A Salute to the United States & This Week's Statistics

Hello again, after a long absence. Sorry that I’ve been away so long, I’ll make it a point to write more frequently. Also, I’ll try to get back on the threads that are already underway.

Having said that, today is another special. Since a very big number of our readers come from the United States of America – I thought I’d take a look at the total number of visits by each State and make a list. I mean, we talk about countries every week – and we have already counted down the cities with the most visits [here], so counting down the States would be a logical next step. There is also the challenge of dedicating to each State a song that carries the name of the State on its title. To make it even more challenging, whenever there is a choice, I go for the more obscure rather than the well-known songs. Did I manage to find songs for every State? Read on and learn…

There are 50 States but we have 51 positions in our countdown because the District of Columbia (more commonly known as Washington D.C.) is also included. Let’s go.

At #51 is the State of Wyoming and this is probably the oldest recording that we’ll hear today. It’s Charles Hart singing Wyoming Lullaby (Go to Sleep, My Baby), in 1921:

At #50 is the State of Alaska, the northernmost border of the US. Here is a recent song called Alaska (2016). The singer is Maggie Rogers:

Next up are the two Dakotas. They are next to each other, as they are in real life, at #49 & #48. The song North Dakota, South Dakota, sung by Jerry Lewis in 1952, mentions them both:

There are also songs for each one: first comes North Dakota by Chris Knight from 2001:

… Then we have Jakey with South Dakota (2017):

At #47 is the State of Montana. This is Blue Montana Sky by Duane Eddy (1975):

At #46 is the State of Vermont. This is a different Moonlight in Vermont, by Bobby Womack (1968):

At #45 is the State of Idaho. The chosen song is also called Idaho and it’s by the Four Seasons (1969):

At #44 is the State of West Virginia. This is Hills Of West Virginia, by Phil Ochs (1964):

At #43 is the State of Delaware. This is Delaware, by Perry Como (1959):

At #42 is the State of Hawaii. The song by The Beach Boys is also called Hawaii (1963):

At #41 is the State of Maine. This is Spring In Maine, by Dorothy Collins (1957):

At #40 is the State of New Hampshire. This is New Hampshire You're My Home, by Beverly Rush:

At #39 is the State of Nebraska. This is Nebraska, by Bruce Springsteen (1982):

At #38 is the State of Iowa. This is Iowa, A Girl's Name, by the Baroques (1967):

At #37 is the State of New Mexico. This is Taos, New Mexico, by Waylon Jennings (1967):

At #36 is the State of Rhode Island. This is Poor Little Rhode Island, by Dale Hawkins (1960):

At #35 is the State of Utah. This is The Red Hills Of Utah, by Marty Robbins (1963):

At #34 is the State of Arkansas. This is Arkansas Twist, by Bobby Lee Trammell (1962):

At #33 is the State of Kansas. This is Kansas Rain, byJohn Stewart (1972):

At #32 is the State of Mississippi. There are many songs that I could choose from, like Mississippi Queen by Mountain or Mississippi by Pussycat. Finally, I chose Mississippi Kid. There is an earlier version of this song by Lynyrd Skynyrd but I preferred to play the little-known 2014 version by Jerry Lee Lewis, in which he is accompanied by Ronnie VanZant, Al Kooper, Robert Burns:

At #31 is the State of Oklahoma. This is Oklahoma Boogie, by Louie Bashell (1958):

At #30 is the State of Kentucky. I could have presented Kentucky Rain by Neil Diamond – but I finally decided on KentuckybyThe Everly Brothers (1958):

At #29 is the State of Louisiana. This is Louisiana Twist, by June Bailey (2012):

At #28 is the State of South Carolina. This is South Carolina, by The Flirtations (1969):

At #27 is the State of Nevada. This is Nevada, by The Browns (1960):

At #26 is the State of Alabama. There are so many songs I could go with: the Lynyrd Skynyrd classic Sweet Home Alabama, Brecht/Weill’s Alabama Song, or the 1934 jazz standard Stars Fell on Alabama. I chose the more obscure Alabama Sue, by Roy Gaines (1956):

At #25 is the State of Wisconsin. This is In Wisconsin, by Johnny Mathis (1963):

At #24 is the State of Connecticut. This is Connecticut, by Martha Tilton (1946):

At #23 is the State of Oregon. This is The Oregon Trail, by Burl Ives (1961):

At #22 is the State of Minnesota. This is Minnesota Fats, by Johnny & the Hurricanes (1962):

At #21 is the State of Indiana. I could have gone with Indiana Wants Me by R. Dean Taylor – but instead, I went with Indiana Waltz by Jack Scott (1960):

At #20 is the State of Colorado. This is Out In Colorado, by Dion & The Belmonts (1957):

At #19 is the State of Missouri. This is Bad Man of Missouri, by Jimmy Ricks & The Suburbans (1957):

At #18 is the State of Arizona. Instead of Mark Lindsay’s Arizona, this is Arizona Sun, by The Rivieras (1964):

At #17 is the State of Maryland. This is My Maryland, by Terry Lightfoot & the New Orleans Jazzmen (1962):

At #16 is the District of Columbia. The Magnetic Fields mainly is gay artist Stephin Merritt. There will be a detailed presentation, hopefully soon. The Magnetic Fields’ song is called Washington D.C. (1999):

At #15 is the State of Washington. This is Washington State, by DJ Baba James (James Whetzel) (2004):

At #14 is the State of Tennessee. This is not the Tennessee Waltz but Tennessee Zip, by Kenny Parchman (1956):

At #13 is the State of Virginia. This is Carry Me Back To Old Virginny, by Louis Armstrong and The Mills Brothers (1937):

At #12 is the State of Ohio. I was tempted to go with Neil Young’s Ohio – but instead, I went with Girl From Ohio, by The Outlaws (1976):

At #11 is the State of New Jersey. This is Steve Forbert with Strange Names (New Jersey’s Got ’em) (2007):

At #10 is the State of Michigan. This is the Red Hot Chili Peppers with Especially in Michigan (2006):

At #09 is the State of North Carolina. This is North Carolina Line, by Gene Vincent (1970):

At #08 is the State of Pennsylvania. No, I’m not playing Pennsylvania 6-5000 by Glenn Miller. Instead, this is Pennsylvania, by Heart (2012):

At #07 is the State of Massachusetts. Massachusetts by the Bee Gees is the first song that comes to mind. I went for the second: Massachusetts, by The Four Vagabonds (1942):

At #06 is the State of Georgia. There are three songs that mention Georgia that are among my all-time favorites: Midnight Train To Georgia by Gladys Knight & The Pips, Rainy Night In Georgia by Brook Benton, and Georgia On My Mind by Ray Charles. If you don’t know these songs, you should. But you should also have a listen to The Georgia Slop, by Jimmy McCracklin (1959):

At #05 is the State of Florida. This is Florida Special, by Wilbert Harrison (1955):

At #04 is the State of Texas. I could have chosen Luckenbach, Texas or Yellow Rose Of Texas, instead, I chose I'm From Texas, byLee Graves (1940s):

At #03 is the State of Illinois. Picking a song from Sufjan Stevens’ 2005 album of the same name was tempting – but I resisted temptation. This is Blow Illinois Blow, by Illinois Jacquet (1947):

At #02 is the State of New York. There are so many songs about New York  but The Boy From New York City, by The Ad Libs (1964) is as good as any:

Finally, at #01 is the State of California. Another State with tens of songs to choose from: California Dreaming by The Mamas & Papas and California Girls by the Beach Boys are classics – but most of you know them, don’t you? Finally, I chose California Sun, by Joe Jones (1961):

After this one-off list, these are our weekly statistics; the stories most visited during last month were, George Maharis, Joe Jackson, Dave Clark, Peter Straker, and Alicia Bridges. The most recent stories, Songs About Religion and Cher, part 2, occupy positions #7 and #8, respectively.

As far as countries are concerned, most major players kept their percentages stable. Minor gains for the United States, Australia,  Brazil, and Belgium and minor losses for France, Greece, and Cyprus. Otherwise, no changes.

Here are this week's Top 10 countries:

1. the United States

2. the United Kingdom

3. Russia

4. Germany

5. Canada

6. Australia

7. France

8. Brazil

9. Greece

10. Belgium

Here are the other countries that graced us with their presence since our last statistics (alphabetically): Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Curaçao, Cyprus, Czechia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar (Burma), the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Réunion, Romania, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam, and Zambia. Happy to have you all!

And here's the all-time Top 10:

1. the United States = 34.2%

2. France = 15.9%

3. the United Kingdom = 11.3%

4. Greece = 7.5%

5. Russia = 2.8%

6. Canada = 2.0%

7. Germany = 2.0%

8. Australia = 0.99%

9. Italy = 0.87%

10. Cyprus = 0.75%

That's all for today, folks. Till the next one!