Editing Alexander's Ragtime Band

{{short description|1911 song composed by Irving Berlin}}
{{Other uses|Alexander's Ragtime Band (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2011}}
{{Infobox song
| name       = Alexander's Ragtime Band
| cover      = Alexander's Ragtime Band 1.jpeg
| caption    = Cover of 1911 sheet music<br />by artist John Frew{{sfn|Hamm|2012|pp=47-48}}
| alt        = A cover by artist John Frew depicting a fictional bandleader Alexander and his men performing in a bandstand.
| type       = Single
| artist     = [[Arthur Collins (singer)|Arthur Collins]] & [[Byron G. Harlan]]
| A-side     = "Ocean Roll" by [[Eddie Morton]]{{sfn|Ruhlmann|2005|p=24}}
| released   = March 18, 1911{{sfn|Ruhlmann|2005|p=23}}<br />([[sheet music]] registration)
| format     = 
| language   = English
| recorded   = {{Start date|1911|05|23}}{{sfn|Library of Congress}}<br />([[phonograph|phonograph recording]])
| studio     = [[Victor Talking Machine Company|Victor Records]]
| venue      = [[Camden, New Jersey]]
| genre      = {{hlist|[[March (music)|March]]|[[Ragtime|rag]]}}
| length     = 3:03{{sfn|Library of Congress}}
| label      = Victor 16908{{sfn|Library of Congress}}
| writer     = [[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.{{efn|name=First Hit|{{harvnb|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."}}{{sfnm|1a1=Furia|1a2=Patterson|1y=2016|1p=73|2a1=Furia|2y=1992|2p=49}} Despite its title, the song is a [[March (music)|march]] as opposed to a [[ragtime|rag]] and contains little [[syncopation]].{{sfnm|Furia|1992|1p=49|Corliss|2001}} The song is a narrative sequel to Berlin's 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}}{{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}}

[[Emma Carus]], a famous [[contralto]] renowned for her high [[Vocal weight|lung power]], introduced Berlin's song to the public in Spring 1911.{{sfn|Jablonski|2012|p=34}} Carus' brassy performance of "Alexander's Ragtime Band" at the [[American Music Hall (Chicago)|American Music Hall]] in [[Chicago]] on April 18, 1911, electrified the audience,{{sfn|Jablonski|2012|p=34}} and she toured other metropolises such as [[Detroit]] and [[New York City]] with acclaimed performances that featured the catchy tune.{{sfn|Jablonski|2012|p=34}} Carus' tour showcased the song in the United States and contributed to its immense popularity.{{sfn|Furia|Patterson|2016|p=73}}

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}} 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."{{sfn|Furia|Patterson|2016|p=73}} Although not a traditional ragtime song,{{sfnm|Furia|1992|1p=49|Corliss|2001}} Berlin's composition kickstarted a ragtime [[jubilee]]—a belated celebration of the music which African-Americans had originated a decade prior in the 1890s.{{sfn|Joplin interview|1913}} The positive international reception of "Alexander's Ragtime Band" led to a musical and dance revival known as "the ragtime craze".{{sfnm|Golden|2007|1p=56|Furia|1992|2p=49}} 

Nearly two decades later, singer [[Bessie Smith]] recorded a 1927 cover which became one of the [[hit song]]s of that year.{{sfnm|1a1=Furia|1a2=Patterson|1y=2016|1p=73|2a1=Corliss|2y=2001}} The song's popularity re-surged in 1934 with the release of a [[close harmony]] cover by the [[Boswell Sisters]],{{sfn|Boswell Sisters|1934}} and a 1938 [[Alexander's Ragtime Band (film)|musical film of the same name]] starring [[Tyrone Power]] and [[Alice Faye]].{{sfn|Nugent|1938|p=7}} A variety of artists covered the song such as [[Al Jolson]], [[Billy Murray (singer)|Billy Murray]], [[Louis Armstrong]], [[Bing Crosby]], and others.{{sfnm|Bergreen|1990|1p=67|Hamm|2012|2p=43|Corliss|2001}} The song had at least a dozen hit covers within fifty years of its release.{{sfn|Corliss|2001}} <!-- Do NOT insert more artists into these sentences without a citation. This is an article lead, not a comprehensive list. -->

== History ==
=== Composition and difficulties ===
{{further|Irving Berlin|Ted Snyder|Tin Pan Alley}}
{{multiple image
 | perrow = 2
 | total_width = 300
 | align = right
 | image1 = Irving Berlin 1906 Cropped.jpg
 | alt1 = A photograph of composer Irving Berlin circa 1906
 | width1 = 150
 | image2 = Emma_Carus_1.jpg
 | alt2 = A photograph of singer Emma Carus
 | width2 = 150
 | footer = Composer [[Irving Berlin]] and singer [[Emma Carus]]
}}
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
 | perrow = 2
 | total_width = 300
 | align = left
 | image1 = ArthurCollins.jpg
 | alt1 = A photograph of Arthur Collins
 | width1 = 150
 | 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}}

=== Cultural sensation ===
{{further|Ragtime|Irene and Vernon Castle}}
{{quote box|title=A Meritorious Addition|align=left|width=24em|quote="In a few days, 'Alexander's Ragtime Band' will be whistled on the streets and played in the cafés. It is the most [[Wiktionary:meritorious|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."|source= —''[[The New York Sun]]'', May 1911{{sfn|Jablonski|2012|p=34}}}}

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.{{sfnm|1a1=Furia|1a2=Patterson|1y=2016|1p=73|2a1=Furia|2y=1992|2p=49}} American newspapers hailed Berlin's jumpy tune as the decade's musical sensation,{{sfn|Bergreen|1990|p=68}} and he became a [[High society (social class)|cultural luminary]] over night.{{sfn|Corliss|2001}} An adoring international press subsequently touted him as the "King of Ragtime",{{sfnm|Giddins|1998|1p=31|Golden|2007|2p=54}} 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 [[Thirteen Colonies|the colonies]]."{{sfn|Giddins|1998|p=31}} 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."{{sfn|Jablonski|2012|p=36}} Historian [[Mark Sullivan (journalist)|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 [[Wiktionary:Apotheosis|apotheosis]] of fashionable vogue."{{sfn|Golden|2007|p=54}}

Although not a traditional ragtime song,{{sfnm|Furia|1992|1p=49|Corliss|2001}} 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.{{efn|name=Ragtime|In a 1913 interview published in the [[black newspaper]] ''[[New 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]."{{sfn|Joplin interview|1913}}}} The positive international reception of "Alexander's Ragtime Band" in 1911 led to a musical and dance revival known as "the ragtime craze".{{sfnm|Golden|2007|1p=56|Furia|1992|2p=49}} 

[[File:Vernon and Irene Castle2 crop.jpg|thumb|right|[[Irene and Vernon Castle]], {{circa|1912|lk=yes}}]]
At the time, ragtime music caught "its [[second wind]]" and ragtime dancing spread "like wildfire."{{sfn|Golden|2007|p=51}} One dancing couple in particular who exemplified this [[fad]]dish sensation were [[Vernon and Irene Castle]].{{sfnm|Golden|2007|1p=51|Furia|1992|2p=49}} The charismatic, trendsetting duo frequently danced to Berlin's "Alexander's Ragtime Band" and his other [[modernism|modernist]] compositions.{{sfn|Furia|1992|p=49}} The Castles' [[modern dancing]] paired with Berlin's [[20th-century music|modern songs]] came to embody the ongoing [[Cultural conflict|culture clash]] between the waning propriety of the [[Edwardian era]] and the waxing joviality of the Ragtime revolution on the eve of [[World War I|World {{nowrap|War&nbsp;I}}]].{{sfnm|Golden|2007|1pp=51-54|Furia|1992|2p=50|Jablonski|2012|3p=31}} The ''[[Daily Express]]'' wrote in 1913 that:

{{Quote|In every [[London]] restaurant, park and theater, you hear [Berlin's] strains; [[Paris]] dances to it; [[Vienna]] has forsaken the [[waltz]]; [[Madrid]] has flung away her [[castanet]]s, and [[Venice]] has forgotten her [[barcarolle]]s. Ragtime has swept like a [[whirlwind]] over the earth.{{sfn|Golden|2007|p=56}}}}

Writers such as [[Edward Jablonski]] and [[Ian Whitcomb]] have emphasized the irony that, in the [[1910s]], even the [[upper class]] of the [[Russian Empire]]—a [[reactionary]] nation from which Berlin's [[Jewish]] forebears had been [[Pogrom|compelled to flee]] decades earlier{{sfn|Whitcomb|1988|pp=183-184}}—became enamored with "the ragtime beat with an abandon bordering on [[mania]]."{{sfnm|Whitcomb|1988|1pp=183-184|Jablonski|2012|2p=35}} Specifically, [[British people|British]] [[socialite]] [[Lady Diana Cooper]] described Prince [[Felix Yusupov]], an affluent [[House of Yusupov|Russian aristocrat]] who married the niece of [[Tsar Nicholas II]] and later murdered [[Grigori Rasputin]], as dancing "around the [[ballroom]] like a demented worm" and shouting, "More ragtime!"{{sfn|Whitcomb|1988|pp=183-184}}

Hearing of such behavior, commentators diagnosed such individuals as "bitten by the ragtime bug" and behaving like "a dog with [[rabies]]."{{sfn|Golden|2007|pp=52-53}} They declared that "whether [the ragtime mania] is simply a passing phase of our [[Decadence|decadent]] culture or an [[infectious disease]] which has come to stay, like ''[[la grippe]]'' or [[leprosy]], time alone can show."{{sfn|Golden|2007|p=52}}

=== Continued popularity ===
{{further|Alexander's Ragtime Band (film)}}
[[File:Irving Berlin - Ragtime.JPG|left|thumb|Publicity photograph of [[Irving Berlin]] with actors [[Tyrone Power]], [[Alice Faye]], and [[Don Ameche]] on the set of ''[[Alexander's Ragtime Band (film)|Alexander's Ragtime Band]]'' (1938).]]
<!-- Do NOT add either unsourced or non-noteworthy song covers to this paragraph. They will be removed. -->
As the years passed, Berlin's "Alexander's Ragtime Band" had many recurrent manifestations as many artists covered it: <!-- Do NOT insert covers made after 1959 into the following list. This list is for hit versions made within half-a-century of 1911. --> [[Billy Murray (singer)|Billy Murray]], in 1912;{{sfn|Hamm|2012|p=43}} [[Bessie Smith]], in 1927;{{sfn|Corliss|2001}} [[Oswald the Lucky Rabbit]], in 1930;{{sfn|Lantz|2004}} the [[Boswell Sisters]], in 1934;{{sfn|Boswell Sisters|1934}} [[Louis Armstrong]], in 1937;{{sfn|Corliss|2001}} [[Bing Crosby]] and [[Connee Boswell]], in 1938;{{sfn|Corliss|2001}} [[Johnny Mercer]], in 1945;{{sfn|Corliss|2001}} Al Jolson, in 1947;{{sfn|Corliss|2001}} [[Nellie Lutcher]], in 1948, and [[Ray Charles]] in 1959.{{sfn|Corliss|2001}} <!-- Do NOT insert covers made after 1959 into the preceding list. This list is for hit versions made within half-a-century of 1911. --> Consequently, "Alexander's Ragtime Band" had a dozen hit covers within the half-a-century prior to 1960.{{sfn|Corliss|2001}}

Reflecting decades later upon the song's unlikely success, Berlin confessed his amazement at its immediate global acclaim and continued popularity.{{sfn|Bergreen|1990|p=69}} He ascribed its unexpected success to the [[farce|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."{{sfn|Bergreen|1990|p=69}}

In 1937, [[20th Century Fox]]  approached Irving Berlin to write a [[Film treatment|story treatment]] for an upcoming film tentatively titled ''[[Alexander's Ragtime Band (film)|Alexander's Ragtime Band]]''.{{sfnm|Nugent|1938|1p=7|Dieckhaus|1946}} Berlin agreed to write a story outline for the film which featured twenty-six of Berlin's well-known musical scores.{{sfnm|''The New York Times''|1938|1p=126|Nugent|1938|2p=7|Dieckhaus|1946}} 
{{Listen|type=music|filename=Bessie Smith - Alexander's Ragtime Band 1927 - Sample.ogg|title="Alexander's Ragtime Band" (1927)|description=A 29-second sample of [[Bessie Smith]]'s 1927 cover of the song.|pos=right|format=[[Ogg]]}}{{Listen|type=music|filename=The Boswell Sisters - Alexander's Ragtime Band 1934 - Sample.ogg|title="Alexander's Ragtime Band" (1934)|description=An [[Audio restoration|unrestored]] sample of [[The Boswell Sisters]]'s 1934 cover of the song.|pos=right|format=[[Ogg]]}}
During press interviews promoting the film prior to its premiere, Berlin decried articles by the American press which painted ragtime as [[jazz]]'s forerunner.{{sfn|''The New York Times''|1938|p=126}} 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."{{sfn|''The New York Times''|1938|p=126}}

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.{{sfnm|Nugent|1938|1p=7|''The New York Times''|1944|2p=37|''The New York Times''|1938|3p=126}} Soon after the film's release, writer Marie Cooper Dieckhaus filed a [[plagiarism]] lawsuit.{{sfn|''The New York Times''|1944|p=37}} 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.{{sfnm|''The New York Times''|1944|1p=37|Dieckhaus|1946}} Dieckhaus had submitted the unpublished manuscript in 1937 to various [[Hollywood studio]]s, [[literary agent]]s, and other individuals for their perusal.{{sfn|''The New York Times''|1944|p=37}} The judge believed that, after rejecting her manuscript, Berlin nonetheless appropriated much of her work.{{sfn|''The New York Times''|1944|p=37}} In 1946, an [[appellate court]] reversed the ruling on [[appeal]].{{sfn|Dieckhaus|1946}}

== Alleged plagiarism ==
[[File:Scott Joplin 19072.jpg|thumb|right|[[Scott Joplin]] alleged that Irving Berlin, an acquaintance, plagiarized the melody.]]
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.{{sfnm|1a1=Berlin|1y=2016|1p=253|2a1=Hamm|2y=2012|2pp=43-44|3a1=Ruhling|3a2=Levine|3y=2017}} Berlin and Joplin were acquaintances in New York, and Berlin had opportunities to hear Joplin's scores prior to publication.{{sfn|Hamm|2012|p=44}} 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."{{sfn|Hamm|2012|p=44}}

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."{{sfn|Hamm|2012|p=44}} According to one account: 
{{Quote|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."{{sfn|Hamm|2012|p=43}}}}
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."{{sfn|Hamm|2012|p=43}} 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."{{sfn|Hamm|2012|p=43}} 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.{{sfn|Ruhling|Levine|2017}} As writer Edward A. Berlin notes in ''King of Ragtime: Scott Joplin and His Era'':

{{Quote|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.{{sfn|Berlin|2016|p=253}}}}

For the next half-century, Berlin was incensed by the allegation that a "'[[Boy#Race|black boy]]' {{sic}} had written 'Alexander's Ragtime Band'."{{sfn|Hamm|2012|p=47}} 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."{{sfnm|Berlin|2016|1p=254|Hamm|2012|2p=43}} In 1914, Berlin referenced the allegation in the lyrics of his composition "He's A Rag Picker."{{sfn|Hamm|2012|p=47}} The song features a verse in which a "[[Stereotypes of African Americans|black character]]" named Mose claims authorship of "Alexander's Ragtime Band."{{sfn|Hamm|2012|p=47}}

== Lyrical implications ==
{{Listen|type=music|filename=Alexander's Ragtime Band - Billy Murray.ogg|title="Alexander's Ragtime Band" (1912)|description=A 1912 [[phonograph cylinder]] by [[vaudeville]] singer [[Billy Murray (singer)|Billy Murray]] which includes the oft-omitted second verse.|pos=right|start=0:03|format=[[Ogg]]}}
{{Wikisourcehas|full lyrics and sheet music}}
Although the 1911 sheet music cover drawn by artist John Frew depicts the band's musicians as either [[white people|white]] or [[biracial]],{{sfn|Hamm|2012|pp=47-48}} Berlin's "Alexander's Ragtime Band"—and his earlier 1910 composition "Alexander and His Clarinet"—employ certain [[idiom|idiomatic expressions]] ("oh, ma honey", "honey lamb") and [[African-American Vernacular English|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]].{{sfnm|Furia|1992|1p=49|Hamm|2012|2p=47|Herder|1998|3p=6}}

For example, an often-omitted and [[Wiktionary:risqué|risqué]] second verse identifies the race of Alexander's clarinet player:{{sfnm|Kaplan|2020|1p=41|Herder|1998|2p=6}}

{{Quote|
:There's a [[Larynx|fiddle]] with notes that [[Orgasm|screeches]]
:Like a [[Girl|chicken]]—like a chicken—
:And the [[Phallus|clarinet]] is a [[colored]] [[Gigolo|pet]].{{sfn|Herder|1998|p=6}}}}

== Sheet music ==
{{clear}}{{Listen|type=music|filename=03 Alexander's Ragtime Band.ogg|title="Alexander's Ragtime Band" (2006)|description=A 2006 cover arranged and performed by Grant Raymond Barrett (with semi-censored lyrics) .|start=0:22|pos=right|format=[[Ogg]]}}<gallery mode="packed" perrow="7">
Image:Alexander's Ragtime Band 1.jpeg|Page 1
Image:Alexander's Ragtime Band 2.jpeg|Page 2
Image:Alexander's Ragtime Band 3.jpeg|Page 3
Image:Alexander's Ragtime Band 4.jpeg|Page 4
Image:Alexander's Ragtime Band 5.jpeg|Page 5
</gallery>

== Recorded versions ==
Bessie Smith and Her Blue Boys recorded Alexander's Ragtime Band on Columbia Records in 1927.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Release !! Performer !! Vocalist !!  Recording date !! Album !! Label !! Source
|-
| 1911 || [[Collins & Harlan]] || [[Arthur Collins (singer)|Arthur Collins]] & [[Byron G. Harlan]] || May 23, 1911 || ''The Oceana Roll/Alexander’s Ragtime Band'' (Single) || || <ref>[https://secondhandsongs.com/performance/139305/versions ''Alexander's Ragtime Band'' by Collins and Harlan], Secondhandsongs.com.</ref>
|-
| 1935 || [[The Boswell Sisters]] || The Boswell Sisters || 1935 || (Single) ||  || 
|-
| 1936 || [[Benny Goodman]] & His Orchestra || instrumental || October 7, 1936 || (Single) || || <ref>[https://secondhandsongs.com/performance/687216 ''Alexander's Ragtime Band'' by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra], Secondhandsongs.com.</ref>
|-
| 1937 || [[Louis Armstrong]] & His Orchestra || Louis Armstrong || 1937 || (Single) || ||
|-
| 1938 || [[Bing Crosby]] & [[Connie Boswell]] with [[Victor Young]] & His Orchestra || Bing Crosby & Connie Boswell || January 26, 1938 || (Single) || ||
|-
| 1948 || [[The Andrews Sisters]] with [[Vic Schoen]] & His Orchestra || The Andrews Sisters || May 1948 || ''Irving Berlin Songs'' || [[Decca Records|Decca]] ||
|-
| 1958 || [[Ella Fitzgerald]] || Ella Fitzgerald || March 19, 1958 || ''[[Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Song Book]]'' || [[Verve Records|Verve]] ||
|-
| 1959 || [[Ray Charles]] || Ray Charles || June 23, 1959 || ''[[The Genius of Ray Charles]]'' || [[Atlantic Records|Atlantic]]  ||
|-
| 1962 || [[King Curtis]] || instrumental || February 15, 1962 || ''Doing the Dixie Twist'' || Tru-Sound ||
|-
| 1967 || [[Julie London]] || Julie London || 1967 || ''[[With Body & Soul]]'' || [[Liberty Records|Liberty]] ||
|-
| 1973 || [[Smacka Fitzgibbon]] || Smacka Fitzgibbon || August 1973 || ''Smacka's Party Album'' || ||
|-
|}

== See also ==
* [[Ragtime]]
* [[Scott Joplin]]
* [[List of pre-1920 jazz standards]]
* [[When Alexander Takes His Ragtime Band to France]]
* [[List of best-selling sheet music]]

== References ==
=== Notes ===
{{notelist}}

=== Citations ===
{{reflist}}

=== Works cited ===
{{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
* {{cite web | title = Alexander's Ragtime Band (2011) by Collins and Harlan | website = [[Library of Congress]] | location = Washington, D.C. | url = https://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/2259/ | access-date = April 8, 2020 | ref = {{harvid|Library of Congress}}}}
* {{cite book | last = Berlin | first = Edward A. | title = King of Ragtime: Scott Joplin and His Era | location = Oxford, United Kingdom | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] | year = 2016 | orig-year = 1994 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=cu3nCwAAQBAJ | url-access = subscription | via = Google Books | isbn = 978-0-19-974032-1 }}
* {{cite book | last = Bergreen | first = Laurence | author-link = Laurence Bergreen | title = As Thousands Cheer: The Life of Irving Berlin | url = https://archive.org/details/asthousandscheer00berg | url-access = registration | via = Internet Archive | location = New York | publisher = [[Viking Press]] | year = 1990 | isbn = 978-0-7867-5252-2 }}
* {{cite magazine | last = Corliss | first = Richard | author-link = Richard Corliss | title = That Old Christmas Feeling: Irving America | url = http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,189846,00.html | location = New York | magazine = [[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date = December 24, 2001 | access-date = April 3, 2020 }}
* {{cite book | last = Freedland | first = Michael | title = A Salute to Irving Berlin | year = 1988 | page = 65 | location = Singapore | publisher = [[Landmark Books (publisher)|Landmark Books]] | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=a04z1-BaYO0C&q=irving+berlin+jack+alexander | url-access = subscription | via = Google Books | isbn = 978-1-55736-084-7 }}
* {{cite book | last = Fuld | first = James J. | title = The Book of World-famous Music: Classical, Popular, and Folk | year = 2000 | page = 91 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=EVninY59ul0C&q=irving+berlin+jack+alexander&pg=PA91 | url-access = subscription | via = Google Books | edition = Fifth | location = New York | publisher = [[Dover Publications]] | isbn = 0-486-41475-2 }}
* {{cite book | last1 = Furia | first1 = Philip | author1-link = Philip Furia | last2 = Patterson | first2 = Laurie J. | author2-link = Laurie J. Patterson | title = The American Song Book: The Tin Pan Alley Era | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=JYzpCgAAQBAJ | url-access = subscription | via = Google Books | location = Oxford, United Kingdom | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] | year = 2016 | isbn = 978-0-19-939188-2 }}
* {{cite book | last = Furia | first = Philip | author-link = Philip Furia | title = The Poets of Tin Pan Alley: A History of America's Great Lyricists | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ZNsc1AnOnSkC | url-access = subscription | via = Google Books | location = Oxford, United Kingdom | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] | year = 1992 | isbn = 978-0-19-802288-6 }}
* {{cite book | last = Giddins | first = Gary | author-link = Gary Giddins | title = Visions of Jazz: The First Century | year = 1998 | location = Oxford, United Kingdom | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=MH0btmTBccsC | url-access = subscription | via = Google Books | isbn = 978-0-19-513241-0 }}
* {{cite book | last = Golden | first = Eve | author-link = Eve Golden | title = Vernon and Irene Castle's Ragtime Revolution | url = https://archive.org/details/vernonirenecastl00gold_0 | url-access = registration | via = Internet Archive | isbn = 978-0-8131-2459-9 | location = Lexington, Kentucky | publisher = [[University Press of Kentucky]] | year = 2007 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/vernonirenecastl00gold_0/page/n54 41], 54, 56 }}
* {{cite book | last = Hamm | first = Charles | author-link = Charles Hamm | chapter = Excerpt from Alexander and His Band | pages = 38–52 | editor-last = Sears | editor-first = Benjamin | title = The Irving Berlin Reader | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=DqZFJQZiiXIC | url-access = subscription | via = Google Books | series = Readers on American Musicians | location = New York | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] (USA) | isbn = 978-0-19-538374-4 | date = April 19, 2012 }}
* {{cite book | editor-last = Herder | editor-first = Ronald | title = 500 Best-Loved Song Lyrics | chapter = Alexander's Ragtime Band | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=A8_CAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 | via = Google Books | location = Mineola, New York | publisher = [[Dover Publications]] | year = 1998 | isbn = 0-486-29725-X }}
* {{cite book | last = Jablonski | first = Edward | author-link = Edward Jablonski | chapter = 'Alexander' and Irving | pages = 29–38 | editor-last = Sears | editor-first = Benjamin | title = The Irving Berlin Reader | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=DqZFJQZiiXIC | url-access = subscription | via = Google Books | series = Readers on American Musicians | location = New York | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] (USA) | isbn = 978-0-19-538374-4 | date = April 19, 2012 }}
* {{cite book | last = Kaplan | first = James | author-link = James Kaplan | title = Irving Berlin: New York Genius | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=42-1DwAAQBAJ | url-access = subscription | via = Google Books | pages = 40–41 | date = January 3, 2020 | location = New Haven, Connecticut | publisher = [[Yale University Press]] | isbn = 978-0-300-18048-0 }}
* {{cite web | last = Lantz | first = Walter | author-link = Walter Lantz | url = http://lantz.goldenagecartoons.com/1930.html | title = The Walter Lantz Cartune Encyclopedia: 1930 | year = 2004 | access-date = April 24, 2011 | publisher = The Walter Lantz Cartune Encyclopedia | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110514224259/http://lantz.goldenagecartoons.com/1930.html | archive-date = May 14, 2011 | url-status = dead | df = mdy-all }}
* {{cite news | last = Nugent | first = Frank S. | author-link = Frank Nugent | title = The Roxy Plays Host to 'Alexander's Ragtime Band,' a Twentieth Century Tribute to Irving Berlin | date = August 6, 1938 | access-date = April 8, 2020 | work = [[The New York Times]] | location = New York | url-access = subscription | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1938/08/06/archives/the-screen-the-roxy-plays-host-to-alexanders-ragtime-band-a.html | pages = 7 }}
* {{cite news | author = <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> | title = Plagiarism Suit Upheld: Federal Court Rules on the Film 'Alexander's Ragtime Band' | date = March 5, 1944 | page = 37 | work = [[The New York Times]] | location = New York | url-access = subscription | access-date = April 8, 2020 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1944/03/05/archives/plagiarism-suit-upheld-federal-court-rules-on-the-film-alexanders.html | ref = {{harvid|''The New York Times''|1944|p=37}}}}
* {{cite news | last1 = Ruhling | first1 = Nancy A. | last2 = Levine | first2 = Alexandra S. | title = Remembering Scott Joplin | date = May 23, 2017 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/23/nyregion/new-york-today-scott-joplin-100-year-anniversary-flag-drive.html | work = [[The New York Times]] | location = New York | url-access = subscription | access-date = April 8, 2020 }}
* {{cite book | last = Ruhlmann | first = William | title = Breaking Records: 100 Years of Hits | chapter = The 1910s | pages = 23–24 | location = New York & London | publisher = [[Routledge|Taylor & Francis Books]] | isbn = 0-415-94305-1 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=I1aSAgAAQBAJ | url-access = subscription | via = Google Books | year = 2005 | orig-year = 2004 }}
* {{cite book | last = Streissguth | first = Tom | title = Say It with Music: A Story about Irving Berlin | year = 2011 | page = 30 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=YR-0x88wTMwC&q=irving+berlin+jack+alexander&pg=PA30 | url-access = subscription | via = Google Books | location = Minneapolis, Minnesota | publisher = [[Millbrook Press]] | isbn = 978-0-87614-810-5 }}
* {{cite news | author = <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> | title = That Ragtime Jubilee | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1938/07/31/archives/that-ragtime-jubilee.html | date = July 31, 1938 | page = 126 | access-date = April 8, 2020 | url-access = subscription | work = [[The New York Times]] | location = New York | ref={{harvid|''The New York Times''|1938}}}}
* {{cite news | author = <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> | title = Theatrical Comment: Use of Vulgar Words a Detriment to Ragtime | work = [[New York Age]] | location = New York | date = April 3, 1913 | page = 6 | ref={{harvid|Joplin interview|1913}}}}
* {{cite AV media | people = [[The Boswell Sisters]] | date = May 23, 1934 | title = Alexander's Ragtime Band by the Boswell Sisters | language = en | url= https://archive.org/details/78_alexanders-ragtime-band_the-boswell-sisters-irving-berlin_gbia0065060b | url-access = registration | via = Internet Archive | access-date= April 8, 2020 | type = [[78-rpm]] record | publisher = [[Brunswick Records]] | location = New York | ref = {{harvid|Boswell Sisters|1934}}}}
* {{cite web | title = Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp. v. Dieckhaus | url = https://casetext.com/case/twentieth-century-fox-film-corp-v-dieckhaus | date = March 25, 1946 | access-date = April 8, 2020 | publisher = [[United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit]] | location = St. Louis, Missouri | via = CaseText.com | ref = {{harvid|Dieckhaus|1946}}}}
* {{cite book | last = Whitcomb | first = Ian | author-link = Ian Whitcomb | title = Irving Berlin and Ragtime America | publisher = [[Limelight Editions]] | location = New York | url = https://archive.org/details/irvingberlinragt0000whit | url-access = registration | via = Internet Archive | year = 1988 | orig-year = 1987 | isbn = 978-0-7126-1664-5 }}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Alexander's Ragtime Band}}
* [http://www.americanmusicpreservation.com/AlexandersRagtimeBandCentennial.htm "Alexander's Ragtime Band" (Centennial Tribute)]
* [https://repository.duke.edu/dc/hasm/a5378 "Alexander's Ragtime Band" Sheet Music (David M. Rubenstein Manuscript Library)]
* [http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?query=alexander%27s%20ragtime%20band%2010522&num=1 "Alexander's Ragtime Band" by Billy Murray] ([[Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project]])

{{Irving Berlin songs}}
{{Al Jolson}}
{{Billy Murray|state=autocollapse}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Rags by Irving Berlin]]
[[Category:1911 songs]]
[[Category:1910s jazz standards]]
[[Category:Songs written by Irving Berlin]]
[[Category:Songs about jazz]]
[[Category:Songs about musicians]]
[[Category:Billy Murray (singer) songs]]
[[Category:Bessie Smith songs]]
[[Category:Louis Armstrong songs]]
[[Category:Belle Baker songs]]
[[Category:Johnnie Ray songs]]
[[Category:Dick and Dee Dee songs]]
[[Category:Vaudeville songs]]
[[Category:Al Jolson songs]]