The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1913-11-02
WHERE EXPERTS ASSAY
THE VALUE OF RAGTTME

sons whose knowledge of notes is con-
NOR has 1t, too, that some magnates OF
Tinpan alley can't even whistle, neither
I can they sing. Yet Solomon in all his
glory never boasted larger bank bal
ance, says the New York Times.
81 can't write music, nor sing. nor
whistle, nor play any instrument, yet
I have acquired money and fame as a
composer" said one child of song In
| Tinpan alley. II have done 1t all by
verbal statement such as tum tiddy
iddy or iddy Idly It'd! while drumming
with my fingers Meanwhile a species
of musical stenographer takes 1t down
on the piano and then transcribes 1t
for the pointer 1 wonder how they
, do iti'
Firms Rise Overnight
| Imposing business firms rise in Tin
pan alley over night, for a single song
may be the beginning of riches and a
mercantile rating calculated to win the
solemn respect of a sober. Industrial
age. Out of shallow Jest and a rag.
| time air established property is con-
structed in Tinpan alley! Maybe the
delighted public which applauds fool
ish ditty Is paying rent to the man who
wrote" 1t.
Fabulous tales of the wealth realized
out of popular ballads bring horde OF
ambitious outsiders into Tinpan alley
| all eager to grow rich out of a song
or two. Wall street has Its lambs. Tin
pan alley has the amateur composer
In each case the helpless innocents are
ruthlessly sheared. Certain firms dc
nothing else but publish songs at the
| expense Of authors.
1t costs very little to publish a song
For $50 or even less an amateur COM
| poser many see his work given to the
world with the imprint of Tinpan alley
| But, alasi the career of a song may be
| one everlasting drain of incidental ex-
penses afterward. Exactly as the Wall
street lamb is bled of his money In
| he name of margins" so the lambs OF
Tinpan alley are mulcted of funds for
pushing" their songs.
| People who imagine that the bust
| ness of purveying little songs is a hap
| hazard affair are grossly misinformed
| Making little song succeed Is often a
| formidable process. resembling great
economic movements on a systematic
| scale. Singers must be paid to sing
new songs, for business Is business and
| almost any house In Tinpan alley Is
/ willing to pay for introducing q new
creation to the public by way of the
stage.
Fortunes Sometimes Expended
Sometimes fortunes are expended In
this manner and II Is not invariably the
! 'amb who falls. either. The Oldest and
| craftiest denizens of the region have
heen ruined by stolld confidence ir
rival things which the public would
have none of.
To say that II Is "hard" to write q
lsong which the public will like is un-
| erstating the case. 1t is true that bal
ads are deliberately written with al
sorts of mathematical calculation as to
punch lines" and similar technical de-
tail. But for all that success remains
| IN inexplicahle accident Tinpan alley
g paved with the bones of song pub
''hers who could not repeat a sue
cess.
ballads have their modes and fash
! ions, which are even more uncertain
| han reigning types of feminine mil
| inery. new manner of Hit or weir
| IF sentiment may become a sudden flu.
rore and presto! those who write tn,
| songs of the nation are envied anew BY
those who make the laws. If only thu