CBS Sunday Morning recently did a segment on the 250 Essential American Songbook and came up with 250 tunes. What is impressive is that our music is as diverse as our people, food and culture. Check out the following, and as you do so, see if you can come up with what your 3 essential American song selections would be.

Most popular picks were as follows:

If pressed to name one, I would have to go with Chuck and the following tune of his. From the documentary “Hail Hail Rock and Roll” check out Linda and Chuck with Keith as band leader/musical director. I’m so glad to be living in the USA! For an excellent review of the documentary (click here.)

My only quibble with Chuck and his lyrics here is that he refers to “From the coast of California to the shores of the Delaware Bay.” That should really have been “Chesapeake Bay.” Delaware Bay? Come on, no comparison to ours.

P.S. My other two selections would be Mellancamps’s Pink Houses and Louie Louie. OK, so Louie is a semi-joke, but hey what could be more American than a song about a guy sitting in a bar telling a bartender named Louie how much he misses his girl?! Here is the song’s author where you can actually understand him and his lyrics, as opposed the Kinsmen version.