"Alexander’s Ragtime Band," performed by Prince’s Orchestra
Lyrics and music by Irving Berlin (1902)
I’m sure plenty of people have actually heard this song before, perhaps not realizing just how old it is. It was written by Irving Berlin in 1911, though there has been some speculation about how much of the tune he derived from other sources/composers, including an important part of the melody claimed by Scott Joplin. At any rate, the song became a huge hit, after being picked up and recorded by the popular vaudeville singer, Emma Carus. (You can see on the sheet music in the video that Berlin actually credited her for this on the cover page.) Interestingly, though the song is not really a traditional rag, it revived interest in ragtime music, which had been waning after its introduction in the 1890s. The song remained popular through the 1950s and even inspired a movie of the same name in 1939.
This instrumental version is by Prince’s Orchestra, which was formed by Charles Adams Prince in 1905, largely to record music for Columbia recording house’s disc releases. I found this interesting because I didn’t know that recording houses used to have symphonic bands and orchestras specifically to record their music. I have only ever seen music that was recorded by philharmonic orchestras and the like (i.e. New York Philharmonic). I’ll note that the recording sounds more like a symphonic band than an orchestra to me (I can’t hear any strings), so I wonder if it was actually Prince’s Band. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this version and this first week in the 1910s.
(Research links: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander%27s_Ragtime_Band
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_A._Prince)
I’m sure plenty of people have actually heard this song before, perhaps not realizing just how old it is. It was written by Irving Berlin in 1911, though there has been some speculation about how much of the tune he derived from other sources/composers, including an important part of the melody claimed by Scott Joplin. At any rate, the song became a huge hit, after being picked up and recorded by the popular vaudeville singer, Emma Carus. (You can see on the sheet music in the video that Berlin actually credited her for this on the cover page.) Interestingly, though the song is not really a traditional rag, it revived interest in ragtime music, which had been waning after its introduction in the 1890s. The song remained popular through the 1950s and even inspired a movie of the same name in 1939.
This instrumental version is by Prince’s Orchestra, which was formed by Charles Adams Prince in 1905, largely to record music for Columbia recording house’s disc releases. I found this interesting because I didn’t know that recording houses used to have symphonic bands and orchestras specifically to record their music. I have only ever seen music that was recorded by philharmonic orchestras and the like (i.e. New York Philharmonic). I’ll note that the recording sounds more like a symphonic band than an orchestra to me (I can’t hear any strings), so I wonder if it was actually Prince’s Band. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this version and this first week in the 1910s.
(Research links: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander%27s_Ragtime_Band
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_A._Prince)
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