Alexander's Ragtime Band

For other uses, see Alexander's Ragtime Band (disambiguation).

"Alexander's Ragtime Band"
A cover by artist John Frew depicting a fictional bandleader Alexander and his men performing in a bandstand.
Cover of 1911 sheet music
by artist John Frew[1]
Single by Arthur Collins & Byron G. Harlan
LanguageEnglish
A-side"Ocean Roll" by Eddie Morton[2]
ReleasedMarch 18, 1911[3]
(sheet music registration)
RecordedMay 23, 1911 (1911-05-23)[4]
(phonograph recording)
StudioVictor Records
VenueCamden, New Jersey
Genre
Length3:03[4]
LabelVictor 16908[4]
Songwriter(s)Irving Berlin

"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.[a][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.[b][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]

Nearly two decades later, singer Bessie Smith recorded a 1927 cover which became one of the hit songs of that year.[14] The song's popularity re-surged in 1934 with the release of a close harmony cover by the Boswell Sisters,[15] and a 1938 musical film of the same name starring Tyrone Power and Alice Faye.[16] A variety of artists covered the song such as Al Jolson, Billy Murray, Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, and others.[17] The song had at least a dozen hit covers within fifty years of its release.[18]

  1. ^ Hamm 2012, pp. 47–48.
  2. ^ Ruhlmann 2005, p. 24.
  3. ^ a b Ruhlmann 2005, p. 23.
  4. ^ a b c Library of Congress.
  5. ^ Furia & Patterson 2016, p. 73; Furia 1992, p. 49.
  6. ^ a b Furia 1992, p. 49; Corliss 2001.
  7. ^ Kaplan 2020, pp. 40–41; Giddins 1998, p. 41.
  8. ^ Kaplan 2020, pp. 40–41.
  9. ^ Streissguth 2011, p. 30; Fuld 2000, p. 91; Freedland 1988, p. 65.
  10. ^ a b c Jablonski 2012, p. 34.
  11. ^ a b Furia & Patterson 2016, p. 73.
  12. ^ Joplin interview 1913.
  13. ^ Golden 2007, p. 56; Furia 1992, p. 49.
  14. ^ Furia & Patterson 2016, p. 73; Corliss 2001.
  15. ^ Boswell Sisters 1934.
  16. ^ Nugent 1938, p. 7.
  17. ^ Bergreen 1990, p. 67; Hamm 2012, p. 43; Corliss 2001.
  18. ^ Corliss 2001.


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