THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS

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Grammy Song Of the Year 1960
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"The Battle of New Orleans" is the name of a song written by Jimmie Driftwood. The song details the 1815 Battle of New Orleans from the perspective of an American fighting alongside Andrew Jackson against British forces, but the tone is lighthearted. It has been recorded by many artists, but the one most often associated with this song is Johnny Horton. His version topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959 (see 1959 in music). In Billboard magazine's rankings of the top songs in the first fifty years of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, "The Battle of New Orleans" was ranked as the twenty-eighth song overall and the number-one country song to appear on the chart. The melody has its roots in a well-known American fiddle tune "The 8th of January", which was the date of the Battle of New Orleans. Jimmie Driftwood, a school principal in Arkansas with a passion for history, set a historical account of the battle to this music in an attempt to get students interested in learning history. It worked, and Driftwood became well known in the region for his historical songs. He was "discovered" in the late 1950s by Don Warden, and eventually signed to a recording contract by RCA, for whom he recorded 12 songs in 1958, including "The Battle of New Orleans".

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Grammy Song of the Year 1960 Nominees

• High Hope by Frank Sinatra
  
• I Know by Perry Como
  
• Like Young by Andre Previn
  
• Small World by Johny Mathis
  

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VOLARE ~ BY DOMENICO MODUGNO

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Grammy Song Of the Year 1959
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"Nel blu dipinto di blu" ("In the blue, painted blue"), popularly known as "Volare" (Italian for the infinitive form of the verb "to fly"), is Domenico Modugno's signature song. Modugno's recording became the first Grammy winner for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1958. It is the only foreign-language recording to achieve this honor. It spent five non-consecutive weeks atop the Hot 100 in August and September 1958 and was Billboard's number-one single for the year. It is one of only three one-hit wonders to become single of the year in the history of the Hot 100 (followed by "Stranger on the Shore" by Acker Bilk in 1962 and "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter in 2006). The song became widely known as "Volare", from its refrain, and reached the top of the charts all over the world through translations into various languages: "Воларе (Volare)" in Russian; "Dans le bleu du ciel bleu" in French, "En el azul del cielo" in Spain, "Jouw ogen" in Belgium, "Taivaan sinessä" in Finland and "Azul pintado de azul" in Brazil and Latin America.

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Grammy Song of the Year 1959 Nominees

• Catch a Falling Star By Perry Como
  
• Fever by Peggy Lee
• Theme to Gigi by Various Artist
• Witchcraft by Frank Sinatra

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AND I LOVE YOU SO ~ PERRY COMO

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Bluedreamer's Choice No 41

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"And I Love You So" is a popular song written by Don McLean and released on his 1970 debut album, Tapestry. The song has been recorded by many artists in the years since McLean's original version, and it was a 1973 hit for singer Perry Como on his album of the same name, And I Love You So. Como's version of the song reached number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the last of his many popular recordings to reach the Top 40. It also spent one week at number one on the easy listening chart in 1973.In Britain, the record reached number three on the UK Singles Chart in 1973 on RCA Records and remained on the chart for 31 weeks (longer than any other of his hits in the UK). The song was recorded by Elvis Presley at RCA studio C in Hollywood, California, on March 11, 1975. It was released on his album, Elvis Today, and Presley used it in almost every live show until his death. Harry Connick, Jr. included the song on his 2009 album, Your Songs. Other performers who have recorded the song include Rick Astley, Shirley Bassey, Glen Campbell, Bobby Goldsboro, Tom T. Hall, Emmylou Harris, Engelbert Humperdink, Howard Keel, Johnny Mathis, Nana Mouskouri, Jim Nabors, Helen Reddy, and Bobby Vinton.

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These Top 50 songs are based on my personal choice and are not listed in order
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IF ~ BREAD

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Bluedreamer's Choice No 34

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"If" is a song written by American singer-songwriter David Gates in 1971. Originally popularized by his group Bread, the song charted at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 when released as a single in 1971. The song also spent three weeks at number one on the Easy Listening chart . It was quickly covered by other singers (including Petula Clark, Cleo Laine, Frank Sinatra, Jack Jones, Perry Como , Telly Savalas, Shirley Bassey, Westlife and Frankmusik). It was also covered by Damien Leith on his album Catch the Wind: Songs of a Generation, which was released in 2008. The Telly Savalas version reached number one on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in March 1975, and has the shortest title of any song to reach number one. "If" has been a perennial favorite at weddings (for example, as a first-dance song) ever since it was released. It was also recorded, as an album track, by Scott Walker in his early 1970s MOR period. This song is often of interest to guitarists because of the unique tremolo/wah-wah effect on the electric guitar in the intro. One San Diego, California radio station in the early 1970s reported that the effect took months to produce. However, Bread used that effect live when playing the song in their concerts.

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These Top 50 songs are based on my personal choice and are not listed in order
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