Alexander’s RagTime Band
“Come on along, it’s the best band in the land.” I probably heard this ancient hit song on my first trip to New Orleans where I listened to the aging masters of dixie land jazz playing at Preservation Hall. I loved listening to them. It was a glimpse into the culture of over a hundred years ago when RagTime versions of all types of songs were the rage. It was like treating a modern song to a hip hop arrangement. Playing authentic Dixie Land, not the sanitized Disney version, was a great art form and predated Jazz improvisation. It is a unique African American music that comes from the street. Scott Joplin was one of the originators of the ragtime style but the song was written by Irving Berlin and was a Tin Pan Alley creation. It stayed on the charts starting in 1911 for many years, and shines in its joyous exuberance as an international hit. I was a gangling teen living in a room on Canal Street and doing my homework on researching American music, This song is one of the most famous songs in the American catalogue. I wasn’t going to include it my JukeBox Brain collection but it insisted on being here and I realize now it was an important part of my musical youth.
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