These are the songs that I have in my "book," a three-ring binder where I've been stashing the words and chords to songs since about 1966. It's funny to see the ones that I typed on an old Royal portable typewriter (with erasures, manual corrections, "white out" etc.) way back when. The contrast is especially noticeable when seen next to the ones I "typed" up more recently on my PC and laser printer. I also have a lot of songs on sheet music and song books. Then there are the songs that I learned, sang, never had written down anywhere and eventually stopped singing. In short, the following list is not "all inclusive." There are probably another hundred songs that have just faded away ...
In most cases, the AUTHOR/ARTIST column indicates the artist from whose recording I learned the song. Sometimes that's also the composer, although I suspect that, more often than not, that is not the case. The vast majority of the songs I don't have any printed sheet music for - I learned them from an "album."
There are over 200 titles listed here. I can still probably play about 85% of them with the music in front of me - maybe 40% by memory. With all the other stuff bouncing around in my brain, it amazes me that I can recall that much!
There is a least one song on this list that was written in the same year I was born, but I'll leave that mystery up to you to figure out!
SONG TITLE | AUTHOR/ARTIST |
10 Degrees & Getting Colder | Gordon Lightfoot |
A Good Time | John Prine |
A Little Help From My Friends | The Beatles |
A Minor Ballad | Gordon Lightfoot |
A Pirate Looks at Forty | Jimmy Buffet |
A Tree Too Weak to Stand | Gordon Lightfoot |
Affair on 8th Avenue | Gordon Lightfoot |
African Friend | Jimmy Buffet |
Alberta Bound | Gordon Lightfoot |
All Time Woman | John Stewart |
Amanda | Waylon Jennings |
Anna on a Memory | John Stewart |
Apology | Gordon Lightfoot |
Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way? | Waylon Jennings |
Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me | Mac Davis |
Ballad of the Greenland Waters, The | traditional |
Ballad of the Yarmouth Castle, The | Gordon Lightfoot |
Banua | traditional |
Beautiful | Gordon Lightfoot |
Behind Closed Doors | Charlie Rich |
Bells of the Evening | Gordon Lightfoot |
Biscuit City | Gordon Lightfoot |
Bitter Green | Gordon Lightfoot |
Black Day in July | Gordon Lightfoot |
Blowing in the Wind | Bob Dylan |
Boston Lady | John Stewart |
Boulder to Birmingham | Emmylou Harris |
Brave Mountaineers | Gordon Lightfoot |
Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow) | John Prine |
But You Know I Love You | Kenny Rogers |
Bye-bye Love | The Everley Brothers |
Cabaret | Gordon Lightfoot |
California Bloodlines | John Stewart |
Canadian Railroad Trilogy | Gordon Lightfoot |
Carefree Highway | Gordon Lightfoot |
Changes | Phil Ochs |
Changes in Attitude, Changes in Latitude | Jimmy Buffet |
Chilly Winds | John Stewart |
Christian Island (Georgia Bay) | Gordon Lightfoot |
Circle is Small, The | Gordon Lightfoot |
Circle Of Steel | Gordon Lightfoot |
Coal Tattoo | Judy Collins |
Cobwebs And Dust | Gordon Lightfoot |
Cold Hands From New York | Gordon Lightfoot |
Come Monday | Jimmy Buffet |
Cotton Jenny | Gordon Lightfoot |
Country Roads | John Denver |
Crackling Rose | Neil Diamond |
Darcy Farrow | John Denver |
Day Is Done | Peter, Paul & Mary |
Death of an Unpopular Poet | Jimmy Buffet |
Desperado | The Eagles |
Did She Mention My Name | Gordon Lightfoot |
Don Quixote | Gordon Lightfoot |
Don't Beat Me Down | Gordon Lightfoot |
Dreamland | Gordon Lightfoot |
Early Morning' Rain | Gordon Lightfoot |
Eighteen Wheels | John Stewart |
Everything That Glitters (Is Not Gold) | Dan Seals |
Fine as Fine Can Be | Gordon Lightfoot |
Fire and Rain | James Taylor |
First Time (Ever I Saw Your Face), The | Ewan McColl |
Forever in Blue Jeans | Neil Diamond |
Four Strong Winds | Ian Tyson |
Frying Pan, The | John Prine |
Gambler, The | Kenny Rogers |
Girl From the North Country | Bob Dylan |
Go My Way | Gordon Lightfoot |
Go-Go Round | Gordon Lightfoot |
Golden Rollin' Belly | John Stewart??? |
Golden Vanity | traditional |
Good-bye Eyes | Dave Loggins |
Grandpa Was a Carpenter | John Prine |
Gypsy, The | Gordon Lightfoot |
Halley Came To Jackson | Mary Chapin Carpenter |
Hangdog Hotel Room | Gordon Lightfoot |
He Went to Paris | Jimmy Buffet |
Hello in There | John Prine |
Help Me Make it Through the Night | Kris Kristofferson |
High and Dry | Gordon Lightfoot |
Hiway Songs | Gordon Lightfoot |
Home from the Forest | Gordon Lightfoot |
Homeward Bound | Paul Simon |
House of the Rising Sun, The | traditional |
House You Live In, The | Gordon Lightfoot |
I Fall in Love Again | Ann Murray |
I Got a Name | Jim Croce |
I'm Not Sayin' | Gordon Lightfoot |
I'm Not Supposed to Care | Gordon Lightfoot |
If Children Had Wings | Gordon Lightfoot |
If I Could | Gordon Lightfoot |
If You Could Read My Mind | Gordon Lightfoot |
If You Don't Want My Love | John Prine |
Jerry Walker | Jon Rounds |
Joy to the World | Three Dog Night |
July, You're a Woman | John Stewart |
Just Like a Woman | Bob Dylan |
Just When I Needed You Most | Ann Murray |
King of the Road | Roger Miller |
Landslide | Stevie Nicks |
Last Hurrah, The | John Stewart |
Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream | Ed McCurdy |
Last Thing On My Mind | Tom Rush |
Leaves of Grass | Gordon Lightfoot |
Leaving on a Jet Plane | John Denver |
Let It Be | The Beatles |
Lonesome Picker | John Stewart |
Long River | Gordon Lightfoot |
Long Thin Dawn | Gordon Lightfoot |
Long Way Back Home | Gordon Lightfoot |
Looking at the Rain | Gordon Lightfoot |
Louise | Paul Seibol |
Love & Maple Syrup | Gordon Lightfoot |
Love Minus Zero | Bob Dylan |
Love Potion Number Nine | |
Luckenbach Texas | Waylon Jennings |
Magnificent Outpouring | Gordon Lightfoot |
Margaritaville | Jimmy Buffet |
Marvelous Toy, The | Tom Paxton |
Mary in the Morning | |
Me and Bobby McGee | Kris Kristofferson |
Miguel | Gordon Lightfoot |
Minstrel Of The Dawn | Gordon Lightfoot |
Montego Bay | |
More Often Than Not | Dave Wiffen |
Most Beautiful Girl | Charlie Rich |
Most of All | Ann Murray |
Mother Country | John Stewart |
Mother of a Miner's Child | Gordon Lightfoot |
Mothers, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys | Willy Nelson |
Mr. Bojangles | Jerry Jeff Walker |
My Town | Paul Seibol |
Norwegian Wood | The Beatles |
Nowhere Man | The Beatles |
Oldest Living Son | John Stewart |
On Susan's Floor (Silverstein) | Gordon Lightfoot |
Ordinary Man | Gordon Lightfoot |
Out on the Weekend | Neil Young |
Patriot's Dream, The | Gordon Lightfoot |
Piano Man | Billy Joel |
Please Come to Boston | Dave Loggins |
Please Don't Bury Me | John Prine |
Poncho & Lefty | Emmylou Harris |
Pony Man, The | Gordon Lightfoot |
Pride of Man (by H. Camp) | Gordon Lightfoot |
Proud Mary | Creedence Clearwater Revival |
Pussywillows, Cat-Tails | Gordon Lightfoot |
Queen of the Silver Dollar, The | Emmylou Harris |
Race Among the Ruins | Gordon Lightfoot |
Rainbow Trout | Gordon Lightfoot |
Rainy Day People | Gordon Lightfoot |
Ready or Not | Jackson Browne |
Reason to Believe | |
Red Rubber Ball | |
Ribbon of Darkness | Gordon Lightfoot |
Rich Man's Spiritual | Gordon Lightfoot |
Rocky Mountain High | John Denver |
Run, Run, Run | |
Sabu (The Elephant Boy Visits the Twin Cities Alone) | John Prine |
Same Old Loverman | Gordon Lightfoot |
Saturday Clothes | Gordon Lightfoot |
Second Cup of Coffee | Gordon Lightfoot |
Shadows in the Moonlight | Ann Murray |
She Belongs to Me | Bob Dylan |
Sit Down Young Stranger | Gordon Lightfoot |
Six Days on the road | Dave Dudley |
Sixteen Miles | Gordon Lightfoot |
Slip Sliding Away | Paul Simon |
Softly | Gordon Lightfoot |
Solitary Man | Neil Diamond |
Someday Soon | Judy Collins |
Somewhere USA | Gordon Lightfoot |
Song For A Winter's Night | Gordon Lightfoot |
Spanish Moss | Gordon Lightfoot |
Speed of the Sound of Lonliness | John Prine |
Steel Rail Blues | Gordon Lightfoot |
Summer Side Of Life | Gordon Lightfoot |
Summertime Dream | Gordon Lightfoot |
Sunday Morning Coming Down | Kris Kristofferson |
Sunny | |
Susan's Floor | Shell Silverstein |
Sweet Baby James | James Taylor |
Sweet Caroline | Neil Diamond |
Take it Easy | Jackson Browne |
Talking in Your Sleep | Gordon Lightfoot |
Tattoo | Gordon Lightfoot |
Tell Old Bill | |
Tequila Sunrise | The Eagles |
That Same Old Obsession | Gordon Lightfoot |
That's the Way That The World Goes 'Round | John Prine |
Thirsty Boots | |
This Old Guitar | John Denver |
Time in a Bottle | Jim Croce |
Too Late For Prayin' | Gordon Lightfoot |
Too Much of Nothing | Peter, Paul & Mary |
Try To Remember | |
Trying to Reason With a Hurricane Season | Jimmy Buffet |
Two More Bottles of Wine | Emmylou Harris |
Unsettled Ways | Gordon Lightfoot |
Walls | Gordon Lightfoot |
Way I Feel, The | Gordon Lightfoot |
Wedding Song, The | Paul Stookey |
Wherefore and Why | Gordon Lightfoot |
Who's Julie? | Mel Tillis |
Wild Colonial Boy | traditional Irish |
Worth Believin' | Gordon Lightfoot |
Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, The | Gordon Lightfoot |
Yankee Lady | Brewer and Shipley |
You Are What I Am | Gordon Lightfoot |
You Won't See Me | The Beatles |
You're a Part of Me | Ann Murray |