Editing Alexander's Ragtime Band (section)

=== Composition and difficulties ===
{{further|Irving Berlin|Ted Snyder|Tin Pan Alley}}
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 | image1 = Irving Berlin 1906 Cropped.jpg
 | alt1 = A photograph of composer Irving Berlin circa 1906
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 | image2 = Emma_Carus_1.jpg
 | alt2 = A photograph of singer Emma Carus
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 | footer = Composer [[Irving Berlin]] and singer [[Emma Carus]]
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In March 1911, the [[Ted Snyder Company]] in [[New York City]] employed the 23-year-old Irving Berlin as a [[Tin Pan Alley]] songwriter.{{sfn|Jablonski|2012|p=31}} One morning after arriving at work, Berlin decided to compose an instrumental [[ragtime]] number.{{sfn|Jablonski|2012|p=31}} By this time, the ragtime phenomenon popularized by [[pianist]] [[Scott Joplin]] and other African-American musicians had begun to wane,{{sfn|Jablonski|2012|p=29}} and over a decade had passed since the syncopated genre's initial heyday in the [[Gay Nineties]].{{sfn|Jablonski|2012|p=31}}

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."{{sfn|Hamm|2012|p=49}} Berlin composed the lyrics of the song as a narrative sequel to his earlier 1910 composition "Alexander and His Clarinet".{{sfnm|Kaplan|2020|1pp=40–41|Giddins|1998|2p=41}} 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.{{efn|name=Alexander and His Clarinet|{{harvnb|Kaplan|2020|p=41}}: "In May [1910], [[Ted Snyder|Snyder]] and [[Irving Berlin|Berlin]] published one of their own, 'Alexander and His Clarinet,' a... dialogue between a [[colored]] [[Romeo]] 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]]."}}{{sfn|Kaplan|2020|pp=40–41}} Berlin's friend Jack Alexander, a cornet-playing African-American bandleader, inspired the title character.{{sfnm|Streissguth|2011|1p=30|Fuld|2000|2p=91|Freedland|1988|3p=65}}

By the next day, Berlin completed four pages of notes for the [[copyist]]-[[arranger]].{{sfnm|Jablonski|2012|1p=32|Ruhlmann|2005|2p=23}} Berlin registered the song in the name of the Ted Snyder Company as E252990 and published it on March 18, 1911.{{sfnm|Hamm|2012|1p=48|Fuld|2000|2p=91}} Upon playing the composition for others,{{sfnm|Giddins|1998|1p=41|Jablonski|2012|2p=33}} listeners criticized the song as too lengthy ("running beyond the [[Thirty-two-bar form|conventional 32 bars]]"), [[Range (music)|too rangy]], and not "a real ragtime number".{{sfn|Jablonski|2012|p=33}} In fact, the tune is a [[March (music)|march]] as opposed to a rag and barely contains a trace of [[syncopation]].{{sfn|Furia|1992|p=49}} Its sole notability consists of quotes from ''[[Swanee River (song)|Swanee River]]'' and a [[bugle call]].{{sfn|Corliss|2001}} Due to such criticisms, the tune unimpressed listeners at the Ted Snyder Company.{{sfn|Jablonski|2012|p=33}}
{{multiple image
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 | image1 = ArthurCollins.jpg
 | alt1 = A photograph of Arthur Collins
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 | image2 = Harlan LCCN2014708742 Cropped and Retouched.jpg
 | alt2 = A photograph of Byron G. Harlan
 | width2 = 150
 | footer = [[Collins & Harlan]] released the first [[phonograph]] recording of the song in May 1911.
}}
Undaunted by the lackluster response, Berlin submitted the song to [[Jesse Lasky|Jesse L. Lasky]], a [[Broadway theatre|Broadway theater]] producer planning an extravagant debut for his nightclub theater called the Follies Bergère.{{sfn|Jablonski|2012|p=33}} Lasky hesitated to incorporate the [[pseudo]]-ragtime number into his show.{{sfnm|Jablonski|2012|1p=33|Hamm|2012|2p=51}} When the show opened on April 27, 1911, Lasky chose only to use its melody whistled by performer [[Otis Harlan]].{{sfnm|Jablonski|2012|1p=33|Hamm|2012|2p=51}} Thus the song failed to find an appreciative audience.{{sfnm|Jablonski|2012|1p=33|Hamm|2012|2p=49}}

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 (Chicago)|American Music Hall]] in [[Chicago]].{{sfn|Jablonski|2012|p=34}} She next embarked on a tour of [[Midwestern United States|the Midwest]] in Spring 1911.{{sfn|Jablonski|2012|p=34}} Consequently, music historians credit Carus for showcasing the song to the country and helping contribute to its immense popularity.{{sfn|Furia|Patterson|2016|p=73}} In gratitude, Berlin credited Carus on the cover of the sheet music.{{sfn|Furia|Patterson|2016|p=73}} 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.{{sfn|Bergreen|1990|p=67}}
{{Listen|type=music|filename=Arthur Collins and Byron Harlan - Alexander's Ragtime Band - 1911.ogg|title="Alexander's Ragtime Band" (1911)|description=The May 23, 1911, recording by comedic duo [[Arthur Collins (singer)|Arthur Collins]] and [[Byron G. Harlan]].|start=0:01|pos=right|format=[[Ogg]]}}
Amid the success of Carus' national tour, the comedic duo of [[Arthur Collins (singer)|Arthur Collins]] and [[Byron G. Harlan]] released a [[phonograph|phonograph recording]] of the song on May 23, 1911, which became the best-selling record in the United States for ten consecutive weeks.{{sfn|Ruhlmann|2005|p=23}} 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]].{{sfnm|Jablonski|2012|1p=33|Hamm|2012|2p=48}} A fellow composer in attendance, [[George M. Cohan]], instantly recognized the [[Hook (music)|catchiness]] of the tune and told Berlin that the song would be an obvious hit.{{sfn|Jablonski|2012|pp=33-34}} 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."{{sfn|Furia|Patterson|2016|p=73}} ''Alexander's Ragtime Band'' became "the number one song from October 1911 through January 1912."{{sfn|Furia|Patterson|2016|p=73}}