fhimpsl wrote:Dear Luigi,
Many thanks for posting the unknown recordings by Ragtime Bob.. There's nothing I like better than researching ragtime mystery tunes. I can honestly say I've never heard these two pieces before. However, on Rag #1 the first strain is somewhat similar to George L. Cobb's "Feedin' The Kitty." It seems Bob just played the first and second theme and then repeated the first again. But of course the second theme does not match, so it's not "Feedin' The Kitty" after all! On Rag #2 Bob is obviously playing more in a traditional jazz style (plenty of Morton influence) especially on the first theme, which reminds me a little bit of the jazz standard "Tia Juana". But of course it's not that tune at all. One thing is for sure, it's a great rag and playing by Ragtime Bob at his best.
Sorry I couldn't be more help in identifying these tunes. Unfortunately Bob Darch has long passed, as have sadly so many of the "second generation" ragtimers of the 1950s-60s. The only people I can think to ask would be Dave Jasen, Trebor Tichenor, or Terry Parrish. I know all of them for years, but have been out of touch with Dave for a very long time (and he might be the most likely to know). I can play the files for Trebor the next time I see him. He might not remember the titles, but would probably have the tape from which these cuts were taken, and that tape hopefully still has an index! Bob Wright is another possibility, but I've been out of touch with him for years as well. I'll try hard as I can to ID these.
Thanks too for the "Blue Grass Queen" which is beautiful, and also "Brush Creek" which I have somewhere, but never knew Johnny Maddox had recorded part of it in a medley! I didn't think that rag existed outside of the Library of Congress; but there's always a chance of finding a rarity. We all know the most amazing things still turn up after all these years!
All Best,
Frank
Dear Frank,
thank you so much for your help with the two Darch recordings!
You're right, the first rag has a first strain that is almost identical to the first strain in Cobb's "Feeding The Kitty"!!
Thanks for pointing this out!!
By the way only now I notice that "Feeding The Kitty" has a second strain that is also reused in his "Procrastination Rag"..and it is a smart re-working of the second strain in "Levee Rag"...
I was quite familiar with Bob Darch's website, he had one in the 1990s and he also had an email address. Of course I repented I had never written to him, also considering he was my very favorite ragtime pianist (excluding the originals of the ragtime era of course!)...not to mention that he had known almost all the survived original ragtimers!
I see you posted a number of great special arrangements in the School of Syncopation forum and that one of those is a Bert Read arrangement of "Steamboat Rag". So I'km attaching here the original version, published by Stark.
Then Martin posted some great arrangements by Winifred Atwell (great pianist!!!), inclunding her neat arrangement of the "Charleston" (she also included a hint of "Five Foot Two" in it). I will post another couple of Atwell arrangements myself, not included for the moment.
For now, here are two other unissued recordings of the GREAT
Bob Darch from 1966 and 1967 tapes. This time I chose two very famous numbers, "Sunflower Slow Drag" and "Calliope Rag". I refused to listen to other versions of these two pieces after I heard these two unique, great and matchless versions played by Ragtiem Bob Darch
As for
Winifred Atwell, I post her great version of the "
Steamboat Rag"!
Luigi
Winfred Atwell - Steamboat Rag (Burnett).mp3
Burnett, Ernie - Steamboat Rag.pdf
Bob Darch - Calliope Rag (Scott; Darch).mp3
Bob Darch - Sunflower Slow Drag (Hayden; Joplin).mp3
