Themes Like Old Times

Themes Like Old Times is a medley of five “Tin Pan Alley” favorites from the early 1900’s. It was written by Warren Barker in 1991 (see below).

The first song in the medley, “Alexander’s Ragtime Band”, was written by Irving Berlin in 1911; it is often inaccurately cited as his first global hit. Despite its title, the song is a march as opposed to a rag and contains little syncopation. The song is a narrative sequel to Berlin's earlier 1910 composition “Alexander and His Clarinet”. This earlier composition recounts the reconciliation between an African American musician named Alexander Adams and his flame Eliza Johnson as well as it highlights Alexander's innovative musical style. Berlin's friend Jack Alexander, a cornet-playing African-American bandleader, inspired the title character.

Emma Carus, a famous contralto renowned for her great lung power, introduced Berlin's song to the public in Spring 1911. Carus' brassy performance of “Alexander's Ragtime Band” at the American Music Hall in Chicago on April 18, 1911, electrified the audience, and she toured other metropolises such as Detroit and New York City with acclaimed performances that featured the catchy tune. Carus’ tour showcased the song in the United States and contributed to its immense popularity.

Amid the success of Carus’ national tour, the comedic duo of Arthur Collins and Byron G. Harlan released a phonograph recording of the song on May 23, 1911, which became the best-selling record in the United States for ten consecutive weeks. 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.” Although not a traditional ragtime song, Berlin’s composition kickstarted a ragtime jubilee—a belated celebration of the music which African-Americans had originated a decade prior in the 1890s. The positive international reception of “Alexander's Ragtime Band” led to a musical and dance revival known as “the ragtime craze”.

The second song in the medley, “Peg o' My Heart” was written by Alfred Bryan (words) and Fred Fisher (music). It was published on March 15, 1913 and it featured in the 1913 musical Ziegfeld Follies.

The song was first performed publicly by Irving Kaufman in 1912 at The College Inn in New York City after he had stumbled across a draft of sheet music on a shelf at the Leo Feist offices.

The song was inspired by the main character in the very successful Broadway play of the time, Peg o' My Heart, that debuted December 20, 1912 at the Cort Theatre in NYC. The play was written by J. Hartley Manners and starred Laurette Taylor in the title role. Taylor appeared on the cover of early published sheet music.

The next song in the medley, “I Want a Girl (Just Like the Girl That Married Dear Old Dad)” (sometimes shortened to “I Want a Girl”) was composed in 1911 by Harry Von Tilzer and with lyrics by William Dillon.

Von Tilzer and Dillon had never written a song together before, but finding themselves on the same vaudeville bill, von Tilzer suggested they might collaborate on some songs while on the road. Dillon had already had some success with “girl” songs such as “I'd Rather Have a Girlie Than an Automobile”, so von Tilzer suggested they try another in that vein.

The song was finished in February 1911, and was published on March 11, 1911. While singers immediately took to it, Dillon and von Tilzer did not use it much themselves. The song was one of the most popular of 1911, bested only by “Alexander's Ragtime Band” by Irving Berlin. According to Dillon's 1966 obituary in The New York Times, the song sold over five million score sheets and recordings.

The fourth song in the medley, “By the Light of the Silvery Moon” or “By the Light of the Silv'ry Moon” was written by Gus Edwards, and the lyrics by Edward Madden. The song was published in 1909 and first performed on stage by Lillian Lorraine in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1909. It was one of a series of moon-related Tin Pan Alley songs of the era. The song was also used in the short-lived Broadway show Miss Innocence (September 27-October 9, 1909) when it was sung by Frances Farr.

Popular recordings in 1910 were by Billy Murray and The Haydn Quartet; Ada Jones; and The Peerless Quartet.

The fifth and final song in medley, “Twelfth Street Rag” (alternatively “12th Street Rag”) was written by Euday L. Bowman in 1914. A friend of Bowman known as “Raggedy Ed” declared his intention to open a pawn shop on 12th Street in Kansas City while the two were walking along it. Bowman is rumored to have said, “If you get rich on those three balls, I'll write a piece on three notes to make myself rich”.

It was more than 15 years after Bowman composed the song before he actually wrote the music down in manuscript form. He returned to Texas briefly and tried to sell the piece to a company in Dallas; but he only had an offer of ten dollars for it and was told it really was not worth publishing. Returning to Kansas City, he sold it to Jenkins Music Company in 1913. The Jenkins company felt Bowman's arrangement was far too difficult however, hiring C. E. Wheeler to simplify it. With a big advertising push, “12th Street Rag” began to sell better. In 1919, James S. Sumner added lyrics. The song was popular with early Kansas City bands and became a hit after Bennie Moten recorded it for RCA Victor in 1927, the same year Louis Armstrong and His Hot Seven recorded it.

Arranger Warren Barker (1923 -2006) was born in Oakland, California. He attended the University of California at Los Angeles. At the age of 24, he was appointed chief arranger for the National Broadcasting Company’s prime musical program of the time, The Railroad Hour, a position he held for six years. Barker was also associated with 20th Century Fox, Metro Goldwyn-Mayer and Columbia Studios as a composer arranger-conductor for motion pictures and television.

Barker composed and conducted music for more than thirty television series including seven years as composer-conductor for the highly rated comedy series, Bewitched. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences honored him in 1970 for his original music written for the award winning series, My World and Welcome to It, based on the life of James Thurber. He was a member of the arranging staff for the Oscar winning motion picture Hello Dolly. He also served as conductor-arranger and recording artist for Warner Bros. and Capitol Records.

Barker’s compositions and arrangements have been performed and recorded by a variety of musical artists from Frank Sinatra to the Hollywood Bowl and Cincinnati Pops Orchestras. He received writing commissions from many outstanding music organizations including The United States Air Force Band, The Royal Australian Navy Band, the Northshore Concert Band, and the Norwegian Army Staff Band. Barker wrote or arranged more than 300 pieces for concert band, and we frequently perform pieces by him.

The music for Themes Like Old Times was provided for the band by

Elbert and Carol Reed.