Not to beat a dead horse, but John Tuttle and I have been e-mailing
each other back and forth about piano roll QRS 186 "Ching Chong".
I cut a run of word rolls for him recently from my original copy.
When he played the version I had he noticed it was different from the
original roll he had!

John's copy of QRS 186, one he had re-cut several years ago, features
a piano introduction 'a la orientale' followed by verse #1 and a single
chorus, a piano interlude is next, then verse #2 followed by one last
chorus.

My copy, and also the copy Robert Perry posted on his web site,
features the introduction, Verse #1 with two choruses, a piano
interlude, then verse #2 ending again with two choruses!  It seemed
two extra choruses were added to the roll.

My speculation is that the song (and roll) was turning out to be
a bigger hit than anticipated, and since composer Lee S. Roberts was
also involved in the management of QRS the decision was made to alter
the first issue of the roll with "more music for your dollar", thereby
getting more sales which in turn would create more royalty payments for
Ching Chong's composers -- 1917 business practices at their finest!

Any other thoughts?

Richard Groman - Keystone Music Roll Co.
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
keymusic@ptd.net.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]
http://www.keystonemusicroll.com/