Dominic Vautier 4-11
This
is a list of the million seller songs from early American
music. The list may not be complete because it depended
on how long it takes to sell a million copies
of sheet music and they didn't keep very good counts. Silver Threads Among the Gold is not listed here
because it took 30 years or so to reach the magic number--if it really
did since record keeping was not very good. Meet Me
in St. Louis Louis also did not reach this goal until after the 1941
Judy Garland movie. Some songs no doubt were extremely popular
selling many millions of copies in a relatively short period such as Daisy
Definitely a top seller
|
1892 |
Harris |
|
|
Ah Sweet Mystery of Life |
1910 |
Herbert |
|
1911 |
Berlin
|
|
|
Any
Little Girl That’s a Nice Little Girl is the Right Little Girl
for Me |
1910 |
Gray-Fisher |
|
Back
Home in |
1915 |
Jerome-Donaldson |
|
1895 |
Palmer-Ward |
|
|
1903 |
Jerome-Schwartz |
|
|
1902 |
Cannon-Queen |
|
|
1900 |
Lamb-H.Von
Tilzer |
|
|
Blue
Bell
|
1904 |
Madden-Morse |
|
Break
the News to Mother |
1897 |
Harris,
Charles |
|
By
the Beautiful Sea |
1914 |
Attridge-Carroll |
|
1909 |
Madden-Edwards |
|
|
1909 |
Siebert-Newton |
|
|
1906 |
Jerome-Schwartz |
|
|
Come,
Josephine in My Flying Machine |
1910 |
Bryan-Fisher |
|
1908 |
Harbach-Hoschna |
|
|
Curse
of an Aching Heart |
1913 |
Fink-Piantadosi |
|
1892 |
Dacre |
|
|
1903 |
Morse-Buck |
|
|
1910 |
Taylor
|
|
|
Down
in Jungle Town
|
1908 |
Madden-Morse |
|
Down
where the Cotton Blossoms Grow |
1901 |
Sterling-H.VonTilzer |
|
Down
Where the Wurzburger Flows |
1902 |
H.
Von Tilzer |
|
1905 |
Lincke-Robinson |
|
|
Good-bye
Boys |
1913 |
Bryan-H.Von
Tilzer |
|
Good-bye,
Dolly Grey |
1898 |
Cobb-Barns |
|
1899 |
Howard |
|
|
Honey
Boy |
1907 |
Norworth-A.Von
Tilzer |
|
1914 |
Bryan-Piantadosi |
|
|
I
Love You Truly |
1906 |
Bond |
|
1911 |
DiIlon-H.Von
Tilzer |
|
|
1909 |
Hough-Adams-Orlob |
|
|
1899 |
Heelan-H.Von
Tilzer |
|
|
I’m
on My Way to Mandalay
|
1913 |
Bryan-Fisher |
|
1903 |
Leonard |
|
|
If
the Man in the Moon Were a Coon |
1907 |
Fisher |
|
In
the Baggage Car Ahead |
1896 |
Davis
|
|
1902 |
Shields-Evans |
|
|
In
the Shade of the Old Apple Tree |
1905 |
Williams-VanAlstyne |
|
1912 |
Judge-Williams |
|
|
It’s
Tulip Time in Holland
|
1915 |
Radford-Whiting |
|
Kiss
Me Again |
1905 |
Blossom-Herbert |
|
Last
Night was the End of the World |
1912 |
Sterling-H.Von
Tilzer |
|
Let
me Call You Sweetheart |
1910 |
Whitson-Friedman |
|
Love
Me and the World is Mine |
1906 |
Reed-Ball |
|
1899 |
Chattaway |
|
|
Mansion
of Aching Hearts |
1902 |
Lamb-H.Von
Tilzer |
|
1899 |
Scott
Joplin |
|
|
1909 |
Whitson-Friedman |
|
|
1915 |
Kahn-Von
Alstyne |
|
|
Mid
the Green Fields of |
1898 |
Harris |
|
1912 |
Maddan-Wenrich |
|
|
Mother
MaChree |
1910 |
Young-BaIl |
|
1905 |
Dresser |
|
|
1896 |
Marks-Stern |
|
|
My
Old New Hampshire Home |
1898 |
Sterling-H.Von
Tilzer |
|
My
Wife’s Gone to the Country |
1913 |
Whiting,
Snyder |
|
1899 |
Dresser |
|
|
Pack
Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag and Smile, Boys, Smile |
1915 |
Asaf-Powell |
|
1913 |
Bryan-Fisher |
|
|
Perfect
Day |
1909 |
Bond |
|
1909 |
Murphy-Wenrich |
|
|
1910 |
McCree-A.Von
Tilzer |
|
|
School
Days |
1907 |
Cobb-Edwards |
|
Some
of These Days |
1910 |
Brooks |
|
1915 |
Handy |
|
|
1903 |
Girard-Armstrong |
|
|
Take
me Back to |
1907 |
Sterling
-H.Von Tilzer
Norworth |
|
1908 |
Norworth-A.VonTilzer |
|
|
Teasing |
1904 |
McPherson-A.Von
Tilzer |
|
That’s
How I Need You |
1912 |
McCarthy-Piantadosi |
|
There’s
a Girl in the Heart of |
1913 |
MacDonald-Carroll |
|
There’s
a Little Spark of Love Still Burning |
1914 |
McCarthy-Fisher |
|
Till
the Sands of the Desert Grow Cold |
1911 |
Graft-BaIl |
|
1913 |
MacDonald-Carroll |
|
|
1902 |
Cole-Johnson |
|
|
1905 |
Sterling-H.Von
Tilzer |
|
|
1912 |
Gilbert-Muir |
|
|
1912 |
Berlin
|
|
|
When
Irish Eyes are Smiling |
1912 |
Graft-BalI |
|
When
the Harvest Days are Over, Jessie Dear |
1900 |
Graham-H.Von
Tilzer |
|
1898 |
Thornton
|
|
|
1914 |
Mahoney-Wenrich |
|
|
When
You’re a Long Way From Home |
1914 |
Lewis-Meyer |
|
Would
You Care |
1905 |
Harris |
|
You
Made Me Love You |
1912 |
McCarthy-Monaco |
|
You’re
a Grand Old Flag |
1906 |
Cohan |
I
compiled a list of over 800 songs that were at least moderately
successful from 1992 to 1915. I then listed the top lyricists by number of hits.
|
Andrew Sterling |
24 |
|
Paul
Dresser |
19 |
|
William
Jerome |
19 |
|
Harry
Williams |
19 |
|
George
M. Cohan |
18 |
|
Bob
Cole |
17 |
|
13 |
|
|
Will
Cobb |
12 |
|
Arthur
Lamb |
9 |
|
Vincent
Bryan |
9 |
|
Charles
Harris |
9 |
|
9 |
|
|
Monroe
Rosenfeld |
9 |
|
Thomas
Gray |
8 |
|
Felix
McGlennon |
8 |
|
Earle
Jones |
7 |
|
Harry
Lauder |
7 |
|
A.
C. McPherson |
7 |
|
Chris
Smith |
7 |
|
Henry
Blossom |
6 |
|
Walter
Ford |
6 |
|
Wolfe
Gilbert |
6 |
|
Gussie
Davis |
6 |
|
Harry
Dacre |
6 |
|
Kane
Mills |
6 |
|
Ballard
MacDonald |
6 |
|
Lew
Brown |
5 |
|
Claire
Kummer |
5 |
|
Paul
Lincke |
5 |
|
George
Norton |
5 |
From the same file I listed the top songwriters by number of hits.
|
31 |
|
|
Rosamond
Johnson |
18 |
|
16 |
|
|
Victor
Herbert |
16 |
|
Jean
Schwartz |
13 |
|
Egbert
Van Alstyne |
11 |
|
Fred
HeIf |
10 |
|
George
Walker |
9 |
|
7 |
|
|
John
Bratton |
6 |
|
Theodore
Morse |
6 |
|
Alfred
Solman |
6 |
|
Albert
Von Tilzer |
6 |
|
Bert
Williams |
6 |
|
Max
Witt |
6 |
|
Earl
Carroll |
5 |
|
Fred
Fisher |
5 |
|
Chris
Smith |
5 |
|
Stanley
Carter |
4 |
|
Ballard
Macdonald |
4 |
|
Felix
McGlennon |
4 |
|
Jimmy
Monaco |
4 |
|
Henry
E. Pether |
4 |
|
John
Stromberg |
4 |
|
Will
Cobb |
3 |
|
Karl
Hoschna |
3 |
Here are some other links in this article:
Origins of Early Popular Music
Minstrelsy
Broadway
Vaudeville
Other sources