"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.[lower-alpha 1][5] Despite its title, the song is a march as opposed to a rag and contains little syncopation.[6] The song is a narrative sequel to Berlin's earlier 1910 composition "Alexander and His Clarinet".[7] 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.[lower-alpha 2][8] Berlin's friend Jack Alexander, a cornet-playing African-American bandleader, inspired the title character.[9]
Emma Carus, a famous contralto renowned for her high lung power, introduced Berlin's song to the public in Spring 1911.[10] Carus' brassy performance of "Alexander's Ragtime Band" at the American Music Hall in Chicago on April 18, 1911, electrified the audience,[10] and she toured other metropolises such as Detroit and New York City with acclaimed performances that featured the catchy tune.[10] Carus' tour showcased the song in the United States and contributed to its immense popularity.[11]
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.[3] 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."[11] Although not a traditional ragtime song,[6] Berlin's composition kickstarted a ragtime jubilee—a belated celebration of the music which African-Americans had originated a decade prior in the 1890s.[12] The positive international reception of "Alexander's Ragtime Band" led to a musical and dance revival known as "the ragtime craze".[13]
In March 1911, the Ted Snyder Company in New York City employed the 23-year-old Irving Berlin as a Tin Pan Alley songwriter.[19] One morning after arriving at work, Berlin decided to compose an instrumental ragtime number.[19] By this time, the ragtime phenomenon popularized by pianistScott Joplin and other African-American musicians had begun to wane,[20] and over a decade had passed since the syncopated genre's initial heyday in the Gay Nineties.[19]
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."[21] Berlin composed the lyrics of the song as a narrative sequel to his earlier 1910 composition "Alexander and His Clarinet".[7] 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.[lower-alpha 2][8] Berlin's friend Jack Alexander, a cornet-playing African-American bandleader, inspired the title character.[9]
By the next day, Berlin completed four pages of notes for the copyist-arranger.[22] Berlin registered the song in the name of the Ted Snyder Company as E252990 and published it on March 18, 1911.[23] 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".[25] In fact, the tune is a march as opposed to a rag and barely contains a trace of syncopation.[26] Its sole notability consists of quotes from Swanee River and a bugle call.[18] Due to such criticisms, the tune unimpressed listeners at the Ted Snyder Company.[25]
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.[25] Lasky hesitated to incorporate the pseudo-ragtime number into his show.[27] When the show opened on April 27, 1911, Lasky chose only to use its melody whistled by performer Otis Harlan.[27] Thus the song failed to find an appreciative audience.[28]
Fortunately for Berlin, vaudeville singer and baritoneEmma Carus liked his humorous composition, and she introduced the song on April 18, 1911, at the American Music Hall in Chicago.[10] She next embarked on a tour of the Midwest in Spring 1911.[10] Consequently, music historians credit Carus for showcasing the song to the country and helping contribute to its immense popularity.[11] 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.[29]
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.[3] 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.[30] 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.[31] 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."[11]Alexander's Ragtime Band became "the number one song from October 1911 through January 1912."[11]
"In a few days, 'Alexander's Ragtime Band' will be whistled on the streets and played in the cafés. It is the most meritorious addition to the list of popular songs introduced this season. The vivacious comedienne [Emma Carus] had her audience singing the choruses with her, and those who did not sing, whistled."
Although neither Irving Berlin's first commercial hit nor his first composition to attract international attention, "Alexander's Ragtime Band" nevertheless catapulted Berlin's career.[5] American newspapers hailed Berlin's jumpy tune as the decade's musical sensation,[32] and he became a cultural luminary over night.[18] An adoring international press subsequently touted him as the "King of Ragtime",[33] an inaccurate title as the song "had little to do with ragtime and everything to do with ragtime audacity, alerting Europe to hot times in the colonies."[34] Baffled by this new title, Berlin publicly insisted that he did not originate ragtime but merely "crystallized it and brought it to people's attention."[35] Historian Mark Sullivan later claimed that, with the auspicious debut of "Alexander's Ragtime Band", Berlin abruptly "lifted ragtime from the depths of sordid dives to the apotheosis of fashionable vogue."[36]
Although not a traditional ragtime song,[6] Berlin's jaunty composition kickstarted a ragtime jubilee—a belated popular celebration of the musical style which African-American composers such as Scott Joplin had originated a decade earlier in the 1890s.[lower-alpha 3] The positive international reception of "Alexander's Ragtime Band" in 1911 led to a musical and dance revival known as "the ragtime craze".[13]
At the time, ragtime music caught "its second wind" and ragtime dancing spread "like wildfire."[37] One dancing couple in particular who exemplified this faddish sensation were Vernon and Irene Castle.[38] The charismatic, trendsetting duo frequently danced to Berlin's "Alexander's Ragtime Band" and his other modernist compositions.[26] The Castles' modern dancing paired with Berlin's modern songs came to embody the ongoing culture clash between the waning propriety of the Edwardian era and the waxing joviality of the Ragtime revolution on the eve of World WarI.[39] The Daily Express wrote in 1913 that:
Hearing of such behavior, commentators diagnosed such individuals as "bitten by the ragtime bug" and behaving like "a dog with rabies."[43] They declared that "whether [the ragtime mania] is simply a passing phase of our decadent culture or an infectious disease which has come to stay, like la grippe or leprosy, time alone can show."[44]
Reflecting decades later upon the song's unlikely success, Berlin confessed his amazement at its immediate global acclaim and continued popularity.[47] He ascribed its unexpected success to the farcical and silly lyrics which were "fundamentally right" and "started the heels and shoulders of all America and a good section of Europe to rocking."[47]
In 1937, 20th Century Fox approached Irving Berlin to write a story treatment for an upcoming film tentatively titled Alexander's Ragtime Band.[48] Berlin agreed to write a story outline for the film which featured twenty-six of Berlin's well-known musical scores.[49]
During press interviews promoting the film prior to its premiere, Berlin decried articles by the American press which painted ragtime as jazz's forerunner.[50] Berlin stated: "Ragtime really shouldn't be called 'the forerunner of jazz' or 'the father of jazz' because, as everyone will tell when they hear some of the old rags, ragtime and jazz are the same."[50]
Released on August 5, 1938, Alexander's Ragtime Band starring Tyrone Power, Alice Faye, and Don Ameche became a smash hit and grossed in excess of five million dollars.[51] Soon after the film's release, writer Marie Cooper Dieckhaus filed a plagiarism lawsuit.[52] After Dieckhaus presented evidence at the trial, a federal judge ruled in Dieckhaus' favor that Berlin had stolen the plot of her unpublished 1937 manuscript and used many of its elements for the film.[53] Dieckhaus had submitted the unpublished manuscript in 1937 to various Hollywood studios, literary agents, and other individuals for their perusal.[52] The judge believed that, after rejecting her manuscript, Berlin nonetheless appropriated much of her work.[52] In 1946, an appellate court reversed the ruling on appeal.[54]
Alleged plagiarism
Scott Joplin alleged that Irving Berlin, an acquaintance, plagiarized the melody from his works.
There are allegations that Berlin purloined the melody for "Alexander's Ragtime Band" (in particular, the four notes of "oh, ma honey") from drafts of "Mayflower Rag" and "A Real Slow Drag" by prolific composer Scott Joplin.[55] Berlin and Joplin were acquaintances in New York, and Berlin had opportunities to hear Joplin's scores prior to publication.[56] At the time, "one of Berlin's functions at the Ted Snyder Music Company was to be on the lookout for publishable music by other composers."[56]
Allegedly, Berlin "heard Joplin's music in one of the offices, played by a staff musician (since Berlin could not read music) or by Joplin himself."[56] According to one account:
Joplin took some music to Irving Berlin, and Berlin kept it for some time. Joplin went back and Berlin said he couldn't use [the song]. When "Alexander's Ragtime Band" came out, Joplin said, "That's my tune."[45]
Joplin's widow claimed that, "after Scott had finished writing Treemonisha, and while he was showing it around, hoping to get it published, [Berlin] stole the theme, and made it into a popular song. The number was quite a hit, too, but that didn't do Scott any good."[45] A relative of John Stillwell Stark, Joplin's music publisher, asserted "the publication of 'Alexander's Ragtime Band' brought Joplin to tears because it was his [own] composition."[45] Joplin later died bankrupt after undertaking the financial burden of his unsuccessful Treemonisha opera and was buried in a pauper's grave (remaining unmarked for 57 years) in Queens, New York, on April 1, 1917.[57] As writer Edward A. Berlin notes in King of Ragtime: Scott Joplin and His Era:
There were also rumors heard throughout Tin Pan Alley to the effect that Alexander's Ragtime Band had actually been written by a black man, and even a quarter-century later [composer] W.C. Handy told an audience that "Irving Berlin got all his ideas and most of his music from the late Scott Joplin." Berlin was aware of the rumors and addressed the issue in a magazine interview in 1916.[58]
For the next half-century, Berlin was incensed by the allegation that a "'black boy' [sic] had written 'Alexander's Ragtime Band'."[59] Responding to his detractors, Berlin stated: "If a negro could write 'Alexander,' why couldn't I? ... If they could produce the negro and he had another hit like 'Alexander' in his system, I would choke it out of him and give him twenty thousands dollars in the bargain."[60] In 1914, Berlin referenced the allegation in the lyrics of his composition "He's A Rag Picker."[59] The song features a verse in which a "black character" named Mose claims authorship of "Alexander's Ragtime Band."[59]
Although the 1911 sheet music cover drawn by artist John Frew depicts the band's musicians as either white or biracial,[1] Berlin's "Alexander's Ragtime Band"—and his earlier 1910 composition "Alexander and His Clarinet"—employ certain idiomatic expressions ("oh, ma honey", "honey lamb") and vernacular English ("bestest band what am") in the lyrics to indicate to the listener that the characters in the song should be understood to be African-American.[61]
For example, an often-omitted and risqué second verse identifies the race of Alexander's clarinet player:[62]
Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that had its peak from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott Joplin, James Scott and Joseph Lamb. Ragtime pieces are typically composed for and performed on piano, though the genre has been adapted for a variety of instruments and styles.
Scott Joplin was an American composer and pianist. Dubbed the "King of Ragtime", he composed more than 40 ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas. One of his first and most popular pieces, the "Maple Leaf Rag", became the genre's first and most influential hit, later being recognized as the quintessential rag. Joplin considered ragtime to be a form of classical music meant to be played in concert halls and largely disdained the performance of ragtime as honky tonk music most common in saloons.
Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Berlin received numerous honors including an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, and a Tony Award. He also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Gerald R. Ford in 1977. Broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite stated he "helped write the story of this country, capturing the best of who we are and the dreams that shape our lives".
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1911.
Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Originally, it referred to a specific location on West 28th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in the Flower District of Manhattan, as commemorated by a plaque on 28th Street between Broadway and Sixth. Several buildings on Tin Pan Alley are protected as New York City designated landmarks, and the section of 28th Street from Fifth to Sixth Avenue is also officially co-named Tin Pan Alley.
The "Maple Leaf Rag" is an early ragtime musical composition for piano composed by Scott Joplin. It was one of Joplin's early works, becoming the model for ragtime compositions by subsequent composers. It is one of the most famous of all ragtime pieces. Its success led to Joplin being dubbed the "King of Ragtime" by his contemporaries. The piece gave Joplin a steady if unspectacular income for the rest of his life.
"All Alone" is a popular waltz ballad composed by Irving Berlin in 1924. It was interpolated into the Broadway show The Music Box Revue of 1924 where it was sung by Grace Moore and Oscar Shaw. Moore sat at one end of the stage under a tightly focused spotlight, singing it into a telephone, while Oscar Shaw sat at the other, doing the same.
Constance Foore "Connee" Boswell was an American vocalist born in Kansas City, Missouri but raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. With sisters Martha and Helvetia "Vet", she performed in the 1920s and 1930s as the trio The Boswell Sisters. They started as instrumentalists but became a highly influential singing group via their recordings and film and television appearances.
Alexander's Ragtime Band is a 1938 American musical film released by 20th Century Fox that takes its name from the 1911 Irving Berlin song "Alexander's Ragtime Band" to tell a story of a society boy who scandalizes his family by pursuing a career in ragtime instead of "serious" music. The film generally traces the history of jazz music from the popularization of Ragtime in the early years of the 20th century to the acceptance of swing as an art form in the late 1930s using music composed by Berlin. The story spans more than two decades from the 1911 release of its name-sake song to some point in time after the 1933 release of "Heat Wave", presumably 1938.
Coon songs were a genre of music that presented a stereotype of Black people. They were popular in the United States and Australia from around 1880 to 1920, though the earliest such songs date from minstrel shows as far back as 1848, when they were not yet identified with "coon" epithet. The genre became extremely popular, with white and Black men giving performances in blackface and making recordings. Women known as coon shouters also gained popularity in the genre.
"Easter Parade" is a popular song, written by Irving Berlin and published in 1933. Berlin originally wrote the melody in 1917, under the title "Smile and Show Your Dimple", as a "cheer up" song for a girl whose man has gone off to fight in World War I. A recording of "Smile and Show Your Dimple" by Sam Ash enjoyed modest success in 1918.
Emma Carus was an American contralto singer from New York City who was in the cast of the original Ziegfeld Follies in 1907.
"That Mysterious Rag" is a song by Irving Berlin and Ted Snyder written in 1911. It was one of the earliest Berlin songs to become a commercial success with recordings by Arthur Collins & Albert Campbell and by the American Quartet being very popular in 1912.
"That International Rag" is a song composed by Irving Berlin in 1913. Berlin wrote the song the night before its debut, when he needed a new opening number for his act while on tour in England.
"Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning" is a song written by Irving Berlin in 1918 that gives a comic perspective on military life. Berlin composed the song as an expression of protest against the indignities of Army routine shortly after being drafted into the United States Army in 1918. The song soon made the rounds of camp and became popular with other soldiers, partly because hatred of reveille was universal.
"A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody" is a popular song written by Irving Berlin in 1919 which became the theme song of the Ziegfeld Follies. The first verse and refrain are considered part of the Great American Songbook and are often covered as a jazz standard.
References
Notes
↑ Hamm 2012, p.38: "'Alexander's Ragtime Band' was not Irving Berlin's first commercial hit; a dozen or more of his songs had chalked up substantial sheet music sales before it was published early in 1911. It was not his first song to attract international attention."
1 2 Kaplan 2020, p.41: "In May [1910], Snyder and Berlin published one of their own, 'Alexander and His Clarinet,' a... dialogue between a coloredRomeo and his Juliet, with a barely submerged Freudian subtext: 'For lawdy sake [the female character sang], don't dare to go, / My pet, I love you yet, / And then besides, I love your clarinet."
↑ In a 1913 interview published in the black newspaperNew York Age, Scott Joplin asserted that there had been "ragtime music in America ever since the Negro race has been here, but the white people took no notice of it until about twenty years ago [in the 1890s]."[12]
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