Most-Recorded Tunes of the 1940s

Of related interest:
  • Top Ten Tunes of the
  • Top 100 Tunes of the Century.
  • Top Ten
    of the Century.
  • Recordings by Decade: A graph of the historical distribution of my recorded tune sources.

This list ranks the top 10 most-recorded tunes during the 1940s. By carefully comparing the 137 individual tune recordings dated as from the 1940s which appear on the indexed recordings, I identified a total of 123 musically distinct tunes. The top ten of those tunes are listed below, in order of how many albums they appear on. When tunes have the same number of recordings, tunes having the oldest recordings appear first. Note that reuses of a particular cut in other anthologies are counted, which is fair, since the popularity of a recording is a good indicator both of the popularity of the tune and of the likelihood that musicians will learn the tune from that recording.

Click Tune Info below to see tune details and sources.

RankNumber of
Recordings		Explanation
Rhythm		Explanation
Titles used for this tune (and other notes)
13 – Tune
Info		ReelTranscription of first 2 bars of SteampacketSteampacket, The / The Steam Packet / Steam Packet / The Steam-Packet / An Bád Gaile / The Steam Boat / The Mountain Lark / The Mountain Lark No. 2 / Fuiseog an tSléibhe / New Tobacco / The Gauger / An Colamóir Súgach / An Colamoir Sugach / An Colamór Sugach / Last House in Connaught / The Connacht Rangers / Lady O'Brien's Reel / Frieze Kneebreeches / The Father Henebry's Reel / O'Connell's Reel (follows The Banks of the Suir on GP; in set Ballinakill Reels on GCJR; 2nd in set Midsummer's Night on Drv 5) (also in Mixolydian) (compare Mountain Lark #2223)
23 – Tune
Info		ReelTranscription of first 2 bars of Sligo MaidSligo Maid, The / Sligo Maid / Gearrchaile Shligigh / The Sligo Maid's Lament / Sligo Maid's Lament / The Glendoan Fancy / The Glendowan Reel (1st in set The Ritz on KCB 6; in D Major as Sligo Maid - Connemara Version on JCt 1 and on JCt 4) (also in E) (compare The Glendowan Reel / The Glendown Reel / The Glendoan Fancy included here)
33 – Tune
Info		ReelTranscription of first 2 bars of Rakish PaddyRakish Paddy / Pádraic Réice / Sporting Pat / Caper Fey / Cabair Féigh / Cabar Féigh / The Deer's Horns / The Castle Street Reel / Glastertown's Downfall (not listed in contents of Rnys, which created a mislabeling as The Sligo Maid; untitled following Bean Phaidín on Plx 4; 4th in set The Savoy on KCB 6; mislabeled on 1930 James Morrison recording as The Wheels of the World) (Donegal setting included here)
42 – Tune
Info		AirBrown Thorn, The / An Droighneán Donn / An Droighnean Donn / Droighnean Donn / An Draighneán Donn / Draoighnean Donn / An Droigheán Donn / Broighnean Donn / The Brown Thorntree / St. Senanus and the Lady / Why Do Lovely Virgins Mourn? / The Bark Is on the Swelling Shore / The Sloe Tree (also as song, included here)
52 – Tune
Info		HpipeTranscription of first 2 bars of Bantry HornpipeBantry Hornpipe, The / Cornphíopa Beanntraí / Bantry Bay Hornpipe
62 – Tune
Info		ReelTranscription of first 2 bars of SalamancaSalamanca, The / The Salamanca Reel / Wild Salamanca / The Wild Salamanca / Salamango / Salamander / The Salamander / The Tartan Plaid / The Maigue's Tide / The Coronation Reel / The Coronation
72 – Tune
Info		JigDTranscription of first 2 bars of Rose in the HeatherRose in the Heather, The / Rose in the Heather / Rose of the Heather / The Rose on the Heather / Rose on the Heather / The Rose among the Heather / An Rós sa bhFraoch / An Ros sa bhFraoch / Hare in the Heather / The Corofin
82 – Tune
Info		AirCoolin, The / An Chúileann / An Chúilfhionn / An Chuilfhionn / The Coulin / Though the Last Glimpse of Erin / In this Calm Sheltered Villa / Oh! Hush the Soft Sigh / The Lady of the Desert (also in D; also as march on JD 5)
92 – Tune
Info		HpipeTranscription of first 2 bars of Sweep's HornpipeSweep's Hornpipe, The / The Sweeps / The Belfast Hornpipe / The Belfast / The Royal Belfast / The Great Eastern / The Great Western / Millicent's Favourite
102 – Tune
Info		HpipeTranscription of first 2 bars of Friendly VisitFriendly Visit, The / Callanan's Retreat (also in A)
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This page was updated on 29 June 2008.
© 2006–2008 Alan Ng, agng@facstaff.wisc.edu. Questions? Comments? Please use the easy Feedback Form. Thank you!
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