100 Greatest Songs From 1940

recording artists Artie Shaw, Ink Spots, Billie Holiday, and Glenn Miller
Criteria: These songs from 1940 were chosen and ranked based on their initial and lasting popularity, and on their impact on the overall scope of musical history.

Artie Shaw
Artie Shaw
Glenn Miller
Glenn Miller
Ink Spots
Ink Spots
Star Dust - victor record lable New San Antonio Rose - OKeh record lable I'll Never Smile Again - victor record lable Jimmie Davis - You Are My Sunshine - decca record lable Glenn Miller - Tuxedo Junction - bluebird record lable We Three - brunswick record lable When You Wish Upon A Star - sheet music cover
Note: Yearly song lists go by earliest 'release date' (Single, Album, or Country of first release).
Not necessarily the year a song peaked in the U.S. charts.

No.
Song
Artist
1 Star Dust Artie Shaw / Tommy Dorsey (Frank Sinatra)
2 New San Antonio Rose Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
3 I'll Never Smile Again Tommy Dorsey (Frank Sinatra and the Pied Pipers)
4 You Are My Sunshine Jimmie Davis
5 Tuxedo Junction Glenn Miller
6 We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me) Ink Spots / Tommy Dorsey (Frank Sinatra)
7 Frenesi Artie Shaw
8 Pennsylvania 6-5000 Glenn Miller
9 When You Wish Upon A Star Cliff Edwards / Glenn Miller
10 All Or Nothing At All Harry James (Frank Sinatra)
11 Maybe Ink Spots
12 The Breeze And I Jimmy Dorsey (Bob Eberly)
13 Java Jive Ink Spots
14 Beat Me Daddy Eight To The Bar Glenn Miller / Andrews Sisters
15 When The Swallows Come Back To Capistrano Ink Spots / Glenn Miller (Ray Eberle)
16 Body And Soul Billie Holiday
17 Summit Ridge Drive Artie Shaw
18 Five O'Clock Whistle Glenn Miller / Erskine Hawkins / Ella Fitzgerald
19 Pompton Turnpike Charlie Barnet / Louis Jordan
20 Talking Dust Bowl Blues Woody Guthrie
21 Whispering Grass (Don't Tell The Trees) Ink Spots
22 Mule Skinner Blues Bill Monroe
23 Never No Lament Duke Ellington
24 Night And Day Billie Holiday
25 Key To The Highway Jazz Gillum
26 Romance In The Dark Lil Green
27 In A Mellotone Duke Ellington
28 It Hurts Me Too Tampa Red
29 Nuages Django Reinhardt
30 Boog It Glenn Miller (Marion Hutton) / Gene Krupa (Irene Day) / Cab Calloway
31 Step It Up And Go Blind Boy Fuller
32 I Miss You So Cats and the Fiddle
33 After Hours Erskine Hawkins
34 Boogie Woogie on St. Louis Blues Earl Hines
35 Red Wagon Count Basie
36 Stop Pretending (So Hep You See) Ink Spots / Buddy Johnson (Mack Sisters)
37 Down The Road A-Piece Will Bradley (Ray McKinley)
38 Ko-Ko Duke Ellington
39 The Great Dust Storm Woody Guthrie
40 Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear To Tread) Glenn Miller
41 Slow Freight Glenn Miller / Benny Carter
42 The Man I Love Billie Holiday
43 On The Sunny Side of The Street King Cole Trio
44 L'accordeoniste Edith Piaf
45 The Woodpecker Song Glenn Miller / Andrews Sisters
46 Corrine, Corrina Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys
47 Cotton Tail Duke Ellington
48 Imagination Glenn Miller / Tommy Dorsey (Frank Sinatra)
49 Blueberry Hill Glenn Miller
50 I've Been Dealing With The Devil Sonny Boy Williamson
51 So Long Charioteers
52 The Flight of the Bumble Bee Harry James
53 Flying Home Lionel Hampton (Ziggy Elman - trumpet)
54 Concerto for Cootie Duke Ellington
55 I Ain't Got No Home in This World Anymore Woody Guthrie
56 Wham (Re-Bop Boom Bam) Jimmie Lunceford / Andy Kirk / Teddy Wilson
57 Please Mr. Johnson Buddy & Ella Johnson
58 Make Believe Ballroom Time Glenn Miller
59 Rhumboogie Andrews Sisters
60 Big Beaver Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys
61 Don't You Lie To Me Tampa Red
62 You Run Your Mouth and I'll Run My Business Louis Jordan
63 Number 19 Earl Hines
64 Raining on The Mountain Delmore Brothers
65 Do I Worry? Ink Spots
66 Old Black Joe Mills Brothers
67 A Chicken Ain't Nothin But A Bird Louis Jordan
68 Celery Stalks at Midnight Will Bradley
69 Only Forever Bing Crosby
70 Where Was I Charlie Barnet
71 Sierra Sue Bing Crosby
72 I'm Nobody's Baby Judy Garland
73 Scrub Me Mama, With A Boogie Beat Will Bradley (Ray McKinley)
74 Dolemite Erskine Hawkins
75 Juneteenth Jamboree Louis Jordan
76 Chain Gang Blues Champion Jack Dupree
77 I Hear a Rhapsody Charlie Barnet (Bob Carroll)
78 Trade Winds Bing Crosby
79 Ferryboat Serenade Andrews Sisters
80 Deep Forest Earl Hines
81 Sleep Benny Carter
82 How High The Moon Benny Goodman (Helen Forrest)
83 Central Avenue Breakdown Lionel Hampton
84 Jack The Bellboy Lionel Hampton
85 No Name Jive Glen Gray
86 Fixin' To Die Blues Bukka White
87 I Want A Little Girl Count Basie
88 Junction Blues Erskine Hawkins
89 Black Train Blues Bukka White
90 Polka Dots & Moonbeams Tommy Dorsey (Frank Sinatra)
91 Swingin' On C Jimmie Lunceford
92 Night Hop Benny Carter
93 With The Wind and The Rain In Your Hair Bob Chester (Dolores O'Neill)
94 Digging My Potatoes No. 2 Washboard Sam
95 Memories of You Ink Spots
96 New Highway No. 51 Tommy McClennan
97 Root Man Blues Walter Davis
98 What is That She Got? Big Bill Broonzy
99 Blowin' Down This Road Woody Guthrie
100 New Rocky Mountain Blues Leroy's Buddy (Bill Gaither)
20 more worth mentioning.
101 Who's Sorry Now Hoosier Hot Shots
102 Lead Me To That Rock Mitchell's Christian Singers
103 Penthouse In The Basement Louis Jordan
104 Yes Indeed Bing Crosby & Connee Boswell
105 Jake, What A Snake Louis Jordan
106 Gone With "What" Wind? Benny Goodman
107 Get Your Boots Laced, Papa Woody Herman
108 Six White Horses Bill Monroe
109 Where The Blue of The Night (Meets The Gold of The Day) Bing Crosby
110 Tush Hog Blues Bo Carter
111 Between 18th and 19th on Chestnut Street Charlie Barnet (Mary Ann McCall)
112 W.P.A. Louis Armstrong & Mills Brothers
113 I Get A Kick Outa Corn Tiny Hill
114 Soft Winds Benny Goodman
115 Piney Brown Blues Joe Turner and His Fly Cats
116 Fifteen Minute Intermission Cab Calloway
117 Vigilante Man Woody Guthrie
118 Tumbling Tumbleweeds Bing Crosby
119 The Gaucho Serenade Dick Todd / Glenn Miller
120 Bottle It Up And Go Tommy McClennan
DigitalDreamDoor Editor Picks for 1940
Adam's Choice: An unheralded great record from 1940
* Gangster's Blues Peetie Wheatstraw
Bruce's Choice:
* T-Bone Blues Les Hite Orchestra (T-Bone Walker)
Lew's Choice:
* Parchman Farm Blues Bukka White