Tin Pan Alley was that area of Manhattan where music publishers and song writers congregated with tinny upright pianos to play their latest offerings for the many purchasers of sheet music. Historians say Tin Pan Alley blossomed in New York in 1885 and survived until the end of the Great Depression. This extended time period seems to be an exaggeration since the technological revolution that eventually banished the song pluggers of Tin Pan Alley began with Edison's cylinder phonograph which was patented in December of 1877.
Some historians who write about music contend that the Civil War was the catalyst that produced the distinctive music of the United States. They are on shaky ground. There was music in all of North America long before the Civil War. Aboriginal populations had their own forms of music long before Europeans knew anything about the continents of North and South America. The European invaders brought their own traditional music that endured in isolated settings before and after the Civil War. The music of the invading people -mostly Celtic, French, German and Spanish - was scattered throughout settlements that had little commerce with each other. Travel was uncertain when there were no roads or rails. The versions of familiar traditional tunes could vary, both in melody and in lyrics. The accepted versions of many of these songs are still played.
The Civil War produced a spate of propaganda songs. Among them were Dixie, Tenting Tonight on the Old Campground and Just Before the Battle, Mother. No songs from the Civil War period have endured because of their lyrics. (People find it easier to hum tunes than sing all the words.) Elvis Presley took the Civil War tune Aura Lee and turned it into Love Me Tender. The song Lorena, more notable for its plaintive melody than for its words, was a favourite of both sides.
The hymn Amazing Grace was also popular during the Civil War. It has since supplanted Flowers of the Forest as the pipe tune played at the funerals and graveside services of members of the military and police services.
There was a marching song during the Civil War which began with the words "John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in his grave" Julia Ward Howe wrote the lyrics which turned it into The Battle Hymn of the Republic. Although the song has been banished from many hymn books as politically incorrect, the rousing tune is still popular and was played at the funerals of Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford and Winston Churchill.
Tin Pan Alley produced propaganda songs most of which were forgettable. An exception is Sousa's march Stars and Stripes Forever, which he copyrighted in 1896.
During the Dirty Thirties most of Stephen Foster's songs were taught to the pupils of small prairie schools. Most of his work is characterized as "Dixie," but some pieces such as Beautiful Dreamer were called "parlour music," which was meant to be sung around the pianos in middleclass parlours. One of the most prolific producers of "parlour music" and the only female member of Tin Pan Alley in the decade before the First World War, Carrie Jacobs-Bond. Her three most enduring songs are I Love You Truly, A Perfect Day and Just A-wearyin' For You.
When Stephen Foster died in New York in January of 1864, he was impoverished, having in his pockets only 38 cents in Civil War script and three pennies. The need for an association to protect composers against copyright infringement was apparent.
Tin Pan Alley organized the first association to protect intellectual properties in 1885. By 1914 the group had become the American Association of Composers Authors and Publishers, which was more successful in protecting copyrights and collecting royalties.
For the most part, ASCAP was protecting a factory turning out music for middleclass ears. Classical music and the waltzes of Vienna and Berlin were performed in concert halls. George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue was the first ASCAP composer's work to be performed in the sacred precincts of Carnegie Hall. In 1941, when ASCAP tried to obtain better royalties and copyright protection for its members it was boycotted by radio networks, which turned from their music to traditional airs and more modern music no longer under copyright.
During the First World War, Tin Pan Alley produced propaganda songs again. Some are still memorable, such as George M. Cohan's Over There and I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy. In fact, more memorable songs were produced during the First World War than during the Second. I'll Be Seeing You is a Tin Pan Alley song of the Second World War that has not been forgotten. Other popular songs came from other places. Lili Marlene originated in Germany. With English lyrics, it was popular with armed forces of both sides. Waltzing Matilda came from Australia. Now is the Hour, which originated in New Zealand, is thought of as a war song, although its first performance on the airwaves didn't happen until 1947.
Tin Pan Alley is gone, but ASCAP's battle continues. There is now an action under the terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement challenging Canada's loose copyright laws that make it possible for Canadian universities to steal copyright material without penalty or apology. ASCAP believes that whether the product is a snowmobile, a hogshead of beer, a painting, a poem, a story or a new song, the labourer is worthy of his hire. And of recognition. The Government of Canada should concur.
