“Tiger Rag” is a jazz standard that was recorded and copyrighted by the Original Dixieland Jass Band in 1917 for Aeolian-Vocalion Records (the band did not use the “Jazz” spelling in its name until 1917). The Aeolian-Vocalion sides did not sell well because they were recorded in a vertical-cut format which could not be played successfully on most contemporary phonographs. But the second recording on March 25, 1918, for Victor, made by the more common lateral-cut recording method, was a hit and established the song as a jazz standard. The song was copyrighted, published, and credited to band members Eddie Edwards, Nick LaRocca, Henry Ragas, Tony Sbarbaro and Larry Shields in 1917. In 2003, the 1918 recording of “Tiger Rag” was entered into the U.S. Library of Congress National Recording Registry.
Other New Orleans musicians claimed that the song, or at least portions of it, had been a standard in the city before it was recorded. Others copyrighted the melody or close variations of it, including Ray Lopez under the title “Weary Weasel” and Johnny De Droit under the title “Number Two Blues”. Members of Papa Jack Laine’s band said the song was known in New Orleans as “Number Two” before the Dixieland Jass Band copyrighted it. In one interview, Laine said that the composer was Achille Baquet. In his book Jazz: A History, Frank Tirro states, “Morton claims credit for transforming a French quadrille that was performed in different meters into ‘Tiger Rag’”.
After the success of the Original Dixieland Jass Band recordings, the song gained national popularity. Dance band and march orchestrations were published. Hundreds of recordings appeared in the late 1910s and through the 1920s. These include the New Orleans Rhythm Kings version with a clarinet solo by Leon Roppolo. Archaeologist Sylvanus Morley played it repeatedly on his wind up phonograph while exploring the ruins of Chichen Itza in the 1920s. With the arrival of sound films, it appeared on soundtracks to movies and cartoons when energetic music was needed.
“Tiger Rag” had over 136 versions by 1942. Musicians who played it included Art Tatum, Benny Goodman, Frank Sinatra (in a version with lyrics), Duke Ellington, Bix Beiderbecke and Louis Armstrong, who released the song at least three times as a 78 single, twice for Okeh in 1930 and 1932, and for the French arm of Brunswick in 1934. A Japanese version was recorded in 1935 by Nakano Tadaharu and the Columbia Rhythm Boys.
The Mills Brothers became a national sensation with their million-selling version in 1931. In the same year, The Washboard Rhythm Kings released a version that was cited as an influence on rock and roll. During the early 1930s, “Tiger Rag” became a standard show-off piece for big band arrangers and soloists in the United Kingdom, where Bert Ambrose, Jack Hylton, Billy Cotton, and Ray Noble recorded it. But the song declined in popularity during the swing era, as it had become something of a cliché. The Light Crust Doughboys recorded a 1936 western swing version of “Tiger Rag” to wide success in Gene Autry’s movie Oh! Susanna. Les Paul and Mary Ford had a hit version in 1952. Charlie Parker recorded a bebop version in 1954, the same year it appeared in the MGM cartoon Dixieland Droopy. It is the 32nd most recorded song from 1890 to 1954 based on Joel Whitburn’s research for Billboard.
