seeger recorded it in 1962, during the Cuban missile crisis, that the rest of the world caught on...

BILLIE HOLIDAY - God Bless The Child- Here, in one of the rare song she wrote herself, Holiday's band was pianist Eddie Heywood's Orchestra, which featured a smooth three-man saxophone lineup and the renowned Roy Eldridge on trumpet, who delivers a succint solo..."Billie Holiday" noted Joni Mitchell in 1998 "makes you hear the content and the intent of every word she sings, even at the expense of her pitch or tone.

Comments are respectively from Robert Dimery, Jon Lusk & Simon Adams.

The book includes only one entry for 1940, namely:

THE INK SPOTS - Java Jive (hmmm...knowing your fondness for doo wop, i'm sure that will make your weekend...)

[SavoyBG]

Hi SavoyBG, good to see you in this forum...I'm a real worshiper of DDD since the first days - especially for your sections on hip hop and dance music - and really value your comments...I was just wondering the other day why you didn't join in earlier on AM

I didn't realize there were forums here until a couple of weeks ago.

The only lists in the dance section of DDD that I edit are the Greatest Disco Songs and the greatest Disco Artists.

I'm working on 1942 now if you want to let me know what songs are mentioned in that book.

[o.m.]

Sadly, there were no inclusions for the year 1942...

But in case you're interested to include some landmark french songs from these years I can give you the ones included in another fantastic reference work called 1000 CHANSONS FRANCAISES DE 1920 A NOS JOURS written under the direction of Christian Louis Eclimont and published in September 2012 (I hope Henrik can include this in his database once he'll be not so busy with his July 2013 update!)...Here they are:

1941:
Edith Piaf - L' Accordéoniste
Suzy Solidor - Lili Marleen

1942:
Irène De Trébert - Mademoiselle Swing
Lucienne Delyle - Mon Amant De Saint-Jean (this one is the epitome of Chanson francaise, an absolute all time classic, and I've heard it sung by many people in traditional french weddings, still today!)
Patrice Et Mario - Avec Son Ukulélé
Fernandel - On m'appelle Simplet

Hope this is helpful...

[SavoyBG]

Sadly, there were no inclusions for the year 1942...

So "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby is not on the list?

Or any of these?

Paper Doll - Mills Brothers
Flying Home - Lionel Hampton (Illinois Jacquet)
Why Don't You Do Right? - Benny Goodman (Peggy Lee)
Stormy Weather - Lena Horne
Blues in the Night (My Mama Done Tol' Me) - Jimmie Lunceford (Willie Smith)
Trav'lin Light - Paul Whiteman (Lady Day)

[o.m.]

BING CROSBY's White Christmas does indeed appear in the book, but it is listed in 1947...Here is the explanation from Will Fulford-Jones: First sketched out by Irving Berlin in early 1940, [the song] appeared in 1942, sung by Bing Crosby in the movie Holiday Inn. Although Crosby's recording was released at the height of the summer, its timing couldn't have been better: with U.S. involvement in World War II escalating, the song's sentimentality struck a chord with listeners parted from loved ones.The song was number 1 by October and omnipresent by 1943. Five years after the original hit, Crosby was asked to re-record WC because of the degradation of the original master plate; it's this versionthat's most familiar today.It's since been covered by everyone from L.Armstrong to Twisted Sister(...)The Christmas Song to end all Christmas Songs."The book has another entry from Crosby, namely Brother, can you spare a dime? in 1932. There is also an additional section where 10 001 songs are listed at the end of the book where Crosby manage to have another 12 songs listed in addition to the two mentioned above. Just check it out...

http://www.amazon.fr/1001-Songs-Must-He ... re+you+die
(click under the "CLIQUEZ POUR FEUILLETER!" logo to see the content and the 10 001 ist is at the end of the book)

Paper Doll - Mills Brothers < 10001 songs, no main entry
Flying Home - Lionel Hampton (Illinois Jacquet) < not this one but Hamp's Boogie Woogie is in 10001
Why Don't You Do Right? - Benny Goodman (Peggy Lee) < BG 9 songs in 10001 + PL 10 songs including 2 main entries
Stormy Weather - Lena Horne < appears under 1943 (Critic Simon Adams points out that it was recorded in 1941 for RCA Victor but re-recorded in 1943 for the film soundtrack) LH has got no other entry.
Blues in the Night (My Mama Done Tol' Me) - Jimmie Lunceford (Willie Smith) < JL 3 songs in 10001 but not this one
Trav'lin Light - Paul Whiteman (Lady Day) < PW has only " ALL OF me" included in the 10001 section

[SavoyBG]

The list is now up:

http://digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/bg_hi ... ts_41.html