Thomas, George Washington - Rag Strain (in A Minor) transcription - 1924.pdf
Thomas, George Washington - Rag Strain (in A minor) - transcription - 1924 [72 tempo].mid
Thomas, George Washington - Rag Strain (in A minor) - transcription - 1924 [76 tempo].mid
Hi Frank,
Thanks again for the dates of the rolls! Do you have a date for the roll of "Feed That Mule"? Today I'm posting a transcription (which I'll also post later on "The Rag Thread") of the rag strain included as an interlude on the song roll of "Mammy's Little Brown Rose." The transcription is dedicated to you (as you'll see). Thanks for all you've done to preserve rare ragtime and its history!!
It's interesting that the article I put on the cover of the transcription , dated the week of Jan. 19, 1924, states: "In fact it ["Mammy's Little Brown Rose"] was only turned off the press this week," as The US Copyright Office receipted two published copies on November 12, 1923 (copyright was applied and paid for on Oct. 15, 1923). I don't know if the article was written several weeks earlier (and I would think they'd update it if it had been, as this was a weekly publication), if this was a white lie, an error... it seems unlikely that it would be referring to a second (or even higher) printing, and, even if it was, that statement would still be intentionally misleading.
I thought the article's last paragraph was also of great interest because this means there may be copies of GWT's works in Great Britain and Ireland!!
Frank, I found a really interesting website and wondered if you were aware of it. It's a website devoted to George W. Thomas' blues singer sister, Beulah "Sippie" Wallace. According to a man who knew Sippie for over 20 years and was her manager for part of that time, GWT lost most all his important documents, photos, etc. in a fire in his office in the 1930's (he didn't die, I've discovered, until 1937). Fortunately, Sippie's aunt had a trunk full of historical documents such as letters between Clarence Williams and GWT, etc. which have survived! All these were photocopied and your close friend Michael Montgomery helped organize them. I don't know if Mike mentioned this to you, or, if he did, if you're aware of the website so here's a link:
http://www.sippiewallace.com/2014/07/se ... -digitize/
A few comments about the transcription itself...
A sight change in tempo really changes the character of this piece (at least my wife and I feel it does). We think you'll even hear the difference on the 2 midis I've posted with the transcription.
Since this is an interlude, the "end" of the strain is actually a bridge to a reprise of "Mammy's Little Brown Rose." I've left it to the performer to write their own ending.
If you listen to the roll at full speed (for readers who may not know, it's available in the second posting on this page) you may have difficulty hearing the very dissonant left hand chord that ends measures 11, 12, 19 & 20. Don't feel bad if you miss it (feel proud if you don't) as there's a good reason it's difficult to hear. The roll's arranger, like a good ragtime pianist, swung the bass part. So, ON beat eighth notes were lengthened and OFF beat eighth notes were shortened. This particular chord is off-beat and is actually just a tad shorter in length than the sixteenth note D sharp octave in the right hand! Knowing that bit of information will enable you to hear it, even when you hear the roll at full speed. It's even easier to hear this chord if you use VanBasco's Karaoke Player to slow the tempo down (and, if you have the "piano" keyboard activated you'll see it too).
Frank, did you ever make a midi scan that final roll of GWT's, "Sho' is Hot"?
Best,
Rob