Alex Rogers (songwriter)

Alexander Claude Rogers (September 4, 1876 – September 1930), known as Alex Rogers, was a composer and lyricist.[1] He wrote music including for the musical Bandanna Land and served as president and a board member of the Gotham-Attucks Music Publishing Company.[2] The firm published some of his songs.[3]

Rogers was born September 4, 1876 in Nashville, Tennessee. When he was 18, he moved to Philadelphia after joining a minstrel show then in 1902 met Bert Williams and George Walker. The three produced several successful shows the first being In Dahomey which they performed across the United States and England. Other shows with Williams and Walker included Bandanna Land and Abyssinia. Rogers specialized in writing in African American dialects.[4][5]

Sheet music cover for the musical My Magnolia" with lyrics by Alex C. Rogers and music by C. Luckey Roberts) published by Rogers & Roberts in 1926

After Williams died in 1922, Rogers wrote three Broadway musicals with Luckey Roberts: Go-Go (1923), Sharlee (1923), and My Magnolia (1926), the latter starring Adelaide Hall.[6] He also made several recordings on Victor Records with Eddie Hunter.[1]

Rogers died in September 1930. His obituary ran on the first page of the New York Age and credited him with writing the lyrics to 2,000 songs.[4]

Songs

Shows

See also

References
  1. "Alex Rogers". Discography of American Historical Recordings.
  2. The Trow (formerly Wilson's) Copartnership and Corporation Directory of New York City. Trow. 1906. p. 286.
  3. Sampson, Henry T. (October 30, 2013). Blacks in Blackface: A Sourcebook on Early Black Musical Shows. Scarecrow Press. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-8108-8351-2.
  4. "Alex Rodgers, Song Writer, Playwright, Dies Suddenly Following A Heart Attack". The New York Age. September 20, 1930. p. Front Page – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Alexander Claude Rogers". The Fresno Morning Republican. December 21, 1930. p. 4. Retrieved October 14, 2023.
  6. Todd Decker (2013). Show Boat: Performing Race in an American Musical. Oxford University Press. p. 107. ISBN 978-0-19-975937-8.
  7. "I may be crazy, but I ain't no fool". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.
  8. https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.100009951/
  9. Floyd, Samuel A (1974). "Black Music in the Driscoll Collection". The Black Perspective in Music. 2 (2): 169 – via JSTOR.
  10. "In Dahomey - The Guide to Musical Theatre". www.guidetomusicaltheatre.com.
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