Hi all! Once again, a new year begins and another great treasure trove
of material enters the public domain on New Year's Day! More great
compositions by George Gershwin, like "Lady Be Good", "Somebody Loves
Me", "Sweet and Low-Down", and "That Certain Feeling" can now be used
by musicians without worrying about obtaining permission.

Willie "The Lion" Smith's first copyrights were registered in 1925 and
therefore became public domain today, most well-known among them being
"Keep Your Temper". A few of Jelly Roll Morton's compositions, though
written much earlier, were copyrighted and published only in 1925, like
"Tom Cat Blues" and "Shreveport Stomps"; also the collaborative work
"Milenberg Joys" was copyrighted in that year.

Among James P. Johnson's works copyrighted in 1925 are two piano solos
he had recorded on piano roll in 1918, then again in 1921: his great
waltz "Eccentricity" and most famous among Johnson's piano pieces,
"Carolina Shout". Although Johnson never made an audio recording of
"Eccentricity" that anyone knows of, he was proud of this piece,
playing it for Rudi Blesh and Harriet Janis when they interviewed him
for "They All Played Ragtime" in 1949. They wrote "James P. turned to
the piano in his plain, substantial house in Jamaica, New York, and
played . . . a beautiful waltz, 'Eccentricity', with a syncopated lilt
that would make the 'Blue Danube' sound as heavy-footed as wooden
shoes."

To celebrate "Public Domain Day", I present an excerpt of a
transcription of JPJ's 1921 QRS roll of "Eccentricity". I did this
directly from the roll when I was in high school, about 1977. Also, I
show the entry in the Catalog of Copyright Entries for "Eccentricity".
Clarence Williams published an arrangement of "Eccentricity" the next
year (1926) and duly registered that published version, that particular
arrangement therefore becomes public domain next New Year's Day.

Very best regards to all, and we all hope for a much better year in
2021 than 2020 was!

Bob Pinsker
San Diego, California

 [   Entry in Catalog of Copyright Entries for James P. Johnson's "Eccentricity Waltz", in October 1925
 [ https://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/21/01/02/210102_081430_Eccentricity%20Waltz%20copyright%20entry%2019251016.png 
 [   First strain of "Eccentricity Waltz" by James P. Johnson as played by the composer on QRS 101000 in May 1921
 [ https://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/21/01/02/210102_081430_Eccentricity%20Waltz%20first%20strain%20for%20PD%20Day%202021.pdf