David W. Guion - 1915/1917: Guion was one of those rarities like John S. Zamecnik or George L. Cobb; a classically trained composer - in this case learning in Europe under Leopold Godowski - who made a name in popular music forms starting in the ragtime genre. Born and raised on a Texas cattle ranch with black servants and cowboys all over the spread, Guion had a panopoly of musical influences to select from outside of the classics. He eventually made his name transcribing cowboy tunes (including the definitive Home on the Range) and negro spirituals. But this piece is indicative of a true fusion of Texas folk influence meeting sage classical ideals. Marked as moderato and keeping to relatively soft dynamics through much of the piece, the suggestion that it should be played carefully and poignantly becomes obvious. The beautiful opening minor section has elements of call and response within plus descending scalar patterns and a delicacy remiscent of Chopin. The B section is more authoritative with an opportunity for a nice building crescendo within. The trio explores a minor theme again with an emphasis on the chord progression this time. The D section brings the piece to a great crescendo with moving octaves and complex syncopations before returning, even more softly this time, to the opening section. Guion first copyrighted the piece in 1915 at age 22, finally getting it published two years later by M. Witmark publishing, giving it a good distribution base. It was recorded to piano roll in 1918 by composer/performer Muriel Pollock, but has only started to gain real popularity since the 1990s. Hopefully this rendition will help add to that.

Iola (Posting Soon)

Lyrics

Charles L. Johnson (M) and James O'Dea (L) - 1906: Charles Johnson was a friend of Charles Daniels (a.k.a. Neil Moret), and both being the primary Kansas City ragtime composers, it stands to reason they would be in tune with each others work and local trends. Even though it was four years after the orignal "Indian" intermezzo and song Hiawatha by Daniels appeared, Johnson's entry into the field was no less significant, if at one point the target of a minor controversy. Also, as with Hiawatha, it was named after the town of Iola, Kansas, itself likely an Indian name, had the train rhythm undercurrent, and lyrics added by their mutual friend James O'Dea. This was also good exposure for Johnson since the second and subsequent editions of the piece were published by Jerome H. Remick, which had considerable distribution. The controversy came in 1940 with the publication and recording of a big band piece called Playmates, much of which sounded very suspiciously like Iola. While some may have forgotten the piece, the composer did not, and with current copyright owner Jerry Vogel he did battle against the Santly-Joy company which owned Playmates. By 1944, Johnson and Vogel did receive a settlement. They probably did not want to be seen as "Indian givers" in this instance.

Gil Lieby - 1966: Born Gilbert Lieberknecht in the south of the Bay Area in California, Gil Lieby was part of a musical family. Both of his parents played the zither and other assorted instruments. After his mother died when he was 14, Gil and his father Henry moved to Omaha where he stayed for the rest of his life. He discovered ragtime during the mid 1950s and the honky-tonk piano craze, and after hearing Bob Darch play ragtime live decided to play and write his own works. When the second ragtime revival was just gaining some footing in the mid 1960s, Gil wrote this triumphant and vivacious piece to commemorate the famous Goldenrod Showboat built in 1909, which had been restored in the early 1960s through the efforts of Trebor Tichenor, Dave Jasen and others. It was seen on the Mississippi River around the St. Louis area for many years, hosting ragtime festivals and always featuring good times and good music, which is reflected in this rag. While this performance if fairly respective of the score, I do throw in one key change suggested by Marty Mincer, one of the first to record this piece on a CD commissioned by the composer. Incidentally, this was the very boat that inspired Edna Ferber to write her novel Showboat, which became the famous Jerome Kern musical in the 1920s. After three decades in St. Louis the Goldenrod was moved to the Missouri River in 1990 and renovated once again. It was also registered as a National Historic Landmark. Sadly, as of 2008, the year that Gil passed away, the Goldenrod sits on the Illinois River with its future in doubt, perhaps to be burned to its hull. Continued court battles keep the status of this ship up in the air, and unless some other concern purchases it this piece of American and Ragtime music history may disappear. Hopefully through the efforts of Gil and others it will still be long remembered.

Copyright ©1966/1988 by Gilbert Lieberknecht. Permission for this recording granted by the late composer.

Arthur Schutt - 1926: While Schutt was not a prolific composer, he was still an extraordinary and challenging one. He was known more for his awesome technique on records, which brought new life to the pieces of Phil Ohman, Roy Bargy and other contemporaries. This piece and Ghost of the Piano from the previous year remain his best known, and Bluin' perhaps his most feared. Starting out with an intimidating set of long reaching left hand chords it doesn't let up for at least three minutes. When dissected, this piece, like most novelties, is made up largely of patterns. Executing those patterns is still a challenge, but adding some variations here and there to tune it to a particular player's style does help, as I've done on the repeats for both the A and B sections. Going into the trio, both the player and listener are delighted and challenged by a series of whole tone chords and scales. Then the real fireworks begin in the 32 bar trio. I worked with this piece for a couple of years before my arm was broken in 2002, but took it up again in 2008 and found it to be a little less scary, so have run with it. Or at least sauntered. It is also now in the live repertoire, so one can hear it at one of my concerts or festival appearances, but no guarantees on whether me or the piano come out alive!

Copyright ©1926/1954 by Robbins Music Corporation.

The Glow Worm
(Das Glühwürmchen) (Posting Soon)

Lyrics

Paul Lincke (M), Heinz Bolten-Backers (German Lyrics) and Lilla Cayley Robinson (English Lyrics) - 1902/1920: I will be the first to say that this piece has never been at the top of or even on any list of my favorites, even though I (as many of my generation and before) have known it since I was - well, I can't even remember when I didn't know it. However, following a surprising number of requests over the years I finally got up early one day and dug into the worm finding some pleasant surprises. For starters, it is not just a simple little song. First included in the opera Lysistrata by the German team of Lincke and Bolten-Brackers, the original publication was actually a fairly complex intermezzo or idyl (tone poem), and without the lyrics it is quite classical in nature. It is perhaps the simplicity amidst the complexity that makes this piece so appealing to so many, and why it was recorded and performed so often throughout the 20th century, including schools (like my own Millikin Junior High) around the world. In 1920 it was incorporated into the Broadway show The Girl Behind the Counter with new English lyrics by Robinson. Since then, favorite versions include those by The Mills Brothers as arranged by Johnny Mercer (who retooled the piece with additional new lyrics), Bette Midler, and the hard-to-avoid Spike Jones and His City Slickers. In keeping with the intent of the composer and respecting the work that went into the arrangement, the first nearly five minutes of the performance are more or less as represented on the printed page. The recap to the end, however, is more in keeping with stride and ragtime takes of it, including a slight nod to Jo Ann Castle's 1960s single of the piece. Also, just so you know, the little incandescant wigglers are actually bioluminscent insects, not larvae, which come in a variety of hues. The females glow in order to attract males, and the males glow in order to detract predators. As the worm turns, I came away from recording this piece with a glowing feeling for sure.

Johannes Brahms - 1872: Brahms? One of the three Bs? In a ragtime page? Actually, some of the material he wrote translated to or in some cases was a precursor of syncopated styles that would appear within a half century of this piece. Even some of the ragtime era waltzes like Scott Joplin's Bethena had some elements of Brahms' famed waltzes in them. The Hungarian Dances were a set of 21 pieces calling on existing Hungarian folk strains and published for piano 4 hands, later followed by the first 10 of arranged them for solo piano. They were quite popular in their day and provided a decent continuing income for Brahms during his lifetime. This particular one has long endured as the most popular and recognizable of the dances, used in popular media like cartoons, movies, and even video games during the past century, often to suggest an Eastern European setting. Anton Dvořák orchestrated this dance as well. Translation into ragtime just requires a little massaging and infusing a few syncopations. This particular rendition was inspired by Lou Busch from his album Joe "Fingers" Carr Plays the Classics in 1954, and is an expansion of his take on the piece that actually follows the original dance more closely than his track. Unlike other classically-based rags like Russian Rag and Hungarian Rag, this amounts to more of an arrangement than a new composition, but is in the Contemporary section due to the unique nature of the arrangement. There are many familiar novelty patterns throughout, and some Zez Confrey style bass in the third section, padded with a couple of extra measures to even things out. The introduction and transitions are added for separation of ideas, and the ending flourish also calls on Busch for flashy purposes only. When performing this at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts I asked if there were any Hungarian dancers in the audience. Surprise! There were - and from Europe at that. But no dancing was forthcoming. You are, of course, allowed to strut your stuff at home in front of the computer. Just make sure your webcam is not broadasing live!

Arrangement Copyright ©2008 by Bill Edwards and Siggnal Sounds.

Everybody Loves My Baby (Posting June)

Lyrics

Spencer Williams and Jack Palmer - 1924: This was the first of a pair of "baby" songs by Williams that culminated in I Found a New Baby two years later. Williams was doing very well in the 1920s with consistent hits, some in league with Clarence Williams (no known relation), and succeeding as a publisher as well, something a black person was less likely to have done prior to 1900 due to cultural restraints. This piece is cleverly worded by Palmer, allowing for any race to sing if effectively (another fine selling point), and it includes contemporary slang like "sweet patootie" It is clearly intended to be sung by a male. The minor verse, done here in more of a blues style in the beginning, leads into a chorus that spends equal time in the minor and major modes. After the bluesy chorus the tempo picks up for a rollicking stride rendition of the tune. There are nods in here to ragtime friends Jeff Barnhart (who does a fine rendition of the piece) and Brian Holland (from his arrangement of the follow-up song). Comparisons of Everbody Loves My Baby and I Found a New Baby (the price of everybody wanting one's baby) will show that the chorus of each is most the same save for the 8 bar bridge. If it ain't broke, why fix it.

Copyright ©1924/1952 by Warner Music.

The Cat Came Back (Posting Soon)

Lyrics

Harry S. Miller - 1893: It's that same old story. No matter how hard you try that good-for-nothing mooching varmint who pays little mind to you unless he needs feeding simply won't disappear. He keeps coming back in spite of the evidence to the contrary that he should. That, of course, is the premise for this still-performed song that just barely predates the ragtime era. The versions we hear today at campfires or in recorded form (my favorite is by Garrison Keillor on his Cat CD) are quite different from the original, which was really an early "coon" song in thin disguise. The illustration on the cover is priceless, of course, if a bit frightening to small children. Even though all of the many original verses are included in the posted lyrics, there are hundreds more that have sprung up since then, since in 1893 there were no cars, semi trucks, gas chambers, chainsaws, sewage plants, assault rifles, nuclear devices, or other WMDs and PETA nightmares that would be an equal match to a crafty cat. Some minor alterations have been done to the melody here simply because the original was a poor fit to the lyrics. Also note that the original lyrics have ten verses, and that the cat finally dies after the first nine. Even though I have often suggestively sung this to my poor cats (as included on my It's Ragging Cats and Dogs CD so you can do the same), they somehow keep coming back anyhow just to torture me.

Adapted by Bill Edwards - 2006: While I was recording my album The Gospel from Within I sometimes just sat in the church with the recorder ready to go waiting for divine inspiration. It usually came, but not always how I expected. In fact, I'm not sure what the message was here. I wanted to present that great old Sunday School spiritual, Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho, in a new manner. The more modern musical allegory that suddenly popped into my head was The Viper's Drag by Thomas "Fats" Waller, a tune associated with vipers or marijuana smokers. Not a match made in heaven, hmm? But a little bit of paraphrasing and square peg in round hole moments, and by the fourth take I had something. You'll hear parts of both tunes plus some original passages of my own in this MIDI replica of the piano/bass album version of the piece. Perhaps the wall of skepticism some of you may have about this odd combination will also come tumbling down.

Arrangement Copyright ©2006 by Bill Edwards and Siggnal Sounds.

Harry L. Cooke - 1907: Don't judge a rag by it's cover? In this case, a strange cover indicates a somewhat strange rag, but still worthy of attention. It is comprised of more than the usual three or four sections, totalling six actually. However, given that several are only 8 measure in length instead of the usual 16, the piece as about the same length as your standard issue piano rag. Little is known of the composer. As for the fish, however, it is officially called the spoonbill or paddlefish, largely found in Oklahoma, Missouri and Iowa. The spoonbill is a remnant of prehistoric days on earth, and it has been postulated that the purpose of the long snout is more for navigation than efficient feeding. It should be also noted that on a scale of 1 to 10, the spoonbill rates a 0 since it has no scales. That explains the fish, but as for the frog band? I find them quite ribbeting, myself.

Scott Joplin - 1901: While Joplin, as a black composer, usually associated with other blacks in Sedalia, his new found celebrity with the local publication of Maple Leaf Rag and relationship with publisher John Stark elevated his status in open-minded Sedalia, Missouri to a point where he could also mingle with members of white society as well. Having already composed a piece for the recently shut down Maple Leaf Club, Joplin worked on this piece, likely intended to be titled Augustain Club Waltzes, for the white Augustain Club, formed in December of 1899, the same month as the other club's demise. It was not published for over another year, and the club's name was misspelled in the title, but it was still a milestone. Historian Ed Berlin in his book King of Jazz suggests that the piece was apparently commissioned by the club, and it was possibly performed by an orchestra at a club event in March of 1900. However, Joplin was evidently never asked to perform at the club. Nonetheless, Augustan Club Waltzes brought him as much respect in the entirety of Sedalia as Maple Leaf would eventually bring him throughout the country. After a very brief opening, the A section of this relatively short waltz clearly suggests the use of multiple melodic lines in different orchestral timbres. There is a hint of syncopation in the B section with a chord held over the bar of the eighth measure, but that's as close to the ideal of ragtime as the piece comes. As was typical for waltzes of the time, a relative minor section follows, with another chord held over the barline every four measures. The fourth section works with the idea of minimalism, sparsely stating a melody in octaves, each one held for a measure or more, with a lyrical effect, breaking free near the end of the section. This culminates in a fitting grand finale. Some of the ideas in Augustan Club Waltz would be expanded upon in his inspired Bethena just a few years later.

Gaston Lichtenstein - 1900: This charming little composition came to me directly from the piano bench of ragtime pianist Marty Mincer. It was in Marty's family for many years, and he titled one of his albums after it. The composer is hard to trace, but the publisher, George Jaberg Music Company, flourished in Cincinnati, Ohio around the turn of the century, doing vanity runs as well as a few distributed publications. Their 1900 catalog includes many waltzes, galops and ethnic two steps such as Edgecombe, but no mention of piano rags. The traditional cakewalk rhythmic pattern is closely adhered to with a lot of emphasis on the left hand bass patterns as well. The B section allows for adventurous improvisation, which is explored here. The trio is actually a very smooth contrast to the rest of the piece, even at eight measures for the theme, and is followed by the opening strain in the new key. This arrangement sticks quite a bit closer to the score than Marty's recording (which includes an additional theme of his own design), but there are some of his neater tricks thrown in here with mine for variety.