Most-Recorded Tunes of the 1960s

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 1960s. By carefully comparing the 334 individual tune recordings dated as from the 1960s which appear on the indexed recordings, I identified a total of 287 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)
14 – Tune
Info		JigDTranscription of first 2 bars of Battering RamBattering Ram, The / Battering Ram / Batterin Ram / An Reithe Cogaidh / The Ladies' March to the Ballroom / Queen of the Rushes / Mary O'Hara
23 – Tune
Info		ReelTranscription of first 2 bars of Flogging ReelFlogging Reel, The / The Flogging / The Floggin' / Floggin' Reel / The Floggin / Floggan Reel / The Slashing Reel / Ríl an Lasctha / An Lascadh / The Flaggon Reel / The Flaggon / The Flagon / The Flagon Reel / The Humours of Bantry Bay / The Newry Lass (also in D or F, also with some or all parts doubled) (compare The Fife Reel and 1st part with 1st part of Pirrie Wirrie #3326)
33 – Tune
Info		ReelTranscription of first 2 bars of Woman of the HouseWoman of the House, The / Bean an Tí ar lár / Bean á Tí / The Lady of the House (2nd in set Reels from the 1920's on FG 3; 2nd in set Clumsy Love on McP BHB) (also in A) (compare Old Woman of the House #1471)
43 – Tune
Info		ReelTranscription of first 2 bars of Farrell O'GaraFarrell O'Gara / Farrell O'Gara's / Farrell O Gara's / Farrell O' Gara / Farrell Ó Gara / Farral O'Gara / Farrel O'Gara / Faral O'Gara / Fearaíl Ó Gára / Fearghal Ó Gadhra / Fearghal O' Gadhra / Fearghal O'Gara / Fergal O'Gara / Feargal O'Gara / Farral Gara / Farrell Gara / The Falcarragh Reel / Turas go Trá Lí / The Trip to Tralee / Mist on the Mountain
53 – Tune
Info		AirDear Irish Boy, The / An Buachaillín Bán / An Buachaillin Ban / The Little Fair-Haired Boy / The Fair-Haired Boy (1st in set Alone in the Dark on WFO 3) (also in D, E, or G) (compare as song #2624) (composed by Mícheál Ó Liongáin)
63 – Tune
Info		ReelTranscription of first 2 bars of Paddy Ryan's DreamPaddy Ryan's Dream / The Tullagh Reel / Miss Lyall / Mooney's Favourite (Tullagh Reel could be distinct tune?) (compare distantly Paddy Ryan's Dream #5191)
73 – Tune
Info		ReelTranscription of first 2 bars of Abbey ReelAbbey Reel, The / The Abbey / The Moher Reel / The Pullet / The American Reel / Touhey's Favorite / Drag Her Around the Road / Reddigan's Reel / The Irish-American (3rd in set The Cappataggle Shuffle on SGMM; note mistake in track numbering on FDys) (also in G or E)
82 – Tune
Info		JigDTranscription of first 2 bars of Walls of LiscarrollWalls of Liscarroll, The / The Walls of Liscaroll / Lads on the Mountain / Andy Hehir's Jig (also in E Dorian or A Dorian)
92 – Tune
Info		ReelTranscription of first 2 bars of Kitty Gone a MilkingKitty Gone a Milking / Kitty Gone a' Milking / Kitty Gone A-Milking / Kitty Gone a'Milking / Kitty's Gone a Milking / Kitty's Gone A-Milking / Kitty's Gone a' Milking / Kitty's Gone a'Milking / Kitty Goes a Milking / Kitty Goes A-Milking / Tá Citî ar Shiúil ag Crú Léi (also doubled, also only 2nd part doubled, also in Mixolydian)
102 – Tune
Info		ReelTranscription of first 2 bars of Mountain TopMountain Top, The / Mountain Top / Barr an tSléibhe / Mullach an tSléibhe / Hollybush / Quinn's Reel / The Crooked Way to Dublin / Crooked way to Dublin / The Doon Reel (4th in set Lark on the Strand on Drv 5) (also in D)
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This page was updated on 16 July 2008.
© 2006–2008 Alan Ng, agng@facstaff.wisc.edu. Questions? Comments? Please use the easy Feedback Form. Thank you!
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