Alexander Claude Rogers (September 4, 1876 – September 14, 1930), known as Alex Rogers, was a composer and lyricist. He wrote music including for the musical ''

Bandanna Land ''Bandanna Land'' (also known as ''In Bandanna Land'') is a musical from 1908. The book was written by Jesse A. Shipp, lyrics by Alex Rogers (songwriter), Alex Rogers and music composed primarily by Will Marion Cook. Created by and featuring Afr ...

'' and served as president and a board member of the Gotham-Attucks Music Publishing Company. The firm published some of his songs. Rogers was born September 4, 1876 in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. When he was 18, he moved to

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

after joining a

minstrel show The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of theater developed in the early 19th century. The shows were performed by mostly white actors wearing blackface makeup for the purpose of portraying racial stereotypes of Afr ...

then in 1902 met

Bert Williams Bert Williams (November 12, 1874 – March 4, 1922) was a Bahamian-born American entertainer, one of the pre-eminent entertainers of the vaudeville era and one of the most popular comedians for all audiences of his time. While some sources have ...

and

George Walker George Walker may refer to: Arts and letters *George Walker (chess player) (1803–1879), English chess player and writer * George Walker (musician), English musician *George Walker (composer) (1922–2018), American composer * George Walker (il ...

. The three produced several successful shows the first being ''

In Dahomey ''In Dahomey: A Negro Musical Comedy'' is a landmark 1903 American musical comedy described by theatre historian Gerald Bordman as "the first full-length musical written and played by blacks to be performed at a major Broadway house."Bordman, ...

'' which they performed across the United States and England. Other shows with Williams and Walker included ''Bandanna Land'' and ''

Abyssinia Abyssinia (; also known as Abyssinie, Abissinia, Habessinien, or Al-Habash) was an ancient region in the Horn of Africa situated in the northern highlands of modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea.Sven Rubenson, The survival of Ethiopian independence, ...

''. Rogers specialized in writing in African American dialects. After Williams died in 1922, Rogers wrote three Broadway musicals with

Luckey Roberts Charles Luckyth Roberts (August 7, 1887 – February 5, 1968), better known as Luckey Roberts, was an American composer and stride pianist who worked in the jazz, ragtime, and blues styles. Roberts performed as musician, band/orchestra conduc ...

: ''Go-Go'' (1923), ''Sharlee'' (1923), and ''My Magnolia'' (1926), the latter starring

Adelaide Hall Adelaide Louise Hall (20 October 1901 – 7 November 1993) was an American-born UK-based jazz singer and entertainer. Her career spanned more than 70 years from 1921 until her death. Early in her career, she was a major figure in the Harlem Ren ...

. He also made several recordings on

Victor Records The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer, incorporated in 1901. Victor was an independent enterprise until 1929 when it was purchased by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and became ...

with Eddie Hunter. Rogers died in September 14, 1930. His obituary ran on the first page of the ''

New York Age ''The New York Age'' was an American weekly newspaper established in 1887 in New York City. It was widely considered one of the most prominent African-American newspapers of its time.

'' and credited him with writing the lyrics to 2,000 songs.

Songs

Nobody Nobody most often refers to: * Nobody, an indefinite pronoun Nobody may also refer to: Fictional characters * Nobody (''Kingdom Hearts''), a race of beings in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' video game series *Nobody, a character in the Jim Jarmusch fi ...

" (1905) with Bert Williams *"I May Be Crazy But I Ain't No Fool" (1904) *"Let It Alone" (1906) *"I'm a Jonah Man", words and music, published by Williams and Walker Co. *"Believe Me!" (1910), lyrics *"Why Adam Sinned" *"

Bon Bon Buddy ''Bon Bon Buddy (The Chocolate Drop)'' is a popular song, first published in 1907, with lyrics by Alex Rogers and music by Will Marion Cook. It was introduced in the 1908 musical ''Bandanna Land''. Today the best-known versions of the largely f ...

(The Chocolate Drop)"

Shows

*''

'' *''

'' *''Go-Go'' (1923) * ''Sharlee'' (1923) *''My Magnolia'' (1926)

References

American vaudeville performers American musical theatre composers American male musical theatre composers Songwriters from Tennessee 1876 births 1930 deaths {{US-songwriter-stub

Songs

Shows

See also

References