Alexander's Ragtime Band

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Title page of the 1911 sheet music edition

" Alexander's Ragtime Band " is a composition by Irving Berlin . The song was released in 1911 and quickly became the greatest commercial success of " Tin Pan Alley " to date .

Structure of the song

The main part of the song begins with a four-tone motif that has been repeated ( come on and hear, come on and hear ) and an answer; bars nine to twelve consist of a familiar horn signal and a motif from the popular hit "Swanee River" at the time. These musical quotes are also reflected in the lyrics of the song. The song later also became a jazz standard , albeit at a faster pace.

Relation to ragtime
"Alexander's Ragtime Band" was one of the first publications of the young songwriter Irving Berlin and his first big hit in 1911. Despite the title, the song has little relation to ragtime . After the great success of Scott Joplin's " Maple Leaf Rag " in 1899, Joseph E. Howard was the first white songwriter to adopt the new rhythms in the song "Hello, Ma Baby". A little later, Hughie Camon wrote the ragtime title " Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home ". Gradually Berlin had taken up ragtime ideas through these influences and initially wrote titles such as “Play Some Rag Time” in 1910, “Stop That Rag” or “Yiddle on Your Fiddle”.

"Alexander's Ragtime Band" is only an approximation of a musical fashion. Nonetheless, the title quickly became popular thanks to its references in the text for the Afro-American artists who were emerging in the music business at the time: “The title promised a rag, the tempo was right and the buzzword appeared several times in the lyrics. You couldn't be wrong. "

reception

In 1912 the song was also a big hit in major European cities. The song has been performed by many artists in the US jazz and entertainment genre, including Al Jolson , Bessie Smith , Louis Armstrong , Bing Crosby , the Andrews Sisters , Liberace , Ella Fitzgerald , Liza Minnelli and Ray Charles . Benny Goodman replaced the vocal chorus with a clarinet solo as early as 1936 .

The song achieved chart successes over five decades. According to Newsweek magazine , four different versions made it to number 1, 2, 3 and 4 on the US charts in 1911 alone. Bessie Smith's version reached the top 20 in 1927, Louis Armstrong the top 20 with his version recorded with the big band in 1937. A duet by Bing Crosby and Connee Boswell finally reached number 1 in 1938. Johnny Mercer had success with a swing in 1945 -Version. Bing Crosby recorded another duet version with Al Jolson in 1947 and reached the top 20. Nellie Lutcher hit the rhythm and blues charts with the song in 1948, while Bob Wills hit the country and western charts at the same time. Ella Fitzgerald selected the song for her 1958 Irving Berlin Songbook ( Verve Records ); shortly before he had been recorded by Sarah Vaughan with Billy Eckstine . In 1959 Ray Charles brought it out on his album The Genius of Ray Charles . In jazz, Charlie Byrd , Alix Combelle , King Curtis , Glenn Miller , Don Redman , Willie The Lion Smith and, most recently, the Shelly Manne - Ray Brown - Monty Alexander Trio (1980) excelled with interpretations. The Biermösl Blosn used the composition for their number "Da Russ".

Today the piece has a traditional place in the repertoire of the Dixieland bands, as a boogie-woogie number and as a funny-nostalgic encore.

Trivia

The song was played on the decks of the RMS Titanic by the ship's band when the ship sank on April 15, 1912.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ H.-J. Schaal: Jazz standards. 3rd, rev. Edition. 2004, p. 25.