Popular Songs Of 1948, Vol. 1

In celebration of my father's 70th year of life (his birthday was in September), here's the first in a two-part series of posts featuring the most Popular Songs of 1948. Most of you seeing/hearing these probably aren't old enough to remember any of these songs. Or maybe you are familiar with them, because you were raised listening to good music like I was. Either way...enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Doris Day  ~  “It’s Magic”

2)  Pee Wee Hunt  ~  “Twelfth Street Rag”

3)  Georgia Gibbs  ~  “The Things We Did Last Summer”

4)  Ernest Tubb  ~  “Let’s Say Goodbye Like We Said Hello”

5)  Primo Scala’s Banjo & Accordion Orchestra ft. The Keynotes  ~  “Underneath The Arches”

6)  Ken Griffin & Jerry Wayne  ~  “You Can’t Be True, Dear”

7)  Johnny Bond  ~  “Oklahoma Waltz”

8)  Peggy Lee  ~  “Mañana (Is Soon Enough For Me)”

9)  Woody Herman  ~  “Four Brothers”

10)  Ray Noble & His Orchestra ft. Buddy Clark  ~  “I’ll Dance At Your Wedding”

11)  Francis Craig & His Orchestra  ~  “Beg Your Pardon”

12)  Gracie Fields  ~  “Now Is The Hour”

13)  Eddy Arnold  ~  “Molly Darlin’”

14)  Mahalia Jackson  ~  “Move On Up A Little Higher”

15)  Perry Como  ~  “Because”

16)  The Mills Brothers  ~  “Gloria”

17)  Margaret Whiting  ~  “A Tree In The Meadow”

18)  Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys  ~  “Texarkana Baby”

19)  Jo Stafford  ~  “Red River Valley”

20)  Hank Thompson & The Brazos Valley Boys  ~  “Humpty Dumpty Heart”

21)  Jon & Sondra Steele  ~  “My Happiness”

22)  Hank Williams, Sr.  ~  “Honky Tonkin’”

23)  Nat King Cole Trio  ~  “Nature Boy”

24)  Vaughn Monroe & His Orchestra ft. Sons Of The Pioneers  ~  “Cool Water”

25)  Tex Ritter  ~  “Rye Whiskey”

Popular Songs Of 1947, Vol. 3

Here's part 3 of 3 in the Popular Songs Of 1947 series. Plenty to see and hear here, folks. Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Bing Crosby  ~  “But Beautiful”

2)  Merle Travis  ~  “Steel Guitar Rag”

3)  The Mills Brothers  ~  “Across The Alley From The Alamo”

4)  Dorothy Shay  ~  “Feudin’ And Fightin’”

5)  Frankie Laine  ~  “Two Loves Have I”

6)  Sammy Kaye & His Orchestra ft. Billy Williams  ~  “The Old Lamplighter”

7)  Eddy Arnold  ~  “To My Sorrow”

8)  The Andrew Sisters & Danny Kaye  ~  “Civilization”

9)  Buddy Clark ft. Ray Noble & His Orchestra  ~  “Linda”

10)  Dinah Shore  ~  “How Soon Will I Be Seeing You?”

11)  Frank Sinatra  ~  “Mean To Me”

12)  Ernest Tubb  ~  “Don’t Look Now”

13)  Jo Stafford  ~  “Make Believe”

14)  Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five  ~  “Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens”

15)  Tex Williams  ~  “Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)”

16)  Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians ft. Kenny Gardner  ~  “Frankie And Johnny”

17)  Georgia Gibbs  ~  “Fool That I Am”

18)  Red Foley & The Cumberland Valley Boys  ~  “Freight Train Boogie”

19)  Art Lund  ~  “Mam’selle”

20)  Jimmie Davis  ~  “Bang Bang”

21)  Freddy Martin and his Orchestra ft. Stuart Wade  ~  “Managua, Nicaragua”

22)  Eddy Arnold  ~  “Bouquet Of Roses”

23)  Roy Brown  ~  “Good Rockin’ Tonight”  (This guy was ahead of his time. Sounds remarkably similar to the earliest rock and roll tunes that would come out a full decade later.)

24)  Frankie Laine  ~  “On The Sunny Side Of The Street”

25)  Mary Martin  ~  “Almost Like Being In Love”

Popular Songs Of 1947, Vol. 2

Did you like that last batch of Popular Songs from 1947? Good? Then here's more. No? Then don't check these out. More of the same here...and it's all good stuff! Enjoy!  ~  JH 

1)  Nat King Cole  ~  “(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons”

2)  Dinah Shore  ~  “You Do”

3)  Bing Crosby ft. Fred Waring & The Glee Club  ~  “The Whiffenpoof Song”

4)  Frankie Laine  ~  “All Of Me”

5)  Ted Weems Orchestra  ~  “Heartaches”

6)  Ernest Tubb  ~  “I’ll Step Aside”

7)  Al Jolson  ~  “April Showers”

8)  Eddy Arnold  ~  “It’s A Sin”

9)  The Andrews Sisters  ~  “Near You”

10)  Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five  ~  “Texas And Pacific”

11)  Perry Como ft. Dinah Shore  ~  “When You Were Sweet Sixteen”

12)  Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys ft. Tommy Duncan  ~  “Sugar Moon”

13)  Frank Sinatra  ~  “I’ve Got A Crush On You”

14)  The Ink Spots  ~  “Sincerely Yours”

15)  Merle Travis  ~  “Missouri”

16)  James Baskett  ~  “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah”  (Fun fact: Actor/singer James Baskett became the first African-American male to receive an Oscar, for his performance in this film, Song Of The South.)

17)  Red Foley & The Cumberland Valley Boys  ~  “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?”

18)  Doris Day & Buddy Clark  ~  “Confess”

19)  Sammy Kaye & His Orchestra ft. Don Cornell  ~  “That’s My Desire”

20)  Jane Russell  ~  “Do It Again”

21)  Dinah Shore  ~  “I Wish I Didn’t Love You So”

22)  Woody Herman Orchestra  ~  “Four Brothers”

23)  Frankie Laine  ~  “A Sunday Kind Of Love”

24)  Jo Stafford  ~  “Ivy”

25)  Eddy Arnold  ~  “I Couldn’t Believe It Was True”

Popular Songs Of 1947, Vol. 1

Continuing with the retro music posts, here's what folks were listening to 70 years ago. Crooners, jazz, swing, as well as country and western music are all represented well here. If you remember these when they came out, well...I don't really have to say it. You already know. Popular Songs Of 1947 begins...NOW!  ~  JH

1)  Frankie Laine  ~  “Shine / We’ll Be Together Again”

2)  Bing Crosby, Dick Haymes, & The Andrews Sisters  ~  “Anything You Can Do”

3)  Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five  ~  “Jack, You’re Dead”

4)  Eddy Arnold  ~  “I’ll Hold You In My Heart (Till I Can Hold You In My Arms)”

5)  Merle Travis  ~  “Sixteen Tons”  (Tennessee Ernie Ford had greater success with this song a few years later, but Travis actually wrote the song and was its original performer.)

6)  Dinah Shore  ~  “The Anniversary Song”

7)  Dick Haymes  ~  “How Are Things In Glocca Morra”

8)  Bing Crosby  ~  “Galway Bay”

9)  Count Basie & His Orchestra  ~  “Open The Door, Richard!”

10)  Perry Como  ~  “Chi-Baba, Chi-Baba (My Bambino Go To Sleep)”

11)  Al Jolson  ~  “Let Me Sing And I’m Happy”  (This song was actually a hit some seventeen years earlier, but in 1946 the biopic The Jolson Story propelled some of Jolson’s old hits back onto the charts in ’47. This was one of those songs.)

12)  Frank Sinatra  ~  “Always”

13)  Jo Stafford ~  “Serenade Of The Bells”

14)  Lonzo and Oscar  ~  “I’m My Own Grandpa”

15)  Ernest Tubb  ~  “Filipino Baby”

16)  Eddy Arnold  ~  “What Is Life Without Love”

17)  Frankie Laine  ~  “Singing The Blues”

18)  Peggy Lee  ~  “Golden Earrings”

19)  Red Foley & The Cumberland Valley Boys  ~  “That’s How Much I Love You”

20)  The Harmonicats  ~  “Peg O’ My Heart”

21)  Doris Day & Buddy Clark  ~  “Love Somebody”

22)  Savannah Churchill & The Sentimentalists  ~  “I Want To Be Loved (But Only By You)”

23)  Hank Williams  ~  “Move It On Over”

24)  Vaughn Monroe  ~  “Ballerina”

25)  Julia Lee And Her Boy Friends  ~  “(Opportunity Knocks But Once) Snatch And Grab It”