The Rags Thread

Piano, Fortepiano and Harpsichord Music
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Rob C.

Re: The Rags Thread

Post by Rob C. »

Oh, Jellyroll,

You were asking for requests so I'll make one. 17 years ago while reading Rags and Ragtime: A Musical History (Jasen & Tichenor), I made a list of 9 rags that I'd like to find. I now have 8 of them :P . The 9th is: "Some Blues for You All" (1916) by Theron C. Bennett. If you, or anyone else, has this I'd love to see it posted!

Thanks in advance for looking,

Rob
jellyroll
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Re: The Rags Thread

Post by jellyroll »

To Rob C.
Here you are my friend
Bennett, Theron-Some Blues For You All.pdf
And one extra
Capie, Frank-Tin Whistle Blues.pdf
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tobyjj
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Re: The Rags Thread

Post by tobyjj »

Hello All,

Thanks Jelly Roll & Rob for the postings.

Now, Rob - that was a real teaser, and I'm sure everyone is itching to know ---- what were the other 8 on your list? :)

regards,
tobyjj
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Re: The Rags Thread

Post by tobyjj »

Hello All,
and for Thalbergmad:-
thalbergmad wrote: Not really a rag, but I wonder if anyone might have a scan of Mississippi Mud.

Planning on a banjo/piano arrangement.

Thal
2 versions to hand - hope they help
Harry Barris - Mississippi Mud (Paul Whiteman's Rhythm Boys).pdf
Mississippi mud - Harry Barris.pdf
Regards,
tobyjj
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Rob C.

Re: The Rags Thread

Post by Rob C. »

Grady, Richard Grant - Nonsense (clearer copy).pdf
Nonsense (1911).MID
Hi Everyone,

Jellyroll, Wow, thanks SO much for posting Some Blues for You All!! I knew you'd post it if you had it, but I didn't know if you would. It's great to be able to cross this last item off the list which is dated July 6, 1994!

Toby, First of all, thanks for your interest! I'm happy to answer. The pieces were not all chosen for the same reasons. Unless otherwise noted they just sounded interesting musically. This is the original order.

1.) "The Bounding Buck" (1918) Henry Lodge (I really like "Temptation Rag." This piece was later reprinted in a Dover folio.)
2.) "Delirium Tremens Rag" (1913) Frank Henri Klickmann (This was posted by the most generous Jellyroll on this very site!)
3.) "Fred Heltman's Rag" (1918) by Fred Heltman (I live close to Heltman's old offices, and Jasen & Tichenor said he was our area's "leading ragtime composer.)"
4.) [I'm going to hold off telling what this one is and post it--you inspired me, Toby :P ]
5.) "Good Gravy Rag" (1913) Henry Belding
6.)"The Jazz Master" (1925) Billy Mayerl (No, I still didn't have this back then.)
7.) Nonsense: A Ragged Sensation (1911) R. G. Grady (More on this one in a moment...)
8.) Snookums" (1918) Charles L. Johnson (Since published in a folio of all of Johnson's known music.)
9.) "Some Blues for You All" (1916) T. C. Bennett (What a coincidence that this was the last on the list!)

I had a friend named Tom that I met in 1986 who told me early on that his (by then deceased) grandmother (born 1891) used to play piano. I commented that all her sheet music was probably gone and he told me he thought it was still in the family. She'd lived in the family home her whole life and when she died in the 1970's her younger (single) brother, Bill, had moved in. Bill had left everything the way it was and never threw anything away! A couple of weeks later my friend invited me over and showed me the box of music, which Bill had given him. Everything was large format. There were songs, waltzes, syncopated waltzes and a few rags (the last page only of "Temptation Rag" was there). As a gift, Tom gave me one of the intact rags (it was the first original rag I ever had)! It was "Happy Rag" by Richard G. Grady.

Most of Grady's compositions (including "Happy Rag") are mediocre (or a little better) but he had one GREAT rag called "Nonsense" (he renewed the copyright on it in 1938). This is the only Grady rag Jasen & Tichenor mention (which is why it made my list). I sent a scan of "Nonsense" to Ben Intartaglia who posted it on this site. Through no fault of Ben's, the scan is somewhat blurred. I sent this to Ben so long ago that we were both on dialup. When I'd send him scans (it had to be a page at a time) it would fill up his E-mailbox and he couldn't receive any mail! I had to really decrease the quality and that's what Ben posted. I have the original scans so I'm going to repost this clearer copy which also includes the cover (from an Ebay posting years back) along with my midi. This is one of the fastest tempo midis I have, but I think it works well at that speed (my apologies to Scott Joplin).

BTW, Grady's name was also sometimes written as "Gradi" on sheet music. That may be his actual name with "Grady" being an Americanized version. I obtained his middle name from the copyright records.

Best to all,

Rob
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Last edited by Rob C. on Mon Jul 16, 2012 3:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Rob C.

Re: The Rags Thread

Post by Rob C. »

Pearson, F. H. - Ohio, A Buckeye Serenade (1907).pdf
Ohio (1907).MID
Hi again Everyone,

The most interesting thing in that box of old sheet music was "Ohio: A Buckeye Serenade" (1907) by F. H. Pearson. (Tom later gave me the original of this too.) Its lightly scored, but, other than that, very raggy to my ear. It's 2nd theme is very syncopated. It's also very small town/folksy sounding (so much so that I suggest playing it a few times--it'll grow on you!). The town it was published in still only has about a 1000 people. A call to the local library didn't yield any information, but, I later found out that in 1907 F. H. Pearson was a lady and quite young (late teens to early 20's according to her picture)! So, perhaps she later married and her married name is well-known to residents. (Thanks to Ben Intartaglia, who stitched the 2 halves of this large format cover together for me almost a decade ago.)

Toby, Thanks for your recent postings! I have already retrieved some of the Arndt pieces, but am posting these two first as they're already scanned.

Best to all,

Rob
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thalbergmad
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Re: The Rags Thread

Post by thalbergmad »

tobyjj wrote:Hello All,
and for Thalbergmad:-
thalbergmad wrote: Not really a rag, but I wonder if anyone might have a scan of Mississippi Mud.

Planning on a banjo/piano arrangement.

Thal
2 versions to hand - hope they help
Harry Barris - Mississippi Mud (Paul Whiteman's Rhythm Boys).pdf
Mississippi mud - Harry Barris.pdf
Regards,
tobyjj
That really is very kind of you. Those scans are perfect for my requirements.

Luv

Thal
Rob C.

Re: The Rags Thread

Post by Rob C. »

Oh, Jellyroll,

Thanks too, for the "Tin Whistle Blues"! It looks very interesting. I wanted to ask you if those two pieces were from the same folio, and, if so, which one (unless someone sent you the copies, in which case you may not know)?

Thanks,

Rob
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Re: The Rags Thread

Post by jellyroll »

Hello Rob
The 2 pieces are not from an "official" folio. I bought a "collection" of xeroxes from this person in the very early '80's at a ragtime festival. I never saw him again at the festivals after that. Those are the only instrumentals in the copies, the rest were vocal blues tunes.
Rob C.

Re: The Rags Thread

Post by Rob C. »

Thanks so much, Jellyroll. Wow, 30 years ago. Sounds like a Twilight Zone episode (especially the part about never seeing the seller again). We go to great pains to preserve all this great music! I always remember Rudi Blesh wishing that he had photocopied the unpublished Scott Joplin manuscripts when Lottie let him borrow them and he took them to James P. Johnson to play. And now, they're all gone (except for that page that Reginald Robinson spotted in the photo of Joplin's piano).

My best,

Rob
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