Tiger Rag
Encyclopedia
"Tiger Rag" is a jazz standard
, originally recorded and copyrighted by the Original Dixieland Jass Band
in 1917. It is one of the most recorded jazz compositions of all time.
The tune was first recorded on 17 August 1917 by the Original Dixieland Jass Band for Aeolian-Vocalion Records (the band did not use the Jazz spelling until later in 1917) and released as B1206, "Tiger Rag One-Step Written and Played by Original Dixieland Jass Band", backed with "Ostrich Walk". The Aeolian Vocalion sides did not sell well, as they were recorded in a vertical format becoming obsolete at the time which could not be played successfully on most contemporary phonograph
s.
Their second recording of the tune on 25 March 1918 for Victor Records, 18472-B, backed with "Skeleton Jangle" as the A side, on the other hand, was a smash national hit and established the tune as a jazz standard. The song was copyrighted, published, and credited to bandmembers Nick LaRocca
, Eddie Edwards, Henry Ragas
, Tony Sbarbaro
, and Larry Shields
in 1917. Harry DaCosta later wrote lyrics to the instrumental when it became a million- seller and a no. 1 national hit for The Mills Brothers in 1931.
No one was ever able to challenge the authorship of the song "Tiger Rag" by the ODJB. "But even before the first recording, several musicians had achieved prominence as leading jazz performers, and several numbers of what was to become the standard repertoire had already been developed. "Tiger Rag" and "Oh Didn't He Ramble" were played long before the first jazz recording, and the names of Buddy Bolden
, Jelly Roll Morton
, Bunk Johnson
, Papa Celestin
, Sidney Bechet
, King Oliver, Freddie Keppard
, Kid Ory
, and Papa Laine were already well known to the jazz community."
Other New Orleans, Louisiana
musicians claimed but never proved, however, that the tune had been a standard in the city even before. Some others even copyrighted the same melody or close variations on it under their own names, including Ray Lopez under the title "Weary Weasel" and Johnny DeDroit under the title "Number Two Blues". A number of veterans of Papa Jack Laine
's band said the tune had been known in New Orleans as "Number Two" long before the Dixieland Jass Band copyrighted it. In one interview, Papa Jack Laine said that the actual composer of the number was Achille Baquet
. Punch Miller
claimed to have originated the cornet & trombone breaks with Jack Carey
, and that from Carey's characteristic growl many locals called the tune "Play Jack Carey". Jelly Roll Morton
also claimed to have written the tune, basing part of it on his jazzed up version of an old French quadrille.
Frank Tirro states in Jazz: A History, "Morton claims credit for transforming a French quadrille that was performed in different meters into "Tiger Rag",. According to writer Sam Chartres, "Tiger Rag" was worked out by the Jack Carey Band, the group which developed many of the standard tunes that were recorded by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. The work was known as "Jack Carey" by the black musicians of the city and as "Nigger # 2" by the white. It was compiled when Jack's brother Thomas, 'Papa Mutt', pulled the first strain from a book of quadrilles. The band evolved the second and third strains in order to show off the clarinetist, George Boyd, and the final strain ('Hold that tiger' section) was worked out by Jack, a trombonist, and the cornet player, Punch Miller."
While the exact details are unclear, it seems that at least something similar to "Tiger Rag" or various strains of it was played in New Orleans before the Original Dixieland Jass Band recorded it. How close these were to the Band's recording is a matter of speculation. The Band's record seems to have helped solidify a standard version or head arrangement of the number, although one strain in the Band's recordings (just before the famous "hold that tiger" chorus) is almost invariably left out of later recordings and performances of the number.
" music.
Hundreds of recordings of the tune appeared in the late 1910s and through the 1920s. Among the more notable is the New Orleans Rhythm Kings
version with a clarinet solo by Leon Roppolo
.
The ubiquitous tune even echoed around the ruins of Chichen Itza
in the 1920s, as archaeologist Sylvanus Morley
played it over and over on his wind up phonograph.
With the coming of sound film, it often appeared on soundtracks of both live action movies and animated cartoons when something very energetic was wanted.
, Benny Goodman
, Frank Sinatra
(in a version with lyrics), Duke Ellington
, Bix Beiderbecke
, and Louis Armstrong
, who released the song at least twice as a 78 single, in 1930 on Okeh and in 1934 on Brunswick.
The Mills Brothers
became a national sensation with their hit vocal recording of the song in 1931, and in the same year, the Washboard Rhythm Kings released a version that was later cited as an influence on the subsequent rock & roll genre.
During the early 1930s "Tiger Rag" became a standard showoff piece for Big Band
arrangers and soloists, especially in England, where Ambrose, Jack Hylton
, Lew Stone
, Billy Cotton
, Jack Payne
, and Ray Noble
all made recordings of it. The tune fell from popularity during the Swing era, as it had become something of a cliché.
Nonetheless cover versions continued, including a hit version for Les Paul
and Mary Ford
in 1952 and a Be-Bop version by Charlie Parker
. In 1954 it featured in the Tex Avery
-directed MGM cartoon Dixieland Droopy
, and it was added to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry
in 2002 http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/nrpb-2002reg.html. Also in 2002, it appeared in the popular computer game Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven
, and in 2005 it featured in an advert for the Microsoft Xbox 360
games console.
The Mighty Sound of the South
has played a version of the Tiger Rag at the University of Memphis Tigers games for many years, and one version (known as Tiger Rag 2) is a medley with the Tigers' primary fight song. http://tripstigers.com/home/home_sounds.htm
Tiger Rag – "The Song That Shakes the Southland" – is Clemson University
's familiar fight song since 1942 and is performed at all Tiger sporting events, pep rallies and parades. A version has been arranged for the carillon
on Clemson's campus, an instrument almost never used in a jazz setting.
Tiger Rag is a popular song of the Louisiana State University Tiger Marching Band
. A section of the hit song is played at every LSU home game right after the team makes a touchdown. However, the full version of the song is reserved for very special occasions.
Tiger Rag is a secondary fight song for the University of Missouri
, Princeton University
, and Auburn University
.
It has often been played by Dixieland bands at Detroit Tigers
home games, and was particularly popular during the Tigers' runs to the 1934
and 1935 World Series
.
The Cuyahoga Falls Marching Tiger Band of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
plays Tiger Rag as one of their main fight songs.
http://www.cftigerband.org
The Massillon Tiger Swing Band of Massillon, Ohio
began playing Tiger Rag at Massillon Washington High School
Tigers football games in 1938 during the period the Tigers were coached by the legendary Paul Brown
. It has been a Tiger tradition ever since. http://www.tigerswingband.org/history.html
In the years after World War 2 the English Football team Hull City played this song over the loudspeaker system just before the players ran onto the field of play. The exact version is unknown. (please amend)
There were 136 cover versions of ODJB's copyrighted jazz standard and classic "Tiger Rag" by 1942 alone. Recordings were made by all of the following artists:
Jazz standard
Jazz standards are musical compositions which are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive list of jazz standards, and the list of songs deemed to be...
, originally recorded and copyrighted by the Original Dixieland Jass Band
Original Dixieland Jass Band
The Original Dixieland Jass Band were a New Orleans, Dixieland jazz band that made the first jazz recordings in early 1917. Their "Livery Stable Blues" became the first jazz single ever issued. The group composed and made the first recordings of many jazz standards, the most famous being Tiger Rag...
in 1917. It is one of the most recorded jazz compositions of all time.
Origins
Phonograph
The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
s.
Their second recording of the tune on 25 March 1918 for Victor Records, 18472-B, backed with "Skeleton Jangle" as the A side, on the other hand, was a smash national hit and established the tune as a jazz standard. The song was copyrighted, published, and credited to bandmembers Nick LaRocca
Nick LaRocca
Dominic James "Nick" LaRocca , was an early jazz cornetist and trumpeter and the leader of the Original Dixieland Jass Band. He is the composer of one of the most recorded jazz classics of all-time, "Tiger Rag"...
, Eddie Edwards, Henry Ragas
Henry Ragas
Henry Ragas was a jazz pianist who played with the Original Dixieland Jass Band on their earliest recording sessions. As such, he is the very first jazz pianist to be recorded , although his contributions are barely audible due to the primitive recording equipment available...
, Tony Sbarbaro
Tony Sbarbaro
Antonio Sparbaro, better known as Tony Sbarbaro or Tony Spargo was an American jazz drummer associated with New Orleans jazz. He was the drummer of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band for over 50 years....
, and Larry Shields
Larry Shields
Lawrence James "Larry" Shields was an early American dixieland jazz clarinetist.Shields was born into an Irish-American family in Uptown New Orleans, on the same block where jazz pioneer Buddy Bolden lived...
in 1917. Harry DaCosta later wrote lyrics to the instrumental when it became a million- seller and a no. 1 national hit for The Mills Brothers in 1931.
No one was ever able to challenge the authorship of the song "Tiger Rag" by the ODJB. "But even before the first recording, several musicians had achieved prominence as leading jazz performers, and several numbers of what was to become the standard repertoire had already been developed. "Tiger Rag" and "Oh Didn't He Ramble" were played long before the first jazz recording, and the names of Buddy Bolden
Buddy Bolden
Charles "Buddy" Bolden was an African American cornetist and is regarded by contemporaries as a key figure in the development of a New Orleans style of rag-time music which later came to be known as jazz.- Life :...
, Jelly Roll Morton
Jelly Roll Morton
Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe , known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and early jazz pianist, bandleader and composer....
, Bunk Johnson
Bunk Johnson
Willie Gary "Bunk" Johnson was a prominent early New Orleans jazz trumpet player in the early years of the 20th century who enjoyed a revived career in the 1940s....
, Papa Celestin
Papa Celestin
Oscar "Papa" Celestin was an American jazz bandleader, trumpeter, cornetist and vocalist.-Life and career:...
, Sidney Bechet
Sidney Bechet
Sidney Bechet was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer.He was one of the first important soloists in jazz , and was perhaps the first notable jazz saxophonist...
, King Oliver, Freddie Keppard
Freddie Keppard
Freddie Keppard was an early jazz cornetist.Keppard was born in the Creole of Color community of downtown New Orleans, Louisiana. His older brother Louis Keppard was also a professional musician. Freddie played violin, mandolin, and accordion before switching to cornet...
, Kid Ory
Kid Ory
Edward "Kid" Ory was a jazz trombonist and bandleader. He was born in Woodland Plantation near LaPlace, Louisiana.-Biography:...
, and Papa Laine were already well known to the jazz community."
Other New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
musicians claimed but never proved, however, that the tune had been a standard in the city even before. Some others even copyrighted the same melody or close variations on it under their own names, including Ray Lopez under the title "Weary Weasel" and Johnny DeDroit under the title "Number Two Blues". A number of veterans of Papa Jack Laine
Papa Jack Laine
George Vital "Papa Jack" Laine was a pioneering band leader in New Orleans in the years from the Spanish-American War to World War I....
's band said the tune had been known in New Orleans as "Number Two" long before the Dixieland Jass Band copyrighted it. In one interview, Papa Jack Laine said that the actual composer of the number was Achille Baquet
Achille Baquet
Achille Joseph Baquet was an American jazz clarinetist and saxophonist. He was an early musician on the New Orleans jazz scene....
. Punch Miller
Punch Miller
Ernest Miller aka Punch Miller or Kid Punch Miller , was a Dixieland jazz trumpeter.Miller was born in Raceland, Louisiana. He was known in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he was based from 1919 to 1927 when he moved Chicago...
claimed to have originated the cornet & trombone breaks with Jack Carey
Jack Carey
Jack Carey was a United States trombonist, the leader of the Crescent City Orchestra. The authorship of the famous Tiger Rag tune is attributed to him by some.-References:...
, and that from Carey's characteristic growl many locals called the tune "Play Jack Carey". Jelly Roll Morton
Jelly Roll Morton
Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe , known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and early jazz pianist, bandleader and composer....
also claimed to have written the tune, basing part of it on his jazzed up version of an old French quadrille.
Frank Tirro states in Jazz: A History, "Morton claims credit for transforming a French quadrille that was performed in different meters into "Tiger Rag",. According to writer Sam Chartres, "Tiger Rag" was worked out by the Jack Carey Band, the group which developed many of the standard tunes that were recorded by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. The work was known as "Jack Carey" by the black musicians of the city and as "Nigger # 2" by the white. It was compiled when Jack's brother Thomas, 'Papa Mutt', pulled the first strain from a book of quadrilles. The band evolved the second and third strains in order to show off the clarinetist, George Boyd, and the final strain ('Hold that tiger' section) was worked out by Jack, a trombonist, and the cornet player, Punch Miller."
While the exact details are unclear, it seems that at least something similar to "Tiger Rag" or various strains of it was played in New Orleans before the Original Dixieland Jass Band recorded it. How close these were to the Band's recording is a matter of speculation. The Band's record seems to have helped solidify a standard version or head arrangement of the number, although one strain in the Band's recordings (just before the famous "hold that tiger" chorus) is almost invariably left out of later recordings and performances of the number.
Continuing use
After the success of the Original Dixieland Jass Band recordings, the tune gained national popularity. Dance band and march orchestrations were published for the benefit of bands that couldn't get the hang of the new "jazzJazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
" music.
Hundreds of recordings of the tune appeared in the late 1910s and through the 1920s. Among the more notable is the New Orleans Rhythm Kings
New Orleans Rhythm Kings
The New Orleans Rhythm Kings were one of the most influential jazz bands of the early-to-mid 1920s. The band was a combination of New Orleans and Chicago musicians who helped shape Chicago Jazz and influenced many younger jazz musicians....
version with a clarinet solo by Leon Roppolo
Leon Roppolo
Leon Roppolo was a prominent early jazz clarinetist, best known for his playing with the New Orleans Rhythm Kings. Roppolo also played saxophone and guitar. Roppolo married Mabel Alice Branchard on 17 May 1920 in New Orleans...
.
The ubiquitous tune even echoed around the ruins of Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site built by the Maya civilization located in the northern center of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the Municipality of Tinúm, Yucatán state, present-day Mexico....
in the 1920s, as archaeologist Sylvanus Morley
Sylvanus Morley
Sylvanus Griswold Morley was an American archaeologist, epigrapher, and Mayanist scholar who made significant contributions toward the study of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization in the early twentieth century....
played it over and over on his wind up phonograph.
With the coming of sound film, it often appeared on soundtracks of both live action movies and animated cartoons when something very energetic was wanted.
Famous later recordings
The Tiger Rag became a standard, with over 136 cover versions by 1942 alone. Famous artists who covered the song included Art TatumArt Tatum
Arthur "Art" Tatum, Jr. was an American jazz pianist and virtuoso who played with phenomenal facility despite being nearly blind.Tatum is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time...
, Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
(in a version with lyrics), Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
, Bix Beiderbecke
Bix Beiderbecke
Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke was an American jazz cornetist, jazz pianist, and composer.With Louis Armstrong, Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s...
, and Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
, who released the song at least twice as a 78 single, in 1930 on Okeh and in 1934 on Brunswick.
The Mills Brothers
Mills Brothers
The Mills Brothers, sometimes billed as The Four Mills Brothers, were an American jazz and pop vocal quartet of the 20th century who made more than 2,000 recordings that combined sold more than 50 million copies, and garnered at least three dozen gold records...
became a national sensation with their hit vocal recording of the song in 1931, and in the same year, the Washboard Rhythm Kings released a version that was later cited as an influence on the subsequent rock & roll genre.
During the early 1930s "Tiger Rag" became a standard showoff piece for Big Band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
arrangers and soloists, especially in England, where Ambrose, Jack Hylton
Jack Hylton
Jack Hylton was a British band leader and impresario.He was born John Greenhalgh Hilton in the Great Lever area of Bolton, Lancashire, the son of George Hilton, a cotton yarn twister. His father was an amateur singer at the local Labour Club and Jack learned piano to accompany him on the stage...
, Lew Stone
Lew Stone
Lew Stone was a British dance band leader and arranger. He was well known in Britain during the 1930s.Stone learned music at an early age and became an accomplished pianist. In the 1920s, he worked with many important dance bands...
, Billy Cotton
Billy Cotton
William Edward Cotton , better known as Billy Cotton, was a British band leader and entertainer, one of the few whose orchestras survived the dance band era. Today, he is mainly remembered as a 1950s and 1960s radio and television personality, although his musical talent emerged as early as the 1920s...
, Jack Payne
Jack Payne
Jack Payne was a British dance music bandleader.-Career:John Wesley Vivian Payne was born in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, the only son of a music warehouse manager...
, and Ray Noble
Ray Noble (musician)
Ray Noble was an English bandleader, composer, arranger and actor. Noble studied music at the Royal Academy of Music and became leader of the HMV Records studio band in 1929. The band, known as the New Mayfair Dance Orchestra, featured members of many of the top hotel orchestras of the day...
all made recordings of it. The tune fell from popularity during the Swing era, as it had become something of a cliché.
Nonetheless cover versions continued, including a hit version for Les Paul
Les Paul
Lester William Polsfuss —known as Les Paul—was an American jazz and country guitarist, songwriter and inventor. He was a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which made the sound of rock and roll possible. He is credited with many recording innovations...
and Mary Ford
Mary Ford
Mary Ford , born Iris Colleen Summers, was an American vocalist and guitarist, comprising half of the husband-and-wife musical team Les Paul and Mary Ford. Between 1950 and 1954, the couple had 16 top-ten hits...
in 1952 and a Be-Bop version by Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
. In 1954 it featured in the Tex Avery
Tex Avery
Frederick Bean "Fred/Tex" Avery was an American animator, cartoonist, voice actor and director, famous for producing animated cartoons during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. He did his most significant work for the Warner Bros...
-directed MGM cartoon Dixieland Droopy
Dixieland Droopy
Dixieland Droopy is a 1954 animated short subject in the Droopy series, directed by Tex Avery and produced by Fred Quimby for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
, and it was added to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry
National Recording Registry
The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, which created the National Recording...
in 2002 http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/nrpb-2002reg.html. Also in 2002, it appeared in the popular computer game Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven
Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven
Mafia is a third-person shooter video game initially made for Microsoft Windows in . It was developed by Czech company Illusion Softworks and published by Gathering of Developers...
, and in 2005 it featured in an advert for the Microsoft Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
games console.
A popular fight song
Many sports teams across America have a tiger as their mascot, and some of them use a version of Tiger Rag as their fight song.The Mighty Sound of the South
Mighty Sound of the South
The Mighty Sound of the South is the school band that belongs to the University of Memphis in Memphis, TN.The band performs at Memphis Tigers football games as a marching band and at Tigers basketball games as a pep band.- History :...
has played a version of the Tiger Rag at the University of Memphis Tigers games for many years, and one version (known as Tiger Rag 2) is a medley with the Tigers' primary fight song. http://tripstigers.com/home/home_sounds.htm
Tiger Rag – "The Song That Shakes the Southland" – is Clemson University
Clemson University
Clemson University is an American public, coeducational, land-grant, sea-grant, research university located in Clemson, South Carolina, United States....
's familiar fight song since 1942 and is performed at all Tiger sporting events, pep rallies and parades. A version has been arranged for the carillon
Carillon
A carillon is a musical instrument that is typically housed in a free-standing bell tower, or the belfry of a church or other municipal building. The instrument consists of at least 23 cast bronze, cup-shaped bells, which are played serially to play a melody, or sounded together to play a chord...
on Clemson's campus, an instrument almost never used in a jazz setting.
Tiger Rag is a popular song of the Louisiana State University Tiger Marching Band
Louisiana State University Tiger Marching Band
The Louisiana State University Tiger Marching Band —also called The Golden Band from Tigerland or simply the Tiger Band—is known by LSU Tiger fans and foes alike for the first four notes of its pregame salute sounded on Saturday nights in Tiger Stadium...
. A section of the hit song is played at every LSU home game right after the team makes a touchdown. However, the full version of the song is reserved for very special occasions.
Tiger Rag is a secondary fight song for the University of Missouri
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...
, Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, and Auburn University
Auburn University
Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...
.
It has often been played by Dixieland bands at Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
home games, and was particularly popular during the Tigers' runs to the 1934
1934 World Series
The 1934 World Series matched the St. Louis Cardinals against the Detroit Tigers, with the Cardinals' "Gashouse Gang" winning in seven games for their third championship in nine years....
and 1935 World Series
1935 World Series
The 1935 World Series featured the Detroit Tigers and the Chicago Cubs, with the Tigers winning in six games for their first championship in five Series appearances. They had lost in , , , and ....
.
The Cuyahoga Falls Marching Tiger Band of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 49,374 people, 21,655 households, and 13,317 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,932.9 people per square mile . There were 22,727 housing units at an average density of 889.7 per square mile...
plays Tiger Rag as one of their main fight songs.
http://www.cftigerband.org
The Massillon Tiger Swing Band of Massillon, Ohio
Massillon, Ohio
Massillon is a city located in Stark County in the U.S. state of Ohio, approximately 8 miles to the west of Canton, Ohio, 20 miles south of Akron, Ohio, and 50 miles south of Cleveland, Ohio. The population was 32,149 at the 2010 census....
began playing Tiger Rag at Massillon Washington High School
Massillon Washington High School
Massillon Washington High School, is a 9 to 12 grade secondary school within the Massillon City School District located in the city of Massillon, Ohio. It serves students within the city of Massillon as well as parts of Tuscarawas Township...
Tigers football games in 1938 during the period the Tigers were coached by the legendary Paul Brown
Paul Brown
Paul Eugene Brown was a coach in American football and a major figure in the development of the National Football League...
. It has been a Tiger tradition ever since. http://www.tigerswingband.org/history.html
In the years after World War 2 the English Football team Hull City played this song over the loudspeaker system just before the players ran onto the field of play. The exact version is unknown. (please amend)
Cover versions
The ODJB's original 1917 composition "Tiger Rag" became a jazz standard that was later covered by Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Ted Lewis, Joe Jackson, and the Mills Brothers.There were 136 cover versions of ODJB's copyrighted jazz standard and classic "Tiger Rag" by 1942 alone. Recordings were made by all of the following artists:
- Louis Armstrong, who released the ODJB classic as a 78 single in 1930 on Okeh, 8800, and in 1934 on French Brunswick.
- Benny Goodman Trio, on Victor in 1936.
- Frank Sinatra.
- Charlie Parker
- Duke Ellington and his Famous Orchestra, on Brunswick in 1929, in an arrangement running 5½ minutes long, which covered both sides of a 78rpm disc.
- Edward "Kid" Ory with his Creole Jazz Orchestra.
- Bix Beiderbecke with the Wolverines, on Gennett in 1924.
- Ethel Waters and the Jazz Masters in 1922.
- Billie Holiday.
- Sidney Bechet.
- Bob Crosby and his Bob Cats.
- Ozzie Nelson and His Orchestra.
- Fats Waller.
- Fats Waller & His Rhythm, with Louis Armstrong and Jack Teagarden, from a radio broadcast in October 1938 (Folkways FW02816).
- Gene Krupa.
- Phil Napoleon and his Orchestra in 1926 on Edison.
- Abe Lyman and his Orchestra.
- Harry Reser.
- Whiteway Jazz Band.
- Gene Kardos and his Orchestra (under the name of Joel Shaw, his pianist), on Crown in 1932.
- Lud Gluskin's Ambassador Orchestra, who recorded 4 separate versions for various companies in 1928 and '29. All were based on the head arrangement by Jean GoldketteJean GoldketteJohn Jean Goldkette was a jazz pianist and bandleader born in Patras, Greece. Goldkette spent his childhood in Greece and Russia, and emigrated to the United States in 1911....
's orchestra, who never got to make a record of it. - The New Orleans Rhythm Kings in 1922 on Gennett.
- Fletcher Henderson in 1931 on Crown.
- Jelly Roll Morton in 1938.
- Ray Miller's Orchestra in 1929 on Brunswick.
- Red McKenzie.
- Freddy Fisher.
- Kenny Ball.
- Acker Bilk.
- Harry Roy and his Orchestra.
- The Maple City Four.
- The Saint Jazz Band.
- Isham Jones' Orchestra in 1934 on Decca.
- Eddie Condon.
- Pete Fountain released "Tiger Rag" as a 45 single on Coral.
- Tommy Dorsey.
- Glenn Miller and his Orchestra.
- Original Dixieland Jazz Band, with Eddie Edwards and Tony Spargo, 1944, V-disc
- Muggsy Spanier.
- George Barnes.
- Teddy Wilson.
- Alvino Rey.
- The Mills Brothers in 1931, with lyrics by Harry DeCosta, as Brunswick 6197, #1 for 4 weeks on Billboard, sold over a million copies.
- The Washboard Rhythm Kings, on Victor in 1932.
- The Georgia Washboard Stompers, on Decca in 1934.
- The Brian Lawrance Quartet, on Decca and US Champion in 1934.
- Art Tatum in 1932.
- Bert Ambrose and his Orchestra, on Decca in 1935. Their version included a vocal group with French, Scottish, Welsh, Mancunian, and Yiddish dialect impressions, all singing that they "can't find the tiger anymore."
- Jack Hylton, on HMV in 1930.
- Lew Stone, on Decca in 1934.
- Billy Cotton and His Band (as Super Tiger Rag), on Columbia in 1933.
- Jack Payne, on Rex in 1934. Payne's band also played it, specially choreographed, in a 1935 newsreel segment.
- Ray Noble, on HMV and Victor in 1933.
- Joe Jackson.
- Django Reinhardt with the Quintette of the Hot Club of France.
- Roy Smeck.
- Charles Dornberger and his Orchestra, on Victor in 1927.
- Sam Wooding and his Chocolate Kiddies.
- Tiger Rag was covered on the 78 series entitled Studies in Swing No.1, 1936, with Nat Gonella on solo trumpet.
- The Paul Whiteman Orchestra (as New Tiger Rag), on Columbia in 1930, #10 on Billboard.
- Jimmy Dorsey with Spike Hughes, on English Decca in 1930.
- Les Paul and Mary Ford in 1952, #2 on Billboard, #8 on Cash Box.
- The Dukes of Dixieland, 1991, on the "Dixieland's Greatest Hits" album
- Jeff Beck with Imelda May on vocals in 2011
Appearances in Movies
- LeatherheadsLeatherheadsLeatherheads is a 2008 American sports comedy film from Universal Pictures directed by and starring George Clooney. The film also stars Renée Zellweger, Jonathan Pryce and John Krasinski and focuses on the early years of professional American football....
(2008) As an a cappellaA cappellaA cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
during the opening scene - Memoirs of a GeishaMemoirs of a GeishaMemoirs of a Geisha is a novel by American author Arthur Golden, published in 1997. The novel, told in first person perspective, tells the fictional story of a geisha working in Kyoto, Japan, before and after World War II...
(2005) - Double JeopardyDouble Jeopardy (film)Double Jeopardy is a 1999 thriller film directed by Bruce Beresford and starring Tommy Lee Jones and Ashley Judd. The film is about a woman who is framed for the murder of her husband.-Plot:...
(1999) - King of the HillKing of the HillKing of the Hill is an American animated dramedy series created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, that ran from January 12, 1997, to May 6, 2010, on Fox network. It centers on the Hills, a working-class Methodist family in the fictional small town of Arlen, Texas...
(1993) - May FoolsMilou en maiMilou en mai is a 1990 film by Louis Malle. It is released as Milou in May in the UK and as May Fools in North America. The film portrays the impact of the French revolutionary fervour of May 1968 on a French village....
(1990) - LoverboyLoverboyLoverboy is a Canadian rock group formed in 1980 in Calgary, Alberta. Throughout the 1980s, the band accumulated numerous hit songs in Canada and the United States, earning four multi-platinum albums and selling millions of records...
(1989) - Tucker: The Man and His DreamTucker: The Man and His DreamTucker: The Man and His Dream is a 1988 biographical film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Jeff Bridges. The film recounts the story of Preston Tucker and his attempt to produce and market the 1948 Tucker Sedan, which was met with scandal between the "Big Three automobile...
(1988) - Pretty BabyPretty BabyPretty Baby may refer to:* Pretty Baby , a controversial 1978 drama starring Brooke Shields* Pretty Baby , a comedy featuring Dennis Morgan and Betsy Drake* "Pretty Baby....", an EastEnders episode...
(1978) - Dixieland DroopyDixieland DroopyDixieland Droopy is a 1954 animated short subject in the Droopy series, directed by Tex Avery and produced by Fred Quimby for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
(1954) - Has Anybody Seen My Gal?Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (film)Has Anybody Seen My Gal? is a 1952 film comedy film directed by Douglas Sirk, and starring Piper Laurie, Rock Hudson, Lynn Bari, and Charles Coburn. Set in the 1920s, the film is named after The California Ramblers jazz tune Has Anybody Seen My Gal?....
(1952) - Variety GirlVariety GirlVariety Girl is an all-star movie musical produced by Paramount Pictures. Numerous Paramount contract players and directors make cameos or perform songs, with particularly large amounts of screen time featuring Bing Crosby...
(1947) - Uncle Tom's Cabaña (1947)
- Black AngelBlack AngelBlack Angel is a 1946 film noir, based on the novel The Black Angel by Cornell Woolrich. The film was director Roy William Neill's last film.-Plot:...
(1946) - Blitz WolfBlitz WolfBlitz Wolf is an early anti-German World War II Hitler-parodying cartoon produced in 1942 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by Tex Avery and produced by Fred Quimby. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoons.-Plot:...
(1942) - Fine Feathered FriendFine Feathered FriendFine Feathered Friend is a 1942 one-reel animated cartoon and is the 8th Tom and Jerry short released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and reissued for re-release in 1949. It was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and produced by Fred Quimby...
(1942) - Puss n' TootsPuss n' TootsPuss n' Toots is a 1942 one-reel animated cartoon and is the 6th Tom and Jerry short. It was produced in Technicolor and released to theatres on May 30, 1942 by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer and re-issued in 1957...
(1942) - Birth of the Blues (1941)
- Strike Up the BandStrike Up the Band (film)Strike Up the Band is a 1940 American black and white musical film. It is directed by Busby Berkeley and stars Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland.A very famous, memorable quote from the film is "Take that boy on the street...
(1940) - Sandy Is a Lady (1940)
- At the CircusAt the CircusAt the Circus is a 1939 Marx Brothers comedy film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in which they save a circus from bankruptcy...
(1939) starring the Marx Brothers - Little Miss BroadwayLittle Miss BroadwayLittle Miss Broadway is a 1938 American musical film directed by Irving Cummings. The screenplay was written by Harry Tugend and Jack Yellen. The film stars Shirley Temple in a story about a theatrical boarding house and its occupants, and was originally titled Little Lady of Broadway...
(1938) - The First Hundred YearsThe First Hundred YearsThe First Hundred Years is the first ongoing TV soap opera in the United States that began as a daytime serial, airing on CBS from December 4, 1950 until June 27, 1952...
(1938) - Hits and Bits of 1938 (1938)
- The Singing Marine (1937)
- Harry Reser and His Eskimos (1936)
- Oh, Susanna! (1936)
- The Old Mill Pond (1936)
- Betty Boop and GrampyBetty Boop and GrampyBetty Boop and Grampy is a 1935 Fleischer Studios animated short film starring Betty Boop, and featuring Grampy in his first appearance.-Plot:Betty receives an invitation to a party from her elderly relative, Grampy...
(1935) - An All-Colored Vaudeville Show (1935)
- That's the Spirit (1933)
- Smash Your Baggage (1933)
- I Ain't Got NobodyI Ain't Got Nobody"I Ain't Got Nobody" was a c. 1915 song, written by Spencer Williams. Publisher Roger Graham received co-composer credits. It became a perennial standard, recorded many times over following generations, in styles ranging from pop to jazz to country music....
(1932) - Goopy Geer (1932)
- Bimbo's InitiationBimbo's InitiationBimbo's Initiation is a 1931 Fleischer Studios Talkartoon animated short film starring Bimbo and featuring Betty Boop. It was the final Betty Boop cartoon to be animated by the character's co-creator, Grim Natwick.-Plot:...
(1931) - Is Everybody Happy?Is Everybody Happy?Is Everybody Happy? is a catchphrase of Ted Lewis that was made into two films starring him:*Is Everybody Happy? *Is Everybody Happy? Is Everybody Happy? may also refer to:-Music:...
(1929) - The Band Beautiful (1928)
- Gus Arnheim and His Ambassadors (1928)
- Bright LightsBright Lights (cartoon)Bright Lights is a silent cartoon short created by Walt Disney featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. It is among the early shorts made by Disney when he still worked in Universal Pictures. In 1927 which was the character's debut year, Oswald was stout, had an oval face, and his trousers had a strap...
(1928)
External links
- Online version of the 1918 original landmark recording by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band on Victor, 18472-B, on the U.S. Library of Congress National Jukebox: http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/6602