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Then in 1906 his pieces started to appear again, this time with New York native journalist Victor H. Smalley. One of their first pieces was Dat Lovin' Rag, dedicated to W.B. Dixon of St. Paul, Minnesota, where Smalley would be residing by 1910. Published first in Chicago, the piece got picked up by F.B. Haviland in New York where it saw a measure of success. This simple ragtime song was integrated into a 1907 play with lyrics and libretto by the ambitious Smalley. The Merry Widower had a short 1908 run at the famous Pekin Theater. While the play did not endure, the song did through the efforts of rising star Sophie Tucker. In fact, the feedback she got from Dat Lovin' Rag convincer her to steer more towards syncopated songs in her act, soon propelling her to national stardom. The piece also became a solo piano rag with a little bit of rearranging in 1908, one of those rare instances where the instrumental version came after the song.
Theron C. Bennett was born in Pierce City, Missouri, to Vermont native George Nelson Bennett and his Missouri wife Hattie Bennett. It appears he was an only child to the druggist and his wife. After his schooling in Missouri, during which his mother died in the 1890s,
 Theron attended New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (now New Mexico State University) in Las Cruces, where he obtained a degree focused on music, but possibly with some business background. While there he engaged in organizing a minstrel troupe of around twenty members with one of the professors. As of the 1900 Census, Theron still listed Pierce City as his home base.Bennett's first publication, Pickaninny Capers, came in 1902, the year he graduated. It was followed by the successful and suggestive self-published Satisfied: An Emotional Drag in 1903. This got the attention of publisher Victor Kremer of Chicago who hired him as a composer and arranger and bought Satisfied for reissue as well. It turned out to be a fortuitous move for both when in 1904 Bennett took the notorious "Buddy Bolden/Funky Butt" strain from New Orleans and incorporated into St. Louis Tickle, one of many pieces exploiting the 1904 Lewis and Clark Exposition (World's Fair) in St. Louis, Missouri. It was published using the names Barney & Seymore as the composers, in part to perhaps sound like a vaudeville act, and in part to perhaps protect the composer's identity if the use of the wicked strain backfired. Fortunately it did not, and St. Louis Tickle, clearly a hit at the fair and often recorded since, ended up selling well for over two decades. Bennett also contributed a set of waltzes to the fair's musical mélange under his own name. Theron wrote two fine rags over the next few years, including Sweet Pickles and Pork and Beans. He also composed an Indian intermezzo, a popular genre at that time started by Theron's friend Charles N. Daniels' and his non-Indian piece Hiawatha. Lovelight was released as an instrumental, and as two songs with different lyric sets in different keys. Around 1908, as the Kremer firm began to dissipate, starting with the defection of its namesake owner, Bennett formed his own music firm which published his own works plus notable pieces like All the Grapes, California Sunshine and Melancholy Baby. His first move was to Omaha, Nebraska, in 1908 where he opened a new piano dealership. He was in Omaha for the 1910 Census as a musician in a store. Within a couple of years, he had settled in Denver, Colorado, but still traveled regularly to the retailers he distributed his works, including New York, St. Louis and Omaha.  One of the more notorious episodes of his publishing career has to do with W.C. Handy's Memphis Blues. As the story goes, Bennett was visiting his Memphis representative L.Z. Phillips at Bry's Department Store. Phillips had agreed to print Memphis Blues for Handy on speculation based on the clear potential of good sales, and was waiting for the first 1000 copies for distribution in Memphis. Based on Phillips recommendation, Bennett told Handy he would act as a distribution agent offering him national exposure, a deal hard to turn down. Phillips and Bennett were both present with Handy when the initial delivery of 1000 copies was made. When Handy came to check on sales a weeks after the delivery, Phillips and Bennett showed him a stack of nearly the full 1000 copies, noting that sales were slow, and encouraged him to simply sell the piece outright, which a confused Handy, who knew the piece had been popular, agreed to for a mere $50. What they did not tell Handy was that this was the second stack of 1000 as the first 1000 copies had sold out quickly. A few weeks later, another 10,000 copies were ordered with Bennett's imprint, and Zimmerman was offered a job as a wholesale manager. Within months, Bennett sold the piece to publisher Joe Morris for a rather large amount. To make matters worse, Bennett's frequent lyricist George Norton was hired by Morris to add words to a song version of Memphis Blues which were only fair at best, and which Handy objected to. The whole episode compelled Handy to form his own music company, Handy and Pace, which was successful on its own merits for many years.Bennett pulled a similar number on Ernie Burnett's Melancholy, first getting Burnett to agree to have Norton replace the lyrics that Burnett's wife Maybelle Watson had penned, then altering the title to Melancholy Baby after having bought it outright. The piece did very well for the publisher throughout most of his remaining life. During this period Bennett also started a chain of music stores with his profits from the sales, primarily offering sheet music and records. He had outlets in Denver, New York City, Omaha, Chicago, St. Louis and Memphis. Bennett continued to write and publish some of his own works as well. Chills and Fevers was a good seller for his company. In Denver, Theron was listed in the mid to late-1910s as not only a publisher but as the proprietor of the Dutch Mill Cafe (a descendant of which is still in operation today), which was also a music store. It was evidently one of the great meeting places of Denver musicians and artists. In 1917 he published the song Around Her Neck She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, which is the source of the tradition for yellow ribbons in honor of those who have gone to war, and possibly the later song Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Old Oak Tree. The authorship of this song remains disputed to this day, but it was likely an older folk melody that Bennett simply adapted and arranged. When it was later included in the John Wayne film She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Leroy Parker and M. Ottner received composition credit. His 1918 draft record also describes him as being short with medium build, and black hair with brown eyes. It also indicates that his father had now retired to Florida. Existing records indicate that he likely never married. In the 1920 Census Theron is listed as the manager of a department store, likely the sheet music department within the store.
After a decade or so in Denver, Bennett followed the crowds down to Southern California in 1922, and remained there for the rest of his life. It wasn't long before he formed a jazz band primarily composed of band students from the University of Southern California (USC) as well as his own society orchestra. His group was among the first to play live on the new medium of radio before the end of 1922. As referenced in The Music Trade Review of April 14, 1923: "Edgar F. Bitner, general manager of Leo Feist, Inc., who is touring the Pacific Coast accompanied by Mrs. Bitner, was tendered an unusual entertainment prior to his departure from Los Angeles, when an all-Feist program was broadcasted [sic] from the Anthony Studios, [KFI] station, through the courtesy of Herb Wiedoeft's orchestra... Theron Bennett, the well-known orchestra leader who conducts the Green Mill Orchestra in Los Angeles, and who has been a close friend of Mr. Bitner for many years, did much to entertain the party during its stay in Los Angeles." He also conducted the Packard Six Orchestra (sponsored by the automobile company of the same name), and still appeared with his Dutch Mill Orchestra, both frequently hear on KFI. In the mid 1920s KFI, a clear channel station, could often be heard as far off as the East Coast, reflected in the radio listings of papers like The Washington Post and The Bridgeport [Connecticut] Telegram. In the mid 1920s Bennett opened his own school of popular music, dance music and jazz piano at 3290 W. Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles, advertising it heavily in 1926. He also served as the president of the California organization of former New Mexico students for his alma mater. As of 1930 Bennett was listed as a music teacher with a house mate, Austen Peerly, a local gardener and landscaper 30 years younger than the composer. As the Great Depression settled in, his businesses all folded and he lost virtually all of his assets. Theron Bennett died nearly destitute in 1937 at age 57 after a prolonged illness. The official obituary in the Los Angeles Times incorrectly listed Melancholy Baby and Memphis Blues as being among his compositions, which further exacerbated that lingering issue. The New York Times got it correct, however. He left behind a fair body of pieces that he either composed or published, and some of them are pieces that are still well remembered today as important works of the ragtime era. Bennett was honored at the one of the earliest ragtime festivals organized by Bob Darch in Pierce City in September 1961. | |||||||
Irving Berlin, perhaps more than any other composer of the first half of the 20th Century and beyond, represents America and American Music at its finest. Given his background it becomes even more extraordinary when one understands his contributions to this adopted country of his. Berlin also managed to stay right on the cusp of popular forms to which he was contributing, not mastering them, but certainly writing into them well. It is likely that he wrote AND published more songs than any other popular song writer in history, wrote hundreds of unpublished or unpublishable tunes as well, and likely created more pieces than anybody 20th century writer as both composer and lyricist. He was also quirky, but in spite of not being a movie star in stature, he was a true American favorite among the public and among the stars as well. From truly humble beginnings Berlin managed to build a musical empire and a legacy that is hard to match and remains with us in the 21st century. Early Years
This great American was actually born in Mogilev (modern day Belarus) or Tehmen (according to his 1942 draft record, but at variance with other records), Russia in 1888 as Israel Isidore Baline, to Jewish parents Moses Baline and Leah (Yarchin) Baline. His father was a cantor who sometimes worked as a shochet (the person who kills animals in a kosher manner for sale and consumption) as well to support his wife and eight children. In the face of the increasing progroms and oppression of Jews in Russia, Baline moved his family to the United States when Israel, the youngest sibling, was around five. Perhaps the first hint of the coming name change, the family is shown on the arrival list of the Rhynland on September 14, 1893, as the Beilin family, but it is not clear whether they actually adopted the Berlin last name when they immigrated. Moses found work in New York certifying Kosher meat before it went to market, while his wife kept house. When Israel was around eight his father died, leaving the boy and his older brothers and sisters (one already working as a domestic) in the position of helping their mother survive in the New York ghetto. So he and his siblings went to work as news butchers, delivery boys, and whatever odd jobs they could find, usually at the sacrifice of sufficient schooling. He picked up some singing skills as well, although the boy never had formal training in piano, voice, or even harmony and theory. He was simply a natural. Gaining Success
Having become more competent as a pianist, albeit in a limited fashion, but more valuable also as one who could recognize good work when it came across his desk, Berlin was also utilized to review the works of other composers for publication, and became Snyder's right hand man. One of these composers was Scott Joplin, who in 1911 was shopping his opera Treemonisha around Tin Pan Alley in hopes of getting it in print, and raising money to stage it. There is a good chance that the score came across Berlin's desk. Later in that year with the help of Snyder arranger Alfred Doyle he re-purposed an earlier unsuccessful song, Alexander and His Clarinet, with a new verse, a tune we all now know as Alexander's Ragtime Band. This new verse was highly similar to the original melody of Joplin's A Real Slow Drag which closed the opera. In fact, it was reported by his surviving wife that he may have altered the melody so it did not match the verse to Alexander's Ragtime Band. A newspaper notice of that time also noted that Joplin was looking for Mr. Berlin on a certain matter, which may have been concerning the potentially subconscious plagiarism. The issue was never fully resolved, but the facts seem plausible. The chorus of Alexander's Ragtime Band is similarly constructed from existing tunes, including the Reveille bugle call and Stephen Collins Foster's Old Folks at Home (Swanee River). While there is not a lick of actual ragtime syncopation in the piece, it quickly became and has stayed as an anthem of the ragtime era, and it permanently cemented Berlin's name in the songwriting world. The piece was immediately recorded by the Victor Military Band, and even played on the Titanic's maiden (and final) voyage the following year. It has been recorded endlessly by all stripes of music artists, including Ray Charles in a unique arrangement. In the late 1930s a movie was made based on the song. Even in its original printings at least 40 different entertainers were featured on the various covers of the piece. A piano solo version was also available for a while, likely arranged by Doyle. All of this success from one publication, and yet Irving was just beginning his contributions to the Great American Song Book. Broadway Beginnings
Almost since his collaboration with Snyder began, Irving Berlin songs had found their way into shows on Broadway and 42nd Street through interpolation, and given his past dealings with Tony Pastor he was no stranger to the stage either. However in 1914, Berlin finally released one of the first ragtime-based (more in name than in style) musicals (by today's standards musicals of that time would be considered revues) on Broadway. Few stage musicals at that time, perhaps with George M. Cohan's (who wrote a song lauding Irving Berlin melodies a year later) being the exception, had songs by any one composer, but Berlin did provide the majority of them for Watch Your Step. His original stated intent was to write a "ragtime opera," although he ended up with a pretty decent revue featuring some syncopation and lots of dancing. For the debut Berlin and his producers already had an ace in the hole, utilizing the recent popularity of the famous dancing couple Vernon and Irene Castle as his stars. Taking some queues from the Ziegfeld Follies, there were even some extravagances displayed on the stage, including a sizable medley of popular opera themes with some syncopation added. The combination of talents in the show made it a great success, and it played initially for 175 performances, a good run at that time. Most of the songs also ended up in print and were sold in the lobby as well as in stores, an added bonus. For the purposes of publishing this show the composer formed his own company, Irving Berlin, Inc., but still remained with Waterson and Snyder who published his popular tunes. One of the tunes in this show quickly gained hit status and eventually became a standard, the finely double-layered Simple Melody (later renamed Play a Simple Melody). The following year he contributed the majority of pieces for Stop! Look! Listen!, which ran for a respectable 105 performances. The standout hit of that show, still with us today, was I Love a Piano, reportedly his favorite tune of all time. Hollywood, Then Back to Broadway
While Berlin songs sold well throughout the country, they were mostly performed live in New York through the 1920s. However, in 1927, as synchronized sound film became a possibility, a Vitaphone short came out called The Little Princess of Song starring 13-year-old Sylvia Froos, singing Blue Skies. There was enough interest in the piece that Al Jolson, no stranger to Berlin songs by this time, used it for his pivotal "live dialog" scene in The Jazz Singer shortly thereafter, reportedly with ragtime performer Paul Lingle at the offstage piano. The movie, that scene in particular, was a sensation, and Blue Skies certainly did not suffer. It went on to be heard on recordings and in movies a panoply of styles, including one 21st century rendition by singer/actor Brent Spiner as Data in the tenth Star Trek movie. But it also meant that Berlin songs could potentially be heard virtually anywhere as performed by stars of the screen. In the early days of sound when dialog was still difficult to capture, but music was much easier to record, many of the earliest sound films became musicals, and they drew on whatever they could find in order to both have new material and capitalize on the subsequent sales of sheet music or records. Berlin was happy to oblige this new trend, and stepped up to the plate. The Berlin Renaissance
Patriotic was once again very much in vogue in 1942, and this time it was Uncle Sam that approached Berlin, asking him to repeat what he had done for morale in World War I with Yip Yip Yiphank. He quickly revived some of the old tunes, came up with new ones, and This Is the Army was born. It cleverly included the staging of Yip Yip Yiphank in the plot, spanning both of the wars. While the initial run was only 113 performances, as personnel were constantly being shipped off, but continued to tour the country and the world throughout the war. The unit formed to stage this and other shows for the military still exists into the 21st century. This Is the Army was made into a fairly successful movie in 1943 featuring future California politicians George Murphy and Ronald Reagan, with a cameo by Berlin himself singing Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning, which required some technical prowess by the sound crew to pull off since his voice recorded so softly. Berlin also toured extensively during the war, playing in the African, European and Pacific theaters, often shortly after a location had been liberated. After the war, President Harry Truman awarded him the American Medal of Merit for his contributions to troop morale. | ||||||
Mike Bernard was a considerable talent in many fields, including inventing some of his own biography, which made research frustrating at times. Hopefully this biography will cover enough of the facts and anomalies to present a somewhat accurate picture. While conventional sources show him as born in 1881 or 1884, his age in the 1900 and 1910 U.S. Census records indicate a probable 1874 birth year, and locating a draft record was difficult, so this is inconclusive. To further compound the issue, the 1900 Census, which is usually fairly accurate, lists his birth month as May, not March. The March 17th date may have been a gimmick to give him more of a contrived Irish heritage (he was actually born to German parents). The 1880 Census indicates a possible 1872 or 1873 date, which could explain the absence of a draftt record. For consistency with the best verifiable information this essay will stick with 1874.
Mike was born Michael Bernhard to Ferdinand and Emmilia Bernhard in New York state. He was the only boy of five children, his sisters being Josephine (1870), Maria (1875), Anna (1876) and Liesa (1880). The 1880 Census showed the family living in Buffalo, New York with Ferdinand listed as a laborer.  Discovered to be both precocious and talented at an early age, Michael received good musical training in his youth, eventually going to Germany around 1892 to study at the Berlin Conservatory of Music. He reportedly played a performance in front of Kaiser Wilhelm II during this time.Once back in New York City in late 1895, Mike heard his first ragtime as played by white composer/performer Ben Harney (who claimed to have invented the ragtime genre in part) and decided he also wanted to play the music that Harney was doing; Ragtime. So he learned what he could from Harney, who was a couple of years older, while at the same time working up the prowess to challenge Harney's position in New York vaudeville. Before long either Bernard or his quickly accumulating fans dubbed him the "Rag-Time King of the World." This could have been prompted by his 1899 composition, The Rag-Time King: A Symphony In Rag-Time. The historically designated originator of the moniker was Richard K. Fox, owner of the famous pink National Police Gazette weekly newspaper that reported on entertainment and sporting and anything salacious in the city and beyond. After spending a few months in the orchestra pit as music director for Tony Pastor's theater, the most popular vaudeville spot in New York through the 1880s and 1890s, Mike joined Harney on stage as a resident ragtime pianist. The first located public notice of him performing there in any capacity was in the New York Times of April 8, 1896. Bernard was among a list of performers listed at Pastor's for "the annual benefit of Harry S. Sanderson, including well established acts like Weber and Fields and Matthews and Bulger. There were several notices to follow in the weekly entertainment listings, and Bernard was soon engaged all about town. While never a prolific composer, Mike did try his hand at a few pieces starting in 1896. His first, The Belle of Hogan's Alley with lyrics by James W. Blake, was based on an early comic in the New York Sunday World. It was dedicated to pioneer Sunday comics artist R.F. Outcault (Richard Felton), whose most famous enduring character was The Yellow Kid, the likeness of which appears on the cover with other Outcault creations. A Times notice from March 19, 1899, notes that Mike was one of the few performers featured at the first of a series of Sunday evening concerts held at the Academy of Music. The 1900 Census shows Bernard living in New York City as a pianist, and married for around a year to May Bernard, who was 19 years old to his 26. There was a well-promoted and much-hyped ragtime piano competition on January 23, 1900, run by Fox and the Police Gazette. In the January 20 issue printed just prior to the contest, the following announcement appeared: "Many eyes are on the diamond-studded trophy... The ragtime contest will settle a much vexed question... since the coon melodies became popular...  We assure our readers that in the first place the best man will win... an artist who belongs in an obscure country town has as much chance to win as anyone... Acknowledged leader of the ragtime players is Mr. Michael Bernard, leader of the orchestra at Pastor's and whose fame as a manipulator of the ivories has spread through the land. If ever there was a champ, he is one." It seemed that the fix was in, and indeed Bernard did secure his trophy and earned his title, with few if any complaints from those who participated.There were a few dissenters from outside the Pastor's circle, however. As noted in the 1950 book They All Played Ragtime by Rudi Blesh and Harriet Janis, pianist Jake Schaefer, who was "persona non grata" at Pastor's theater, chimed in on Bernard's status with the Police Gazette, who printed his letter: "I see where Mike Bernard is to give a ragtime contest and bills himself the champion of the world. I feel called upon out of duty to myself to respectfully dispute his claim to the title. I have played in contests all over the country and won first honors in every one in which I competed. I have played against the best of them and as I have never been defeated in open contest I was generally looked upon as the champion if there is such a thing among rag players. Has Mr. Bernard ever won any equitably conducted contests or has he competed against any of the leaders?
"I do not say I can defeat Bernard, but I would like a chance to prove whether I can or not. While I have had little trouble in defeating all my comptetitors of course there is no telling when you will rub up against your superior. If matters can be satifactorily arranged, I will play against Bernard but not on his terms. He suggests that the judges be selected from the audience. It is just like a boxer with a traveling combination who is meeting all comers. When an outsider comes on the stage he is handicapped in that he is a stranger; the boxer with the company is not out to get the worst of it and the managers do not as a rule try to give him the bad end... "I would be glad to have a try at Bernard under the following conditions which all are bound to admit are fair: Each contestant to name two judges who can play ragtime music and have the four select a fifth; each one o the five to show his ability to judge by playing a number of selections. In that way both would get a fair show... As a gracefel suggestion, I might say that colored folk be selected as judges..." The Police Gazette responded to Schaefer's call for a challenge to have him compete, but did not fully accept his terms. "In regard to the judge question, those selected from an audience are all right from any standpoint... One of the judges in this case will be a representative of the Police Gazette and he will not be biased in favor of of anyone." Whether Schaefer showed up for the competition on January 23 is unclear. That Bernard won by popular acclaim is very evident.
Mike became the talk of the town among pianists and ragtime fans. This win gave him great visibility, and soon his name was making headlines beyond the Police Gazette, getting more notice in the standard newspapers of New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.  Occasionally the Gazette sponsored or promoted some of the many ragtime competitions in which Harney and Bernard participated, with Bernard usually coming out victorious, but these were found in a variety of theaters as well, in an environment not too dissimilar from today's wrestling matches. The Gazette in particular gave out a fabulous diamond medal and a trophy for their competitions, and similar prizes were handed out for contests held at Tammany Hall during that period in which Mike mostly, but not always, fared very well. In particular, Bernard was known for concert-grade arrangements of tunes complete with sound effects produced by the piano, and for his ability to also syncopate the left hand and pass melodic lines between hands.It appears that for a short time he secured a position with well-known publisher E.T. Paull, as announced in The Music Trade Review of September 28, 1901. "One of the best known piano players in the country is Mike Bernard. He has won many contests for piano playing, and is well known throughout the continent. Mr. Bernard has joined the forces of the E. T. Paull Music Co., and will devote all his time to furthering the firm's interests and he will doubtless prove a valuable acquisition in every way. He has just written the music to a clever song entitled 'Since Sally's in the Ballet,' Vincent B. Bryan having written the words. Another good number by Mike Bernard is 'The Phantom Dance...' With Bert Morphy - the general manager, Mike Bernard and [manager] Harry Rogers, things should certainly hum at 46 West Twenty-eighth street, New York." Another notice in the October 26 edition of the same journal noted that "Mike Bernard, well known as the champion long distance piano-player, and who 'banged the box' six seasons at Tony Pastor's, is now the manager of the professional bureau of the E.T. Paull Music Company... He informed The Review that he is going to spring a surprise on the public soon. What it is he will not say." Other than the two publications mentioned, nothing more of Bernard's appeared under the Paull logo, and perhaps the surprise turned out to be that their association was somewhat short-lived. New Yorkers loved vaudeville, and they loved contests involving musical prowess, and Bernard regularly delivered in both. He appeared in nearly every major vaudeville house in the city, seen hopping theaters in the trade and public notices perhaps once a month at times, and appearing at many benefits as well. One New York Times notice of February 21, 1904 described one such event: "There were merry doings at the Stroller's Club in Madison Avenue last night. The twenty-third 'roister' was held amid general rejoicing and with a large attendance. The miniature theater up stairs was crowded. The entertainment was furnished by vaudeville 'doubles' and 'singles' for prizes... The 'singles" were George Wilson, George W. Bandy, Mike Bernard, Joh Hathaway, Hugh Flaherty, Fred Haywood and R. Barrow. At a late hour last night the judges were still undecided as to who had won." During his rise to fame, and even after his death, Bernard was both regarded and reviled by many, not so much concerning his ego, which was backed up by his fine performances, but as a white pretender to a black music form. While this contention shows up in occasional articles mentioning Bernard or Harney in the early 1900s, as well as later interviews with some of his black peers, it appears in a much more prescient form in They All Played Ragtime.  Blesh made his feelings clearly known about white musicians in ragtime and jazz in his 1943 lecture series at the San Francisco Museum of Art, so this negative representation was not unexpected. However, historically, it should be noted in spite of the advantage of having access to more privileges as a white player in society that Bernard's recordings on Columbia records, which were possibly started as early as 1909, speak volumes about his skill. He did not necessarily play "authentic negro ragtime," but he did play and compose ragtime in a style that was hard to surpass. It has been reported (hard to substantiate) that Eubie Blake once saw Bernard's name listed for a cutting contest, and Blake demurred from playing there in spite of his own considerable skill because he knew that Mike was clearly a public favorite. Even composer George Gershwin had mentioned Bernard as an early influence to which he was indebted for his playing style, particularly the left-hand passages.Mike was touring on the West Coast and in the Midwest with a vaudeville troup from some time in 1907 to perhaps 1909. Also in this troupe for part of the time was singer Blossom Seeley, and she and Mike did a short act together as partners during that time. There is some evidence in a divorce suit filed by her first husband Patrick Curtin that she and Bernard were perhaps an item during part of that tour, suggesting at least a separation if not a divorce for Mike during that period. He also released a rag in 1908 which he was performing on stage, The Stinging Bee. It would be followed in 1910 by Lemon Drops. Mike is listed in 1910 as a single 36 year old theater pianist in Manhattan and staying at the Hotel Cadillac. May does not appear with him in that Census An April 9,1910 advertising notice in The Music Trade Review stated that: "Mike Bernard, the celebrated ragtime pianist, who, some years ago, won the Richard K. Fox gold medal for ragtime piano playing against a number of the most skillful performers who could be brought together in New York, is again distinguishing himself in vaudeville. Mr. Bernard recently added to his already long repertoire 'Where the River Shannon Flows' and 'Temptation Rag' [Henry Lodge], two Witmark numbers which are cutting a very important figure in the popular music of the day. This remarkable pianist is more than pleased with the success which he is having with these two new acquisitions." A notice in the New York Times of May 1, 1910, describes the short-run show Paris By Night at the Hammerstein Theater, in which he appears with Bert Williams among other notable vaudeville actors and singers. Mike appeared to have been an regular at Hammersteins for the 1910 season, appearing in a number of other shows as well. He was appearing at the Manhattan Opera House, another vaudeville theater, around Christmas of that year. The following month he was found at the Orpheum in Brooklyn as part of their 10th anniversary celebration. Mike worked in Brooklyn for at least the next six months. A Music Trade Review article of July 23, 1910, noted another publisher association for the pianist: "Mike Bernard has formed a partnership with Karl Tausig, and they have entered the song writing field, Mr. Tausig writing the lyrics and Mr. Bernard the music. Charles K. Harris is their publisher and he will issue several of their songs in the near future. 'That Tickling Rag' instrumental by Mr. Bernard is out, and Mr. Tausig is writing words for it." In spite of this buzz in the industry, it appears that the partnership did not work out as evidence of any Bernard and Tausig compositions is hard to come by. On August 23, 1910 the Review again gave Mike a couple of descriptive column inches: "The Chicago Daily Journal speaks as follows of Mike Bernard, the well-known ragtime pianist, who is playing the fascinating Witmark number 'Temptation Rag': 'Bernard gives a piano-playing exhibition that looks like an acrobatic sideshow and sounds like a speeding pianola. Bernard plays the 'Temptation Rag' and Paderewski's masterpiece [unspecified] with the same elemental motive of force.' " Another pair of Witmark Publications would come out in 1911, his last two authentic rags, The Race Horse Rag and Panama Pacific Rag. The latter was four year in advance of the 1915 Panama Pacific Exhibition in San Francisco, so the reference for the title is not clear. It is known that around 1910, as Mike was beginning his brief recording career, that one of his most popular works was The Battle of San Juan Hill which evidently recalled the famed 1898 Cuban conflict with bugle calls, patriotic tunes, and various gunnery effects. These can also be heard on his Columbia recording of the piece. It has been reported that Bernard was paid as much as $10,000 for his early recording sessions, given the expected sales of those records based on his popularity. He made the bulk of his known records for Columbia in 1912, 1913 and 1918, having been one of the few ragtime pianists actually recorded during this period.  Mike also toured during these years, appearing in notices all around the country from Chicago to Los Angeles, advertised with various vaudeville acts as the 'King of the Ragtime Pianists.' One of his frequent stage partners was fellow Willie Weston with whom Mike had co-composed a few works. Another partner was noted in a February 1, 1912, Los Angeles Times blurb: "Mike Bernard, Blossom Seeley's one-time partner, has hooked up professionally with Amy Butler, and the two are coming over the Orpheum circuit." Their association appears to have lasted two seasons. He also appeared on many bills with singer Jack Rose. In 1918 after Original Dixieland Jazz Band pianist Henry Ragas died, Mike was afforded an opportunity to audition for that slot, although the job ultimately went to composer and pianist J. Russel Robinson.Bernard left New York soon after the war, and spent a few years based in Chicago, also working on the Midwest and Western Vaudeville circuit. He is seen in regular notices of appearances as early as July 1918. It was most likely while in Chicago or on the road he met and married his second wife Katherine (or Catherine) Bernard. She appears with him in the 1920 Census as 18 years old and married to Mike, who is a bit vainly listed as 36. This may be an error on the part of the Census taker, or a deliberate error of vanity on his part, being 46 and married to an 18-year-old. She also is listed as a vaudeville entertainer, possibly a singer. They had a son, Jules, in late 1921. By the mid 1920s Mike was back in New York City. The 1930 Census shows him still married to Katherine, although there is a curious question as to their status in 1920 since she was now 29 and stated she married at age 26. Son Jules also appears as 8 years old. Of further question is Bernard's own age, now listed as 50, which is inconsistent with previous census records and even with his generally accepted birth date of 1881. However, he is still shown as a professional musician, now living in Queens. Mike appeared at a Depression era actors aid benefit in April 1931. The event was hosted by the Friar's Club and Roxy's Gang, and included a wide variety of vaudeville entertainers old and new, with Mike being the last entertainer listed, part of the "Roxy contingent." An April 1935 luncheon was held to honor British music hall singer Vesta Victoria, who had made a splash in the 1890s and early 1900s. In the New York Times report on the event at which Mike was one of the entertainers, he was described as "while playing the piano at Tony Pastor's [he] introduced the jazz number, 'The Twelfth Street Rag.' " But Mike's big return to the news that month was during a Friar's Club event at which New York Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia spoke on relief efforts and the merits of entertainment. WIth Mike Bernard and songwriter Joe Howard (Hello Ma Baby and I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now), he included some musical interpolations from the ragtime era. As noted in the April 9, 1935 New York Times, " 'Ragtime as originated by Mike Bernard is a permanent part of music in this country,' he asserted. 'It is always melodious, and its syncopated counterpoint follows established rules of harmony. Contrast it with the shrills of woods and the shrieks of brasses we hear today. I don't believe such stuff can possibly live.' " This was high praise and a pretty good grasp of musical jargon by His Honor. Bernard spent his final years playing at a nostalgic joint in New York called Bill's Gay Nineties, drawing a crowd even during the depression. His last notice in the New York Times of June 13, 1936, noted that "Mike Bernard, ragtime pianist, has returned to Bill's Gay Nineties," which was following a short absence from that regular gig. Bernard died two weeks later at the age of anywhere from 55 to 62. His exploits and his contributions to the popularity of ragtime among all races still live on into the 21st century. | ||||||||||
Leon M. Block did not leave much behind for us to learn about him. His Louisiana Rag remains fairly well known in the ragtime community a century after its composition, but details on Block himself have never been reported. What little was located is presented here.  He was born to Bavarian immigrant Louis Block and his Illinois native wife Harriet "Hattie" (Cook) Block in New Madrid, Missouri. They had married in St. Louis in 1867. Leon had two older siblings, Rosena L. (2/1868) and Jacob S. (6/1872). As of the 1880 Census Louis was listed as a retail merchant in New Madrid. By 1900 he had become a farmer, still based in New Madrid. Jacob was a salesman by this time, and Leon was still in school.Nothing is known about Leon's musical education. However he was listed in various locations as a working musician by 1906. His first self-published composition, Theatorium Rag, was released in 1909, presumably printed in St. Louis or Chicago. In the 1910 Census he is shown as a musician on the move, boarding in Shreveport, Louisiana as a musician for a local auditorium. It was here that he would compose his next and most famous work, Louisiana Rag, which was accepted by Chicago publisher Will Rossiter in 1911. It was a fairly brisk seller, in part due to the colorful cover of a beautiful little maid, and many copies of it still exist. One more self-published piece appeared in 1913, That Hypnotic Rag, under the label of Cahn & Block, although the identification of Mr. Cahn has not been discovered. Leon chose the life of an itinerant musician for much of his life. In 1918 during the draft he was located living at the YMCA in Memphis, Tennessee, working as an organist for the Majestic Theater on Main Street. There is no listing for him in the quickly taken January 1920 Census, and there is none for Jacob as well. However, in 1930 Jacob surfaces in Clarendon, Arkansas, working as a wholesale merchant of some kind. There are indications that Leon spent several years there living with his older brother. Leon is found in the 1942 draft listing his address as with his brother in Brinkley, Arkansas, where Jacob had moved, but working at the Evangeline Hotel in Alexandria, Louisiana. Jacob died in the early 1950s and Leon returned to Missouri for the remainder of his life, working as an organist and likely a pianist wherever he could find work. He was evidently based in or near the capitol, Jefferson City, and at least one article from 1965 mentions him as the organist for a wedding held at Memorial Baptist Church. Leon died in nearby Waynesville, about 50 miles south of Jefferson City, in 1969 at age 84. If any family members or others who know anything else concerning the life of Leon Block we would be deeply appreciative for that information which will be acknowledged. |
The legendary ragtime pioneer John William Boone was born to mother Rachel Boone in 1864. Census records have indicated a range of birth years from 1862 to 1866, but 1864 is the most accurate date according to research. His mother was an escaped slave who found a position as a cook for the Union Army in Miami, Missouri. A mulatto, she claimed to be a descendant of famed American Daniel Boone and kept that name. John's father was reportedly a bugler with the Union Army, but little else is known of him. Shortly after his birth she moved to Warrensburg, Missouri. She is shown there in 1870 working in washing and ironing, and was working for many prominent families in the area. Curiously, John, now called Willie, is shown as only 4 years old in that Census, and he has another brother, Wyatt, father unknown, who is shown as 2 years old in 1870. Some of the information for this biography was taken from Blind Boone: Missouri's Ragtime Pioneer by Jack A. Batterson with Rebecca B. Schroeder, available from many sellers including Amazon.com. Thanks also to the Blind Boone Ragtime Festival and Blind Boone Park in Warrensburg, Missouri, for their continuing efforts to keep Boone's memory and message alive. | ||||||||||
George Botsford was a man who knew how to write tunes the public liked. He was born in Dakota Territory (South Dakota near present day Sioux Falls) to James G. Botsford (mother's name is shown only as H.M.), and had a younger brother, Charles. George spent his formative years in the Midwest, specifically in Iowa. There was a great deal of pre-ragtime style and influence in this region, as evidenced by the amount and quality of ragtime that eventually emerged from Iowa and Nebraska, so it is likely he was exposed to some of it. After formal musical training, Botsford married Della Mae Wilson, the daughter of a music teacher with whom they lived for a time in Centerville City, Iowa. He is listed in 1900 as a "Theatrical Pianist" so was already likely expected to know some of the latest ragtime tunes and cakewalks. Among his first published compositions was the song Traveling, which was adapted in 1921 by another set of composers as the Iowa Corn Song. | ||||||
in late 1906 where he would stay for most of his career. One of the first mentions of him there is for a July 4 "Pop Concert" on Long Island, where he played along with several other entertainers, including the Edgemere Club orchestra. This was around the time of his first minor hit, Pride of the Prairie (Mary. Botsford soon secured steady work as an arranger and writer for the Tin Pan Alley giant Jerome H. Remick in late 1907. The following year would be a breakout one for the composer as he introduced his most famous and long-lived rag.
and was a great musical boost for the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area. In an article in the New York Times on July 24, 1913, it was stated that prima donna Cecil Cunningham would appear in vaudeville for the first time at Proctors, "using a singing sketch entitled 'The Married Ladies' Club,' by Jean C. Havez and George Botsford." Another article on March 8, 1915, highlighting an actor's fund benefit vaudeville entertinament, mentioned that it was directed by Botsford, and that he and his Harmonists took part by closing the program. George became one of the charter members of ASCAP in 1914.
Often associated with Kansas City (at least in composition), Euday Bowman was actually a native of Texas, and his pieces fall under the category of "Texas Ragtime", a unique style all to itself. He was born in Tarrant County near the Fort Worth area to Kentucky native carpenter George A. Bowman and his Dutch immigrant wife Olivia (Lambin De Eske) Bowman. Euday was the youngest of three siblings, including his sister Mary (5/1877) and brother Julius (9/1880). While his birth year has traditionally listed as 1887, it is listed specifically as 1886 in the 1900 Census and on his 1918 draft record, therefore 1886 will be assumed here as most correct. | ||||||
Olivia was a a music teacher, so it is likely she was partly responsible for Euday's earliest exposure to piano and composition. Mary is also listed as a music teacher at 23 in the 1900 Census.
Most of his compositions from this point were blues that were based in his Texas musical heritage, but also contained elements of good ragtime. They were initially published by a house he set up with a partner, Bowman and Ward. Unfortunately, once he sold 12th Street Rag and later some of the other Bowman and Ward scores to Jenkins for a relatively paltry sum, he did not see any more revenue from any of them in spite of the enormous national hit status of his most popular piece. For them it was just business, but it haunted Bowman for many years as he struggled to make a living. On his 1917 draft record he lists himself as a musician, but also as "not employed." Bowman was still living in Fort Worth in 1920 with his mother and sister, working as an equipment operator of some kind. In 1930 he was still living with his sister, their mother having died in 1922, but Euday now was shown as a pianist and jazz teacher, having gained some fame from his most famous work. During the 1920s and 1930s Bowman also submitted a number of other pieces to the Library of Congress, likely wary of repeating his 12th Street Rag experience, but they were not published, remaining in manuscript form (but now available at the
Brun Campbell and his personal ragtime history as narrated to the world have been at the center of everything from reverence to ridicule since after his death. Never having actually made a full living as a performer or composer, he nonetheless provided a somewhat credible link to Scott Joplin and his peers, one of the earliest or only non-Black pupils, or as often stated, disciples, of the famous composer of Maple Leaf Rag. This biography will not overtly attempt to either feed or assuage any controversy, but merely address some variances. It will try, as best as possible, to sort out the facts of Campbell's life, and be as clear as it is feasibly possible on what was relayed by Campbell as opposed to what was known about him. Note that much of what was relayed of his life exists in recordings and interviews made in the early 1940s, four decades after the fact, and that a number variances are found even between those declarations by Campbell, which can be attributed to either memory issues or some fanciful embellishment acquired over the years.
Sanford Brunson Campbell was born in early 1884 in Oberlin, Kansas to Luther E. Campbell of Wisconsin and Lulu (Emilie) A. [Bourquin] Campbell of Indiana. A brother, Harold A. Campbell, was born in Oberlin, Kansas on July 15 of 1891. Luther (sometimes later referred to as Lou or Lew) was only 17 when his first son was born, and he did not yet have a steady trade. Life was not always easy at that time on the northwest Kansas prairie, so diversions were welcome. The family also moved often, stopping for a time in St. Joseph, Missouri, after Harold was born. Possibly looking for adventure and opportunity, Luther was one of many who attempted to secure property when the Cherokee Strip Land Run commenced in September of 1893 in what would become a part of northern Oklahoma. While he failed to secure anything, Mr. Campbell settled the family near the starting point in Arkansas City, Kansas. Between 1893 and 1900, according to various city directories and records, the family was also in Guthrie in Oklahoma Territory, as well as Oklahoma City and El Reno, before returning to Kansas and Arkansas City. During this time Luther tried his hand as a traveling salesman, often bringing goods into the newly settled territory. He eventually abandoned that for a steadier career, and became a barber. Luther played some guitar and appropriately sang in what we would now consider a barbershop quartet. Lulu picked at the banjo as well. So it would seem obvious that during this period that Sanford would develop an interest in the piano. By the mid 1890s he received some musical training, equipping him enough to grasp the fundamentals of performance and structure, and become a competent player and reader. The family is shown in the both the 1895 Kansas Census and the 1900 Federal Census in Arkansas City, the latter with Luther employed in as a barber, while Sanford and Luther were still in school. This is important because the data reported in the 1900 Census is a bit at odds with Campbell's recorded recollections. This is Brun's story as relayed in the 1940s. It was in 1898, when Campbell would have been around 14, that he said he ran off from southern Kansas, finding his way to Oklahoma City. He then played for a while for the Armstrong-Byrd Music Company. It was possibly in that capacity that he met Otis Saunders (possibly Sanders), one of Joplin's colleagues. Saunders reportedly handed him a manuscript of Maple Leaf Rag to read through, which depending on the exact time frame was either nearing publication or had just recently been published. A manuscript would have constituted a hand written copy of Joplin's original, and some minor doubts could be cast on this possibility. Just the same, Campbell played through the copy and quickly became enamored with the soon to be famous rag. After returning home he ventured to Sedalia and became friends with Joplin and Saunders while taking lessons from the former. At the end of his time there, Saunders, or in some accounts, Scott Joplin, was supposed to have handed the teenager an 1897 silver half dollar, telling him that this was the date that the composer wrote his first "original rag." Then he went back home to Kansas, musically changed forever. That Sanford was listed as still in school in Kansas in early 1900 does not totally enforce the credibility of this tale, or even the less likely scenario that he returned home after this journey to Sedalia simply to attend high school. Also, if the year it happened was indeed 1898, there is the matter of a 14-year-old surviving on his own at that time, including provisions for lodging and food, although that was not unheard of. Just the same, here is a more likely scenario. Please note this is an educated opinion gathered from known facts and likely probabilities. That he traveled to Oklahoma in 1898 is likely, albeit for a short time. He and a friend of his, the son of a local doctor, went to Oklahoma City in 1898 (this was possibly the period in which the Campbell family was living there) for a celebration, probably for Oklahoma Day on September 16, 1898. He became separated from his friend and ended up at Armstrong-Byrd where he bided his time playing through music. Whether Saunders came by and heard him or not is still questionable, although he certainly may have received some complements and advice from others while he was there. It is likely that once reunited with his friend that the pair returned home. Instead of going to Sedalia at that time, it is more plausible that Campbell left for Missouri in the summer of 1900 at age 16, after the family was back in Arkansas City, and once school was out. Then the story would have logically progressed from there. In his autobiography Brun states, "I had been taught how to play by Scott Joplin in 1898 when I was 15 years old." As he was not fifteen until at least 1899, and that Joplin was not at all well known until after Maple Leaf Rag was published, and then only gradually, this further amplifies the plausibility that Campbell instead studied with Joplin in 1900. Another possibility suggested by They All Played Ragtime is that he may have spent the summer of 1899 in Sedalia, since it mentions his returning to Kansas after his time with Saunders and Joplin, and then returned the following summer. Otis Saunders/Sanders (whose true identity is currently a mystery since he does not appear in any Census) was indeed involved with helping Joplin get Maple Leaf Rag heard, played and widely promoted. However, it may potentially be considered unusual, based on data from interviews and knowledge of the past, that a mulatto pianist who was at least a decade older, would approach a white youngster in a music store to have him read a manuscript. It is more likely that the interchange involved Saunders giving Campbell a published copy of the rag, hoping to have it played locally and promoted for sale. In a 1945 Record Changer article, Brun contradicts his earlier story, saying that he learned the rag personally from Joplin as it was first written, a tale which seems even less likely given other facts. To further confound things, the Maple Leaf Club for which the rag was named and dedicated would not open until late November of 1898, meaning that Saunders would have been carrying a manuscript that was either unnamed or had a working title. So we can't be sure what Campbell saw or heard. This time line still works with the 1900 Census findings, and with Saunders going to Sedalia in mid 1900 or even early 1901 when Joplin was still there, and following him to St. Louis in 1901 as well. A further reinforcement of this contention is that Campbell became a barber like his father, a trade better learned in his mid-teens rather than at age 12 or 13, just prior to when he allegedly left home. It also indicates that he maintained better family ties than the previous scenario might suggest. The element of Campbell having seen the rag in manuscript form before it was published would indeed make for a more colorful story, but it is hard to confirm, while other known facts appear to diminish (but not eliminate) this possibility. There is evidence to support Campbell being in Sedalia around 1900. The extent of tutelage he received from Joplin of anybody else there is unknown. Sedalia was a fairly tolertant town in terms of race relations, so that the 16 year old might have been seen in a black neighborhood (and perhaps a bit less likely in one of the Negro clubs along the north side of Sedalia's Main Avenue near Ohio Street) would not necessarily have raised too many eyebrows. Campbell later claimed to have been Joplin's only white pupil, although there is little in the way of hard evidence to fully support even this. Given his playing style, what would he have learned from Joplin at that time? Perhaps it was the fundamentals of syncopation or composition, or even notation. Campbell's recordings reflect more of a folk ragtime style that would have been equally indigenous to central Missouri, convincingly suggesting that much of what he learned was influenced by a wide variety of players less skilled than Joplin. On Joplin's playing, he variously said that Joplin was a master at playing his own rags, which needed no embellishment, and that while Joplin was a competent pianist, his playing wasn't going to "set the world on fire." While in St. Louis, and later in Kansas City, Campbell was able to pick up work in saloons and sporting houses. It was there that he became familiar with the playing of Arthur Marshall, Scott Hayden, Tom Turpin, Tony Williams, Melford Alexander, Jim and Ida Hastings, Louis Chauvin and Charley Thompson, claiming to also have taken lessons with at least some of them. This is what he said of their playing in general. “None of the original pianists played ragtime the way it was written. They played their own style. Some played march time, fast time, slow time and some played ragtime blues style. But none of them lost the melody and if you knew the player and heard him a block away you could name him by his ragtime style.” Of the St. Louis crowd he claimed that Thompson was the best of them, eclipsing even the short-lived Chauvin who was known for his pianistic prowess. Campbell eventually fulfilled some of his wanderlust by traveling as an itinerant pianist throughout Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma, and points south and southwest of the region, allegedly billing himself as "The Ragtime Kid". Variations on that include "The Original Ragtime Kid," "The Dude," the curious "The Indian Kid," "Kid Campbell," and "Brunnie Campbell." Brun played anywhere he could find, including honky-tonks, barrelhouses (which had tables made of beer barrels), white brothels, pool halls, and riverboats. This is most likely the time that he developed his unique playing style, absorbing the influences of other pianists he encountered, and the period in which he wrote the bulk of his compositions that were recorded in the early 1940s. But there is again some question about how long he was on the road, and whether or not he maintained a home base. Among those he claims to have met, and likely did at some point, include Tony Jackson and Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton. Given that Morton was six years his junior, it was not so plausible that they met before even 1904 when Morton was fourteen and first ventured up to St. Louis. However, in the 1940s Campbell stated: “I would like to give the late 'Jelly Roll' Morton, of New Orleans, credit for his early contribution to ragtime, which was King Porter Stomp, of 1906. He named it after Porter King, a great Negro pianist of the Gulf Coast. Another great Negro pianist of New Orleans was Tony Jackson, and he could out-play the great 'Jelly Roll' Morton. The music these great Negro composers developed will live forever, and I am proud of the fact I was associated with them at the beginning.” It seems more probable that Campbell would have developed a relationship with Morton when they were both in Los Angeles in the early 1920s, but either scenario is possible. During his time on the road he claims to have played for many luminaries from politicians to outlaws, of which some of the claims have been considered a stretch by other historians. Among those he claimed to have performed for include President Teddy Roosevelt, Buffalo Bill (William C. Cody), Governor Thompson B. Ferguson of what was then still Indian Territory before it was Oklahoma, minstrel leader Lew Dockstader, O.K. Corral veteran and lawman Bat Masterson, and famed outlaws Frank James (Jesse's brother), Cole Younger, Emmett Dalton and Henry Starr. His stated that his greatest thrill was playing Maple Leaf Rag at the Kerfoot Hotel in El Reno, Oklahoma for Bill Cody's friend and rival, Pawnee Bill (Gordon Lillie). He and his wife, May Manning, were the proprietors of the Pawnee Bill Historical Wild West Show, which was most often held at their ranch at Pawnee, Oklahoma. In They All Played Ragtime, Campbell said that “Twenty years later I met him in Tulsa and he asked me to play it again.” The 1905 Kansas Census shows Campbell (erroneously listed as Branson) once again living with his brother and parents in Arkansas City. It could be that he was discouraged during his travels either by a limited skill set or the popularity of the talented black performers that populated the region. There is less of a possibility that he just happened to be visiting the day that Census was taken, given that he is shown to be working as a barber, not a musician. Some time around 1907 to 1908 Campbell claims he retired from the playing life (it was likely earlier), and was married to G. Ethel Campbell (little is known about her). He then settled in to his father's line of work, albeit now in Tulsa, Oklahoma where Luther and Lulu had also moved. Sanford (he was invariably listed in each Federal Census as Sanford B.) and Ethel are shown there in the 1910 Census living on Second Street, with Campbell working as a barber in his own shop. There is no indication that he was working as a musician by this time, although it remains a possibility. Brun, as he was more often referred to by this time, continued to live in Tulsa for most of the decade. However, his first marriage broke up within a couple years. On May 14, 1913 he got applied for a marriage license in Tulsa, this time with Lena Louise Burrough of Fort Smith, Arkansas. She was 18-years-old to his 29 (he claimed to be 27). It is assumed they were soon married as on his 1918 draft card he lists a "Mrs. Sanford B. Campbell," although living at a different address than his. He was at 111 E. Fourth and Lena was living at 110 E. Independence. Brun was working as a barber for Hodges and Clements. Under the claims for potential disqualification due to physical issues, he claimed he was "Shot through joint of big toe in right foot." The story behind this is unclear, but given his earlier life as an itinerant pianist, it is very plausible. They were likely divorced soon after this as Campbell is next seen in Venice, California in 1920. He was now living with his parents and brother again. Luther was the sales manager for a coffee company, Harold worked as what appears to be a traveling salesman in the grocery business, and Brun had opened his own barber shop in Venice. The community had been founded just west of Los Angeles on the shore a couple of decades prior, with the gimmick of having recreated the essence of Venice, Italy, complete with canals and gondolas. Only a couple of the canals exist today, but Venice Beach is still a popular destination for locals. Brun remained there for the rest of his life. Campbell was married a third time, either in the mid to late 1920s or as early as 1918, to Marjorie (May) Campbell. According to the 1930 Census they had three daughters, Dorothy (c.1919), Louise (c.1923) and Patricia (c.1925). Given that all three girls were born in Oklahoma where their mother was from, he possibly acquired them in the marriage.
Brun's shop was at 711 Venice Boulevard nest to the Venice City Hall. In interviews in the 1940s when he was being "rediscovered," he claimed to have not touched a piano through the 1920s and 1930s. However, Norm Pierce, a barber supply salesman in during the depression who later owned a San Francisco record shop, said he visited Brun's shop frequently in the 1930s, and that there was a piano in the back room of the shop that Campbell played often. This kept his playing chops in good shape, which came in handy in the early 1940s. There was a revival of 1920s jazz in the works, led at this time by Lu Watters and Wally Rose in San Francisco. In 1942, just as World War Two was underway, they recorded several tracks as the Yerba Buena Jazz Band, reviving the works of Joseph "King" Oliver and others, throwing in a little ragtime for good measure. While the progression of this revival and the YBJB was interrupted by the war, jazz enthusiasts and writers started seeking out the originals from this era. Paul E. Affeldt started visiting Brun around this time, and said that when he'd visit the shop and ask the barber to tell him something about the ragtime years, the "Closed" sign would go up and the stories would come forth in great numbers. Campbell also had a number of home-recorded acetate records dating possibly back to the 1910s. Trombonist Turk Murphy, as quoted by pianist and historian Terry Waldo in This is Ragtime, said, "You could always tell the guys who were going to see him, because of their haircuts. He wasn't really that good of a barber, but he played good ragtime." Hoping to do some good on this new interest in old music, Brun set out to do a favor for an old friend. He had heard that Lottie Joplin, Scott's widow, was going through hard times. So Brun recorded Maple Leaf Rag in his shop on an old $50 upright he says he refurbished, simply so the royalties would go to help her out of her situation. He recorded for Ray Avery's Echoes record company, and also did some sides for Watters' own West Coast label (eventually acquired by Lester Koenig's Good Time Jazz and then Fantasy Records). Somewhere during this time period and prior to 1947, Campbell composed and recorded Chestnut Street in the 90's, which remains his best known and most often played rag. Many of the other pieces he ended up recording around 1947 had a similar and earthy style, but there were also quotes or paraphrases of well known rags of the past. In some cases, he recorded snippets of a minute or less that are considered potential fragments of a larger piece, or perhaps just a riff that inspired him. Each of the privately recorded discs that Brunson did were initially released on one-sided records because, as Campbell later told writer Floyd Levin, "If they want to hear two tunes, let them buy two records." Based on his growing fame among jazz fans and his links to Scott Joplin, it was inevitable that Campbell would be interviewed in 1949 by Rudi Blesh and Harriet Janis for their upcoming book They All Played Ragtime. Brun also penned his own autobiography which now resides at Fisk University, a largely black institution in Nashville, Tennessee. A release of his previous recordings as well as the publication of They All Played Ragtime in 1950 brought new found fame to many previously unsung composers and performers, ranging from Joseph F. Lamb and Charley Thompson to Brun Campbell. Another researcher and fan who exchanged mail with Campbell was then high school student, now historian Mike Montgomery. He was among the first of the ragtime revivalists to have learned and then spread Campbell's full name to other ragtime writers. However, Campbell was not able to revel in his growing fame for long. Scott Joplin's only white student passed on in late 1952, leaving behind a legacy of unique views of the ragtime era, as well as a number of still unanswered questions. Affeldt eventually acquired many of the acetates cut by Campbell, and released a pair of records on his Euphonic label, named after Affeldt's favorite Joplin Rag. It became clear to those who listened to these tracks that while other players, at least those who continued working in that capacity into the 1920s and 1930s, changed their style to fit the times, Campbell retained what he had learned in those early days of ragtime. In that regard, his 1940s performances are perhaps among the most authentic of those done during that time, giving us a good view into what some saloon piano players may have sounded like during those glory days in St. Louis. For all of those questions left behind by Campbell, the answers that we know of, including his performances, are still a treasured look into a time long past. In addition to the author's own research on Campbell, based largely on public records, his recorded comments and snippets of his autobiography, acknowledgement should be extended to other good sources of information on the composer. These included Richard Egan who transcribed 22 of Campbell's pieces and wrote a short biography to accompany them in Brun Campbell: The Music of the Ragtime Kid, which can still be found with a little effort. Further reviewed research was compiled by Peter Hanley, of which more can be read at Mike Meddings' extraordinary Doctor Jazz site. | |||||||
Axel W. Christensen was an important figure in ragtime, not so much as a composer but as a promoter, trying to get the concepts of the music into the hands of the average pianist while making a nice profit at the same time. He was born to Danish immigrants Charles C. and Mary Christensen in Chicago, Illinois, a decade after the great fire that had leveled the city. Axel was the oldest of four boys and one girl. He had a typical musical upbringing that included piano lessons and harmony and theory. Contemporary reports described him as only average in his ability. There was reportedly an incident in his mid teens in which after playing marches and some forms of classical music at a party he was shown up by a much better pianist playing early cakewalks or ragtime, something that the females reacted to in a very positive way. This evidently affected him deeply, and it was then that he became passionately interested in popular piano styles, including ragtime. By 1900 he was still only peripherally involved with music, as the Census shows him working in mechanical engineering of some kind, the same field his father was in.
The young entrepreneur finally managed to compose and publish a rag in 1902, The Ragtime Wedding March (Apologies to Mendelssohn). The main point of this piece was to prove that virtually anything could be syncopated into a ragtime style, a catalyst for what was to come in his career. Determined to make good with his musical education and passion, Christensen opened his first ragtime instruction school in Chicago's Fine Arts building in 1903 with the promise of "Ragtime Taught in Ten Lessons." He had developed a curriculum that consisted of exercises in various syncopated patterns on easy melodies. His goal, although not overtly stated, was to teach the person not so much how to play a piano rag, but how to rag any music that they encountered or already knew. This was akin to turning around his own bad teenage experience into something positive - taking the 98 pound weakling pianist and making them popular with syncopated muscles. With good advertising and positive results, he was able to grow the business fairly steadily. Axel soon married Reine Annette Swanson in September of 1903, and she would eventually become materially involved in the burgeoning business. They soon established Christensen's headquarters in the Kimball Building. Business reached a point of saturation in the Chicago area by 1908 with four school branches in various parts of the city. However, Christensen had been selling his books by mail order and in selected music stores in an effort to get to people outside of his Midwest radius.  The first of these was published in 1906, Christensen's Instruction Book Number 1 for Rag-Time Piano Playing, the very title forecasting a series of such books. The basic course was updated at least five times during the ragtime era. Many of the exercises could be equated to a syncopated version of the famous Hanon exercises, repeating a syncopated pattern up and down the scale. Other focused courses also soon appeared in print, including a course on playing for Vaudeville, a fairly lucrative profession at that time. Going beyond how to play, these books also outlined how to build up a well-paced set of anywhere from 20 minutes to an entire evening concert, important lessons for an entertainer to know in order to engage an audience.Axel was finally confident enough in the strength of his teaching methodology, which was frequently updated to include new styles as they came along, and opened a branch of his school in San Francisco in late 1908. The results encouraged him to expand to Cincinnati by 1910, and even St. Louis, a hotbed of ragtime activity for a decade by that time. He also expanded his personal repertoire of compositions with a number of fine rags and songs over the next few years. In July, 1910 the Christensens were shown living in a fairly nice area of Chicago with their recently-arrived only son, Carle Alexander, born July 27, 1909. They also had a live-in servant, so the publishing and teaching enterprise was paying off fairly well by then. He listed himself as a proprietor of music schools. By 1910 Christensen was truly the Czar of Ragtime, a title which would stay with him for many years and that he used often in Vaudeville. In 1915, utilizing his passion for rearranging older tunes with syncopation, Axel released a series of these arrangements that were included in some of his courses and sold separately as well. His educational reach would eventually extend to 25 different cities by 1918, near the end of the ragtime era. Axel's 1918 draft record shows him still in Chicago as the owner and manager of the Christensen School of Popular Music. In May 1918 in Melody Magazine, Christensen wrote a provocative article titled Can Ragtime Be Suppressed which extolled the virtues of the genre, and made clear that those who would try to prevent its continuation would ultimately fail in their endeavors due to the public thirst for more ragtime. While its origin was only a mere two decades in the past, he postulated on the mystery of that very genesis. "Many writers have endeavoured to trace ragtime down to its origin, but there are almost as many opinions as to where ragtime had its source as there are writers on the subject. Ever since there has been such a thing as ragtime, there have been people who would tell you that ragtime was on the decline, and that it would soon be a thing of the past. Twelve or thirteen years ago a well-known music publisher told me in all seriousness to devote my efforts to something besides ragtime, because the knell of ragtime had been sounded; it had run itself to death and the publishers would soon stop printing it altogether. He sagely told me that if I had only gone into business a few years previous I might have made something out of it, but there was no longer any hope. That was twelve years ago and ragtime is now stronger than ever." The truth is that it was on the way out, and the Christensen schools would have to adapt in order to follow the national musical trend to jazz. It was reported in They All Played Ragtime that some 200,000 students had registered nationally with the schools by 1923. A 1923 edition of the Music Trade Review noted that Christensen had ninety-two branches around the country. Totals would eventually rise to 350,000 by the onset of the Great Depression, with another 200,000 by 1935, although the latter figure can likely be disputed given the economic climate. In any case, the school was likely responsible for a great many ragtime pianists that ranged from hobbyists to small town heroes, many of them perhaps playing either in Vaudeville or for movie houses of the era.  Much of the success of his program, beyond the frequently updated exercises and examples, was his willingness to trust other teachers to follow the program and succeed as he had with it. Many of them also had careers as performers or composers. Among those who are known are Robert Marine from New York, Bernard Brin from Seattle, Marcella Henry from Chicago and Edward J. Mellinger from St. Louis. It has been noted that at times 500 or more students would attend recitals as Mellinger's St. Louis branch, and some of them became large celebrations of playing with student/teacher duets, trios, and perhaps even more, creating good press for Christensen.In addition to running this enterprise, Axel continued to write rags at this time, sometimes published separately but more often included in the courses. While not quite of the same quality as some of the better selling pieces of the time, they were still carefully crafted and accessible to his students. In 1912 he reportedly became one of the first artists to record "hand-played" piano rolls for the QRS company, a claim later contradicted by ads for another company saying he had not recorded for anybody else before 1923. Nonetheless, the QRS rolls state that each piece was "Played by the Composer." Christensen also published selected rags by other composers, favoring those who taught for them. Another great promotional tool was his monthly Ragtime Review magazine which ran from December 1914 to late 1918, and included tricks and tips, humorous stories, articles on performers, composition reviews and reprints of rags by many publishers who licensed the pieces to him, perhaps in exchange for advertising which was prominent in most editions. Among those was John S. Stark, who allowed one of his ragtime publications or articles to be published in the magazine each month during at least the first year, and sporadically from 1915 on. The bulk of pieces that appeared subsequently were by Christensen or others who taught at his various branches in the Midwest. The Ragtime Review magazine's subscriber base was eventually bought by publisher Walter Jacobs around 1918, and he incorporated it into his own Melody Magazine, which was largely managed by composer George L. Cobb. The circumstances of this buyout are unclear, but it likely removed some competition for Jacobs as well as giving him a greatly increased circulation. It should also be noted that many others tried to emulate Christensen's publishing and teaching success, and some of the literature for smaller ragtime or piano schools are obviously directly derived, and in some cases plagiarized from the Czar's own work. However, his name dominated the field, particularly in cities where his schools continued to do good business. His Los Angeles branch even claimed a few movie stars in the late 1910s among their clientele. As ragtime languished and jazz thrived with the approaching 1920s, Christensen quickly adapted, and soon his ragtime instruction books and schools became jazz-oriented. As novelty piano became popular in the early 1920s he added novelty riffs and licks to the course, as well as some novelty compositions of his own. There were even books on how to execute piano breaks in a variety of ways, an indispensable aid to the amateur jazz band pianist. On a few occasions in the 1920s Axel recorded some sides for the Okeh and Paramount record labels. In 1923 he signed a contract with the United States Music Company to record piano rolls of his own works, as well as instruction rolls of the Christensen system. That same year he opened a music store at 526 South Western Avenue in Chicago, featuring musical merchandise, Okeh records, music rolls and radio amplifiers. Axel
The tour opened at the Circle Theatre in Indianapolis, Indiana, for a two week stay in January 1924. It was presented with the cooperation of and promotion by the U.S. Music Company. So as expected, many of the pieces he played just happened to be available on rolls in the lobby. He gave his own shows around the country in both private and public venues, and occasionally with Vaudeville troupes. His own shows were sort of a one-man Vaudeville evening with music, singing and stories (no dancing was reported). Among the advertised treats were syncopated versions of classics like the ubiquitous Poet and Peasant Overture. This is in line with his comment that "classical music is one of the finest of arts and dwells briefly upon the original narratives of some of the best-known classics." In the act he also demonstrated how some of these classics were often used as the basis for a popular tune, including his own syncopated versions of the such works. Overall, the tour was a success for both the artist and the sponsor, who reported an increase in roll sales in each city Christensen appeared in. The entertaining Mr. Christensen continued to tour for much of the rest of the decade. In 1925 and 1926 he was put on the popular Orpheum and Keith circuit of vaudeville theaters earning at least $1,000 per week. At that same time he appeared on many of the earliest radio stations in the country, including KYW (Philadelphia), WEBH, WGN, WMAQ, WQJ and WLS (all Chicago stations). He also recorded some of his ethnic comic monologues used on stage on the Broadway label, a subsidiary of Paramount. He also attended or hosted many events in Chicago when he was in town. On December 7, 1926, a "stag dinner" was given in honor of the maestro by the Chicago Piano Club which he had joined several years prior. The affair was reportedly a great success, and Piano Club members awarded him with a solid gold pocket watch. In early 1927 Christensen started a series of programs on Chicago station WHT owned by the Wrigely corporation. One of the highlights of the first show was an imitation of the late Bert Williams singing Somebody Else, in addition to his usual comedy. Axel's regular haunt in Chicago in 1926 and 1927 was the Palace Theater, which no longer required his services after their conversion to sound in 1928. Over the next three years he continued to regale audiences everywhere on radio and in person with his humorous anecdotes, which more and more took the balance of an evening with less piano playing. A book of many of these stories, Axel Grease for Your Funny Bone, was published in 1930. Also by 1930, his son Carle had joined the act, performing at the piano more frequently on stage with his famous father. By the time the Great Depression set in around 1930, Axel's schools and even his publications were likely considered a frivolous expense by most consumers in light of the economic downturn, and he had to scale back the operation. It had clearly become a family business, as in 1930 Mr. Christensen, now living in the exclusive River Forest suburb of Chicago, lists himself as the proprietor of his small empire, with Reine as a manager and Carle, now 20, as an assistant manager. Many of the schools closed, although he still published courses in learning jazz, and later swing music, throughout the decade. Axel still managed to find performance work in the final days of Vaudeville and for many private functions and conventions. By this time he was promoting comedy, a much needed commodity, as a major part of his entertainments. This included promotional material with examples of his jokes and humorous stories. Carle Christensen married Alyce Oglozinski in Chicago on April 20, 1931. The couple subsequently moved to California soon after, perhaps to manage a Christensen school there or even pursue an additional degree (the circumstances are still under investigation). Alyce gave birth to Carlos Christensen on March 15, 1933 with David G. Christensen following within a couple of years. However, the couple was back in Chicago at some point later in the decade with Axel and Reine, as Carlos was schooled in Illinois. In the mean time, the elder Christensen switched radio stations in 1934, now performing regularly in WJJD in Chicago. The schools there remained in business throughout the 1930s and into the 1940s. Indeed, an advertisment run in Chicago papers from the summer of 1945 through the following spring promoted the Christensen School of Popular Music, urging the reader to "Learn Swing Piano the Axel Christensen Way." The ads appear to cease around June, 1946. At some after World War Two, the extended family relocated to Southern California. Carle and his brood returned there permanently around 1946 and Axel and Reine followed in late 1947 or early 1948. As related by Chris Christensen, Axel was a strong believer in the Baha'i faith, and there was a particularly notable temple and school in Ojai, just east of Santa Barbara. It does help to clarify why Carle had an Ojai address for many years, and indeed retired there. It also speaks clearly on the strong faith base for the Christensen family that kept them together. According to his grandson David, Axel not only kept on performing in Los Angeles after his move, but made a rare television appearance. He was listed as appearing on KLAC 13, October 4, 1951, on the show You're Never Too Old. Christensen performed all over the Los Angeles area for a variety of functions nearly up to his death. Many were private functions for small civic organizations, and there is at least one notice published as late as April 3, 1955, in a Long Beach, California newspaper. The music school entrepreneur died months later in Los Angeles at age 74 leaving behind a wake of happy people who somehow had managed to learn the joy of ragtime through his methodologies. His wife survived him through 1962. Carle continued to issue Christensen publications through the mid 1960s. He retired to Ojai and lived there until his death in 1996. Carlos, a music enthusiast by birthright who became a computer scientist in the 1960s, died in the spring of 2007 in Concord, Massachusetts, where he had been collecting memories of his youth with grandfather Axel. David G. Christensen is the sole remaining member of the family who knew Axel, and has followed the Christensen creative bent as producer of video and music projects, residing in Port Townsend, Washington. Many thanks to Canadian Ragtime historian Ted Tjaden who provided some of the information here to supplement my research, as well as posting many Christensen items on his site, including the entire run of the Ragtime Review. Please visit his site at www.ragtimepiano.ca. Also, Robert Perry for providing the QRS piano roll information and Andrew Barrett on a couple of the recordings. Thanks also to Chris Christensen, the family of Carlos Christensen, and David G. Christensen for some additional clarifications. | |||||||||||||||||||
Edward Claypoole was truly a court composer; literally. In spite of a pretty good legacy of great compositions, he spent his career working in the courts. Born in Baltimore to court clerk Captain James Yeardley Claypoole and his wife Mary (Molly) Claypoole, both Maryland natives, Eddie was the youngest of five children, including Robert G. (11/1875), James Y. Jr. (11/1876), Genevieve W. (6/1879) and Martha A. (10/1881). Captain Claypoole was also involved in politics in Baltimore, part of his circle of friends in his position as a clerk in the Court of Common Pleas. Edward would spend virtually all of his life in Baltimore. Some of the narrative of Claypoole's life was derived from the extraordinary efforts of Dave Jasen and Gene Jones in the book That American Rag published in 2000. It is a highly recommended source for a very different look at where ragtime came from and how it eventually reached the public. The rest was uncovered by the author in collective public records and articles from the ragtime era. The error in the 1900 Census was pointed out to the author by researcher Barry Champan who found the misalignment with the death of James five years prior. | ||||||
It also encouraged him to do more than just play in local venues, so he kept writing. His father died in the October 1895. As of the 1900 Census, Eddie's mother was shown as widowed, and Eddie was still in school. Curiously the enumerator caused some confusion by listing her name as Martin, and showing her as male, and a court clerk. But given confirmation of James' death and an apparent change on the record, this was a sloppy oversight as the other information matches.
It was also one of his more productive writing periods. Alabama Jigger became a popular band hit, and his Reuben Fox Trot a decent seller. Then he tipped the scales of justice in his favor with - the scale. The simple concept of applying syncopation to a scale - a scale played in five different tonalities no less - earned Claypoole a permanent place in the ragtime hit parade.
A native of New York state born to Linus Cobb and Jeannette (Maine) Cobb (often called "Nettie"), George L. Cobb was a versatile composer who displayed inherent musical talent at a young age. Spending most of his early years in Mexico, New York, where his father worked as a real estate broker, Many thanks to Canadian Ragtime historian Ted Tjaden who provided some of the information here to supplement my research, as well as rediscovery of many of the previously unknown Cobb pieces. Visit his site at www.ragtimepiano.ca. | ||||||
George eventually received training from the School of Harmony and Composition at Syracuse University, attending there from 1905 to perhaps 1908. His earlier compositions helped him win writing contests, the most notable of these being a promotional rag of sorts titled Buffalo Means Business, the prize being publication of the promotional piece. At the very least it attracted the attention of his eventual frequent lyricist Jack Yellen, who was a reporter with the Buffalo Courier through at least 1913 (potentially a bit longer).
as there is a George Cobb shown at Camp Elliot (later Camp Gaillard) near the Culebra Cut in the Panama Canal construction zone in 1910. There is also a definitive gap in his compositional output that coexists with this stint from early 1910 through early 1912, when the flow of tunes resumed. According to military historians from that branch of the Armed Forces, the U.S. Marine detachment in Panama was purely a show of force to keep Colombians and Panamanian dissenters from disrupting the construction which progressed from 1904 to 1914. As no battles of note are recorded there during that period, this was likely a fairly benign assignment, malaria and mosquitoes aside.
One of their biggest successes was the now ubiquitous Alabama Jubilee, still a favorite of ragtime pianists and banjo players everywhere. Yellen's down-home lyrics certainly contributed to the popularity of these songs, as they fit to Cobb's melodies so well. Many of the pair's collective works became million-sellers in both printed and recorded form.
Whille still selling his tunes to Jacobs and other publishers, George was assigned to write for the Jacobs' company newest music trade magazine, The Tuneful Yankee. He held this post for a few years starting in January of 1917. Cobb's role there was as a music critic or commentator on compositions submitted by amateurs, which he handled quite deftly, but also with brutal honesty at times. In 1918 the magazine was recast as Melody, and his column was called "Just Between You and Me," which ironically was often a not-so-private venue for the occasional evisceration of amateur composers. If he thought something submitted to the magazine for analysis was tripe, he had little trouble saying so.
George also composed a number of great novelties both within and separate from The Tuneful Yankee or Melody, such as Piano Salad, Snuggle Pup and Chromatic Capers.
This was a tricky biography to research because there were no less than three musical Charles Cohens in the same general geographic area. With a little extra guidance and help from researcher Keith Emmons of hulapages.com, the author has settled on one, but will discuss the other two briefly and what they composed, or potentially composed. This is an unusual biography entry, but given that second and third Cohens both made contributions to music during the ragtime era their stories should be told. The first target is Arthur Charles Cohen in Philadelphia born in Germany in 1875 and immigrated to the United States in 1892. He was a piano teacher and self-employed musician throughout his life. That there was little ragtime published in Philadelphia would suggest the possibility that this Cohen, who could have used his middle name to avoid being confused with Arthur M. Cohen of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, might have published primarily with Vandersloot Music Publishing Company in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. However, after information uncovered on two other Cohens and the presence of a couple of popular pieces published in Cleveland, Ohio, it seems likely, in the author's estimation that this Cohen was potentially responsible only for a series of five pieces released between 1932 and 1936 attributed to a Charles Cohen. There is some possibility that that it was also the second Charles Cohen discussed below. These were five songs composed to known stories or lyrics, somewhat in the matter of Texas composer David Guion who had been resurrecting old American tunes in new arrangements. The last of the five, Rivets, was a contemporary look at American workers. All five were released as a set in New York in 1936. No further information was available on the Philadelphia Charles Cohen. The second Charles Cohen was born in rural Kansas to German (Prussian) immigrants Henry and Sarah Cohen. He was one of six children, four of which survived their childhood. Others include Lenah (c.1873), Ralph (c.1877), Mattie (c.1879 but deceased by 1900), and Hannah (c.1882). As of the 1880 Census, the family was living in Saint Marys, Kansas, in Pottawatomie County, northwest of Topeka, with Henry working as a retail merchant in dry goods. Now to the Charles Cohen who was responsible for some of the better known rags published in Pennsylvania in the 1910s. While the expectation might be that he, like the other two Cohens, was of European or Russian Jewish heritage, this is not the case. This Charles Cohen was a black composer, born in Georgia (he cites the town of Cuba which may be in error) in 1878. He was the youngest of what appeared to be a mixed family of whites, blacks and mulattos, likely dating back to the time of slavery. The family was found in Rome, Georgia in 1880, with all of the non-white members shown as servants in a house run by tobacco merchants. This includes his mother, Susan Cohen, and at least three potential siblings who were also listed as Black (Julius [1873], Lizzie [1870] and Jacob [1868]), and perhaps two more listed as Mulatto (Celia [1856] and Julia [1852]). While Susan shows as married no spouse was specified in 1880 Census. Charles cites his father as having been born in England (making him potentially Mulatto) in the 1900 Census, but all others cite South Carolina for his origin. Nothing definitive was found on his upbringing or musical training. However, many well-to-do families in the South at that time had a keyboard instrument of some kind in their home. At some point, Charles recieved some formal training in music as well as piano tuning and repair, as he would engage in both as a career later in life. Many thanks go to research Keith Emmons who helped to pinpoint the harder to find Cohen in Binghamton, the one who didn't initially pop to the top in the Census searches. Once his identity was made clear the rest of his story was easy to construct. The information on the first two Cohens was compiled entirely by the author. |
While the family is difficult to track over the next decade, by 1894 they had moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where Henry was listed in the directories as a tailor or finisher. Charles had received some formal piano training during this period, perhaps at the fine conservatory in Cleveland. In the 1899 directory he is listed as a music teacher, living with the family on 251 Sawtell Avenue. By the following year the family had moved to 5 Ledge Avenue, where Charles was now listed as a musician. The same was true in the 1900 Census, where he is shown to be a Musical Director, possibly in a theater or for a band.
While this would be unusual in many parts of the country then, there was a higher tolerance in the northeast for such living accommodations, something which would be tested by Cohen in years to come. It is likely that Charles was associated with two of the sons of his host, both musicians, including Ralph L. Carey, who was the same age as Cohen and his older brother George B. Carey.
Glover Compton is one of those frustrating ragtime figures who is often mentioned and was everywhere playing with everyone, yet little concrete information can be found directly about him. His narrative was also part of the core of the 1950 book They All Played Ragtime, including parts of the extensive interviews of Glover taken by authors Rudi Blesh and Harriet Janis. Yet even that left
holesracies in his story. This biography represents an attempt to fill in more than has often been seen on this beloved and often busy ragtime performer.
Glover's mother, Laura Compton, had her first child, Maud, at just 13 or 14 years old. She is listed in the 1880 Census in Bergin Knob, Kentucky, married to 22 year old farm laborer John Compton, and as 19 herself, with Maud as 1 year old. However, all subsequent records give her birth year as 1866 or 1867, so there may have been some obvious but understandable deception in this case. When she was around 17 to 18, Laura gave birth to Glover in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, about 50 miles north from Bergin Knob. The birth year is most consistently shown as 1884 on most documents, but on his draft record in 1918 it shows as 1883. His death record shows 1884, so that is the most consistent date. Laura is shown in Harrodsburg in 1900 working as a cook and as having been widowed. In that same Census, Glover is listed as a boot black, a common occupation for black teens at that time. They also had two lodgers in their home, possibly for income reasons. Note that while his name is often shown as J. Glover Compton, he was listed consistently as Glover Compton on Census records and travel manifests, and as Glover John Compton on his 1918 draft record. The origin of the J. Glover derivation of his name is unclear, but he may have originally been John Glover Compton after his father, having changed it by his teens. Compton's name first appears as a pianist/entertainer in Louisville, Kentucky around 1904. The best-known pianist in town was "Piano Price" Davis, who fostered Compton to some extent and hooked him up with occasional jobs, sometimes by simply not showing up to his own gigs in favor of gambling instead. One venue mentioned was Jimmy Boyd's Cafe at 10th and Walnut where he played upstairs for $10.50 a week. Compton also says he visited the fair in St. Louis in 1904, but did not play in any venues there. It was during a 1904 musical tour to Louisville that a slightly disgruntled Tony Jackson, tired of the road, first met Compton. The two soon became friends, performing for a time at the Cosmopolitan Club. They also wrote a song together, which remains unpublished, but Compton recorded it in his later years. Jackson eventually went back to New Orleans for the next couple of years. It wasn't long before Glover was well regarded for his playing skills and reliability. But he didn't stay put for very long, choosing the life of an itinerant pianist for the next several years. In 1906 he spend time in Chicago playing at Elite Number 1 on State Street, run by Art Cardozo and Teenan Jones. In spite of his travels, Glover remained based in Louisville, and is listed there in 1910 in both the Kentucky and Federal Census records with his mother Laura working as a laundress, and Glover as a dance hall musician. During his travels he spent time in Wyoming, Washington, New York and Chicago, the latter where he met up with one long-time partner and one partner from the past.  The long-time partner was singer Nettie Lewis who he married around 1911. Chicago became Compton's new home base, and he moved his mother Laura there as well. One of his most frequent haunts when he wasn't on the road was the Elite Club on South State Street, which also featured notable musicians like Jelly Roll Morton and Earl Hines during its 18 year life. The other partner was Tony Jackson, who had come to Chicago from New Orleans for good, and the two quickly got back together. They worked as a dual piano act from time to time over the next several years. Glover and Jackson exchanged many ideas as well, expanding the scope of how each of them played. Another occasional playing partner and friend was composer Shelton Brooks, who in 1916 dedicated his piece Walkin' the Dog to Compton and local actor Bud Joyner.In the mid 1910s wanderlust struck Compton again for a while. There is a story about Glover that comes from when he worked on the Barbary Coast in Northern California, as early as January of 1913 by his own reckoning. One of his favored venues there was the St. Francis club between Pacific and Broadway. According to West Coast pianist Sid Le Protti who he met there, Le Protti played one of his original tunes for Compton who quickly learned it. In 1915 Le Protti heard his tune played again, but this time it was named Canadian Capers. Evidently Compton had played it back in Chicago at the repeated request (with the lure of dollar tips) of pianist Henry Cohen, and Cohen collaborated with three of his friends to "compose" the piece Canadian Capers, which included Le Protti's melody in the A strain. At a later time when Le Protti asked Cohen about this, the latter pointed to Compton as the one who taught him the melody, and when asked if he could use it, Compton had no argument. Compton confirmed this story at some point as well. It is known that Compton was on the road in the latter part of the 1910s, but work in playing ragtime was not always available. He says he "palled around with Jelly Roll Morton" during the latter's visit to the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition San Francisco. Most of the local performers played at the Exposition because the Barbary Coast clubs were temporarily shut down during the event. Then he went back to Chicago for part of late 1916 through early 1917, playing with Nettie at the Panama Café until it was shut down. Another act playing there, the Panama Trio which included Florence Mills and Ada "Bricktop" Smith, helped forge a friendship with the latter that would later provide him a great European connection. From late 1917 to 1918 Glover and Nettie spent six months down in Los Angeles at the Waldorf Cafe while Jelly Roll played at the Cadillac.While they did perform along the Barbary Coast following that gig, Compton's September 1918 draft record shows him employed as a porter for the Southern Pacific Railroad, with the couple living in the Oakland/Alameda area.In 1919 they went up to Seattle, Washington for a while where he played at the Entertainer's Night Club on Main Street with a small combo. The Comptons are shown there as late as January of 1920 in the Census, sharing quarters with some of the other entertainers. Glover is listed as a "cabaret musician" and Nettie as a "cabaret actress." Curiously his birth state is listed there as Missouri, yet it is clearly the same person. Since the 1920 Census was not taken consistently at that same time across the country, they managed to show up in it again in February in Chicago, back with Laura, who was working as a cook, and now with Nettie's mother living there as well. It is also indicated that Glover owned his home, so it is probable Laura had been living in it while the couple had their adventures out west. With the jazz age in full swing in Chicago, Glover readily adapted his style, and was soon playing with musicians such as jazz and blues singer Alberta Hunter, clarinetist Jimmie Noone, and drummer Ollie Powers, both of the latter disciples of leading jazz performer Joseph "King" Oliver. For the next few years he would travel back and forth between Chicago and Seattle with small bands. Compton recorded a couple of energetic sides in 1923 with Ollie Powers' Harmony Syncopators later known as J. Glover Compton and the Syncopators. Glover's group performed for some time at the Oriental Café on South State Street, in the former location of their old haunt, the Panama Café. There he worked with both Ms. Hunter and Nettie. Another mentioned venue was the Dreamland Café where Oliver would join Compoton's band on
Compton settled in at a cafe started by Chicago expatriate, Ada "Bricktop" Smith who he had reconnect with. It was the famous Chez Bricktop in Paris. Ada had first invited Compton over to France in 1926 after her pianist was killed by his girlfriend in a dare situation that he finally lost. Glover played there with the existing group, The Palm Beach Six. Compton is described during this period as an early version of Willie "The Lion" Smith, a consummate entertainer, complete with the cigar hanging out of his mouth, the large repertoire, and his direct engagement with the audience. Another place he frequented was the Royal Box in Paris owned by Joe Zelli. While in Paris seemed to be good for Glover's career and finances, it did not help his status in the U.S. as many simply forgot who he was. But the French knew who he was, particularly after the famous shooting incident of December 20, 1928. Many of the transplanted musicians were gathered at Bricktop's early that morning when an argument broke out between Sidney Bechet and banjoist Gilbert McKendrick. The cause was evidently a dispute about chord changes of all things, which Bechet found offensive to his musical intellect. Another story had to do with who had failed to buy a round of drinks. Whatever the cause, Compton, who already had an ambiguous relationship with Bechet going back several years, evidently tried to intervene. As McKendrick emerged from the bar, Bechet, who had gone to fetch his firearm, started shooting. McKendrick was completely missed, but two witnesses were wounded, and Compton was shot in the leg. Both men got 15 months but served a year. Compton spent several months in the hospital, and says that Bechet and McKendrick had promised to pay his bill, but they were never able to. When released in 1929, Bechet found out that Compton was planning on suing him for compensation for the wound. Bechet quickly got word to Compton to watch out for his other leg, and the suit idea quickly evaporated. Even though Bechet and McKendrick became friends to some degree, Compton remained on Bechet's bad side from that point on. Fortunately for Glover, Bechet and McKendrick were asked to depart France permanently soon after their sentence was served. Compton continued to play at Bricktop's, eventually favoring a long-term gig at Harry's New York Bar owned by jockey Ted Sloane, also in Paris. Glover and his wife continued to cross the Atlantic into the late 1930s, with one final voyage documented in October of 1939. He came back to New York City this time, forced in part by the onset of war in Europe, playing in a jazz piano joint, reportedly the type where people are there to drink and talk, not to listen to music. Within a couple of years the Comptons returned to Chicago, and he reassociated himself with Noone for many years. Author Rudi Blesh found him there in 1949, and interviewed him at length for his upcoming book They All Played Ragtime, getting a wealth of information (although not entirely accurate) about various ragtime players in the Windy City. In the early 1950s he opened his own bar in Chicago, a place where he could have some control over the playing environment. It was here that he spent his last few years, and seems likely that it's where his 1956 taped interview set with archivist Birch Smith took place, Compton's only true recorded piano solos. Another artist that spent considerable time with Compton and befriended him was rising star Johnny Maddox from Gallatin, Tennessee. Johnny has a considerable number of memories and interesting stories about Compton from talking with him in Chicago. Glover Compton suffered a debilitating stroke in 1957, and finally succumbed in 1964 at age 80. We have only one piano rag - which may or may not actually be his (he claimed he wrote the music to Chris Smith's Honky-Tonky Monkey Rag) - and a handful of recordings to remember him by, but we also have great stories and his evident influence on some of his peers as part of the makeup of the collective of ragtime performance. Thanks to Adam Swanson who provided a couple of extra elements on Compton, and Australian historian Bill Egan who came up with more of his association with Ada Smith. Some of the narrative comes from They All Played Ragtime by Rudi Blesh and Harriet Janis, and from unpublished notes by Rudi Blesh, but the bulk was pieced together by the author from recordings and public and private archival records. | |||||||||||
Thomas R. Confare was born to carpenter George M. Confare and his wife Rosetta (Reach) Confare in Union, Iowa, just a short while after the Civil War had ended. He was the middle child of three, including his older sister Kate (1865) and younger brother John (1870). How much musical training Tom had while in school is uncertain. He was still in school as of 1880, but also working in a railroad office in Sabula, Iowa. George was now a wagon maker during a time of great expansion in the area. As of the 1885 Iowa Census he appears in the family business as a carpenter, just short of 18 years old. | ||||||||||
On May 8, 1892 Dorothy gave birth to Thomas Newell Confare. The couple had moved back to Chicago by 1895, where Confare's first published song appeared. In the 1900 Census Confare is shown living in Chicago with his wife and child, and is listed as a musician, albeit unemployed for two months at that time. So life was likely a bit hard, even in that bustling city.
but soon their output diminished to almost nothing. Two fine pieces appeared in 1908 - Sunbeam composed by Confare and Silver, and Sunlight: An Indian Intermezzo arranged by him. That same year saw the birth of his daughter Clara R. Confare, named after her mother.
Cecil Duane Crabb, or "Cece" as some of his peers called him, was part of the Indianapolis group of young composer friends who contributed just a few but still significant pieces into the ragtime collective. He was the youngest of two sons born in Centerville, Indiana to James and Sarah E. Crabb. After several years of struggling to get by in Centerville, the family had moved westward to Indianapolis by 1900 where Cecil's older brother Earl, now 16, worked as a clerk in a phonograph store, and their father was a real estate agent. By the age of 18 he was evidently not living with his parents in Indianapolis. After a roller skating accident Cece was taken in for a time by Mr. E.D. Staley and his wife. The Staleys discovered in short order his propensity for both piano and graphic arts. In an effort to provide stability and a positive direction for Crabb, Mr. Staley set him up in a sign making shop, producing outdoor and on door signs for businesses. During this time he befriended May Aufderheide, fresh from finishing school, and quickly helped her to get her Dusty Rag into print, something she was trying to do over her father's objections. Another new acquaintance, composer Paul Pratt, arranged the piece and Cecil did the cover art. It was the only piece published by the Duane Crabb Publishing Company. Because of May's determination to have her work in print, her father, John Henry Aufderheide, admired the efforts of the teenaged trio to the point where he started J.H. Aufderheide & Company just to publish their works, and Cece was also rewarded for his efforts in helping her. |
The first of these was Fluffy Ruffles, one of a number of ragtime era pieces with this name. He had composed it in 1907 and another Indianapolis composer, Will Morrison, helped him publish it. It was quickly picked up by J.H. Aufderheide for his new company, but was preceded by Crabb's latest rag in 1909, Orinoco. That same year Cecil co-wrote the piece Trouble with Morrison. He also contributed artwork for some of the Aufderheide rags, including Candle-Stick by Abe Olman and A Totally Different Rag by May. Pratt, who like Cecil was not yet 20, was hired as the manager and arranger for the Aufderheide company, as shown in the 1910 Census. By then, Crabb was once again living with his parents, his occupation listed as sign painter, music being a sideline to work which brought needed income in. Pratt later recalled that even though there has been no historical confirmation of contracts for those published by Aufderheide, he received a 1.5 cent per copy royalty for this piece, so the same was likely true for Cecil. This would also include his Klassicle Rag, perhaps a nod or even a swipe at the genre of "Classic Ragtime" which was fairly well known by 1911.
Dabney was a naturally talented musician who was born and raised in Washington D.C. His parents were James Dabney, a black Virginia-born undertaker, and his mulatto wife Laura Dabney. He had one older brother, Edward, born in 1879. Tracing what happened to Laura Dabney in the 1890s is still in progress. However, James remarried to Ruby H. Dabney in 1895. Dabney had employed a servant as early as 1880, and the Dabneys owned their own home at 1132 Third Street NW as of 1900, which indicated that they were fairly well off for a black family of that time. | ||||||||||
He is shown returning through New York from St. Marc on the Prinz Friedrich Wilhelm on May 18, 1906. On his return to Washington Ford co-owned a theater in the capital, traveled a bit in vaudeville, and even had an act titled Ford Dabney's Ginger Girls.
Ford also formed his own organization when he permanently settled in the New York in 1913. By 1914, Europe had left the Clef Club to form The Tempo Club and Europe's Society Orchestra, and Dabney soon joined him.
The progression of dates indicates that Ford was not drafted to fight in the war like his former partner Jim Europe had been. The recordings show less inspiration and excitement than Reese's recordings of a couple of years prior, but they were still fine examples of late ragtime era dance band performances. They also recorded a few sides as the accompaniment band for white singers Arthur Fields and the inimitable Billy Murray. After one early 1920 session the band simply recorded no more, even as they continued to perform live. A regrouped ensemble called Ford Dabney's Syncopators did two sides in 1922.
Charles Neil Daniels, born in Leavenworth, Kansas, actually spent most of his youth in St. Joseph, Missouri, with his family moving to Kansas City, Missouri when he was 15. He studied a panoply of musical disciplines, including piano, music theory, and musical calligraphy (a viable skill for prospective typesetters and arrangers). Charles also studied harmony and theory with Carl Preyer in Kansas City. Among his first positions were various gigs as a pianist in department stores, an accompanist at the Kronberg Concert Company, and demonstrator for the Carl Hoffman publishing house, which gave him his first break.
 It was there, in response to a competition, that he composed his first published piece, a two-step called Margery. It won the $25 prize, and soon the attention of no less than bandleader John Philip Sousa, who put it in his repertoire and created a quick demand for it. Even though sales for Margery were brisk, going as high as 275,000 within a few years, Daniels saw nothing of it since the prize money also constituted ownership of the piece by Hoffman. Pressing onward, Charles composed the music for an even bigger hit the following year, You Tell Me Your Dream, I'll Tell You Mine, which soon became a standard in the American Song Book, but also caused a further rift with Hoffman who refused to offer royalties on this piece as well.In December of 1898, Daniels utilized his position to help another young composer, Scott Joplin, and arranged to have a rag of his published, the first one of many for Joplin. Titled Original Rags, the cover cites that it was "arranged" by Daniels. However, according to family history passed down to from his son to Charles' grand niece, Nan Bostick, Daniels did nothing more to the piece than help transcribe and typeset it directly from Joplin's performance of it, and apply his newly-famous name to it to help with sales in markets where he was known. Original Rags would be eclipsed by Maple Leaf Rag in short order, but it remained in print with Daniel's name on the cover for many years. It may have been from this experience, plus the music scene in Kansas City, that Daniels caught the ragtime bug to some extent. Dissatisfied with the treatment he received from Hoffman, Charles formed the Western Music Publishing Company to release the tune on his own. This later became Daniels & Russell when another Hoffman refugee, Albert Russell, threw his hat in with Daniels. They headed for St. Louis around 1901 in anticipation of the coming Lewis and Clark Exposition/World's Fair, and reformed as Daniels, Russell & Boone with offices in the Benoist Building, also working as music demonstrators at the Barr Dry Goods Company. It was in late 1901 that by happenstance Daniels inadvertently created a new sub-genre of popular music. On a trip from Kansas City to Hiawatha, Kansas, he focused on the rhythm of the train wheels against the track joints, and came up with an intermezzo melody that he named after the destination, which itself was named for the Native American hero from the famous Longfellow poem Hiawatha. Originally subtitled A Summer Idyl (tone poem), this was also picked up by the Sousa, now his friend.  Sousa's exposure of the piece resulted in a sale of his catalog to Jerome H. Remick for the extraordinary sum of $10,000, just so Remick could obtain Hiawatha, such was the public's response to it. As part of this deal Daniels was put in charge of a subsidiary company, Whitney Warner, which subsequently tried to exploit the Indian name aspect further. With lyrics added in 1903 by James O'Dea that incorporated a brief retelling of the romance between Hiawatha and Minnehaha, Hiawatha became even a bigger hit, as well as a template for many so-called Indian pieces to follow over the next two decades that would be incorporated by many famous composers, including Joseph F. Lamb, Percy Wenrich, Kerry Mills, and another friend, Charles L. Johnson.One of the ironies is that Daniels brought Hiawatha out using a pseudonym, Neil Morét, which was derived in part from his middle name. Given the exposure of that name through his early hits, Daniels ended up using it more than his own name throughout his career, more so than any of his contemporaries who also used pseudonyms. He also used L'Albert on a few pieces, and infrequently attributed his own lyrics to Sidney Carter for variety. Charles followed Hiawatha in 1905 with an intentional Indian intermezzo and song titled Silverheels. He also started composing a number of Mexican or Spanish-tinged pieces, forecasting another craze among composers and the musical consumer. One of his mood intermezzos, Moonlight, was so appealing to Remick that he bought it from Charlie's firm for $20,000, double what was paid for Hiawatha and the earlier catalog. Daniels traveled for Remick for some time, setting up music departments in stores around the East. While many towns had their own music shops, department stores in particular prided themselves on having a music department with a piaist demonstrator. Daniels took that one step further using new technology. One such description of his methods was found in the Music Trade Review of October 29, 1904: "The new music department inaugurated by the R. H. White Co., Boston, Mass., is under the management of Charles N. Daniels (Neil Moret) the composer of 'Hiawatha,' 'Moonlight' and the new song, 'Poppies.' Mr. Daniels has inaugurated many ideas of his own for the display of sheet music and is using the phonograph as an effective demonstrator." While people like Daniels "managed" these departments,
While working in Detroit in 1906 for Remick and Whitney Warner, and still writing for his own firm as well under the pseudonym of L'Albert (as in partner Albert Russell), Charlie opened a subsidiary shop in the old Barr's firm, now the Grand Leader Department Store, where future composer Irene Giblin worked as a demonstrator. Daniels acquired Dill Pickles from Hoffman, a rag composed by his friend Charles L. Johnson. It has been stated that the two Charlies may have extended the ragtime craze by as much as a decade with this single tune, because Johnson set a standard for easy to play rags that appealed to the average pianist, and Daniels promoted it well in markets nationwide, which included getting it played and recorded by many bands. His efforts helped make Remick one of the largest publishers of both piano rags and popular ragtime songs, and Daniels was perhaps as much a proponent of piano rags as classic ragtime magnate John Stark, one of it's biggest champions. Two other pieces he picked up from Hoffman included Johnson's Iola, again named for a town in Kansas and not a particular Indian (although O'Dea also added lyrics to this one as well), and Peaceful Henry by Hoffman arranger E. Harry Kelly. These made plenty for Remick and their composers, but not so much for Hoffman, who may have been regretting his earlier fiscal treatment of Daniels by this time. It probably didn't help that the Kansas City branch of Daniels' company settled in right next door to Hoffman's office! While promoting ragtime heavily during this period, Charles wrote very few of his own pieces that were touted as rags, rather releasing them as intermezzos or similar genre titles. He was also concentrating on the more lucrative song business, eventually hooking up with lyricist Earle C. Jones who helped create even more best-sellers for Daniels, or more properly, Morét. He also married during this period. Charles' enthusiasm for making good music and the benefits that could be had from interpolation into popular music forms was made clear in an October 1910 article in The Music Trade Review: Mr. Daniels is convinced that the popular taste is improving. Some of the means by which this desired end is being achieved may be such as to make the musically judicious grieve, but are none the less effective, he declares. '"The popular songs introducing strains of classical compositions are actually having the effect of creating the desire to know more of the music suggested," said he. "Thousands of people know the Mendelssohn 'Spring Song' to-day who had never heard it or heard of it before. Last year our house published 'That Loving Melody Rubinstein Wrote,' and I know it to be a fact that Rubinstein's 'Melody in F' came into great demand in Detroit as a consequence. People went into the music stores and asked what the 'Loving Melody' was and bought it. Of course, this is one factor working toward the creation of a taste for gcod music. Why, the other day in Detroit a vaudeville singer won tremendous applause from the gallery with an aria from 'Rigoletto.' Now, all this means that the people want good music. It doesn't mean that there will soon be no market except for the productions of long-dead composers, but it does mean a gradual raising of the standard all along the line." By late 1913, his primary lyricist partner, Earle Jones, had died at 35 of typhoid. I would like to add a personal note of thanks to my friend and ragtime performer Nan Bostick who was responsible for much of this research on her great uncle, as well as historian Phil Stewart whose research on Charles L. Johnson had useful cross references on Daniels. | |||||||
Charles' young daughter had long been suffering from diabetes (misdiagnosed as lung disease), and hoping to save her life he gave up his position with Remick and relocated to a climate that was recommended as more conducive to her health, that of the desert around San Bernardino, California. Sadly, his daughter died of her ailment in 1915. However, by this time, he had started again on his own as a publisher, first founding his own self-named firm, then partnering with a younger graduate of Stanford University, Weston Wilson, to form Daniels & Wilson. Daniels also imported lyricist Harry William from Remick, and they continued to turn out hits in California. His reputation got him a turn at composing a title tune for a 1918 Mack Sennett film starring one of Hollywood's more popular actresses, Mabel Normand. Mickey worked well as a two-way promotion for both the film and the song, garnering Daniels and Williams a good-sized wartime hit. Many historians consider it the earliest popular song directly associated with a film title, and it did very well after being picked up by Waterson, Snyder and Berlin in New York. The following year Daniels and Williams turned out another nationwide hit, Peggy. However, the lucky streak was not to last. His young partner Wilson joined the military for the war, never to return to the firm but later to get into the oil business, which left Charles to run the company by himself. Then in 1922 Harry Williams died while visiting Daniels, sadly ending another successful partnership.
Homer H. Denney was part of the group of Ohio Valley composers that produced compositions steeped with folk heritage. He would consider himself as much a river man as a musician right to the end, and history spans both ragtime and the last sement of the riverboat era in Ohio. Born in Gallipolis, Ohio, on the border with West Virginia. It is hard to get a direct fix on his parentage as Census records are unclear, but it appears he was born to Thomas W. and Harriet L. Denney.
 There were three sisters including Nora J. (7/1882), Martha H. (11/1890) and Mary F. (6/1894). By the early 1900s the family had moved to Highland in Muskingum County, Ohio, just east of Cincinnati, which places him near where he would spend much of his life.The first verified fix on Denney as a musician is in 1905 when he self-published his first rag, No-Ze, in Cincinnati. By this time he was already making a name for himself as a calliope player on the Ohio River. His next piece, Coney Island Girl, refers to the Coney Island in the river at Cincinnati, which has had a long history of amusement parks and recreation since the late 19th century. The paddlewheel steamer boat he spent most of his life working for during two of its incarnations was the Island Queen. Built on the frame of the former Saint Joseph, the Island Queen was launched in 1905. As a result of his employment on the ship, many of Denney's pieces were fairly simple yet innovative, making the best possible use of the limited yet demanding calliope keyboard. His next piece, Water Queen was likely dedicated to the Island Queen. By 1907 Homer was starting to make somewhat of a name for himself on the river. He was married around 1905 Bertha Kraft, and late in 1908 their daughter June D. Denney was born. One other child had not survived infancy. In 1907 one of Homer's more notable rags, Hot Cabbage, was self-published. He followed this up with the popular Cheese and Crackers.
The Island Queen was a well-known ship, running between Cincinnati and Coney Island, with various entertainers on board, but Denney reportedly being the star. Given the sheer decibel volume of a typically steam calliope, he was hard to avoid in any event. The ship carried some 4,000 passengers at a time, and was covered with around 7,000 electric lights. For longer excursions there was a 20,000 square foot dance floor, for which Denney often led the ship's dance orchestra. Homer continued to work on it for some time, and in an additional capacity in 1914 as the tuner of new steam calliopes built at the Thomas J. Nichol factory,
A new oil powered steamer Island Queen built on a steel hull was launched in 1925, and with it, a resurrection of Denney's career as a calliope player. His new instrument was made on a substantial iron frame, and the echoes of nostalgia for riverboats made them popular again, in part due to Edna Furber's novel Showboat, soon to become a Jerome Kern stage musical. Denney rode this wave for many more years, right on through the Great Depression. The 1930 Census lists him as a musician on the ship. As of the late 1930s he was considered an employee of the city of Norwood where the family had moved years before. Whether this was on the ship or in a separate capacity is unclear. It is known that he continued on the Island Queen literally through the last gasp of its second life. Many steamships during World War II had been retrofitted and repainted for military transport and war related purposes. After the war they were taken to the ship yards in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for repainting and refitting back into their civilian functions. The Island Queen was moored at Pittsburgh on September 8, 1947, when a welder's torch set off fumes from a fuel tank, causing a major explosion. The crew and a number of passengers had come up to Pittsburgh where the work was being done, including Denney, and most of them had left the ship to go into town. Denney had literally just walked off the ship with his camera when the explosion occurred, and ended up taking most of the only photographs of his beloved second home on the water going up in flames, along with 19 remaining crew members. All that was left of his beloved calliope was the steel frame and four brass keys. Having no instrument to play on, he was forced into retirement from his riverboat days.
In his later years Homer played the Tangley in parades, and electric organs in other venues. He also took an interest in crank street organs (the type often associated with monkey grinders), not only restoring them but also creating rolls for them by hand. He did own one large instrument, a Wurlitzer 105. Denney did write about his time on the river, and helped leave a legacy about the golden days of steamships on the Ohio. He eventually moved to Springfield, Ohio, where his wife passed on in the late 1960s. Homer was a guest at the first St. Louis Ragtime Festival in the 1960s, according to coordinator Trebor Tichenor and performers Mike Montgomery and John Arpin, but he did not play, perhaps due to his hearing issues. It has been said that he never talked about the rags he had composed in earlier years. Denney left us in 1975, just as a new generation of ragtime fans started discovering some of the great folk rags of the ragtime era, including those of the well-known calliopist. Thanks go to performer and historian Fred Hoeptner who provided some additional information on Denney through a back issue of the Rag Times. More can be found on Denney and the Island Queen at the comprehensive www.steamboats.org | |||||||||
Will Donaldson had a hand in the start of a career of one of the great American composers, but in the end did not do too badly for himself either. Born in New York to John and Rose.Donaldson, Will was the youngest of three children, including older sisters Beatrice and Agnes. His early musical trainingwent beyond normal New York School System classes, as Donaldson attended the Pratt Institute, and was a part of the Art Students League. By 1910 Will was working as a theater pianist, playing for the early Ziegfeld star Elizabeth Brice (no relation to Fannie Brice) and Adele Rowland among others. Within a few years he also accompanied early superstar Elsie Janis when she was in London in the mid 1910s. Will started making his way through both Vaudeville and movie houses over the next several years. He started arranging and producing piano rolls in 1915, and one of his first compositions appeared in 1916, and he soon had a job as arranger and plugger with Jerome H. Remick and J.B. Haviland, perhaps in a free-lance capacity. His 1917 draft record indicates Haviland as his employer, and also indicates poor eyesight as a handicap that likely kept him out of the trenches in World War I. Thanks go to New Zealand piano roll historian Robert Perry who contributed information on Donaldson's involvement with Rythmodik | ||||||||||
or more directly manager Mose Gumble, to do anything with his own compositions. Donaldson helped him in some way with George's only rag, Rialto Ripples, making it the sole Remick publication of a Gershwin tune at that time. Will's role is unclear, whether it be as an arranger making the piece playable for the average player, or actually adding some content to the piece. In any case, he got co-credit for the rag, and Gershwin got the boot soon after by Gumble who made it clear he should "leave composing to the composers." Donaldson was a friend and admirer of Gershwin for many years thereafter, as noted in later correspondence between the two men.
In addition to working with Jo Trent on pieces that would be included at one point or another in the hit musical Runnin' Wild, which introduced the Charleston into the world, he co-wrote Oh Sister, Ain't That Hot, which became a substantial jazz age hit still performed and recorded in the 21st century.
Known in his youth as "The Boy Paderewski", Willie Eckstein would never let up from his enormous drive and amazing abilities, becoming Eastern Canada's premier pianist even before the death of fellow musician Jean-Baptiste Lafrenière in 1912. Short only in height, but not in talent, Willie's path was evident before he was even in school. He was the youngest of what was reportedly fourteen children (only nine were confirmed) born to Swedish immigrant George Hugo Eckstein (shows as Eckstine in 1881) and his German wife Wilhelmina (Hidebrandt) Eckstein in Pointe St. Charles, a mostly Irish district of Montréal, Quebec, where they were shown in the 1891 Census. His musically trained parents had come original from Sweden to New York City, then Hamilton, Ontario, and had moved to Montréal just a year before Willie's birth. Among his siblings were August (1872), George Hugo Jr. (1874), Wilhelmina (Mina) (1876), Henry (1878), Emily (1880 - died in childhood), Augusta Bianca (1882), Clara Henrietta (1883), John Ion Adolphe [or Jack] (1886) who would also enjoy a somewhat successful musical career. William was baptised in early December 1889 along with many of his siblings at the Presbytarian Church of Saint Mathew in Pointe St. Charles.
Willie must have known where his heart was early on, because it is said his first demonstration at the piano was at age three, when he plucked out the melody of Home Sweet Home just after a visitor had played the same piece a day before. Obviously the Ecksteins knew from their own musical passions that they should have the toddler trained to make the best use of his inherent abilities. The earliest lessons may have been given at home, but it was clear that a career teacher was necessary to handle the child prodigy. At some point in the mid 1890s the family moved to the Hochelaga area of Montréal where they were shown in the 1901 Census. George is listed as a furrier, George Jr. as a bookkeeper, Mina as a machine operator, Clara worked in a paper box factory, and John, only 15, was already a clerk. Eventually Willie was put under the tutelage of music teacher Moretzky Upton of McGill University, along with assorted other instructors who taught him piano, theory and harmony. He studied constantly from late 1894 to around 1900. One issue that Eckstein had to overcome was a paralyzed finger, which was either a birth defect or became disabled at a very early age. Another was his diminutive size and therefore slightly smaller hands. As an adult he came in at only 4'10" (reports vary, but that is the average height), shorter even than famed American pianists Eubie Blake and Charles "Luckey" Roberts. It seems in the end that neither problem held him back, and perhaps encouraged him to achieve more. During these years Willie also worked to earn money for his training, dressed up to attract attention while playing at a store near his home. Billed as the "Swedish Boy Wonder," he was employed by the Bell Piano Company as a salesman for two years running at the Canadian National Exhibition. Around 1900 the boy prodigy was offered a scholarship in music to attend a local conservatory (McGill Conservatory has been cited, but it was likely McGill University as the Conservatory did not open until 1904).  He achieved this goal by memorizing 47 pages of Mendelssohn's Concerto in D Minor. But the money was not enough to address the concerns of his large family and keep him in school. He was heard by someone who was in effect a talent scout while playing in Montréal and offered a job playing in New York City for a time.It is said he was performing in a storefront in New York when he was heard by yet another agent and quickly offered a $15,000 per year contract on the Keith/Albee, Proctor and Orpheum vaudeville circuits. Hoping to have obtained regular recitals for his living instead, Willie knew how much his family needed the funds, so reluctantly accepted with his father's prompting. Eckstein was billed as the "Boy Paderewski" and was routinely dressed in little boy's clothing, taking advantage of his diminutive height to make him appear much younger than his actual age. The great Paderewski came to see him as well, fully approving of the use of his name in regards to the talents of the amazing youth. Willie toured most of the population centers of the United States and Canada from coast to coast during his vaudeville tenure. While performing in Washington D.C. in 1905, he was offered a performance at the White House for President Theodore Roosevelt. He was often billed over other well known stars on the same program, including Harry Houdini and the husband and wife team of Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth. Around 1905 (some sources cite 1901, so this is uncertain) Willie traveled to hie parent's home country of Sweden, where he spent time there and in Germany receiving musical training while earning money performing, even giving a royal command performance along the way. Eckstein was on his way to the top, or so it seemed. Nature can't be stopped, and neither could the onset of puberty. Willie's voice deepened and his facial hair growth accelerated to the point where he reportedly needed to shave twice daily in order to maintain the illusion of being a pre-teen. Suspicions grew, and eventually bookings started to diminish as he seemed more adult and less child-like. At the end of one of the tours Eckstein was back in New York City struggling to make ends meet while playing in storefronts and restaurants. So in late 1906 the 18-year-old boy wonder returned to Montréal to find steady work. This he did at the Lyric Music Hall on St. Catherine Street, similar to many of the vaudeville venues he had been through over the last several years. He spent much of the next six years there, evolving from a theater accompanist for live singers to an accompanist for actors on screen. It was said he was among the first accompanists for a teen-aged Beatrice Lillie who graced the stage there. It was also where he was working when he composed and published his first compositions in 1910, including his first piano rag, Some Rag: A Real Live One. He is shown living in St. Jacques, Montréal, still with his family in the 1911 Census, and listed as a musician. By 1910 films started to draw audiences more so than live performers. So progress came to downtown Montréal in 1912 when the 1,000 seat Strand Theater,
During his 18 year tenure at the Strand, Willie enjoyed great celebrity not only in Montréal but far outside of it as well. In his compositions and publicity he used many variations on his name, including Billy and Billie, and occasionally Wm. for William, but the theater publicity machine further dubbed "Mr. Fingers," and ultimately "The World's Foremost Motion Picture Interpreter," a claim that was likely very valid. In fact, it has been said that many who attended the Strand, including a bevy of musicians, paid more attention to Eckstein's varied scores for the film than they did to what was on the large screen. Among the notables who expressed amazement at the big sound coming from the little guy were Eubie Blake, Joseph Hoffman, Vladimir de Pachmann, and even the brilliant pianist and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff who reportedly expressed utter amazement at what he was hearing, stating "I don't believe it." For many years he worked with percussionist Armand Meerte, who provided both rhythm and some of the sound effects. One future starlet of note, Miss Norma Shearer, remembered attending matinees instead of high school in order to hear Willie play his own composition Beautiful Thoughts and other favorites. And while the stars of the pictures got their names on the marquee, Eckstein had a two-story wall all to himself with a painting depicting him at his craft. Willie started putting more of his own works into print after a few years at the Strand, and even took on at least one young protégé during his tenure, someone who could fill in when the maestro wasn't around. He was Reginald Thomas Broughton, a British import, whot would soon take on the stage name of Harry Thomas. Harry had enough of a foundation as a performer to go to Chicago in 1916 and record two of their as yet unpublished collaborations, Delirious Rag and Perpetual Rag, to piano roll for QRS. He later went to New York City to record Delirious Rag and his own Classical Spasm for Victor, making him the first Canadian musician to record ragtime piano. In spite of their sometimes difficult but fruitful time together, Thomas ended up with little traction in the performance world beyond the mid 1920s, and tragically died from the ravages of alcoholism in 1941. But he did help to spread Willie's name further into the United States. One other young British protégé, Miss Vera Guillarof, would have much more success as his substitute and later as a replacement for Thomas. She would occasionally work with Eckstein on the radio, and in nightclubs in later years. Willie continued to write, often providing lyrics for somebody else's tune, and working as his own lyricist as well. His command of most music forms was impressive, but his ragtime skills were stellar, in part because of the types of music that ragtime was culled from. However, even before the term was coined, Eckstein was adding tricks to his playing which equated to the genre of "Novelty Ragtime," something that would become very much in vogue by the 1920s. But in doing so his improvisation was more or less laid out rather than spur of the moment, which kept him perhaps an arms length from being a full-fledged jazz musician, even though he would embrace and play jazz well once it made the rounds in Quebec. During the First World War he collaborated on a couple of patriotic numbers. Due to his height he was excluded from serving in the Canadian Armed Forces, even though he did try to enlist. So he fought by playing at rallies to help sell war bonds. In 1919 Eckstein was teamed up for a one-shot song with American composer/artist Gene Buck. Goodbye Sunshine, Hello Moon was featured in the Ziegfeld Follies of that year as well as comedian Ed Wynn's Carnival, providing him with something of a hit. In the end, however, the demand for his tunes on Broadway never panned out. But it was also the same year he was first heard on radio station XWA (later CFCF),  accompanying singer Gus Hill and playing some on his own, making him the first Canadian to play ragtime piano over the air, and history records that it was likely the first live broadcast ever in North America.The next step starting around 1919 was to get Willie's playing archived on recordings. His first forays onto record were as part of the Strand Trio with his brother Jack on the violin and Armand Meerte (or so it seems likely) on the xylophone. These were released on the Canadian subsidiary of HMV (His Master's Voice) records, the British equivalent of the Victor label. Jack would also start his own jazz band, the first in Montréal, which often featured Willie at the piano both on records and for occasional live performances. Willie also recorded (often as Billy Eckstein) with the Melody Kings, of which another song collaborator, Billy Munro, was a member. They were more of an improvisational "hot jazz" group than Jack's band. Most of the tunes were covers of current popular jazz hits. In 1923, Herbert Berliner, son of the pioneer phonograph inventor Emile Berliner, started the Compo company in Canada, being one of the first to use the electronic recording process in North America, a clear advantage over the acoustic horn recording that had been common at the time. Willie did his first solo recordings for Compo, choosing Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag for his first cut. While it is not the first known recording of the piece, it is the oldest surviving acoustic recording of the well known rag. These early records saw good distribution on the Okeh, Apex and Starr labels of Compo in North America. Another notable recording done that same year was his A Musical Massacre, a ragtime take on Frederic Chopin's Revolutionary Etude. It would not be in print until the late 1990s when Canadian pianist Mimi Blais, one of the only other performers of the piece who could fully capture Eckstein's ferocity and whimsy, would supervise its publication. Willie would be very supportive of Berliner over the next several years, sometimes recording as Vi Palmer. He would later also record for the Victor label from around 1929-1932. But after almost two decades as one of the biggest celebrities in Eastern Canada, Willie Eckstein was upstaged by no less than one of the top celebrities of the United States, Al Jolson. The arrival of The Jazz Singer signaled an obvious end to movies without sound, meaning movies that would no longer need accompaniment. When The Strand finally made the latent conversion in 1930 (most Montréal theaters had already been fitted for sound) there were very few movies coming in that required Eckstein's soundtrack. So he finally left the lucrative position and struck out for new venues. It didn't take the popular pianist long to find new spots. Given how popular Canada had become over the previous decade for those south of the border who were suffering through a national prohibition,  Toronto and Montréal were definitely hotspots for visitors looking for the nightlife and the alcohol that went with it. "Mr. Fingers" found work in The Clover Cafe and the Lido Club. However, once he reached the Château Ste. Rose in Laval, a northern suburb of Montréal, he found his new home. Along with pianist Robert Langlois, who he often played duets with, and Langlois' house orchestra, Willie started a two decade and more stint at the club. He also did regular performance with occasional radio and early television appearances during this time. He often performed broadcasts with Vera Guillarof, billed together as The Piano Ramblers. Willie continued to compose as well, writing To the King and Queen in honor of a 1939 visit from the residents of Buckingham Palace, who in turn sent him letters of appreciation.As with World Was One, the Second World War was not a place for short soldiers. But Willie still did his bit for King and country, writing more patriotic tunes and performing to raise bond money, once even taking to the streets on the back of a flatbed truck. Remaining ever popular through the end of the decade, Eckstein started slowing down a bit as the 1950s approached. Still, he was able to reunite with Beatrice Lillie as her accompanist once again in a 1954 show honoring the singer. He also scored again with royalty in 1959 with Queen of Canada, composed for a visit by Queen Elizabeth II to open the St. Lawrence Seaway. But years of performance and moderate drinking took their toll, and before the decade was out, Eckstein had difficulty performing due to the pain of arthritis. He finally had to retire from even occasional performance in his early seventies after he broke an arm. Willie Eckstein was not forgotten by his legions of fans and countrymen. On May 27th, 1963, a special Eckstein Night was held for the 74-year-old entertainer at His Majesty's Theater in Montréal. Unable to perform, he simply enjoyed the tribute and accepted an award, saying that the whole experience had given him the will to recover from his ailments to make a comeback. "I'll be back with bells on." Sadly, the bells never rang. The strain of the evening may have contributed to a major stroke the pianist suffered hours after the tribute. Eckstein reportedly remained in a coma over the next four months, finally losing the battle. One his favorite spots was Mount Royal, for which he wrote a song to benefit the Kiwanis Club day camp situated there. His ashes were spread there for him to enjoy the view perpetually. Through recordings by Willie and his protégés, as well as those he inspired, including (the late) Oscar Peterson, (the late) John Arpin, and the incomparable Mimi Blais, his music still lives on nearly a half century later. Among those who have done the best research on Eckstein are Jack Hutton, who wrote an article in The Ragtimer (Nov/Dec 1986) and John Gilmore in Swinging in Paradise (1988). Additional information and music resources can be found on historian Ted Tjaden's site at www.ragtimepiano.ca, and another site run by Eckstein's family, williameckstein.com/. Additional information and Census data was researched by the author. | |||||||||||
Hans Englemann provides a fascinating look, at least what we can see on the surface, at what could be considered somewhat of a musical enigma, given the time, place and volume of output from his hand as opposed to what we can actually find out about him. His is not another ragtime story, but a story of survival in the ragtime era when popular music was starting to make inroads into classical studies and composition. | ||||||
Virtually any pile of large format sheet music from the 1890s to the 1910s is sure to have some H. Engelmann compositions in there. While he was a household name in that regard, particularly among collectors who often encounter his pieces, finding out who he really was is quite a different matter. Here is the best information to date that the author has been able to assemble.
For the next several years, Englemann would free-lance, most likely from his home, sending in classically-structured works to Philadelphia publishers Eclipse Music (specializing in re-arrangements of older works), Hatch Music, Orpheus Music Company and Joseph Morris. Some of these contributions, particularly those for Eclipse, were reworked piano arrangements of operatic numbers. By the middle of the decade Hans seems to have settled in with Theodore Presser as a staff composer and arrangers. There are also a couple of advertisements in Philadelphia newspapers and directories indicating that he was also a piano teacher, which makes sense considering what his future output would be comprised of.
Yours as ever, H. Englemann." That Hans was quoted this liberally in a trade magazine gives credence to his stature as a composer in a time when those writing piano rags were looked upon with a wary eye.
It is possible that either Marie submitted his remaining works to publisher, or those such as Witmark, who had put out much of his material, had a backlog of works to issue. Either way, previously unreleased H. Engelmann compositions came out sporadically over the next several years. Melody of Love stayed in continuous print for many years, and was a staple of piano roll companies through the 1920s. Around 1942 this piece was fitted with new lyrics and became a perennial favorite as Whisper That You Love Me, his longest surviving work. Marie is shown as a widow living with her married daughter in the 1920 Census, still in Philadelphia. As Herr Engelmann appears to have been a corporate composer of sorts, that paradigm and a look at various copyrights indicates that he likely did not own much, if any of his music, leaving only his current estate behind and little future revenue.
Born in the deep south in Mobile, Alabama, James Reese Europe would eventually become a major influence on the role of black music in ragtime-era America through both his compositions and his efforts to bring respect to the race. He was one of six children of musical parents Henry and Lorraine Europe, including older sisters Minnie and Ida, older brother John, and younger sister, Mary L. Europe. While 1881 is often cited as his birth date, James appears quite clearly in the June, 1880 Census taken in Mobile, showing as 2 months old (only off a little bit), making his birth year clearly 1880. | ||||||
Harry A. Fischler was born in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania to German immigrant parents Frank R. Fischler and Zwila Fischler, who were among many that had settled in central Pennsylvania during the mid 19th century. The year of birth varies between 1879 or 1880 depending on which records are accessed. The 1900 Census shows 1879 as his birth, as does his World War One draft record. However, records from the 1910s forward including his World War Two draft record indicate 1880. That he appears in the June, 1880 Census as 9 months in age confirms an 1879 birth year. Tremendous thanks for additional information and verification go to historian Sue Attalla who cited many articles, and researcher Reginald Pitts. Without their efforts and inquiries made by myself and Harvey Kaplan who lived near Fischler while growing up, Harry Fischler may have been all but forgotten, or at least continue to be misrepresented as a pseudonym. | ||||||
The leader was one Charles Fischler, and the orchestra also listed a second or "annex" orchestra, usually a staple of many groups so they could cover two performances on the same evening and still have money coming into the same pot. He spent his days as a piano tuner as well. Other members included John Fischler, Jr., Frank Fischler, Edwin Fischler Ernest Fischler and Peter Fischler. They were relatives of the Wellsboro Fischlers, so Charles may have given Harry his first musical break before he even reached adulthood. The first indications of this come from an article referencing a 1897 engagement of a band that Harry had formed, the Wellsboro Quartette, mentioned in a June 1900 article in the Agitator. There was also mention of a 1901 engagement of Harry with the Stopper and Fisk Orchestra, usually accompanied with good reviews of his performances. Harry left for Williamsport, Pennsylvania in the summer of 1901.
As further proof of his not being Lincoln, his final two songs were published by Star Music in Eldred, Pennsylvania, not by Vandersloot..
Malvin M. Franklin was born to German father Richard Franklin, a commercial salesman, and his Pennsylvania born wife Rosa (Pollock) Franklin in Atlanta, Georgia. A younger brother, Raymond, was born when Mal was four. The family moved to Anniston, Alabama where he had some of his primary schooling. His first piano teacher there was Carl Schmidt.
 The family moved again to Cairo, Illinois, on the banks of the Mississippi River, in 1901. For many years his father worked in the mail order liquor business.One of the first bands he played in was formed by a doppelganger of the mythical Professor Harold Hill of The Music Man fame. Fred Culver was a cigar maker who came to Cairo and offered to put together a boys band. According to Franklin, "Everybody wanted in. What a mad scramble to find instruments. Every hock shop and store as far as St. Louis was cleaned out. I beat the gang to Wunderlich's barber shop and for five bucks came up with a rusty cornet which hung on the wall. Our first practice session was held over Swoboda's saloon uptown and forty fellows attended. Many, of course, dropped out later. I believe I was the only one with a previous knowledge of music but in a short time Culver had whipped us into a pretty good band." Already musically inclined and experience, Malvin took up piano again in High School with Nellie Louvenia Hall, then in Chicago with Edna Gochel at the Ziegfeld College of Music run by the father of the famed New York theater entrepreneur. By 1908, Mal had moved in with his maternal grandparents, Henry and Angeline Pollack, in the Bronx where he would spend much of the rest of his life. His first piano rags were published that same year in New York by Jospeh W. Stern, including his popular Hot Chocolate Rag. Mal continued his education at the National Conservatory of Music on a scholarship, taking piano performance from Raphael Josephy and harmony and theory from Frank Sudler. The 1910 Census is the first time Malvin lists himself as a pianist at age 21. However, he apparantly had already done some writing as well.  According to an article on composer Anatol Friedland, just a couple of years older, in the The Music Trade Review of September 17, 1910: "Malvin Franklin, a former [and continuing] collaborator of Mr. Friedland's in the Trebuhs days, is at work on the music of the musical commedy in which Bud Fisher's 'Mutt and Jeff' will be represented." Along with Friedland and lyricists Edgar Allen Woolf and David Kempner, Franklin had contributed to the musical comedy The Wife Hunters, which was given a boost by it's dynamic star, singer Emma Carus. Malvin also started turning out ragtime compositions and popular songs at this time, including some fast-paced pieces like Hot Chocolate, the lumbering Elephant Rag and the peppy Lobster Glide, the latter being a popular dance number.In 1913 Mal started recording and arranging a number of piano rolls, many for the Rythmodik Company, although several of them were never credited to him, as was often the case. A notice in the September 13, 1913 edition of The Music Trade Review read as follows: "The music roll department of the American Piano Co. has just issued a special folder to introduce six new Rythmodik record music rolls played by Malvin M. Franklin. These rolls will be ready for the trade on September 15, and judging from the advance orders already received from all parts of the country, these new Franklin rolls are destined to score a marked success." It was said in his obituary that he was responsible for producing "thousands of rolls," but perhaps a quantity in the hundreds would be more accurate. In 1914 Franklin self-published a small folio with dance tunes and specific instructions for certain steps, including the half and half (3/4-2/4) dance. That same year he became one of the 90 charter members of ASCAP. In 1964 Franklin would be honored again as one of the few surviving members of that original group in a ceremony in New York City. Mal's inherent talents secured him a staff composer position with publisher Theodore Morse in 1914.  The origin of one Franklin's pieces, and perhaps his acquisition of the position, made it into a column in The Music Trade News of April 11, 1914 as follows: "Some songs, especially those of the popular variety, have been written under particularly interesting and peculiar circumstances, and among them is to be included the new waltz song, 'Hesitate Me Around, Bill.' According to the story, William Jerome, the well-known and successful lyric writer, visited the offices of the Theodore Morse Music Co. for the purpose of keeping an appointment, and while there heard Malvin M. Franklin, a young musical comedy composer, playing over a waltz from one of his new scores. Mr. Jerome was impressed with the possibilities of the number, and although not acquainted with Mr. Franklin, persuaded the latter to permit him to collaborate in supplying the lyrics for the piece. The pair got together and the complete song is said to have been completed within ten minutes. William Schultz, the arranger, then took the number and had it ready for the hands of the printer the next day. Just a case of hitting while the iron is hot." A follow-up article noted that, "The Theodore Morse Music Co. feels that it has a real 'find' in Malvin Franklin, who recently joined the company's staff of composers and whose first effort under the Morse signature, 'Hesitate Me Around Bill,' has been particularly well received by the profession and the trade."Oddly enough Franklin did appear to have an alternate line of work, and on his 1917 draft card (no mistake that it is his) he lists himself as a salesman for the Union Thermometer Company, selling surgical instruments to doctors and hospitals. This evidently did not interfere with his musical creativity, as Mal had already written one of the earliest music folios for film pianists and small ensembles. He additionally contributed to some musicals being put together by Anatol Friedland and L. Wolfe Gilbert, including The Wife Hunters, making him somewhat of a fixture on Broadway.  Franklin co-wrote the musical comedy A Lonely Romeo in 1919 with Robert Hood Bowers, Robert B. Smith and Lew Fields, which also featured early work by Rodgers & Hart. It was well recieved by Theater Magazine in July, 1919, with special mention given to Franklin and his writing partner Robert Hood Bowers for the "simple and harmonious" score. Another Franklin success included songs composed with the famed vaudeville team of Gus Van and Joe Schenck who would later introduce Ain't We Got Fun. Franklin also started writing ad-hoc instrumental scores for silent films which were performed at select theaters.Ever a busy performer in addition to his arranging and composition tasks, Mal also worked as an Artist and Repertoire (A&R) man for Columbia Records, recording some sides of his own playing as well, including A Bag of Rags with Wilbur C. Sweatman in 1916, and as an accompanist for all varieties of singers on various sized records of the Emerson label throughout the mid to late 1910s. Franklin is absent from the 1920 Census, perhaps overseas during the poll, or just on the move as he played with some bands from time to time. He was back in New York City by July 1920 when it was announced he had signed a new contract with M. Witmark and Sons as his exclusive publishing outlet. According to The Music Trade Review of July 3, 1920, "A big popular song-hit published a year or so ago was 'Shades of Night,' for which Mr. Franklin was partly responsible, and he has met with success in his compositions for many and varied vaudeville acts. It is not merely as a writer of music that he has made a name, for Mr. Franklin has a reputation not only as conductor in the making of phonograph records, but also as a maker of player piano rolls... He is a decided acquisition to the Witmark staff of versatile writers." In 1921 Malvin was married to Caroline (Weinstein) Franklin, and their daughter Gloria arrived October 16, 1923. She inherited some of her father's talent, and by five was already playing several instruments. At age 12 in 1937, Gloria was part of the cast of Billy Rose's Jumbo on stage.
Mal published some books on songwriting around this time including Malvin M. Franklin's Magical Melody Charts (the Automatic Songwriter) in 1940 and Practical Song Writing (in two volumes) a year later, both of which sold well to composers of all abilities. In 1942, and likely before, Franklin was employed by ASCAP at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, but his address was in Culver City, California. His mother Rose died on August 21, 1943, then Caroline died in 1946 after which he returned to New York for a time. In the 1940s he was also employed regularly at Bill's Gay Nineties where pianist Mike Bernard had appeared in the previous decade, likely performing some of his own ragtime era rags and songs. Mal often accompanied Bill's wife, an opera singer, on radio broadcasts. He continued to compose as well, contributing background music for New York-based films and radio shows into the 1950s. Never too far from musical activity, Franklin was inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame in 1970. He also did work with charities and performed for parties throughout Manhattan, one of those being the West 75th Street Block Association that mentions him playing for some of their events. There is a high probability that he lived in Venice, California for a while, likely in the mid 1970s and as late as 1980, as he received some government benefits there. While in California he contributed one final song to his catalog included in a 1975 MGM promotional film, The Lion Roars Again (currently available on the extras disc in the That's Entertainment box set). It was The Baby Song performed by his friend, comedian George Burns, who was just starting a second career in movies after having taken time off following the death of his wife Gracie. The piece was very well received at the premiere. Malvin died back in New York City in July, 1981 at the age of nearly 92. Mr. Franklin left behind a vast legacy of music which will likely never all be accounted for, but affected many people with smiles or tears at some point. Thanks go to performer Todd Robbins for additional information concerning Mal in the 1930s and 1940s. | |||||||||||
Lucian Porter Gibson left us with only two known compositions, and a lot of question marks as to who he was. Very little is available, but the author has pieced together a probable narrative from what facts are accessible. He was a mulatto born in St. Louis in 1890 to William Henry Gibson and Nellie (Porter) Gibson. Following my initial research on Gibson, the first done to date, a very nice follow up on his family was completed by ragtime historian Reginald Pitts who filled in some of the blanks on his home environment, and found his date of death. Nothing else was found on Gibson himself, but the information on his mother and family do help give a better picture overall and make for a more accurate story with less speculation. |
The disposition of his father is unknown, and a picture of him from this time suggests he was perhaps terminally ill and did not survive long after Lucian's birth. Both parents were teachers, working in the St. Louis School System. Nellie was a college graduate and a pioneer black educator as well as active contributor to the black community. As of 1900 Lucian and Nellie, now widowed, were living with Nellie's parents, James and Lucy Porter (sometimes Lucie), suggesting that Lucian (a multi-gender name) was named after his maternal grandmother. It can be assumed that his grandparents likely had a piano in their home, more than just a status symbol at that time, and usually an essential piece of recreational furniture. Lucian also probably had access through his mother's school connections or as a student. As with most children, he likely received some minor music education in the St. Louis schools. Certainly, living there as a teen when the 1904 Lewis and Clark Exposition was in town he probably wandered off to the non-admission Amusement Pike, as did so many other St. Louis youths, and was able to hear the strains of ragtime throughout the Pike and in many of the St. Louis neighborhood drinking establishments.
Gibson evidently had some level of notation skills, or access to somebody who did. In late 1911 he penned the very creative and somewhat eclectic Jinx Rag, a fan tribute to the St. Louis based comic strip Penny Ante (aka Eddie's Friends) which had a character named Jinx, drawn by Jean Knott. Somehow he managed to get a vanity run done of the sparse arrangement. Whether Gibson later approached John Stark or Artie Matthews encountered the piece and brought it to Stark is not clear. However, Matthews filled in the arrangement along the lines of his famous Pastime Rags, and with a cover drawn by cartoonist Knott, the piece was reissued in 1915 under the Stark logo. This was followed in 1916 by the Matthews arranged Cactus Rag with an unusual 24 bar opening strain. Whether Gibson was influenced by Matthews' rags or Matthews' arrangements made it sound that way may never be known, but the collaboration was certainly a worthy and challenging effort. It also garnered a reprint in
Harry P. Guy was in Meigs, Ohio, about 70 miles south of Zanesville, home of the famous Y-shaped bridge over the Muskingum River and Licking Creek along the original toll road laid out by Col. Ebenezer Zane which is present-day Interstate 70. His Ohio born father Samuel Guy was a shoemaker, and his Virginia born mother Lucy Ann Guy was a homemaker. Both were mulattos. The family moved to Zanesville shortly after Harry's birth. As a child Harry studied piano, violin and pipe organ. | ||||||
The family is shown in Zanesville in the 1880 Census. Harry worked as a newspaper boy for the Cleveland Gazette to earn extra for the family, along with his younger brother and sister, Erin and Ella. After his graduation from Hill High School, the family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio in 1886 or 1887. Guy continued his musical education there in public and private institutions and private instruction, sometimes working as an accompanist for local groups, including the Cincinnati Opera Club. It was there that he published his first work, The Floweret Waltz, in 1887.
Detroit also hosted the Colored Musical Society and the Iroquois Club. Harry played with a number of Detroit ensembles, including the Finney Orchestra, the Detroit City Band, and some groups of his own makeup. More importantly, he was the Music Minister at St. Matthew Episcopal Church in Detroit where he started and led a boy's choir during his twelve years there, having a positive influence on many of the black youth of Detroit. He also co-founded the first African American Music Academy there. Harry and Julia had a son, Maurice H., in August 1899.