You can jump to Ragtime Composers Part 2 at Rag Composers, K - Z (Kortlander, Lamb, Marshall, Matthews, Olman, Scott, Tichenor, Van Alstyne, etc.) or start here, from the top...

BluesTone rolls below are sorted by COMPOSER then by TITLE:

137305 Dusty Rag and Novelty Rag (May Aufderheide) $15
arranged rolls (originally issued on Connorized 315 and Kimball B5904, ca. 1911)

May is one of the Hoosier ragtime favorites, and it's been so long since her rags have been recut that it isnt' even funny: besides 2 others that Don Rand issued several years, nothing has been recut since the Golden Age / Hollywood Vintage days. Dusty Rag was May's first and most popular rag, and Novelty Rag was her last (1911). From the early date you might guess this is not novelty ragtime; it is however quite melodic and fun to play. Good stuff!

137040 Blooie-Blooie (Edythe Baker) and Jean (Shelton Brooks) $15
played by (the Composer) Edythe Baker (originally issued on Universal 203545 and 203575, ca. 1920)

Edythe Baker is well known for her unique and infectious style of playing, with neat syncopations and a particular style of grace notes used in the melody. Blooie-Blooie is one of her very best pieces, and was never published, copyrighted, or released in any form other than this terrific composer-played roll. Jean is a good pop song which is transformed by another marvelous Baker performance into a real gem! Both are superior Baker efforts, showing off her trade mark left hand.

137276 Omeomy (Roy Bargy) $12
played by the Composer Roy Bargy (originally issued on Imperial 513980, ca. 1920)

This roll has a great melody on which Bargy builds a hot, raggy novelty piano piece. This is one of the last of the great unpublished composer-played piano rolls to make its debut on BluesTone: see the list of unpublished rags on piano rolls as documented in Ragtime: Its History, Composers, and Music (John Edward Hasse, ed.)

137126 Pork and Beans Rag and Some Blues (For You All) (Theron C. Bennett) $15
arranged rolls (originally issued on U. S. Music 61321 and Diamond 18493, ca. 1916)

We are 99% sure it is actually Theron Bennett who wrote St. Louis Tickle. Bennett wrote several interesting, early rags, including these two copyrighted in 1909 and 1916. Bennett has been the subject of several articles in the Rag Times recently, involving an interview with a former piano student. Pork and Beans is a lively, joyous rag; the arrangement on this roll is one of the best you'll hear on any arranged roll.

Some Blues is quite funky and has some neat, unusual traits. The most important aspect is that the piece begins as ragtime, but is unmistakably a blues for the second half -- quite a rare feature! Some Blues has been copied from the only known copy of the original; has anyone heard of another? Neither of these compositions has appeared on a recut before.

BT-221 /Charleston Rag (Eubie Blake) $15
played by the Composer Eubie Blake (originally issued on Ampico 54174, ca. 1917)

Here is the classic performance of Charleston Rag which Eubie recorded for Ampico around 1917. This is an outstanding roll of a milestone rag, and it is one of only two Eubie made for Ampico (the other being Goodnight Angeline). Believe it or not, this is recut from the only known original of this roll (thank you, Mike Montgomery). This recut was checked meticulously against the original to verify that absolutely no errors were introduced in the recutting process. See Rags and Ragtime for more info. (NOTE: Eubie also recorded a single roll for Duo-Art, which is also available on BluesTone: Negro Spirituals Medley)

Blind Boone has his own page, with all of his neat, early, folky, raggy, hand-played rolls.

137222 Honeysuckle Rag and Hyacinth Rag (George Botsford) $15
arranged rolls (originally issued on QRS 31172 and U. S. Music 65189, ca. 1911)

Both of these Botsford rags feature "three-over-four" devices (as Botsford was especially known for) and outstanding trios (C sections) as described in Rags and Ragtime. I first heard Honeysuckle Rag on a Wurlitzer PianOrchestra roll, and have loved the tune ever since. These are two top-of-the-line popular rags with very lovely, smooth melodies.

137223 Universal Rag and Incandescent Rag (George Botsford) $15
arranged rolls (originally issued on Themodist-Metrostyle 300282 and Universal 300773, ca. 1913)
Universal Rag has Themodist perforations / sheet music is included for Incandescent Rag

These two rags were issued on the Universal roll label, the former being written (or sold!) specifically for that company. The arrangements are both excellent. Although both rags still contain the "three-over-four" devices typical of Botsford, these two both seem to rely less on that effect, with other interesting things going on. It's been ages since either of these has been recut and I can highly recommend both tunes. Since Incandescent Rag hasn't appeared in any of the contemporary rag folios, I've included a copy of the sheet music with this recut (Universal Rag was never published).

137277 Royal Flush and Wiggle Rag (George Botsford) (arranged rolls) $15
(originally issued on QRS 30992 and QRS 30847, ca. 1911)

I won't bother to remind you that Botsford wrote the classic Black & White and Grizzly Bear Rags, but I will point out that his rags have a distinctive sound: both of these pieces are very melodic and full of very lively syncopation. These QRS rolls feature nice, full arrangements and include all the repeats. Both titles were reprinted in Dick Zimmerman's folio 101 Rare Rags, and there's no doubt in my mind that they deserve a wider audience, both from these rolls and from the music being reprinted.

137307 Kute Kids (Nellie Cocroft) and Cole Smoak (Clarence H. St. John) $15
arranged rolls (originally issued on Connorized 2180 and Kimball B5904, ca. 1909)
- Kute Kids sheet music is included

Nellie Cocroft / Clarence H. St. John : note the light-hearted spelling in each of these titles. Both are neat, early rags with the strong feel of a syncopated march for a small band. Cole Smoak was reprinted in Trebor's Ragtime Rarities folio and is discussed in the introduction as a Stark publication; Tichenor calls it a "first-rate rag" in his Rags and Ragtime. Trebor tells me that Kute Kids is Nellie Cocroft's best rag, and that David Thomas Roberts has touted it as one of the great, early folk rags. It has not been reprinted so the sheet music is included with this roll.

137255 Shovel Fish Rag (Harry L. Cook) arranged roll $12
(originally issued on QRS 30153, ca. 1907)

This is a neat early rag (published in 1907), and has only been recut once (from a Chase & Baker original). Rags and Ragtime points out that this rag features six sections yet doesn't sound like a medley of unrelated themes. See R&R for more information on Harry Cook; the sheet for this rag was reprinted in Trebor's Ragtime Rediscoveries and has a very funny cover!

137095 French Pastry Rag and 38th Street Rag played by the composer Les Copeland $15
(originally issued on Metro-Art 200652 and 200296, ca. 1914) ­ with Themodist perforations

With this issue we complete our series of Les Copeland's six hand-played, composer-played rolls. Unlike the first four, these two were published and copyrighted. However, just like the other four, these are lively and unusually live-sounding recordings. It's material like this that makes piano rolls such an important medium that cannot be ignored when studying and enjoying this era of American music.

137278 38th Street Rag (Les Copeland) played by Phil Goldberg $15
and Dockstader Rag played by the Composer Les Copeland
(originally issued on Rolla Artis 50067 and Uni-Record 200363, ca. 1913) - sheet music included with rolls

Les Copeland : these two compositions were a real find. As soon as a friend told me he had Dockstader Rag on the Uni-Record label, I took notice. Even though the label did not credit Copeland with playing the roll, the label numbers and the musical style were too close to the other Copeland composer-played rolls to be anyone but Les. Mike Montgomery confirmed my suspicion by locating a Universal roll catalog which clearly lists the roll as hand-played by Les Copeland, so the mystery is solved! To find 38th Street Rag on another hand-played roll was also a real surprise. This Rolla Artis roll was previously unknown, and makes its "recut" debut here. Both are fine performances.

137308 Invitation Rag (Les Copeland) $12
played by the Composer Les Copeland (originally issued on Virtuolo V1054 - same as Metro-Art 200282)

This came from my second (and last?!) consecutive list where the big news is a newly-found composer-played Les Copeland roll. Les is one of the greatest folk ragtime composers to appear on rolls, and with this roll all of his known rag performances have now been recut. As with Dockstader Rag recut in 1995, this Virtuolo the label did not credit Copeland with playing the roll, but the label and musical style were too close to the other Copeland composer-played rolls to be anyone but Les. This roll recording is listed in a Universal roll catalog, but had never been found. The Virtuolo label was issued by Universal, with unknwon expression coding added for a Boston piano manufacturer. I removed the expression coding for this recut since no known pianos can use it, and it would only interfere with most footpumpers. I'm very proud to offer this rare, exciting new find.

137145 Oh, You Devil (Ford T. Dabney) $12
arranged roll (originally issued on Themodist-Metrostyle 92462, ca. 1909) ­ with Themodist perforations

I seem to find myself regularly issuing Ford Dabney rolls, although this wasn't any particular goal -- I just keep finding good ones that should be recut! Oh You Devil has somehow never been recut before from any roll label, so that in itself is a good reason to reissue this fine rag. Two more good reasons are that this is a gentle, graceful, impressive composition and this arrangement is on a par with the best of the U. S. Music arrangements. On top of that, this is quite a long roll with all published repeats intact and with an extra repeat of the B section near the end of the roll.

137330 Tenth Interval Rag played by the composer Ted Eastwood $12
(originally issued on Metro-Art 202992) ­ with Themodist perforations

Ted Eastwood : Here is the first of several composer-played novelty rags in this batch, and this one's a real pistol. Ted Eastwood arranged many rolls for Aeolian, who gave him co-composing credit here (even though the rag was published by John Stark as a Harry Ruby composition). Interestingly, this appears to be the same performance as recut by Mike Schwimmer from 88-Note roll # 301235, except this version has Themodist snakebite perforations and a different intro.

137369 Teddy In The Jungle (©1910 / Edward J. Freeberg) / arranged roll $15
(originally issued on QRS 65-note roll 03242)

and Barrelhouse Rag (©1916 / Fate Marable & Clarence Williams) / arranged roll
(originally issued on unknown 5-tune 65-note coin piano roll xxxx-5)
(NOTE: a copy of the original sheet music for Barrelhouse Rag is included with this recut!

When I told Trebor I planned to reissue these together, he described them both as "funky folk rags". Teddy In The Jungle is one of my favorites, both for melody and syncopation. Rags and Ragtime tells us that the title is in reference to President Theodore Roosevelt's hunting days. It was reissued just once before, by Golden Age, which has been over 20 years now.

Barrelhouse Rag was written in 1916 by Clarence Williams & Fate Marable. You may recall that Marable led the band that young Louis Armstrong joined to play on Mississippi River boats before making his move from New Orleans to Chicago! Barrelhouse is reminiscent of the opening strain of Tiger Rag. This arrangement is tune #5 from an unlabeled 5-tune 65-note coin piano roll, and features especially nice embellishments in the C section. A copy of the original sheet music is included with this recut.

Sorry, this roll is OUT OF STOCK 137237 Belle of Louisville (French) $15
played by the composer Frank French (original issue / Front Porch 022 / recorded June 4, 1991)

Frank French has also been impressing ragtime festival attendees with his fine pianism and his many clever compositions. Most people who follow the ragtime festivals are already familiar with Belle of Louisville, which is one of the most popular of all contemporary rags. Frank recorded this at Richard Riley's PianoMania studios in Roseville, California in 1991, during the sessions for his CD "More American Souvenirs". Special thanks are due to Richard Riley for his kindness in making this recording available for use on this piano roll issue.

137279 Rialto Ripples Rag played by the Composer George Gershwin $12
(originally issued on Uni-Record 202935) - sheet music included with roll

George Gershwin : one of the very best of the composer-played Gershwin rolls. This rag was co-composed by a "Will Donaldson", about which I know nothing! As soon as this tune begins you will recognize the Gershwin piano style. The music score is reprinted with this roll since it has not appeared in rag folios. I understand there will be another volume of Gershwin rolls released on a Nonesuch CD; I wonder if this tune will make it on the second volume...

137256 Echoes from the Snowball Club (Harry P. Guy) arranged roll $12
(originally issued on Themodist-Metrostyle 88982) ­ with Themodist perforations

What a beautiful, lilting tune this is. It is the first of the ragtime waltzes (published in 1898!) and has a neat, flashy, Blind Boone-type ending. This is the signature tune for Ed Sprankle's recutting enterprises, and was the first roll Ed recut (from an Aeolian original)! This is a long roll which you'll find yourself humming after the roll is over. I might not have discovered this rag (or lots of other music that I now love!) without his help, so my thanks go out to Ed with this recut.

137370 Pearl Of The Harem (©1901 / Harry P. Guy) and The Flyer Rag (©1908 / Aufderheide) $15
arranged roll (originally issued on Connorized 65-note rolls 4108, 4424)

Harry P. Guy is the subject of an in-depth biography in the new, 2nd volume of The Rag Time Ephemeralist magazine (see my web "links" page for more information). Pearl Of The Harem is a beautiful piece from 1901 with an unusual bass part: never is there a regular octave - chord ragtime pattern; it uses either a staggered-octave, walking bass or driving 1/8-note chords. The sheet music subtitle is "Oriental Rag Two Step", so Guy was clearly looking for a different feel and I think he achieved a great result with it. This and Echoes from the Snowball Club (1898 o see BluesTone #137256) are among my favorite rags.

The Flyer Rag is also unusual, with a pleasant melancholy feel to it. This rag is to be played at a moderate tempo, with a gentle syncopation all the way through. In the D section she switches to a very tasteful minor mode. It's very satisfying, with almost a ballad feel to it. Freida Aufderheide was of no known relationship to fellow Hoosier but better-known rag composer Mae Aufderheide. This title refers to an early automobile known as the flyer, as opposed to anything related to an aeroplane. Don't miss it!

137368 Rose Wood Rag (©1909 / Peter M. Heaton) / arranged roll $15
(originally issued on QRS 65-note roll 03165)

and Kalamity Kid (©1909 / Ferd. Guttenberger) / arranged roll
(originally issued on QRS 65-note roll 03238)

Here are two of Trebor Tichenor's all-time favorite folk rags, which he calls Pruett's Pets. Doc Pruett was an early rag roll collector in St. Louis, who is mentioned in They All Played Ragtime. Pruett had a collection of rag rolls that Trebor used to visit when he was a kid, and these were among Doc's favorites. Trebor eventually inherited Doc's rolls after Pruett passed away (by which time Trebor had already accumulated his own copies of many of Doc's best rolls).

Rose Wood Rag was published in Chicago in 1909. Trebor recorded it on his Tempus Ragorum CD; please listen to Trebor's rendition and read his notes if you get a chance. The last part is more of a march, along the lines of C. L. Woolsey's Mashed Potatoes (1911 / see BluesTone #137030).

Kalamity Kid and composer Ferd Guttenberger are discussed in Jasen & Jones' excellent new book That American Rag. KK features an especially neat extended syncopation in the final 4 bars of the B section; the trio features 3-over-4 rhythms with a nice break in the middle. It was reprinted in Richard Zimmerman's 101 Rare Rags folio, where we discover that J. Russel Robinson arranged the piece!

137257 Porcupine Rag (Charles L. Johnson) and Frisco Rag (Harry Armstrong) $15
arranged roll (originally issued on Metrostyle 92271)

Porcupine Rag was reprinted in Richard Zimmerman's 101 Rare Rags folio, and Frisco Rag was reprinted in Dover's Ragtime Gems. Both rags have been recut before from different originals, but this is the first time these fine arrangements have been available. Frisco Rag has "holds" in the music which are obeyed in the roll -- check out the music and see for yourself! This arrangement is excellent, and contains many of the devices that Mr. Zimmerman uses when he plays rags: melodic rags with tasteful embellishments, right-hand rips, and first-class trio sections.

137364 Scandalous Thompson (©1899 / Charles L. Johnson) $12
arranged roll (originally issued on Aeolian 65-note roll 8169)

137365 A Black Smoke (©1902 / Charles L. Johnson) $12
arranged roll (originally issued on Chase & Baker 65-note roll 1036-J)

Charles L. Johnson : These two early rags are both outstanding and among the finest written in their era. Johnson was from Kansas City and these rags both have an interesting regional folk flavor as described in Rags and Ragtime. In fact, both tunes are described in detail there and I recommend that you read all about them - I can't describe them any better! Scandalous Thompson was reprinted in Richard Zimmerman's 101 Rare Rags folio and A Black Smoke was reprinted in Dover's Classic Rags folio, if you want to read along. Both tunes are also quite long, in fact so long that I couldn't fit them onto one spool. Blow the dust off these great rags - I bet you haven't heard them in a while, and I bet you didn't remember how good they are!

James P. Johnson has his own page, with many of his great hand-played ragtime & popular rolls.

Scott Joplin has his own page, with all of his composer-played, hand-played rags & many other fine arranged and hand-played rolls.

137310 That Teasin' Rag (Joe Jordan) arranged roll $15
and Sweetie Dear (Joe Jordan) played by Fred A. Schmitz
(originally issued on Electra 77584 and Rythmodik B10503, ca. 1914)

You may recall I reissued Sweetie Dear and Tango Two-Step from 2 arranged rolls in 1993. You may also know that Electra rolls are on particularly fragile paper, and you'll find that this version of Sweetie Dear is a very good hand-played roll on the Rythmodik label. Rags and Ragtime reminds us that the C section of That Teasin' Rag was lifted as part of the Original Dixieland Jass Band One-Step! All this and the fact that Joe Jordan is such a significant composer whose work is hard to find on player rolls led me to offer these 2 renditions, which have not been recut until now. The last pair was very well received, so I hope this also meets with your approval.

Continue browsing the rags at Rag Composers, K - Z (Kortlander, Lamb, Marshall, Matthews, Olman, Scott, Tichenor, Van Alstyne, etc.)