100 years ago: “Waiting for the Robert E. Lee” hit #1

Waiting for the Robert E. Lee Heidelberg Quintet

Writer(s): L. Wolfe Gilbert (words), Lewis F. Muir (music) (see lyrics here) First Charted: September 15, 1912 Peak: 16 US, 13 GA, 114 SM (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 (sheet music) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.02 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Lyricist L. Wolfe Gilbert was inspired to write this “ragtime classic” TY2 after watching men unloading freight in Baton Rouge, Louisiana from the steamboat SS named after the Confederate general Robert E. Lee which transported cotton along the Mississippi River. SM A Cincinnati boat of the same name gained headlines in 1870 when it beat the Natchez VI in a race from New Orleans to St. Louis in a few hours shy of four days. SS The up-and-coming singer Al Jolson introduced the song at one of his Winter Garden concerts in New York and it was “an immediate crowd-pleaser.” SS He also integrated it into his show The Whirl of Society, which opened in March 1912, but didn’t record the song until 1946 for the soundtrack to The Al Jolson Story. SS Vaudevillian singer Ruth Roye DJ and Eddie Cantor SS also helped popularize the song. The song charted three times in 1912 by the Heidelberg Quintet (#1), Arthur Collins and Byron Harlan (#3), and Dolly Connolly (#4). It was one of only eight chart entries for the Heidelberg Quintet and their first of two #1’s. PM The group consisted of Billy Murray, John Bieling, Steve Porter, and William Hooley – who all recorded as the American Quartet – plus Will Oakland. SS The name grew out of the group’s first recording session in which they sang the unreleasd “Heidelberg Stein Song.” SS This was one of the earliest efforts at recording a quintet because of the difficulties in positiong five singers around the recording horn and maintaining a balance among the voices. SS The results here were this “delightfully, rousing ragtime-flavored number bursint with energy and warm nostalgia.” SS The song was also performed by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the 1939 movie The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle and again in 1941 by Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney for Babes on Broadway. SS It has also appeared in The Jazz Singer (1927), Applause (1929), Hellzapoppin’ (1941), Cairo (1942), and Lake Placid Serenade (1944). TY2 In 1952, a group of composers and musicians voted this the best song of the first half of the 20th century. SS The song was also one of the first ten inductees in 1968 to the American Music Hall of Fame, which became the Songwriters Hall of Fame. SS Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Heidelberg Quintet DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 204. SM Sharon Mawer Charts (1900-1968) SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Page 437. TY2 Don Tyler (2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955. McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, North Carolina. Pages 59-60. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Pages 206 and 603. First posted 2/26/2023.

On This Day (1912): “Ragtime Cowboy Joe” hit #1

Ragtime Cowboy Joe Bob Roberts

Writer(s): Grant Clarke (music), Lewis F. Muir and Maurice Abrahams (words) (see lyrics here) First Charted: July 13, 1912 Peak: 16 PM, 12 GA (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.10 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: This is a “ragtime classic” TY2 which was also “a popular western swing song” WK and has become a favorite of barbership quartets. TY2 The music was composed by Grant Clarke, who also wrote “Second Hand Rose.” Lewis F. Muir and Maurice Abrahams wrote the words, inspired by the latter’s nephew wearing a cowboy outfit. WK The opening verse sets the stage with the line “out in Arizona where the bad men are” and the listener learns that Ragtime Cowboy Joy is “the roughest, toughest of these men.” TY2 The song features a loping melody to imitate the gait of a horse. TY2 The song has charted four times over the years. Bob Roberts was first with his chart-topping version in 1912. He was a baritone novelty singer who charted 22 times from 1903 to 1912. “Ragtime Cowboy Joe” was his final chart entry and only #1. The book Pop Memories says “this was the biggest final hit by any recording artist.” PM Other versions followed by Pinky Tomlin (#14 PM, 1939), Eddy Howard (#16 PM, 1947), Jo Stafford (#10 PM, 1949), PM and David Seville & the Chipmunks (#16 BB, 1959) Paul Whiteman recorded the song in 1940. The song has also appeared in the movie musicals Hello, Frisco, Hello (1943) and Incendiary Blonde (1945). In 1978, Jimmy Stewart performed the song on the piano in a surprise cameo on the final Carol Burnett Show. WK It was also used as the theme song for Cowboy Joe’s Radio Ranch, a radio show which ran in New York City from 1976 to 1988. WK It is also the University of Wyoming’s fight song. WK Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Bob Roberts SF Songfacts TY2 Don Tyler (2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955. McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, North Carolina. Pages 58-9. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Pages 371 and 570. WK Wikipedia First posted 9/6/2023.