Egbert Anson Van Alstyne (March 4, 1878 – July 9, 1951) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

and

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

. Van Alstyne was the composer of a number of popular and ragtime tunes of the early 20th century.

Biography

Van Alstyne was born in

Marengo, Illinois Marengo is a city in McHenry County, Illinois, United States on the Kishwaukee River. It lies approximately 60 miles west northwest of Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 7,568. Geography Marengo is located at . The north edge o ...

. After some time touring in

Vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

he moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, initially working as a

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It originally referred to a specific place: West 28th Street ...

song-plugger until he was able to make his living as a songwriter. He teamed with lyricist Harry H. Williams. Their first success was "Navajo" which was introduced in the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

'' Nancy Brown'' in 1903 and became one of the first records by Billy Murray early in 1904.Arwulf Arwulf. "Egbert Van Alstyne", All Music http://www.allmusic.com/artist/egbert-vanalstyne-mn0000178190/biography Their best remembered song is ''

In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree is a popular song dating from 1905. It was written by Harry Williams and Egbert Van Alstyne (music). Popular recordings in 1905 were by Henry Burr; Albert Campbell; Haydn Quartet; and by Arthur Pryor's Band. ...

'' from 1905. Other Van Alstyne hits included "Won't You Come Over to My House?", " I'm Afraid to Come Home in the Dark", and "

Memories Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...

". Van Alstyne shares credit with Tony Jackson on the hit "

Pretty Baby Pretty Baby may refer to: * ''Pretty Baby'' (1950 film), a comedy film featuring Dennis Morgan and Betsy Drake * ''Pretty Baby'' (1978 film), a drama film featuring Brooke Shields ** ''Pretty Baby'' (soundtrack), a soundtrack album from the film ...

". It was common for Tin Pan Alley publishers to add the name of one of their famous hit makers to tunes, and many have speculated this as being the main reason for Van Alstyne's name appearing on the piece, but Van Alstyne may have had a hand in writing or modifying the verse to Jackson's famous chorus. He recorded a number of piano rolls. Van Alstyne lived for many years in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He died there on July 9, 1951, and was buried in Memorial Park Cemetery in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...

Works, 1900–1920

Awards and honors

He was inducted into

Songwriters Hall of Fame The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work, represent, and maintain, the her ...

in 1970.Egbert Van Alstyne in IMDb https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0885579/

References

External links

Digital image of "On the Road to Home Sweet Home" in the Duke University Libraries Digital Collections

"I'm Goin' Back to Oklahoma" in the Lilly Library Sheet Music Collection, Indiana University

List of works by Egbert Van Alstyne in the Baylor University Libraries Digital Collections
* * *
Egbert Anson Van Alstyne biography by Bill Edwards at Ragpiano.com

Egbert Van Alstyne, Tin Pan Alley Pioneer

Egbert Van Alstyne in the National Jukebox

Egbert Van Alstyne recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Alstyne, Egbert 1878 births 1951 deaths Songwriters from Illinois American keyboardists Vaudeville performers People from Marengo, Illinois

Biography

Works, 1900–1920

Awards and honors

References

Further reading

External links