The Peterson's Ragtime Band

PLEASANT MOMENTS

1. Down Home Rag (1:55), Wilber Sweatman, 1911

   In Rags and Ragtime, authors Jason and Tichenor called Down Home Rag "the most bucolic rag essay of all time." Maybe, but it is fun to play on the hammered dulcimer at the recommended breakneck speed. A contemporary of Scott Joplin, Sweatman (1882-1961), from Brunswick, Missouri, had only one real hit tune, Battleship Kate, in 1924. He was a real showman: in his vaudeville act he played three clarinets simultaneously.
   

2. Elite Syncopations (3:45), Scott Joplin, 1902

   Published by John Stark & Son of St. Louis on the same date as "The Entertainer" and "A Breeze From Alabama," Joplin's (1868-1917) Elite Synocpations contrasts flowing melodies in the B and C sections with lively folk material in the A and D sections. It is played AABBACCDD, with a strong finish.
   

3. Come, Take a Trip in my Airship (3:43), Ren Shields, 1904

   Originally from Wales, Ren Shields (1868-1913) worked as a minstrel with Honey Boy Evans. Shields' most popular song was In the Good Old Summertime, but he wrote several other successful love songs about balloon travel.
   

4. Hungarian Rag (2:35), Julius Lenzberg, 1913

   Franz Liszt's (1811-1886) Hungarian Rhapsody #2 in C sharp minor served as the inspiration for this version of "ragging the classics" by Lenzberg (1878-1956). Indeed a couple of Gypsy melodies that so influenced Liszt can occasionally be heard in Hungarian Rag..
   

5. I'm Alabama Bound (2:53), Robert Hoffman 1911

   In I'm Alabama Bound Hoffman (1878-1964) combines three folk themes from his Orleans area. The well known part A was claimed by Jelly Roll Morton as early as 1901-2 and also appears in Blind Boone's

   Southern Rag Medley #2 (1909).
   

6. Pig Ankles (A Grotesque Intermezzo) (2:38), M. E. Williams 1906

   Maude E. Williams of Kansas City produced several catchy titles in this time period: Happy Hooper: Two Step (1906), Cold Feet Rag (1907) and Snipes: Two Step Characterstic (1909). But only the first two measures of Pig Ankles Rag had enduring popularity, forming the theme of the widley played 12 bar fiddle tune by the same name. The fiddle version can be found on The Hammer and the Rag.
   

7. Pickled Hen Lips (1:55), June Bauer, 1918

   Jacob Caleb "June" Bauer (c. 1880-1950) of Judsonia, Arkansas, wrote nationalistic WWI tunes and at least one raggy one step. Pickled Hen Lips. This arrangement, from a piano part by Harry L. Alford of Chicago, contains only two distinct themes. Bauer spent his later years as a vegetable dealer in Mercedes, Texas.
   

8. Pleasant Moments Ragtime Waltz (3:00), Scott Joplin, 1909

   Although best known as the premiere composer of piano rags like Maple Leaf Rag (1899) and The Entertainer (1902), Joplin (1868-1917) also wrote two ragtime waltzes, Bethuna (1905) and Pleasant Moments. Like other rags, these waltzes are multisectional pieces using a syncopated melody line against a recurring bass line. Because of the meter, ragtime waltzes lack the driving force of 2/4 time piano rags, and despite being beautiful pieces they never gained widespread popularity.
   

9. Mississippi Rag (2:05), W. H. Krell, 1897

   Mississippi Rag, by Chicago Band leader Krell, was the first published rag, by three days. The cover legend reads: "The First Rag-Time Two-Step Ever Written and First Played by Krell's Orchestra, Chicago." The four themes - cakewalk, plantation song, trio and buck and wing - reflect the folk roots of ragtime that Krell observed during his tours of Mississippi River country. The tune is played as a "patrol", mimicking the effect of a minstrel band marching through town.
   

10. Mineola Rag (2:57), Traditional

    Mineola Rag, probably named after the small town in Texas, was first recorded in 1928 by the East Texas Serenaders, a quintet featuring fiddle, banjo, cello and two guitars. Unlike many country tunes of the period that had "rag" in the title but were fast instrumental pieces for demonstrating musical virtuosity, this tune has an AABBC structure and strongly syncopated, raggy flavor which translates well on the lap dulcimer.
    

11. At a Georgia Camp Meeting (3:05), Kerry Mills, 1897

    Tin Pan Alley composer Frederick Allen "Kerry" Mills (1869-1948) wrote numerous cakewalks and other popular instrumentals for banjo, mandolin, guitar, piano and various ensembles. He incorporates the old tune Our Boys Will Shine into a march structure using rhythms from minstrel show dances. Other hits by Mills include Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis and Red Wing..
    

12. St. Louis Rag (3:20), Tom Turpin, 1903

    Turpin (1873-1922) was born in Savannah, Georgia, But was raised in St. Louis. He followed his father's trade in the saloon business, and his Rosebud bar became a ragtime center for Scott Joplin and others. Turpin's folk ragtime style is well illustrated in this and other tunes like Harlem Rag, (1897) and Bowery Buck (1899).
    

13. After the Ball (5:48), Charles K. Harris, 1892

    This well known tune sold more than five million copies of sheet music during its first surge of popularity.
    

14. Harlem Rag (2:45), Tom Turpin, 1897

    Harlem Rag Two Step, is the first published rag by a black composer. Turpin (1873-1922) of St. Louis, uses a fiddle tune as prelude and postlude around three other themes: a hard-driving A part, a call-and-answer B part, and a march for the C part, each followed by a variation with different syncopation.
    

15. Joe Turner Blues (3:45), Traditional

    This version of Joe Turner Blues From R. P. Christeson's The Old-Time Fiddler's Repertory is not musically related to the song Joe Turner Blues, which was copyrighted in 1915 by famous Memphis blues composer W. C. Handy. But according to some old-time fiddlers in the Ozarks, Christeson's version dates from approximately the same time.
    

All Copyrighted material is used with permission.

Send Email to the Band at "RagtimeBand@GroverSmith.com" by clicking here.

This site is best looked at with MSIE

Back to Ragtime Home Page

This page revised August 22, 2000

© Mountain Harmony Music Company 1998