# George Botsford

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American composer (1874–1949)

For the American classicist and professor of history, see [George Willis Botsford](/source/George_Willis_Botsford).

George Botsford Botsford in 1911 Background information Born (1874-02-24)February 24, 1874 Sioux Falls, South Dakota, U.S. Died February 1, 1949(1949-02-01) (aged 74) New York City, New York, U.S. Genres Ragtime Occupation Composer

Musical artist

**George Botsford** (February 24, 1874 – February 1, 1949) was an American composer of [ragtime](/source/Ragtime) and other forms of music.

## Early life and education

Buildings that housed sheet music publishers on Tin Pan Alley

Botsford was born in [Sioux Falls](/source/Sioux_Falls%2C_South_Dakota), [Dakota Territory](/source/Dakota_Territory). He grew up mostly in [Clermont, Iowa](/source/Clermont%2C_Iowa). Botsford married singer Della Mae Wilson, and, in 1900, they began touring with the Hoyle Stock Company troupe. An ad promoting Botsford and his wife as musicians appeared in the [New York Clipper](/source/New_York_Clipper) in 1901, which may indicate the first time that Botsford visited New York City.[1]

## Career

Botsford's first copyrighted number was "The Katy Flyer", published in 1899 in [Centerville, Iowa](/source/Centerville%2C_Iowa). Other early numbers followed themes of relaxation and wide open space, with "Dance of the Water Nymphs", which was sold as Hawaiian mood music, and Western-themed "In Dear Old Arizona" and "[Pride of the Prairie](/source/Pride_of_the_Prairie)".[2] This would change when Botsford moved to [New York City](/source/New_York_City), where he joined an assortment of [Tin Pan Alley](/source/Tin_Pan_Alley) composers and began writing ragtime almost exclusively.[3]

Botsford secured his first songwriting contract with New York's J. H. Remick & Co. after selling them "Pride of the Prairie". It was while on that contract that he published "[Black and White Rag](/source/Black_and_White_Rag)", which stands as perhaps the most known work of his career.[4] He was put in charge of vocal arrangements for Remick's "harmony & quartet" division in 1910.[5]

Botsford was a founding member of [ASCAP](/source/American_Society_of_Composers%2C_Authors_and_Publishers) in 1914.[6] From 1914 to 1915, he experimented with miniature opera intended to be sung by three or four people, but the idea never gained momentum.[3]

## Later life and death

By the 1920s, Botsford had largely stopped composing, and mostly made his living through organizing [vaudeville](/source/Vaudeville) performances.[2] He produced a handful of musical shows for stage and radio. His last known public performance was at the [Algonquin Hotel](/source/Algonquin_Hotel) in 1934. After a long career involving many kinds of music, Botsford died in New York on February 1, 1949, twenty-three days before his 75th birthday.[1]

## Legacy

["Black and White Rag"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:%22Black_and_White_Rag%22_(1908),_by_George_Botsford.flac)

Botsford's "Black and White Rag", published in 1908.

*Problems playing this file? See [media help](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Media).*

A 1912 political cartoon about the [Republican Party](/source/Republican_Party_(United_States)) Presidential conflict between [William Howard Taft](/source/William_Howard_Taft) and [Theodore Roosevelt](/source/Theodore_Roosevelt) referencing the "Grizzly Bear" dance

"[Pride of the Prairie](/source/Pride_of_the_Prairie)" is a prime example of Tin Pan Alley's response to the rising popularity of cowboy music. Many western-themed songs were being released by New York ragtime composers at the time, but *Prairie* would become a part of the era's folk music catalogue, eventually being recorded by numerous country and folk acts including Aaron Campbell's Mountaineers, [Tex Owens](/source/Tex_Owens), and [Patsy Montana](/source/Patsy_Montana).[7]

"[Black and White Rag](/source/Black_and_White_Rag)" sold over 200,000 copies in 1908,[8] and eventually topped one million copies sold.[4] The song was recorded by numerous artists, but most notably by [Winifred Atwell](/source/Winifred_Atwell), whose 1953 recording became a gold record[9] and was used as the theme of the long-running [BBC2](/source/BBC2) snooker tournament show, "Pot Black".[10] The song was also used as theme music for the 1985 video game [Repton](/source/Repton_(video_game)).[11]

"Grizzly Bear Rag" initially saw moderate success, but jumped in popularity when [Irving Berlin](/source/Irving_Berlin) composed lyrics for it.[12] The song was recorded under titles including *Dance of the Grizzly Bear* and *Doin' the Grizzly Bear*, and helped spark a trend of naming dances after animals; the most notable example of this being the [foxtrot](/source/Foxtrot).[2]

"Sailing Down the Chesapeake Bay" became very popular in its time,[1] and was recorded later by [Bing Crosby](/source/Bing_Crosby) for his 1975 album, *[A Southern Memoir](/source/A_Southern_Memoir)*.

## Compositions

The cover of Botsford's "In Dear Old Arizona", published in 1906.

- "The Katy Flyer" (1899)

- "Dance of the Water Nymphs" (1906)

- "In Dear Old Arizona" (1906)

- "Pride of the Prairie" (1907)

- "The Big Jubilee" (1908)

- "Klondike Rag" (1908)

- "[Black and White Rag](/source/Black_and_White_Rag)" (1908)

- "Old Crow Rag" (1909)

- "Wiggle Rag" (1909)

- "Texas Steer Rag" (1909)

- "Pianophiends Rag" (1909)

- "Chatterbox Rag" (1910)

- "Lovey-Dovey Rag" (1910)

- "Grizzly Bear Rag" (1910)

- "Honeysuckle Rag" (1911)

- "Honey Girl" (1911)

- "Hyacinth" (1911)

- "Royal Flush" (1911)

- "Eskimo Rag" (1912)

- "Buck-Eye Rag" (1913)

- "Incandescent Rag" (1913)

- "Universal Rag" (1913)

- "Rag, Baby Mine" (1913)

- "Sailing Down the Chesapeake Bay" (1913)

- "Boomerang Rag" (1916)

- "On the Old Dominion Line" (1916)[2]

## See also

- [List of ragtime composers](/source/List_of_ragtime_composers)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-bill_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-bill_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-bill_1-2) Edwards, Bill. ["George James Botsford"](http://www.perfessorbill.com/comps/botsford.shtml). *PerfessorBill.com*. Retrieved December 20, 2019.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-allmusic_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-allmusic_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-allmusic_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-allmusic_2-3) ["George Botsford"](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/george-botsford-mn0000202850/biography). *AllMusic*. Retrieved December 21, 2019.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-blesh_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-blesh_3-1) Blesh, Rudi; Janis, Harriet (March 23, 2011). [*They All Played Ragtime - The True Story of an American Music*](https://books.google.com/books?id=i0V8CgAAQBAJ). Read Books Limited. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781446546901](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781446546901). Retrieved December 20, 2019.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-tpa_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-tpa_4-1) Jasen, David A. (June 2004). [*Tin Pan Alley*](https://books.google.com/books?id=cd-SAgAAQBAJ). Taylor & Francis. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781135949006](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781135949006). Retrieved December 20, 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Jasen, David A.; Jones, Gordon Gene (2000). [*That American Rag*](https://archive.org/details/thatamericanrags00davi/page/287). Schirmer Books. p. [287](https://archive.org/details/thatamericanrags00davi/page/287). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780028647432](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780028647432). Retrieved December 20, 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["ASCAP Dictionary of authors, composers, song & music"](http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/music-search/music-songs-composers%20-%200147.htm). *Traditional Music*. Retrieved December 21, 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Green, Douglas B (2002). ["Singing in the Saddle"](https://news.vanderbilt.edu/vanderbiltmagazine/archives/singinginthesaddle.pdf) (PDF). *Vanderbilt Magazine*: 47. Retrieved December 21, 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Wickes, E. M. (1913). "How the song writers arrived". *The Magazine Maker*. **4**. H. Croy: 11.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["WINIFRED ATWELL"](http://www.rockabilly.nl/references/messages/winifred_atwell.htm). *Rockabilly.nl*. Retrieved December 21, 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["My Mother's Sheet Music - Winifred Atwell"](http://mymotherssheetmusic.com/collecting.html). *My Mother's Sheet Music*. Retrieved December 21, 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Paterson, Jim. ["Ragtime Music - its History, Composers and Influences"](https://www.mfiles.co.uk/ragtime-music.htm). *MFiles*. Retrieved December 21, 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-jasen_12-0)** Jasen, David A.; Tichenor, Trebor Jay (1989). [*Rags and Ragtime*](https://archive.org/details/ragsragtimemusic00jasen/page/139). Dover Publications. p. [139](https://archive.org/details/ragsragtimemusic00jasen/page/139). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780486259222](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780486259222). Retrieved December 20, 2019.

## External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [George Botsford](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:George_Botsford).

- [Free scores by George Botsford](https://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Botsford,_George) at the [International Music Score Library Project](/source/International_Music_Score_Library_Project) (IMSLP)

- [audio recording of "Eskimo Rag" at the Library of Congress jukebox](https://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/2748)

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