oldies on the map: songs of the 1940s–1950s

Classic mid-century songs tied to cities, states, and routes across the United States.

By hello

10 posts

• St. Louis Blues — A landmark blues composition associated with W. C. Handy, first published in 1914 and later popularized by many performers, including Bessi…
• New York, New York — A 1950 show tune from On the Town, popularized by Frank Sinatra in later performances and recordings. Written by Leonard Bernstein, with ly…
• Sweet Home Chicago — A blues standard most closely associated with Robert Johnson, who recorded it in 1936; it was later popularized in the 1940s and 1950s by a…
• Kansas City — A rock and roll classic popularized by Wilbert Harrison in 1959. Written by Leiber and Stoller, it became a huge hit and one of the endurin…
• Detroit City — A country standard popularized by Bobby Bare in 1963. Written by Danny Dill and Mel Tillis, it was also recorded earlier by Billy Grammer a…
• Memphis, Tennessee — Chuck Berry wrote and first released this 1959 story-song, built around a long-distance call to Memphis. Its clever twist comes in the fina…
• (I've Got a Gal in) Kalamazoo — Glenn Miller and His Orchestra took this Mack Gordon/Harry Warren song to No. 1 in 1942, with vocals by Tex Beneke, Marion Hutton, and the…
• Chattanooga Choo Choo — Written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren and recorded in 1941 by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra with Tex Beneke and The Four Modernaires, th…
• (Get Your Kicks on) Route 66 — Bobby Troup wrote this 1946 road song after driving west to California, and Nat King Cole's King Cole Trio made the first hit recording. Th…
• Moonlight in Vermont — Published in 1944 and introduced on record by Margaret Whiting, this John Blackburn/Karl Suessdorf ballad became one of Vermont's musical c…