"That International Rag" is a song composed by Irving Berlin in 1913. Berlin wrote the song the night before its debut, when he needed a new opening number for his act while on tour in England.
Days before the song's composition, Berlin held a press conference that backfired and led the public to question his musical talent. He wanted to impress his audience with a new song, so he stayed up overnight to compose the number and completed it just before his matinee in London. The performance was well received; it did well on vaudeville and in early sound recordings. The song later appeared in Hollywood films.
Read more about That International Rag: Background, Composition, Reception
Famous quotes containing the word rag:
“... a friend told me that she had read of a woman who had knitted a wash rag for President Wilson. She was eighty years old and her friends thought it remarkable that she could knit a wash rag! I thought that if a woman of eighty could knit a wash rage for a Democratic President it behooved one of ninety-six to make something more than a wash rag for a Republican President.”
—Maria D. Brown (1827–1927)