Another Fig Leaf Rag!
By Rob DeLand
Jeeze, do I feel stupid. This roll (RYTHMODIK A10802/The Fig Leaf Rag/Wm. Lawrence/pb Pete Wendling) isn't Joplin's Fig Leaf Rag at all, and I finally did the smart thing and called Trebor Tichenor on it this morning (why didn't I think of that in the first place?!!).
Trebor pointed out that this is an easy mistake for us to make today, assuming anything with a Joplin title is a Joplin composition! It turns out that this rag is WRITTEN by Wm. Lawrence and has nothing to do with Joplin - Lawrence may not have even been aware that Joplin wrote a Fig Leaf Rag, who knows. Trebor believes a copy of the sheet music for this came up in one of the sheet music auctions a while back, and went for a big sum, like $1000 or so (please don't assume the roll is worth anything like that; I would be surprised if you could sell it for more than $100 on an auction, but who knows? There are more fanatic sheet collectors with that kind of cash to spend than roll collectors).
There's also a THIRD Fig Leaf Rag that Chet Atkins recorded in the 1950's which is Chet's own composition, a typical country guitar rag. It came out on that 50's charcoal gray RCA Victor label. Trebor remembers getting all excited when he saw it, again assuming that Chet Atkins recorded a Joplin rag, then got it and found it was Chet's tune.
I guess that's what we get for jumping to conclusions! BTW I did play the roll yesterday, and while it's not bad and I plan to keep it, it certainly is not one of my favorite rag rolls.
Thanks for bringing this topic up, it's been a fun exercise. I learned something today, and it isn't even 9AM yet! NEXT?
-Rob DeLand
(deland_robert@macmail1.csg.mot.com) |
(Message sent Thu 4 Apr 1996, 16:30:09 GMT, from time zone GMT-0800.) |
|
|
Mechanical
Music Digest™ Archives
