On This Day (1899): “Maple Leaf Rag” published

Maple Leaf Rag Scott Joplin

Writer(s): Scott Joplin (music), Sydney Brown (words) (see lyrics here) Published: August 10, 1899 First Charted: -- Peak: -- (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 (sheet music) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 17.6 video, 5.68 streaming

Awards (Scott Joplin): Click on award for more details. Awards (U.S. Marine Band): Awards (Vess Ossman):

About the Song: Scott Joplin was a black pianist from Texas. His mother worked as a servant in a white household where he had access to a piano. He later received classical training. He left home as a teen to hit the road as a musician. He popularized a playing style known as ragtime in which he played a beat with the left hand and melody with the right hand. In their book They All Played Ragtime, Rudi Blesh and Harriet Janis called it the “most exciting, most infectiously lilting music ever heard.” SS With its “fabulously infectious melody,” SS Scott Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag” “is the essence of ragtime,” SS becoming “the model for ragtime compositions by subsequent composers.” WK Ragtime was a “musical innovation [that] was key to the development of jazz” LW and “an important influence in the development of popular music in the first two or three decades of the century.” LW The musical form got its start with banjo playing, but was then adapted to piano and became widely popular as the instrumental gained widespread popularity as a staple in American homes in the late 19th century. It was the first rag to sell more than a million copies of sheet music and “spawned a host of songs with the word ‘rag’ in the title.” LW The title came from the Maple Leaf club in Sedalia, Missouri – “the world capital of ragtime.” SS Joplin first visited the city as a touring musician in 1894 and took up permanent residence there a decade later. WK In 1903, the song was published again with lyrics by Sydney Brown. WK Wilbur Sweatman, a black clarinetist, appears to be the first to record the song either that year or the next. SS He recorded it with a six-piece band for the Metropolitan Music Store in Minneapolis. SS The first widely available commercial recording was made in October 1906 by the U.S. Marine Band. SS Their version charted in March 1907, reaching #2. Four months later, banjo player Vess Ossman hit the charts with his version, coming in one rung lower but becoming the more celebrated version. Before his death in 1917, Joplin made some piano rolls but otherwise he never made any commercial recordings. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Scott Joplin DMDB encyclopedia entry for Vess Ossman LW Alan Lewens (2001). Popular Song – Soundtrack of the Century. Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 13. SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Pages 4-6. WK Wikipedia First posted 9/5/2023.

Today in Music (1898): “At a Georgia Camp Meeting” hit #1

At a Georgia Camp Meeting Dan Quinn

Writer(s): Kerry Mills (lyrics), F.A. Mills (music) (see lyrics here) Published: 1897 First Charted: November 5, 1898 Peak: 14 PM (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 million (sheet music) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.004 video, -- streaming

Awards (Dan Quinn): Click on award for more details. Awards (Vess Ossman): Awards (John Philip Sousa):

About the Song: Marches were played in strict time while cakewalks were played half a beat off. They began as “a backward-leaning, strutting ‘walk’ that rural Southern blacks used…to parody the high manners of white folks.” SS A “cake walk” was often performed as the last song at a dance and the best couple was awarded a cake. AH “Cake walks” became a staple in minstrel shows, emerging as early as 1876. SS It wasn’t until 1895 that the dance translated to song when Kerry Mills’ “Rastus on Parade” became a hit. He was a New Yorker who wored as a violinist, music teacher, orchestra leader, and publisher in New York, EW most famously writing “Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis” in 1904. Mills reportedly did a cakewalk song as a way to protest against the racial stereotypes of “coon” songs. SS The follow-up, “At a Georgia Camp Meeting,” published in 1897, was “perhaps the biggest hit song built around ‘cakewalk’ synopcation.” SS The song has been referred to as “the biggest instrumental composition of the era” SS and even referred to as possibly “the first major hit of the ragtime era.” EW The cover of the sheet music describes the song as “a characteristic march which can be used effectively as a two-step, polka, or cake walk.” AH It shows images of Blacks at a dignified party. AH Dan Quinn first charted with the song on November 5, 1898, reaching #1 for four weeks. On December 10, banjoist Vess Ossman charted with an instrumental version of the song that peaked at #3. John Philip Sousa recorded the song at least six times between 1899 and 1908. SS Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Dan Quinn DMDB encyclopedia entry for Vess Ossman DMDB encyclopedia entry for John Philip Sousa AH AmericanHistory.si.edu SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Pages 432-3. EW ElijahWald.com (12/13/2017) PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Page 473. First posted 6/26/2024.

Today in Music (1894): “Yankee Doodle” hit #1

Yankee Doodle (aka “Yankee Doodle Went to Town”) Vess Ossman

Writer(s): Dr. Richard Schukburgh (lyrics), traditional (music) (see lyrics here) Published: 1780s First Charted: June 2, 1894 Peak: 14 PM, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.006 video, -- streaming

Awards (Schukburgh): Click on award for more details. Awards (Ossman):

About the Song: He was born Sylvester Louis Ossman in Hudson, New York, on August 21, 1868 and is considered “the foremost recorded ragtime musician of the original ragtime era.” PM Joel Whitburn’s Pop Memories describes him as “’The King of the Banjo’ from the 1890s to World War I.” PM He charted 27 times from 1894 to 1911, PM most notably with his instrumental version of “Yankee Doodle,” his first chart entry and first #1 in 1894. The song was published in the 1780s, but its tune is thought to be even older. It may have originated from the Irish tune “All the Way to Galway” or even a 15th-century song from Holland. The latter contained nonsense words in English and Dutch such as “Yanker, didel, doodle down.” WK The term “Doodle” appears in English in the early 17th century. It is thought to be derived from the word “dudel,” a Low German word which means “playing music badly,” or the word “dödel,” which means a “fool” or “simpleton.” WK The phrase “macaroni” from the song comes from 1770s slang for a macaroni wig. WK Finally, the term “dandy” referred to men who “placed particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisure hobbies.” WK In pre-Revolutionary War times, British military officers sang the song to mock the “disheveled, disorganized colonial Yankees with whom they served in the French and Indian War.” WK It played on a stereotype that American soldiers were simpletons who thought they wer stylish by sticking feathers in their cap. WK It was written by British Army surgeon Richard Shuckburgh around 1755. WK However, for Americans it became a song of defiance and national pride. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Vess Ossman PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Pages 345-6. WK Wikipedia First posted 6/25/2024.