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Table of Contents
Acknowledgements and ForwardI wish to acknowledge my great debt to the officers and members of The Friends of Scott Joplin for sponsoring this folio. The Friends are covering my expenses and will receive 50% of all profits from the sale of the folio. This not-for-profit organization was originally formed in 1989 to assist in the restoration of the Scott Joplin House at 2658A Delmar Ave. in St. Louis. The Scott Joplin House is now a Missouri State Park. Over the years, the Friends of Scott Joplin have continued to further the performance and memory of the ragtime music of Scott Joplin and his contemporaries through a monthly Ragtime Rendezvous, an annual Youth Ragtime Competition, concerts, a newsletter and a website. When Rich Egan, Vann Ford and Barry Morgan were officers of the Friends of Scott Joplin in 1998, plans were laid for this folio. I want to especially thank Rich Egan for his many kind words of support and encouragement, and for making editorial suggestions to the manuscript. Barry Morgan also undertook to transcribe several of my manuscripts, and I owe him both thanks for his efforts and an apology that in the end, I have produced my own manuscripts, primarily because of convenience. Time and organizations roll on, and it's been a while coming into being. I continued to receive encouragement and support for producing this folio from Cynthia Craig while she was president, and also from Patricia Madinger and Dave Majchrak. It was in July of 1994 when I first decided to see if I could actually write a rag. I was living with my partner, Stephen Nichols, at the Barwick Condominium Apartments on McPherson Avenue, which is located just off of Euclid Avenue. I was laid up at the time for a few weeks by my nemesis of 40 years duration, the gout. The Euclid Avenue Rag was composed while limping and sometimes crawling from couch to piano and back. I got over the gout attack, and by 1995 the first six rags of this collection were written. Except for The UFO Rag, they all evoke images of the City of St. Louis: Euclid Avenue, the street address of the monthly Ragtime Rendezvous, Forest Park, that civic gem from the 1904 World's Fair, The Barwick Condominium Apartments, where I lived for 13 years, The St. Louis Botanical Gardens (Shaw's Gardens), perhaps the most beautiful botanical garden in the world, and The St. Louis Zoo, where many times Steve and I have picnicked while watching the swans and the seals. I also need to express my appreciation for the support and friendship of the Ragtime Rascals. You can see the Rascals on the cover of this folio. From left to right, they are Judy Connolly, Colleen Hawkins, Rosanda Richards-Ellsworth, Mary Polite, and Lynn Groff. Late in 1997, I read that the Friends of Scott Joplin were going to start sponsoring monthly Ragtime Rendezvous meetings at Dressel's Cafe. Rosanda, Judy and Mary went to the second meeting with me—I would never have gone alone. Picture the scene at Jon Dressel's Cafe: it is the site of poetry readings and alternative music, a Welch pub whose employees and patrons are possibly even closer family than the Cheers cast has ever been. The Rendezvous is held upstairs in The Pub Above, whose walls are adorned by pictures of famous musicians, poets and civil war heroes. Usually, Ray is tending bar, and Jon or Ben Dressel keep an eye on things. Directly behind the PSO (piano shaped object, Trebor Tichenor's term) are scenes of the Central West End during the '60s Era, including one of the St. Louis Ragtimers. An occasional cigar or pipe is smoked here, along with a serving of Double Dragon Ale and chips. So there we were on that November night, the four of us, and I was nervous as hell. But I got up and played a couple of Joplin rags, followed by my St. Louis Zoo Rag. To my true surprise, the crowd went wild. When I finished playing, people came up and congratulated me. Ragtime master Jan Douglas even asked me for a copy of Zoo. Rosanda later sarcastically joked that she had bruises on her shins where people had knocked into her as they rushed past her to get to me. We became regulars at the Rendezvous, and the crew of ladies from the East Side expanded to the present five. Rosanda even had green baseball caps made up. Emblazoned above the bills of the caps over a musical staff with notes were the words "Jimmie's Ragtime Rascals." The Rascals were helpful at first, but, of course, this could not continue forever. We began to make a joke of it. They started to act as if they were due some recognition for their support. (And, of course, they were and now they are getting it.) So as our game evolved, they "forced" me to sign a contract sharing half of all my ragtime profits, which I did in good spirits (but faking my signature, just in case that elusive Fame seized me). They pointed to my "fleet of new cars" (a 98 Altima and a 97 Nissan truck) and renovated townhouse (I fixed the roof) as evidence of withholding profit. Opera buff (and self-proclaimed friend), Gil, told them that some 18th Century artists would hire groups of supporters known as "clackers." If the artists didn't pay up, the clackers would boo and curse instead of applauding. The Rascals then threatened to adopt similar tactics if I didn't share some of the profits soon. But I told them then, as I still maintain, that 50% of zero is still zero. On one occasion, the Rascals served me with official-looking legal papers at my place of work, complaining that I had not shared profits as I had previously agreed to. Oh, and did I mention that I tried to form a group of counter- supporters, Jane and Barbara, also known as the Ragtime Rebels, but that it backfired when the Rascals and the Rebels discovered that they liked each other (female solidarity) and when Jane got bored with the Rendezvous. So, this contest goes on, and I try to humor The Rascals. I suppose it's just one of the inconveniences of a successful career in the arts, and, let's face it, aggressive or not, they are my fans. In the summer of 2001, while attending a conference in Sweden, Stephen and I had the good fortune to meet Oleg Mezjuev, the webmaster of the Swedish Ragtime Home Page and the Terre Verde Corner. We spent an evening ragtiming with he and his friends. He has been nice enough to list all of my rags in midi format on his website, and I thank him for that. In addition to nine rags, I have also included three ragtime songs in this folio. At the risk of tooting my own horn, the song The Microcomputer Blues is itself worth the price of the entire collection. It never fails to bring the house down. The ragtime song, Ragtime Girl, included in this folio, is written and dedicated to The Rascals. And finally, regardless of what your religious persuasion, you will get a kick out of The Stand Up For Jesus Rag. I have performed it for Baptists, In addition to those already mentioned, I acknowledge the privilege of frequently sharing the same stage with ragtime greats such as the late Jan Hamilton Douglas, and the St. Louis Raqtimers, Trebor Tichenor, Al Stricker, and Don Franz. Other present or former officers of the Friends of Scott Joplin who have worked hard for the organization and who deserve mention are Dr. Bob Edmonds, Nelle and Bob Garrecht, Steve Hinson, Patsy and Chuck Madinger, Bob Ault, Jeanne Milder and Steve Thaman. I also thank the many colleagues and friends that have attended the Rendezvous on occasion. We all had a good time. March 9, 2004 |