Hello Frank,
Great work determining the titles of 2 more unknown rag rolls! What were the fortuitous circumstances that led to their identification?
As promised, here is my commentary on each unknown rag (now, some ARE known!) of the last batch you posted. They're in the order posted:
Unknown Folk Rag - Electrova 44N 1177-4
Debbie and I really like this one. The 4th strain is especially folksy, the first strain and trio are folksy too, but not quite as much as the fourth--still nice though. Another hen's tooth, and we're glad to have heard it!
Unknown Indian Intermezzo (great one) - LINKRX-Mod 1504-15
Now identified as Idylia (1907), by George Cobb. A wonderful piece throughout. Cobb had a gift for melody and was
so prolific! I'd never heard or seen this piece until you posted it. Always enjoy hearing rare gems.
Unknown Rag - WURL MandPian 770-3
This grabbed me from the opening bar.
Such a cool piece--definitely a keeper. Love the 2nd strain (and it sounds familiar to me)! Those bass runs reminded me of one of the four LOC rag manuscripts I have. None of them were ever published but all are worthy of preservation. I typeset them a few years ago. They're all good rags, but the particular one I'm thinking of, "Raccoon Rag" (1916) is my personal favorite (Debbie's too). I searched for it on this site and it's never been posted on PIanophilia, so I'll post it either tonight or tomorrow.
Unknown Rag - WURL MandPian 774-2
When you listen to the opening strain of this piece you get the feeling that this is building up to a good second strain and you're not disappointed. I also liked the songlike trio. I suspect this is an older piece as there was a long bridge between the first time the trio's played and its reprise. That seemed to be a common practice pre-1906.
Unknown Rag - LINKAMC 283-2
You already know we both
love this one!!! The first strain is our favorite--it's rhythm in the roll is almost exactly halfway between triplets and eighth-quarter-eighth syncopation (in 4/4 time). The left hand really swings too. It's not an immortal work, but we love it nonetheless. We've only grown fonder of the second two strains the more we've listened to them. You thought you recognized the first strain, so maybe someday you'll be able to identify it, but, even if we never discover the title, we're so glad it's been saved from the scrap heap! BTW, what does LINKAMC stand for? (WURL stands for Wurlitzer, right?)
Unknown Rag - Ramey A-Mod 1-2
A nice "classic" rag, possibly from the late 0s'. Thanks for posting it!
Unknown Blues-Rag - WURL MandPian 774-1
Debbie and I thought this was
quite nice. We liked all its strains equally well! (That's not always true, there are some pieces that have a STANDOUT strain, while the other strains fall short of that high bar.) This reminded us that we really need to listen to, and play, more blues!
Unknown Rag (Familiar) - Ramey A-Mod 2-4
We now know this is "Medic Rag." I've always really liked this rag! Had it memorized many years ago, which is why it eventually jogged my memory . I love the second strain and the complex syncopations in the trio!
Unknown Rag (Familiar) - Ramey A-Mod 2-8
Nice upbeat tune which also seems familiar to me, too!
Unknown Rag (Good) - Ramey A-Mod 1-9
Now identified as "Beedle-Um-Bo" by the talented Charles Leslie Johnson. The first strain is very catchy, singable, but the rag really gets started in the second strain, which at a slow tempo is haunting in places.
Unknown Rag (Good) - Ramey A-Mod 1-10
Excellent tune! i can imagine this being very commercially successful, and, who knows, perhaps it was! If not it probably suffered the same downfall as so many great rags: poor distribution.
Thanks for sharing all these, Frank! We appreciate it so much!
Very best,
Rob