Scott Joplin, James Scott and Joseph Lamb were the three most important composers of classic ragtime. Joseph Lamb was the only one of the three who was not African-American. Lamb's first published rag was "Sensation a Rag." It was published by John Stark and arranged by Scott Joplin.
Scott Joplin, James Scott and Joseph Lamb were the three most important composers of classic ragtime. James Scott went to St Louis to meet his hero, Scott Joplin. Joplin listened to some of Scott's tunes and arranged for John Stark to publish "Frog Legs Rag."
Scott Joplin, "The King of Rag Time Writers," published "Pine Apple Rag" in 1908.
I found Harriet Janis and Rudi Blesh's book They All Played Ragtime at the Anza Branch Library and enjoyed it, but I hadn't heard most of the music. The Anza and Richmond branches did not have any ragtime records, but I found Joshua Rifkin's album Scott Joplin Piano Rags at the Main Library. I later bought my own copy.
One hundred years ago today, on 01-April-1917, the father of ragtime, Scott Joplin, died at the age of 49. Joplin had played piano at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. In 1894 he settled in Sedalia, Missouri, home of the Maple Leaf Club, and taught piano. I could not find a reference to his passing in any contemporary newspapers that are online.
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In 1899, he published his first ragtime composition, "Original Rags."
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"Maple Leaf Rag," also published in 1899, was Scott Joplin's most famous and
influential composition. I once put together a mix tape made up
entirely of recordings of this tune.
In 1911, Joplin published Treemonisha, an opera. Joplin was able to produce it once, in 1913. Since 1975, it has been staged several times.
"Maple Leaf Rag," published in 1899, was Scott Joplin's most famous and influential composition. I once put together a mix tape made up entirely of recordings of this tune.
Scott Joplin composed many famous ragtime tunes. "Searchlight Rag," published in 1907, is not a famous one. It is named after the town of Searchlight, Nevada, where a gold rush in the first decade of the 20th Century had drawn some of his friends.
