When the Kaiser Does the Goose-Step to a Good Old American Rag

Description

One of a few songs about how ragtime music was going to help win the Great War (that's World War 1 to you & me), this one is called "When the Kaiser Does the Goose-Step to a Good Old American Rag". It features music by Harold Neander and lyrics by Jack Frost, and is sung here by Ann Gibson (YouTube's "decomodiste") with help from pianist Frederick Hodges, a couple of Doughboys and of course Kaiser Wilhelm himself! This song includes an early use of the word "jazz". Today, jazz is often considered separate from ragtime (or worse, ragtime is considered a type of jazz!), but at the time of its invention, jazz was considered a style of playing ragtime. The song makes references to the fictional Alexander's band as well as a couple real-life bands: John Philip Sousa's band, and the Six Brown Brothers saxophone band. The fictional Alexander's band is from the 1911 Irving Berlin hit "Alexander's Ragtime Band" which also is referenced in another song about how ragtime music would be key to winning the war, "When Alexander Takes His Ragtime Band to France". The power of ragtime! It was gonna change the world! ...and it did! ...but I don't think it had anything to do with winning the war. Gibson and Hodges perform regularly throughout the San Francisco Bay area in California, and occasionally elsewhere across the country. Check www.frederickhodges.com for Hodges' performance schedule and recordings, and contact Gibson on YouTube ("decomodiste") to request to be added to her mailing <b>...</b>

Keywords

ww1, ragtime, song, goosestep, kaiser, wilhelm, great, war, piano, doughboy

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