Scott Jopin is so well known that I hardly need to say a word about him. He is generally regarded as the finest ragtime composer of all time.

I have now recut all 5 of Joplin's hand-played Connorized rolls directly from vintage original copies, and they are at the top of the following list. After that are all of the other Joplin rags currently available from BluesTone.

For additional reading I expect you know of plenty of books and other sources, but I would at least remind you that you will want to be sure to read Ed Berlin's fine Joplin biography as well as chapters in They All Played Ragtime (Blesh & Janis), Rags And Ragtime (Jasen & Tichenor), and Ragtime: Its History, Composers, and Music (John Haas, ed.); see the BluesTone Recommended Reading list for more details.

137056 Maple Leaf Rag and Magnetic Rag (Joplin) $15
played by the Composer Scott Joplin (originally issued on Connorized 10265 and 10266, April 1916)

I am very proud to have accessed original copies of these quintessential rags and to have been able to borrow them long enough to make this recut. It is appropriate to release these rolls together, both because they were sequential in the Connorized catalog, and because they are among Joplin's earliest and latest compositions -- Jasen (in Rags & Ragtime) considers the coda to Magnetic Rag as a sort of farewell gesture on Joplin's part.

You might wonder if there's any one left who doesn't have these in his collection already, but there are several important reasons to reconsider. Maple Leaf Rag has commonly been available on a QRS recut, but they modified the arrangement to have a loose, swing feeling which is not the way the original was recorded. My personal copy of the commonly-available recut of Magnetic Rag has the "f" one octave & a fourth above middle "c" missing throughout the entire roll. Further, for this recut one note was identified on the original copy as an obvious error and was moved up a half step where it belonged. There is no telling whether any other mistakes have been made in other recuts of these rolls, but I can guarantee that this time around the copies are absolutely flawless and the finest treatment these rolls have received in a long, long time.

137356 Weeping Willow Rag (Joplin) and Something Doing (Joplin & Hayden) $15
played by the Composer Scott Joplin (originally issued on Connorized 10277 and 10278, April 1916)

137357 Ragtime Oriole (James Scott) played by William Arlington $15
and Ole Miss Rag (W. C. Handy) played by Scott Joplin
(originally issued on Connorized 10311 and 10304, June 1916)

Here are some very special, early rags which are long overdue for reissue. Weeping Willow and Something Doing need no introduction - they are among Joplin's finest rags. These along with Maple Leaf Rag and Magnetic Rag (see BluesTone recut #137056 above) and Ole Miss Rag constitute the 5 know Joplin hand-played rolls on the Connorized label. It is arguable just how authentic these rolls are to Joplin's playing (Trebor Tichenor believes that Ole Miss Rag most nearly sounds like a live performance with idiosyncrasies that could well be Joplin's). Regardless of your thoughts on that, all 5 are now available from BluesTone reproduced directly from the original 1916 Connorized rolls.

The balance of the second "double" recut is James Scott's classic Ragtime Oriole played by William Arlington from another Connorized roll of the same vintage as Joplin's. Arlington has a unique style that embellishes Scott's rags nicely without overdoing it. This is a lively and fun arrangement, as are Scott's Grace And Beauty Rag and Quality Rag, which you will also find reissued on vintage Connorized rolls (see the James Scott area for more information)

137282 Maple Leaf Rag (Joplin) $12
played by the composer Scott Joplin (originally issued on Uni-Record 202705)

137283 Wall Street Rag (Joplin) $12
arranged roll; repeated added by yours truly (originally issued on Master-Record 653)

Here are two completely different rolls that each deserved a solo release. This roll of Maple Leaf Rag is somewhat controversial, because it has an almost bittersweet flavor to it, possibly suggesting Joplin's declining facility at the piano at this late time in his life (the roll was released in 1917, the year Joplin died). These flaws could also indicate imperfections in the recording process, but either way it seems quite likely that this is a true hand-played roll and as such possibly the closest thing we have to a document of Joplin's piano playing, at least at this late point in his life.

On a less somber note, this reissue of Wall Street Rag is taken from the only know vintage roll of this excellent Joplin rag. The problem with that roll is that most of the repeats were omitted! It has been recut a couple of times that way, but for this BluesTone reissue I have carefully duplicated each section as called out by the music and "created" the necessary measures to patch it together as a complete, cohesive performance! I assure you I did nothing else to monkey with the original roll. What you end up with is a copy of the vintage arranged roll of Wall Street Rag the way it should have been done in the first place!

137226 Felicity Ragand Kismet Rag (Scott Joplin - Scott Hayden) (arranged rolls) $15
(originally issued on US Music 65050 and US Music 65819)

It seemed obvious that the last two (according to publishing dates) Joplin - Hayden collaborations should appear on one recut, and these two U. S. Music arranged rolls are just the first-class treatments you would expect them to be. Jasen & Tichenor make some very interesting comments about both pieces in Rags and Ragtime.

137238 Heliotrope Bouquet (Scott Joplin - Louis Chauvin) played by Mimi Blais $15
(original issue / Front Porch 023 / recorded June 5, 1992 in Sedalia, MO)

Mimi Blais is another of the recent ragtime festival performers who has earned a highly-respected reputation with her audiences. Mimi first came to Sedalia in 1990, and has been an absolute favorite ever since. She played her beautiful version of Heliotrope Bouquet at the Friday afternoon all-Joplin concert in Sedalia in 1992. That performance was so tasteful I couldn't wait to record it for piano roll use, and Mimi obliged me the following evening after hours. Since then I feel I've heard a dozen people play this, but none play it more tastefully than Mimi, and this piano roll shows it.

137227 Palm Leaf Rag and Stoptime Rag (Scott Joplin) $15
arranged rolls (originally issued on Kimball 5824 and QRS 30786, ca. 1910)

Here are two all-time Joplin favorites, from two more excellent roll arrangements. Palm Leaf Rag is the slower of the two, almost melancholy. Stoptime Rag is as lively as it can be, and makes a nice contrast to Palm Leaf. The B section of Stoptime is a real barn-burner in particular, and the whole piece is nothing but great fun. Both have been recut several times, and rightfully so because they're so good!

137127 Silver Swan Rag and Reflection Rag (Scott Joplin) $15
arranged rolls (originally issued on Master Record 1239 and Classics of Ragtime 0016)

By now everyone must have heard the story of Silver Swan being discovered in a piano roll catalog credited to Joplin, then the roll finally being turned up by Al Grimaldi in California. A total of three copies have surfaced now, and the Master Record and QRS versions are exactly the same (although we're not sure why!). Another oddity is that this fine rag was not copyrighted -- a major oversight on someone's part. Both of these posthumous Joplin pieces are lovely, sophisticated rags and among his most beloved. NOTE: this is a very long recut! The flanges are full.

137239 Sugar Cane Rag (Scott Joplin) $15
played by Scott Kirby (original issue / Front Porch 024 / recorded November, 1991 in Fresno, CA)

I think everyone has heard by now what a fine player Scott Kirby is, and how inspired his Joplin rag performances are. What's neat about Scott's style is that he tends to play each section straight the first time, then embellish it for the repeat in his own subtle, tasteful way. Sugar Cane Rag is a lovely, lilting melody in the first place; when you add Scott's inflections, you end up with a first-class performance of a beautiful Joplin rag.

137309 Sycamore Rag and Palm Leaf Rag (Scott Joplin) $15
arranged rolls (originally issued on QRS 30395 and QRS 30342, ca. 1904)

"Rags and Ragtime" tells us that Palm Leaf Rag is one of the last from Joplin's earliest period, while Sycamore Rag is one of the first of his second period, transitioning into a more emotional, "deeply-felt" style. You can read more about it there, of course, so I won't waste your time here. The bottom line is these are two absolutely beautiful Joplin rags that you'll want to play often. This is the first time Sycamore Rag has been recut from this QRS original. Both of these rolls were arranged very tastefully by QRS.