Alexander’s Ragtime Band

“Alexander’s Ragtime Band” is a Tin Pan Alley song by American composer Irving Berlin released in 1911; it is often inaccurately cited as his first global hit. Despite its title, the song is a march as opposed to a rag and contains little syncopation. The song is a narrative sequel to Berlin’s earlier 1910 composition “Alexander and His Clarinet”. This earlier composition recounts the reconciliation between an African-American musician named Alexander Adams and his flame Eliza Johnson as well as highlights Alexander’s innovative musical style.[b][8] Berlin’s friend Jack Alexander, a cornet-playing African-American bandleader, inspired the title character. Emma Carus, a famous contralto renowned for her high lung power, introduced Berlin’s song to the public in Spring 1911. Carus’ brassy performance of “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” at the American Music Hall in Chicago on April 18, 1911, electrified the audience, and she toured other metropolises such as Detroit and New York City with acclaimed performances that featured the catchy tune. Carus’ tour showcased the song in the United States and contributed to its immense popularity. Amid the success of Carus’ national tour, the comedic duo of Arthur Collins and Byron G. Harlan released a phonograph recording of the song on May 23, 1911, which became the best-selling record in the United States for ten consecutive weeks. Soon after, Berlin’s jaunty melody “sold a million copies of sheet music in 1911, then another million in 1912, and continued to sell for years afterwards,” and it became “the number one song from October 1911 through January 1912.” Although not a traditional ragtime song, Berlin’s composition kickstarted a ragtime jubilee—a belated celebration of the music which African-Americans had originated a decade prior in the 1890s. The positive international reception of “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” led to a musical and dance revival known as “the ragtime craze”. Nearly two decades later, singer Bessie Smith recorded a 1927 cover which became one of the hit songs of that year. The song’s popularity re-surged in 1934 with the release of a close harmony cover by the Boswell Sisters, and a 1938 musical film of the same name starring Tyrone Power and Alice Faye. A variety of artists covered the song such as Al Jolson, Billy Murray, Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, and others. The song had at least a dozen hit covers within fifty years of its release. Further information: Irving Berlin, Ted Snyder, and Tin Pan Alley In March 1911, the Ted Snyder Company in New York City employed the 23-year-old Irving Berlin as a Tin Pan Alley songwriter. One morning after arriving at work, Berlin decided to compose an instrumental ragtime number.By this time, the ragtime phenomenon popularized by pianist Scott Joplin and other African-American musicians had begun to wane, and over a decade had passed since the syncopated genre’s initial heyday in the Gay Nineties. A tireless workaholic, Berlin composed the piece while in the noisy offices of Ted Snyder’s music publishing firm where “five or six pianos and as many vocalists were making bedlam with songs of the day.” Berlin composed the lyrics of the song as a narrative sequel to his earlier 1910 composition “Alexander and His Clarinet”. This earlier composition recounts the reconciliation between an African-American musician named Alexander Adams and his flame Eliza Johnson as well as highlights Alexander’s innovative musical style. Berlin’s friend Jack Alexander, a cornet-playing African-American bandleader, inspired the title character. By the next day, Berlin completed four pages of notes for the copyist-arranger. Berlin registered the song in the name of the Ted Snyder Company as E252990 and published it on March 18, 1911.Upon playing the composition for others,[24] listeners criticized the song as too lengthy (“running beyond the conventional 32 bars”), too rangy, and not “a real ragtime number”. In fact, the tune is a march as opposed to a rag and barely contains a trace of syncopation. Its sole notability consists of quotes from Swanee River and a bugle call. Due to such criticisms, the tune unimpressed listeners at the Ted Snyder Company.
Undaunted by the lackluster response, Berlin submitted the song to Jesse L. Lasky, a Broadway theater producer planning an extravagant debut for his nightclub theater called the Follies Bergère. Lasky hesitated to incorporate the pseudo-ragtime number into his show. When the show opened on April 27, 1911, Lasky chose only to use its melody whistled by performer Otis Harlan.[ Thus the song failed to find an appreciative audience.
Fortunately for Berlin, vaudeville singer and baritone Emma Carus liked his humorous composition, and she introduced the song on April 18, 1911, at the American Music Hall in Chicago. She next embarked on a tour of the Midwest in Spring Consequently, music historians credit Carus for showcasing the song to the country and helping contribute to its immense popularity. In gratitude, Berlin credited Carus on the cover of the sheet music.[11] The catchy song became indelibly linked with Carus in the public consciousness, although rival performers such as Al Jolson later co-opted the hit tune. “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” (1911) The May 23, 1911, recording by comedic duo Arthur Collins and Byron G. Harlan. Amid the success of Carus’ national tour, the comedic duo of Arthur Collins and Byron G. Harlan released a phonograph recording of the song on May 23, 1911, which became the best-selling record in the United States for ten consecutive weeks. Five days later, Berlin performed the song himself on May 28, 1911, in a special charity performance of the first Friars Frolic by the New York Friars Club at the New Amsterdam Theater. A fellow composer in attendance, George M. Cohan, instantly recognized the catchiness of the tune and told Berlin that the song would be an obvious hit. Soon after, Berlin’s jaunty melody “sold a million copies of sheet music in 1911, then another million in 1912, and continued to sell for years afterwards.” Alexander’s Ragtime Band became “the number one song from October 1911 through January 1912.”