Georgia Tech Songs Collection

By far the most famous of the pieces of music written in honor of Georgia Tech is Rambling Wreck, otherwise known as Ramblin' Wreck or Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech. The lyrics to this song first appeared in the 1908 Blueprint, the Georgia Tech yearbook. Billy Walthall, a member of the first four-year graduating class, is credited with the lyrics in some sources; according to a 1954 article in Sports Illustrated, the song was written in about 1893 by a Tech football player on his way to an Auburn game. The phrase "rambling wreck" itself may date from as early as the 1880s, according to an oral history interview by Harold D. Cutter. At first, the phrase may have been used in reference to the students at Georgia Tech, but in modern times it also refers to a Model "T" Ford decked out in the school colors, which makes appearances at home football games.

Whatever its origins, Rambling Wreck, which is sung to the Scottish tune Son of a Gambolier, quickly became an established Tech tradition. In 1912 Mike Greenblatt, Georgia Tech's first professional bandleader, made a band arrangement and score of Rambling Wreck. A few years later Frank "Wop" Roman, who became the Tech band director in 1914, adapted Greenblatt's version, adding several trumpet flourishes. Roman copyrighted the song in 1919. The Edwin H. Morris and Company, which was later acquired by MPL Communications, obtained a copyright to Roman's version of Rambling Wreck from 1931. However, a law firm commissioned by Georgia Tech in 1984 concluded that, while there were copyrighted versions of the song, the version used by the school is not copyrighted.

The fame of the Rambling Wreck song spread to such proportions that in 1959 it was sung by Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev at their historic meeting in Moscow. Khrushchev had been introduced to the song through a performance of it on The Ed Sullivan Show.Rambling Wreck from Georgia Tech has had many other notable moments in its history, including performances in movies such as The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit and The High and the Mighty. Claims have been made that commanding officers crossing the English Channel on the morning of D-Day led their men in the song. It has also been reported to be the first school song played in space.

In addition to the arrangement of Rambling Wreck, Frank Roman is also credited with two other famous Tech songs dating from the 1920s, the Alma Mater (published in 1923) and Up with the White and Gold (first published in 1919). Iver Granath, a member of the Class of 1923, collaborated with Frank Roman on the lyrics to Alma Mater. The lyrics and music to an earlier Georgia Tech Alma Mater, also by Frank Roman, appeared in the 1915 Blueprint, but it is the 1923 version that is sung most often today.

Iver Granath also composed another Tech song titled Yellow Jacket Gal while he was a student. Another song of a similar title by another Tech graduate, Nicholas Chotas (1932, Architecture), was also written in about 1929. A third song titled My Yellow Jacket Girl, with words credited to Harold Atteridge and music to Jean Schwartz, was performed in the 1913 Broadway musical The Honeymoon Express at the Winter Garden Theatre. The show ran for 156 performances.

Among the many lesser-known pieces of music written in honor of Georgia Tech are the 1905 Georgia Tech March and Two-Step written by Frances Brownie and Winnifred Huson, and the 1900 Georgia Tech Grand March by Charles Astin. Numerous other songs and cheers, including many with lyrics denouncing Georgia Tech's rival, the University of Georgia, are traditionally sung at football and basketball games.

In 1925 the Columbia Gramophone Company released a 78 rpm recording of Ramblin' Wreck with Up With the White and Gold as an introduction. One side of the recording contained an instrumental version played by the Georgia Tech Band; a vocal version by the Yellow Jacket Four was recorded on the reverse. With this recording Georgia Tech became one of the first colleges in the South to have its songs commercially recorded. Since then the Georgia Tech Band and Glee Club have made several other recordings.