Thursday, April 7, 2011

100 Classic Songs Everyone Should Know

I think there are certain songs that everyone should know.  Here's my list - how many do you know?

Led Zeppelin
1. Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin
2. All Along the Watchtower - Bob Dylan (also Jimi Hendrix version)
3. Come Together - Beatles
4. Superstition - Stevie Wonder
5. No Woman No Cry - Bob Marley
6. Chameleon - Herbie Hancock & the Headhunters
7. Voodoo Chile - Jimi Hendrix
8. Take the A Train - Billy Strayhorn (made famous by Duke Ellington)
9. Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon and Garfunkel
10. Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
Ludwig von Beethoven
11. Fifth Symphony - Ludwig von Beethoven
12. Summertime - Geroge Gershwin
13. So What - Miles Davis
14.  Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry
15. Imagine - John Lennon
16. In the Mood - Glenn Miller
17. Misty - Erroll Garner
18. Ring of Fire - Johnny Cash
19. Great Balls of Fire - Otis Blackwell and Jack Hammer (Jerry Lee Lewis)
20. Georgia On My Mind - Hoagy Carmichael & Stuart Gorrell (made famous by Ray Charles)
21. Take Five - Dave Brubeck
Dave Brubeck Quartet
22. Pinball Wizard - The Who
23. Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring) - Igor Stravinsky
24. Birdland - Joe Zawinul (Weather Report)
25. Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
26. Crossroads - Robert Johnson
27. Layla - Derek & the Dominoes
28. Cissy Strut - The Meters
29. Higher Ground - Stevie Wonder
30. Salt Peanuts - Dizzy Gillespie
31. Kashmir - Led Zeppelin
32. Rhapsody in Blue - George Gershwin
33. You Can Call Me Al - Paul Simon
Billy Joel
34. Piano Man - Billy Joel
35. Thriller - Michael Jackson
36. Blue Train - John Coltrane
37. Papa Was A Rolling Stone - Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong
38. Tom Sawyer - Rush
39. Stars and Stripes Forever - John Philip Sousa
40. Sir Duke - Stevie Wonder
41. Strawberry Fields - Beatles
42. I Know You Rider - traditional
43. Roundabout - Yes
44. New York, New York - Frank Sinatra
45. Foggy Mountain Breakdown - Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs
46. Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison

Billie Holiday
47. Money - Pink Floyd
48. Use Me - Bill Withers
49. Benny and the Jets - Elton John
50. R.E.S.P.E.C.T. - Aretha Franklin
51. Strange Fruit - Billie Holiday
52. Freebird - Lynyrd Skynyrd
53. Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
54. Eleanor Rigby - Beatles
55. Frankenstein - Edgar Winter
56. Looking out My Back Door - Credence Clearwater Revival
57. Imperial March - John Williams
58. For What It's Worth - Buffalo Springfield
59. Up On Cripple Creek - The Band

The Band
60. American Pie - Don McLean
61. Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley - Allen Toussaint
62. Moondance - Van Morrison
63. Also Sprach Zarathustra - Richard Strauss
64. Black Water - The Doobie Brothers
65. Dazed and Confused - Led Zeppelin
66. Billie Jean - Michael Jackson
67. We Didn't Start the Fire - Billy Joel
68. Jessica - Allman Brothers Band
69. Straight No Chaser - Thelonious Monk
The Beatles
70. While My Guitar Gently Weeps - Beatles
71. Purple Haze - Jimi Hendrix
72. Lean On Me - Bill Withers
73. Foreplay/Long Time - Boston
74. Green Onions - Booker T and the MG's
75. Three Little Birds - Bob Marley
76. Sugar Magnolia - Grateful Dead
77. Appalachian Spring - Aaron Copeland
78. Bad Moon Rising - Credence Clearwater Revival
79. Another Brick In The Wall (Parts I, II, and III) - Pink Floyd

Bobby McFerrin
80. Thank You (Falletinme Be Mice Elf Agin) - Sly & the Family Stone
81. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John
82. Slippng Into Darkness - War
83. Don't Worry, Be Happy - Bobby McFerrin
84. Watermelon Man - Herbie Hancock
85. Mustang Sally - Sir Mack Rice (Wilson Pickett)
86. Burning Down the House - Talking Heads
87. Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond
88. La Grange - ZZ Top
89. Proud Mary - John Fogerty
90. Rockin' in the Freeworld - Neil Young
ZZ Top
91. Born in the USA - Bruce Springsteen
92. Stayin' Alive - The Bee Gees
93. Sing, Sing, Sing (With A Swing) - Louis Prima
94. Toccatta and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565 - Johann Sebastian Bach
95. My Girl - The Temptations
96. Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson (Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye)
97. Blue Skies - Irving Berlin
98. Kokomo - The Beach Boys
99. Blue Suede Shoes - Elvis Presley
100. Claire de Lune - Claude Debussey

Well, there you have it.  I actually found it very difficult to put these in order.  I'm still not totally convinced I got it exactly right.  I also began making this list with the intent of listing 50 songs, and that very quickly and easily grew to 100 songs.  I would challenge you to come up with your own list of songs that you think everyone should know.  Are there any songs you think I missed?

Happy listening!



2 comments:

  1. No Don't stop Believing by Journey or Eye of the Tiger. I'm disappointed

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  2. So true, those are total classics. Also more songs by the Beatles. Otherwise this is an awesome list. :)

    ReplyDelete