DAY 45 - COUNTING DOWN TO THE 50TH

 Good Morning, Class of '64

Ragtime America - Michael Greeley

Ragtime

© Wilfrid Wilson Gibson 

http://allpoetry.com/poem/8514933-Ragtime-by-Wilfrid-Wilson-Gibson 

 
A minx in khaki struts the limelit boards:
With false moustache, set smirk and ogling eyes
And straddling legs and swinging hips she tries
To swagger it like a soldier, while the chords
Of rampant ragtime jangle, clash, and clatter;
And over the brassy blare and drumming din
She strains to squirt her squeaky notes and thin
Spirtle of sniggering lascivious patter.

 Then out into the jostling Strand I turn,
And down a dark lane to the quiet river,
One stream of silver under the full moon,
And think of how cold searchlights flare and burn
Over dank trenches where men crouch and shiver.
Humming, to keep their hearts up, that same tune 

The Ragtime Dancer - Albert Bloch

81. Alabama Jubilee - Ferko String Band (14) 1955
82. Carioca - Les Paul (14) 1952
83. Mood Indigo - Norman Petty Trio (14) 1954
84. Almost Paradise - Roger Williams (15) 1957
85. Cannonball - Duane Eddy (15) 1958
86. The Enchanted Sea - Islanders (15) 1959
87. Blues - Ralph Flanagan (15) 1951
88. Dipsy Doodle - Johnny Maddox (15) 1953
89. Mexican Hat Rock - Applejacks (16) 1958
90. Rumble - Link Wray (16) 1958 
91. Woo Hoo - Rock-A-Teens (16) 1959
92. In The Mood - Johnny Maddox (16) 1953
93. Poor Boy - Royaltones (17) 1958
94. Slow Walk - Sil Austin (17) 1956 
95. The Poor People of Paris - Lawrence Welk (17) 1956
96. Moritat - Lawrence Welk (17) 1956
97. Joshua - Ralph Flanagan (17) 1950
98. Charmaine - Billy May (17) 1952
99. When the White Lilacs Bloom Again - Billy Vaughn (18) 1956 
100. The Bandit - Eddie Barclay (18) 1955

Ragtime Piano - Unknown

Ragtime was a fanfare for the 20th century.

J. Russell Lynes

 

Dipsy Doodle - #88
Johnny Maddox is a ragtime pianist whose

recordings helped build Dot Records into 

one of the most popular labels of the fifties.

During his years with Dot he earned 9 gold 

singles and his total sales were over 11 million. 

In 1954, he was voted America's Number One 

Jukebox Artist by the Music Operators of 

America (M.O.A.) He has also has been honored 

with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Maddox
Johnny Maddox - 1953

Alexander's Ragtime Band - Boo the Hamster

It is never right to play ragtime fast.
Scott Joplin

 

 

Mexican Hat Rock - #89
The Applejacks were a group of American
studio musicians led by Dave Appell.
Their biggest hit was the instrumental
Mexican Hat Rock. Dave Appell wrote the
instrumental song, a jumped-up version of the
old Mexican Hat Dance, that he had his studio
band record. The song became a big dance hit on 

American Bandstand, reaching #16 on the charts 

andremained on the Top 100 for 15 weeks.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Applejacks_%28US_band%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Appell
http://joetroiano.wordpress.com/2011/11/15/quick-fact-the-applejacks-mexican-hat-rock-1958/
Applejacks - 1958

Ragtime - Keith Mallett

Ragtime was my lullaby.
Hoagy Carmichael

 

Woo Hoo - #91
Woo Hoo is a rockabilly song distinctive for its lack 

of lyrics apart from its title words, which gave it 

popularity around the world as it is not 

subject to language barriers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woo-Hoo_%28Rock-A-Teens_song%29
Rock-a-Teens - 1959

Ragtime has about the same
amount of respect as comics.
And in a way they're similar art forms.
Ragtime is highly compositional,
and the emotion in the music is built in,
whereas in jazz a lot of that emotion
comes from the way it's performed.
Chris Ware

Unknown

Ragtime
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragtime
Ragtime is a musical genre that enjoyed its
peak popularity between 1895 and 1918.
It originated in African American music in the
late 19th century and is a distinctly American
musical style. Piano is the main instrument of
Ragtime music, but arrangements have been 

written for other instruments. Jazz claimed the

public's imagination after 1917, and Ragtime fell

out of favor,but there have been numerous revivals.

Social Dances of the Ragtime Era
http://socialdance.stanford.edu/syllabi/ragtime_dance.htm
Images by Richard Powers

Ragtime - Peabody Dance

Ragtime - Tango Dance

Ragtime Era Dance Fashions
1912-1915
http://socialdance.stanford.edu/Vintage/Ragtime_attire.htm
Images by Richard Powers

 

My appearance was always good and my
ability to play on the piano, especially
ragtime, which was then at the height of
its vogue, made me a welcome guest.
James Weldon Johnson

Ragtime - Leighton Jones

When I'm dead twenty-five years,
people are going to begin to recognize me.
Scott Joplin

 
 

Small clear chords hung in the air like flowers.
The melodies were like bouquets.
There seemed to be no other possibilities
for life than those delineated by the music.
Description of
Coalhouse Porter, Jr.
the main character in E. L. Doctorow's novel,
Ragtime, sitting down to play Scott Joplin's
"Wall Street Rag"

Ragtime - Unknown

A typical Joplin rag has a disciplined arrangement
of repeats and returns not unlike that of the march,
and a similar duple tune signature. Jazz probably

got its start, Schuller believes, when saloon pianists

who could not read music began improvising rags

they had heard.

"Scott Joplin: From Rags to Opera",
William Bender
in: Time (magazine)
(15 Sep. 1975)
 

Ragtime