| |
The
Rags of George Linus Cobb
Featuring The
Midnight Trot (1916) and other Piano Rags
of George Linus Cobb
By Ted Tjaden
(originally
published June 2006 and updated periodically)
George Linus Cobb (1886-1942)
was a prolific composer of ragtime, including both
instrumental compositions and ragtime songs.
Included in this online essay is a brief overview of
Cobb's life as a composer. I have also included a
list of 210 known compositions by Cobb (and 5 still
to-be-determined compositions), the most extensive
listing of his compositions by anyone to date. Also
included is free online access to the sheet music to
169 of his total of 177 pre-1923 compositions,
resulting in over 95% of his pre-1923 compositions
being available on this site. In addition to being a
composer, Cobb was also a columnist for Melody magazine,
published by Walter Jacobs Inc, who was also his
major publisher for his compositions (see below for a sample of Cobb's
"Just Between You and Me" column from the magazine).
Information on this page is set out as follows:
1) Life of George Linus Cobb
2) Walter Jacobs Inc: The
Tuneful Yankee and Melody
magazines
3) Sheet Music of George Cobb
4) Commercial Recordings of
George Cobb Compositions
5) Additional avenues of
research on George Cobb
6) Bibliography
1) Life
of George Linus Cobb
(August 31, 1886 – December 25, 1942) [top]
There is surprisingly little
biographical information easily available on George
Cobb. In They All Played Ragtime (or at
least in the third printing of that book that I
have), Cobb does not even get an index entry and is
not discussed in the book (although several of his
compositions are listed in various parts of the
book). As such, very little is known about Cobb's
life, compared to say Jack Yellen, one of Cobb's
major partners who wrote the lyrics to at least 25
of Cobb's compositions; by way of contrast, Jack
Yellen was voted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and
has a much higher profile than George Cobb. The
information on Cobb's life that follows is taken
largely from either That American Rag (Jasen and Jones:2000) or Rags
and Ragtime: A Musical History (Jasen
and Tichenor:1989). Ragtimer Frederick
Hodges presented a
seminar on George Cobb in 2005 to the West Coast
Ragtime Society and more recently updated his
research on his website in an online blog post from
July 2012 entitled "George
L Cobb: The Tuneful Yankee." For now,
I set out below some basic facts about the life of
George Cobb (with section 5 below
containing a list of some areas where additional
research on the life and music of George Cobb is
needed):
- George Linus Cobb was born August 31, 1886, in
Mexico, New York, and died in Brookline,
Massachusetts, on Christmas Day, 1942. Research by
Bill Edwards suggests that Cobb was resident in
Mexico, New York at least through 1900 (Edwards:2007).
- Cobb entered the School of Harmony and
Composition at Syracuse University in 1905 (at the
age of 19): Jasen and Jones
(2000:228). Apparently, Cobb then lived in Buffalo
on graduation where he won a local competition in
1909 for his composition "Buffalo Means Business"
(below).
- Research by Bill Edwards hints at the
possibility – without verification at this stage –
that Cobb may have served in the military prior to
World War I given his dearth of publications
between 1910 and 1912 and other factors (Edwards:2007).
- Jasen and Jones (2000:229)
surmise that it was likely around this time that
Cobb hooked up with Jack Yellen, who turned out to
be Cobb's main lyricist (Yellen apparently worked
as a reporter at the Buffalo Courier),
although Jasen and Jones report that Yellen left
for the University of Michigan shortly after Cobb
and Yellen had completed a few of their first
compositions together.
"Rubber Plant" is a testament to Jacobs's good
eye for rags, and it is also proof of Cobb's
attentiveness at the Syracuse School of Harmony.
Its harmonic surprises come thick and fast, as
in silent movie music, yet it is not a showoff
piece. It is a satisfying rag of middling
difficulty, and, like most of Cobb's rags, it
sounds harder to play than it is.
- Cobb and Yellen continued
their partnership in Tin Pan Alley and had a hit
with their first attempt there: All Aboard
for Dixieland (below)
(Jasen and Jones: 2000:229).
Jasen and Jones document a number of hit songs
penned by Cobb and Yellen (all available below)
and note their success in writing songs over their
first few years in Tin Pan Alley where a number of
their songs were performed on Broadway and where
others, such as Alabama Jubilee (below), were heavily
recorded.
- Cobb was married in the 1910s
to Mary (last name unknown), but she disappears by
1930. He likely moved to the Boston area in late
1916, and a Cambridge address shows on
his WW1 draft card (Edwards:2007).
- Jasen and
Jones (2000:230) note that in September 1916
Walter Jacobs hired Cobb to be a staff writer and
columnist for Jacobs's the Tuneful Yankee.
However, they also note that Jacobs failed to
require that Cobb exclusively publish with Walter
Jacobs. Although Walter Jacobs was Cobb's main
publisher by a long shot, Cobb did shop his
compositions around and created a number of hits
for publishers such as Will Rossiter with Cobb's Russian
Rag (below).
- His father, Louis, was a
real-estate broker, continuing in that career
perhaps to his death in the 1920s. Cobb was likely
living with wife and parents in 1920, his father
still a broker (Edwards:2007).
- Jasen and Jones (2000:231)
state that Cobb used the pseudonym "Leo Gordon" on
two of his new pieces published in The Tuneful
Yankee "so he wouldn't seem to be hogging
space in the magazine." Although they do not
identify which two pieces, they likely are
referring to Georgia Rainbow (1916) (below) and Bone Head
Blues (1917) (below).
However, my research also uncovered the following
four less well known compositions by "Leo Gordon":
- Hang Over Blues (1917) (below)
- My Little Pal (1918) (below)
- Opals: Waltz (1918) (below)
- You and You Waltz (1917) (below)
- Cobb was the arranger for The
Blacksmith Rag, composed by "Rednip."
Research by Luigi Ranalli (Ranalli:2007),
suggests that Rednip is in fact a musician by the
name Harold Pinder (with "Rednip" being "Pinder"
spelled backwards) and not a pseudonym for Cobb.
"Rednip" also composed At the Shimmee Ball
(1919) that was published by "Pinder and Company."
- Research by Bill Edwards
suggests that Cobb was living in Somerville, MA,
in 1930 with his mother. His occupation is listed
as a publishing salesman, consistent with the fact
that he was not heavily composing at this time but
was instead likely concentrating on sales or
distribution on behalf of Walter Jacobs (Edwards:2007). By 1940,
Edwards' research has Cobb living in Brookline,
MA, according to two copies of his World War II
selective service card.
- Publishers: Cobb's
most frequent publisher of his music was Walter
Jacobs, who published at least 130 of Cobb's
compositions in one form or another. However, as
was noted by Jasen and Jones
(2000:230), Walter Jacobs did not sign Cobb to an
exclusive contract; as a result, Cobb was free to
publish elsewhere, something which he did. One of
Cobb's early publishers, prior to Walter Jacobs,
was Charles I Davis, who published at least 16 of
Cobb's compositions. Another major early publisher
was HC Weasner & Co of Buffalo, New York, who
published at least 22 of Cobb's compositions.
After these publishers, the next most frequent
publisher of Cobb's music was Will Rossiter (11
compositions). After that, Cobb spread his
compositions around, publishing with the following
publishers in descending order of the number of
publications published by each (with the number of
compositions published by that publishers
indicated in parentheses following the publisher's
name):
- Jerome H Remick (6)
- Chas E Roat Music Co
(Battle Creek, MI) (3)
- Harold Freeman Music (2)
- M Witmark & Sons (2)
- Ted Garton Music Co
(Boston) (2)
- Vinton Music (Boston) (2)
- Self (Cobb) (1)
- Bell Music Co (1)
- Hub Music Co (1)
- Leo Feist (1)
- Metropolis Music Co (1)
- Oliver Ditson (1)
- Seidel Music Pub Co (1)
- Shapiro, Bernstein & Co
(1)
- Sherman Clay & Co (1)
- Louis C Snyder (1)
- Remaining publishers unknown
- Songs: Of the 210 Cobb compositions
listed on this page, 83 appear to be songs (i.e.,
compositions with vocals). Although Cobb appears
to have penned the words to approximately 22 of
these songs, he heavily relied on Jack
Yellen as one of his major vocalists on at
least 25 of these songs. The next most prolific
vocalist on Cobb compositions appears to have been
Robert Levenson (11 songs), with the remaining
vocalists penning much fewer songs (with the
number of compositions indicated in parentheses
after the name of each vocalist):
- Jack Mahoney (3)
- J Will Callahan (2)
- Irving Crocker (2)
- Phil Volz (1)
- WL Beardsley (1)
- Lucius Pratt (1)
- WR Williams (1)
- Richard Whiting and Gus Kahn (1)
- HC Weasner (1)
- Bob Wyman (1)
- Will Garton and Leo Wood
(1)
- Treve Collins (1)
- W Max Davis and Eddie
Elliott (1)
- Aaron Neiberg (1)
- Norman Leigh (1)
- Instrumentals: A rough
count suggests that 124 of Cobb's 210 compositions
listed below are instrumentals. Of these 124
instrumentals, Jasen and Jones (2000) list 25 rags
(including three under the pseudonym of Leo
Gordon). The remaining instrumentals below fall
into the categories of marches, one or two-steps,
novelettes or mood pieces and waltzes (there
appears to be 13 instrumental waltzes).
2) Walter
Jacobs Inc: The Tuneful Yankee and Melody
magazines
[top]
Walter Jacobs's The Tuneful
Yankee and Melody magazines were a
major source of many of Cobb's
compositions provided below in section 3. The
Tuneful Yankee commenced in January 1917 and
was a monthly magazine similar to the Ragtime
Review, published by Axel Christensen out of
Chicago (see my separate
essay on the Ragtime Review). Each
monthly issue of these magazines typically contained
a selection of short articles on ragtime or popular
music, along with usually 3 or 4 compositions
(typically by composers who had published with
Walter Jacobs) and numerous ads (once again,
typically for Walter Jacobs's publications). By the
end of 1917, it appears that Walter Jacobs was
proposing a contest to come up with a new name for
the magazine, and in January 1918, the magazine was
relaunched as Melody magazine. Cobb wrote a
monthly column called "Just Between You and Me,"
which was formally commenced in the February 1918
(Vol II, Number 2) edition of Melody,
although it looks as though previous columns, which
were unattributed, were likely also written by Cobb
due to the same acerbic style deployed in the
earlier columns.
 |
Left: Sample cover from the
February 1917 The Tuneful
Yankee (Walter Jacobs).
|
 |
Left: Sample cover from the
February 1918 Melody
magazine (Walter Jacobs).
|
 |
Left: Sample "Just Between You
and Me" column by GeorgeCobb from the
February 1918 Melody
magazine (Walter Jacobs) in which Cobb
critiques piano compositions written
and submitted by readers of the
magazine.
|
3) Sheet
Music of George Cobb Compositions [top]
Set out below in chronological
order is a complete list of known compositions by
George Cobb. Ragtime songs (i.e., compositions with
vocals) are identified with "peach-colored"
backgrounds, whereas instrumental compositions are
identified with "yellow" backgrounds. Jasen and
Jones in That American Rag
(2000) list 22 compositions by George Cobb and
3 by Leo Gordon (a known pseudonym of Cobb). Those
25 compositions listed by them are identified below
by the code "TAR" as part of the bibliographic
information and include the date of copyright
registration as identified by Jasen and Jones (where
copyright was in fact registered, which did not
happen for all of these 25 compositions).
The sheet music in the tables
below that was sourced from The Tuneful Yankee
or Melody magazine was digitized from a
microfilm version of those magazines; hence, the
quality of those particular digital versions is not
perfect but the music is quite readable.
Set out below the tables of
chronological listings of Cobb compositions is a list of 3 compositions
purportedly by Cobb but where I have been
unable to obtain any confirming information about
those pieces.
Readers who have copies of any
of the public domain Cobb pieces identified below
but not available are encouraged to provide me
photocopies or digital scans of those pieces so they
can be added to this site.
1905
1906
1907
1908
1909
1910
 |
Cobb,
George. Aggravation Rag.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1910. Listed in TAR. Copyright
registration date: 1 March 1910.
[view
sheet music]
Source: University
of Colorado Digital Sheet Music
Collection [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Canned Corn Rag.
Buffalo, NY: Bell Music Co, 1910. Listed
in TAR. Copyright
registration date: 1 March 1910.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Photocopy provided by Andrew
Barrett [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. That Hindu Rag.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1910. Listed in TAR. Copyright
registration date: 15 October 1910.
[view sheet
music]
Source: Melody
magazine (October-November 1924) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. The High Brows: March and
Two Step. Boston: Walter
Jacobs, 1910.
[view
sheet music] [piano part only]
Source:
Photocopy from the Center
for Popular Music, Middle Tennessee
State University [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. I Used To Be Lonesome
('Till I Found You) (words by
Jack Yellen). Cleveland, OH: Charles I
Davis Music Publisher, 1910.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Maine
Music Box [top]
|
1911
1912
 |
Cobb,
George. Down on de Levee (words
by George Cobb). Cleveland, OH: Charles I
Davis Music Publisher, 1912.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Maine
Music Box [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Every Little Note Means
Love When Billy Plays that Way (words
by George Cobb). Cleveland, OH: Charles I
Davis Music Publisher, 1912.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Personal copy [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Honey Lou! ('Neath the Big
White Honey-Moon) (words by
Jack Yellen). Buffalo, NY: HC Weasner
& Co, 1912.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Lilly
Library (Indiana University,
Bloomington) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Jolly Dancers Ostende:
Latest Ball Room Dance.
Cleveland, OH: Charles L Davis, 1912.
[view sheet
music]
Source:
Photocopy from Bowling
Green State University
[top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Lady of the Lake.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1912.
[view
sheet music] [piano part only]
Source:
Photocopy from the Center
for Popular Music, Middle Tennessee
State University and Cadenza
(magazine) (November 1915) [top]
|
|
|
Cobb, George. Mister
Melody Man (words by George
Cobb). Cleveland, OH: Davis Music Publisher,
1912.
[view
sheet music]
Source: African-American Sheet
Music, 1850-1920 (from Brown
University) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Oh That Lovey, Dovey Glide
(words by George Cobb).
Cleveland, OH: Charles I Davis Music
Publisher, 1912.
[view sheet
music]
Source:
Personal copy [top]
|
 |
Cobb, George. Stunning
Grenadiers: March & Two Step.
Cleveland, OH: Charles I Davis Music
Publisher, 1912.
Source: eBay
Listing [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. When Oscar Played the Flute
(words by George Cobb). Buffalo, NY: HC
Weasner & Co, 1912.
[view sheet
music]
Source:
Personal copy [top]
|
1913
 |
Cobb,
George. All Aboard for Dixie
Land (words by Jack Yellen).
New York: Jerome H Remick, 1913.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Maine
Music Box [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. The Baboon Bounce: A
Rag-Step Intermezzo. Boston:
Walter Jacobs, 1913.
[view sheet music]
Source: University
of Colorado Digital Sheet Music
Collection [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Bring Back my Lovin' Honey
Boy (words by Jack Yellen).
Chicago: Will Rossiter, 1913.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Photocopy from the Center
for Popular Music, Middle Tennessee
State University [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Bunny Hug Rag.
Battle Creek, MI: Chas E Roat Music Co,
1913. Listed in TAR.
Copyright registration date: 4 August
1913.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Copy
provided by reader [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. The Get-A-Way March and Two
Step. Boston: Walter Jacobs,
1913.
[view
sheet music] [piano part only]
Source:
Photocopy from the Center
for Popular Music, Middle Tennessee
State University [top]
Also available
in Melody magazine (June 1920)
|
 |
Cobb,
George. I Long to be Way Down in
Tennessee (words by George
Cobb). Cleveland, OH: Charles I Davis,
1913.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Photocopy from the Center
for Popular Music, Middle Tennessee
State University [top]
|
|
Cobb,
George. If I Find Another Boy Like
You (words by Jack Yellen).
Cleveland, OH: Charles I Davis, 1913.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Personal copy [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. If I Only Had You Again (words
by Phil Volz). Buffalo, NY: HC Weasner
& Co, 1913.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Photocopy from the New
York State Library [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Lonesome Moon (words
by Jack Yellen). Cleveland, OH: Charles I
Davis, 1913.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Photocopy from the Center
for Popular Music, Middle Tennessee
State University [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. On the Good Ship Nancy Lee
(words by Jack Yellen). Buffalo,
NY: HC Weasner & Co, 1913.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Personal copy [top]
|
|
|
Cobb,
George. Roll Along Old Georgia Moon (words
by George Cobb). Buffalo, NY: HC Weasner
& Co, 1913.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Indiana
University Sheet Music Collections
[top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Take Me Back To The Days
Gone By (words by George
Cobb). Buffalo, NY: HC Weasner & Co,
1913.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Photocopy from the Center
for Popular Music, Middle Tennessee
State University [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. You'll Be Sorry (words
by Jack Yellen). Cleveland, OH: Charles I
Davis, 1913.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Personal collection [top]
|
1914
 |
Cobb,
George. After-Glow: A Tone Picture.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1914.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Maine
Music Box
[top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Dance that Dengozo with Me:
Oo-La-La (words by WL
Beardsley). Chicago: Will Rossiter, 1914.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Maine
Music Box
[top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Fleur d'Amour: Hesitation
Waltz. Boston: Walter Jacobs,
1914.
[view sheet
music]
Source: Cadenza
(magazine) (June 1914) [top]
|
|
Cobb,
George. Hero of the Game: March.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1926.
Source: The
British Library catalog shows a
1914 date of publication for this
composition
[top]
|
|
|
Cobb, George. A
Holiday in Dixieland (words by
Lucius Pratt). Buffalo, NY: HC Weasner &
Co, 1914.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Indiana
University Sheet Music Collections
[top]
|
 |
Cobb, George. Huskin'
Time: A Rural One Step. Buffalo,
NY: HC Weasner & Co, 1914.
[view sheet
music]
Source:
Personal copy [top]
|
 |
Cobb, George. I'm
Coming Back in Springtime (words
by Jack Yellen). Chicago: Will Rossiter,
1914.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Personal copy [top]
|
|
|
Cobb, George. Just
for To-Night (words by George
Cobb). Chicago: Will Rossiter, 1914.
[view
sheet music] [Listen to a
1914 Victor recording from Library
and Archives Canada]
Source: Indiana
University Sheet Music Collections
[top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Knock Knees: One-Step or
Two-Step. Boston: Walter
Jacobs, 1914.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Cadenza
(magazine) (November 1914) [top]
|
|
|
Cobb, George. Listen
to that Dixie Band (words by
Jack Yellen). New York: Jerome H Remick,
1914.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
African-American
Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (from Brown
University)
[top]
|
| |
Cobb,
George. Mammy's Golden Wedding Day
(words by Jack Yellen). Cleveland, OH:
Charles I Davis, 1914.
Source: Music
is available in print at Hoole
Library Wade Hall Sheet Music
Collection and possibly at the Sam
DeVincent Collection of Illustrated
American Sheet Music, National Museum
of American History [top]
|
 |
Cobb, George. Mammy's
Little Angel Child (words by
Jack Yellen). Chicago: Will Rossiter, 1914.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Photocopy from the Center
for Popular Music, Middle Tennessee
State University [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Mona Lisa Valse.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1914.
[view
sheet music]
Source:: Cadenza
(magazine) (June 1915); and photocopy
from the Center
for Popular Music, Middle Tennessee
State University [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. On a Summer Night (words
by Jack Yellen). Buffalo, NY: HC Weasner
& Co, 1914.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Maine
Music Box
[top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. On the Banks of Honolulu
Bay (words by George Cobb).
Buffalo, NY: HC Weasner & Co, s.d.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Fordham
University Libraries Digital
Collections [top]
|
| |
Cobb,
George. On the QT: March and
Two-Step. Boston: Walter
Jacobs, 1914.
Source: British
Library catalog [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. La Parisia: Hesitation
Waltz. Cleveland, OH: Charles
I Davis, 1914.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Personal collection [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Sing Ling Ting: Chinese
One-Step. Boston: Walter
Jacobs, 1914.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Cadenza
(magazine) (July 1915); also British
Library catalog and Brigham
Young University Library [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. That Tangoing Turk:
One-Step or Two-Step. Boston:
Walter Jacobs, 1914.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Cadenza
(magazine) (June 1916) and British
Library catalog [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. That Tantalizing Tango Tune.
Words by Jack Yellen. Cleveland, OH:
Charles I Davis, 1914.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Personal copy [top]
|
1915
 |
Cobb,
George. Alabama Jubilee (words
by Jack Yellen). New York: Jerome H
Remick, 1915.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Historic
American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (from
Duke University) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Are You from Dixie? (Cause
I'm from Dixie Too) (words by
Jack Yellen). New York: M Witmark &
Sons, 1915.
[view
sheet music] [listen to 1916 Edison
recording]
Source: Maine
Music Box
[top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Barbary:
Valse Algerienne. Boston:
Walter Jacobs, 1915.
[view
sheet music]
Sources: Cadenza
(magazine) (July 1915) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Brass
Buttons: March and Two-Step.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1915.
[view
sheet music]
Sources: Cadenza
(magazine) (September 1915); also British
Library catalog and January
1917 Jacobs' Band Monthly (University
of Illinois, microfiche) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Buds and Blossoms: Waltz.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1915.
[view
sheet music]
Sources: Cadenza
(magazine) (January 1916); also British
Library catalog [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Dancing 'round the USA
(with Jack Yellen and Harry Carroll). New
York: Shapiro, Bernstein & Co, 1915.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Copy
provided courtesy of Frederick
Hodges [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Dreaming (words by
Phil Voltz). Buffalo, NY: HC Weasner &
Co, nd.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Photocopy obtained from the New
York State Library [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Golden Dawn: A Tone Picture.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1915.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Jacobs'
Piano Folio of Tone-Poems and Reveries,
No. 2; also Cadenza
(magazine) (November 1915) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. It's All a Dream (words
by Jack Yellen). New York: M Witmark &
Sons, 1915.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Photocopy from the Center
for Popular Music, Middle Tennessee
State University [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Law and Order: March.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1915.
[view
sheet music]
Sources: Cadenza
(magazine) (July 1916); also British
Library catalog [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. On Honolulu Bay (with
Ted Barron) (words by Jack Yellen). New
York: Metropolis Music Co, 1915.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Photocopy from the Center
for Popular Music, Middle Tennessee
State University [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. On the Road to Dublin Town
(words by Jack Yellen). New
York: Jerome H Remick, 1915.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Maine
Music Box
[top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Rabbit's Foot.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1915.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Cadenza (magazine) (July 1915)
[top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Roses Mean Memories
(Mem'ries Mean You) (words by
Jack Yellen). Buffalo, NY: HC Weasner
& Co, 1915.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Photocopy from the Center
for Popular Music, Middle Tennessee
State University [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. That Twilight Melody (words
by Jack Yellen). Buffalo, NY: HC Weasner
& Co, 1915.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Personal collection [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Three Nymphs: Dance
Classique. Boston: Walter
Jacobs, 1915.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Cadenza
magazine (January 1915) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Virginia Sue (words
by George Cobb). Buffalo, NY: HC Weasner
& Co, 1915.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Photocopy from the Virginia
Historical Society [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. White Narcissus: Hesitation
Waltz. Battle Creek, MI:
Charles E Roat, 1915.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Digital copy provided by Frederick
Hodges [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. You Didn't Care
(words by WR Williams). Chicago: Will
Rossiter, 1915.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Indiana
University Sheet Music Collections
[top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Young April: Novelette.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1915.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Cadenza
magazine (May 1915) [top]
|
1916
 |
Cobb,
George. Cheops: Egyptian Intermezzo.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1916.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Maine
Music Box
[top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Drift Wood: Novelette.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1916.
[view
sheet music]
Source: The
Tuneful Yankee magazine (October
1917) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Frangipani: Oriental
Fox-Trot. Boston: Walter
Jacobs, 1916.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Cadenza
magazine (August 1916) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George (as Leo Gordon). Georgia
Rainbow. Boston: Walter
Jacobs, 1916. Listed in TAR.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (January 1918) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Good Bye Blues.
Battle Creek, MI: Chas E Roat Music Co,
1916. Listed in TAR.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Digital
copy provided by Frederick
Hodges [top]
|
|
|
Cobb, George. I
Can't Forget (song) (with
Richard Whiting and Gus Kahn). New York:
Jerome H Remick, 1916.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Photocopy from University
of Toronto Music Library [top]
|
|
|
Cobb,
George. I'm Goin' to Hit the Trail
for Alabam' (words by George
Cobb). Indianapolis, IN: Seidel Music Pub
Co, 1916.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Charles Templeton Sheet Music
Collection (MSU) [top]
|
|
|
Cobb, George. In
the Beautiful Garden of Dreamland
(words by George Cobb). Buffalo, NY: HC
Weasner & Co, 1916.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Indiana
University Sheet Music Collections
[top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. The Midnight Trot.
Chicago: Will Rossiter, 1916. Listed in TAR. Copyright
registration date: 5 April 1916.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Charles
Templeton Sheet Music
Collection (MSU)
[top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Red Rooster.
Buffalo, NY: HC Weasner & Co, 1916.
[view sheet
music]
Source:
Personal copy [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. See Dixie First
(words by Jack Mahoney). Boston: Walter
Jacobs, 1916.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Historic
American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (from
Duke University) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. There's Someone You've
Forgotten Who Has Not Forgotten You (words
by Jack Yellen). Boston: Walter Jacobs,
1916.
[view
sheet music]
Source: The
Tuneful Yankee magazine (January
1917) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. When You Dream of Old New
Hampshire, I Dream of Tennessee
(words by Jack Mahoney). Boston:
Walter Jacobs, 1916.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Maine
Music Box
[top]
|
| |
Cobb,
George. When You're Five Times
Sixteen (words by Jack
Mahoney). New York: Leo Feist, 1916.
[Listen to a
1916 His Master's Voice recording
from Library
and Archives Canada]
Source: British
Library catalog [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Won't You Come and Love Me
(words by HC Weasner). Buffalo, NY: HC
Weasner & Co, 1916.
[view sheet
music]
Source:
Personal copy [top]
|
1917
 |
Cobb,
George. All Aboard for Rock-A-Bye
Bay: Waltz Song (words by
Will Callahan). Boston: Walter Jacobs,
1917.
[view
sheet music]
Source: The
Tuneful Yankee magazine (August
1917) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. The Battle Song of Liberty
(words by Jack Yellen). Boston:
Walter Jacobs, 1917.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Maine
Music Box
[top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Blue Sunshine: Waltz.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1917.
[view
sheet music] [view
extended version from The Tuneful
Yankee]
Orchestral
music for this piece is available
as follows: bass,
cello,
viola,
1st
violin, 2nd
violin, cornets,
drums,
trombone,
saxophone,
horns,
1st
clarinet, 2nd
clarinet, oboe/bassoon,
1st
flute, 2nd
flute
Source:
Photocopy from University
of Toronto Music Library. Also
available in The Tuneful Yankee (November
1917) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George (as Leo Gordon). Bone Head
Blues. Boston: Walter Jacobs,
1917. Listed in TAR.
[view
sheet music]
Source: The
Tuneful Yankee magazine (February
1917) [top]
|
|
|
Cobb, George
(lyricist). Columbia's Call
(music by Bob Wyman). Boston: Walter Jacobs,
1917.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Indiana
University Sheet Music Collections
[top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Down on Blue Bird Bay
(words by Irving Crocker). Boston: Walter
Jacobs, 1917.
[view
sheet music]
Source: The
Tuneful Yankee
magazine (September 1917) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Down Where It's Always June
(words by George Cobb). Buffalo,
NY: HC Weasner & Co, 1917.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Photocopy from the Center
for Popular Music, Middle Tennessee
State University [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George (as Leo Gordon). Hang Over
Blues. Boston: Walter Jacobs,
1917.
[view
sheet music]
Source: The
Tuneful Yankee magazine (June
1917) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Just Keep The Roses
A-Blooming (words by Robert
Levenson). Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1917.
[view sheet
music]
Source: The
Tuneful Yankee
magazine (October 1917) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Ladder of Love Waltz.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1917.
[view sheet
music]
Source: The
Tuneful Yankee magazine (July
1917). Also available in January 1918
Jacobs' Band Monthly [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Levee Land: One Step.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1917.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Historic
American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (from
Duke University) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Mississippi Volunteers
(Forward March!) (words by
Robert Levenson). Boston: Walter Jacobs,
1917.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Duke University, Digital Collections
[top]
|
| |
Cobb,
George. Nautical Nonsense.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1917. Listed in TAR.
Note: A
piece with this title – Nautical
Nonsense – is listed in TAR but I wonder if
that listing is in error and whether the
authors intended Nautical Toddle
(immediately below) instead.
It is unlikely that Cobb would have
composed and titled two pieces in the
same year with such unusual but similar
titles. I have listed both pieces for
now, however, since I have no proof that
Nautical Nonsense does
not exist.
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Nautical Toddle: Fox Trot.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1917.
[view
sheet music]
Source: The
Tuneful Yankee magazine (December
1917) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. The Picture that the
Shamrock Brings to Me (words
by Will Callahan). Boston: Walter Jacobs,
1917.
[view
sheet music]
Source: The
Tuneful Yankee magazine (June
1917) [top]
|
 |
Cobb, George. Send
Me a Line (When I am Across the Ocean)
(words by Irving Crocker).
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1917.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Photocopy from the Center
for Popular Music, Middle Tennessee
State University [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Some Shape: One Step.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1917.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Digital
copy from a reader. Also available in Tuneful
Yankee Magazine (June 1917) and
January 1918 Jacob's Orchestra
Monthly and January 1918
Jacobs' Band Monthly [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. There'll Come a Night (words
by George Cobb). Boston: Walter Jacobs,
1917.
[view
sheet music]
Source: The
Tuneful Yankee
magazine (March/April 1917) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Waiting. Boston:
Walter Jacobs, 1917.
[view
sheet music]
Source: The
Tuneful Yankee magazine (December
1917) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. When the Moon was Hanging
Low. Buffalo, NY: HC Weasner,
1917.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Personal copy [top]
|
| |
Cobb,
George (as "Leo Gordon"). You and
You Waltz (with Thomas Allen).
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1917.
Source: OCLC
WorldCat [top]
|
1918
 |
Cobb,
George. Calcutta: Oriental Fox Trot.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1918.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (November 1918) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Cracked Ice Rag.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1918.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (July 1918) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Here's How: One Step.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1918.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (April 1918) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. In the Glow of the Alamo
Moon (words by Jack Yellen).
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1918.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (March 1918) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. In the Old Front Parlor
(words by Robert Levenson). Boston: Walter
Jacobs, 1918.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (February 1918) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Irish Confetti: Fox Trot.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1918. Listed in TAR.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (February 1918) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Maori Love (words
by Treve Collins). Boston: Walter Jacobs,
1918.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (July 1918) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Moonbeams: Novelette.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1918.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (August 1918) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. (as "Leo Gordon"). My
Little Pal (words by Robert
Levenson). Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1918.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (June1918) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. (as "Leo Gordon"). Opals:
Waltz. Boston: Walter Jacobs,
1918.
[view sheet
music]
Source: Melody
magazine (December 1918) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Peter Gink: One Step
(Adapted from "Peer Gynt" Suite 1)
(Apologies to Grieg). Boston:
Walter Jacobs, 1918.
[view
sheet music] [1919
Victor recording] [Sue
Keller MIDI]
Source: National
Library of Australia Digital
Collections
Source: Also available in Melody
magazine (March 1918) [top]
Cover source: Photocopy from Toronto
Reference Library sheet music
collection [top]
|
|
Cobb,
George. Russian Rag.
Chicago: Will Rossiter, 1918. Listed in TAR. Copyright
registration date: 27 April 1918.
[view
sheet music]
Listen to Historic
.MP3 Recording: Montreal: His Master's
Voice, 1921: Berliner Gram-O-Phone Co
(Library and Archives Canada)
Source: Indiana
University Sheet Music Collections
[top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Say When. Boston:
Walter Jacobs, 1918. Listed in TAR. Note: both TAR and
Rags and Ragtime indicate "1919" as
the year of publication, which appears to
be in error.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (March 1918) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Sunshine (Spread All the
Sunshine You Can) (words by
George Cobb). Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1918.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Maine
Music Box and
March 1918 Melody magazine
[top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Toy Poodles: Novelty One
Step. Boston: Walter Jacobs,
1918.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (May 1918) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Treat 'Em Rough: One Step.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1918.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (December 1918) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. What Next! Fox Trot.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1918.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (June 1918) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. When the Lilies Bloom in
France Again (words by Robert
Levenson). Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1918.
[view sheet
music]
Source: Melody
magazine (May 1918) [top]
|
1919
 |
Cobb,
George. Alhambra: Spanish One-Step.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1919.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (August 1919) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Boodiewah (words by
Max Davis and Eddie Elliott). Boston:
Walter Jacobs, 1919.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (August 1919) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Dixie Lullaby.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1919.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (January 1919) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Fancies: Novelette.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1919.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (July 1919) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Feeding the Kitty: A
Ragtime One-Step. Boston:
Walter Jacobs, 1919. Listed in TAR.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (November 1919) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Four Roses (song)
(words by Aaron Neiberg). Boston: Walter
Jacobs, 1919.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (June 1919) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Hawaiian Sunset: Waltzes.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1919.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Maine
Music Box; also
Melody magazine (May 1919)
[top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Javanola: Oriental Fox-Trot
and One-Step. Boston: Walter
Jacobs, 1919.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (June 1919) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. A Little Later On (words
by Robert Levenson). Boston: Walter
Jacobs, 1919.
[view
sheet music]
Source: UCLA
Archive of Popular Music [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Memoirs. Boston:
Walter Jacobs, 1919.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (September 1919) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Mother's Love and Kisses
(song). Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1919.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (September 1919) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Rose of Burgundy
(words by Robert Levenson). Boston: Walter
Jacobs, 1919.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (April 1919) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Stop It: Fox Trot.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1919. Listed in TAR.
[view sheet
music]
Source: Melody
magazine (December 1919) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Tokio (words by
Robert Levenson). Boston: Walter Jacobs,
1919.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (March 1919) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Water Wagon Blues.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1919.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (April 1919) [top]
|
1920
 |
Cobb,
George. Asa's Toddy: One Step (with
Apologies to Mr Grieg). New
York: Jerome H Remick, 1920.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Photocopy from the Center
for Popular Music, Middle Tennessee
State University [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George (arranger). Blacksmith Rag:
Fox Trot (composed by Rednip).
Boston: Ted Garton Music Co, 1920.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Indiana
University Sheet Music Collections
[top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George (arranger). Blacksmith Rag
(with the "Anvil Chorus")
(words by Will Garton and Leo Wood)
(composed by Rednip). Boston: Ted Garton
Music Co, 1920.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Indiana
University Sheet Music Collections
[top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Bohunkus: Novelty One Step.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1920.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (March 1920) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Crystal Ball (words
by Robert Levenson). San Francisco, CA:
Sherman Clay & Co, 1920.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Photocopy from the Center
for Popular Music, Middle Tennessee
State University [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Dust 'em Off Rag.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1920. Listed in TAR.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (August 1920) [top]
|
| |
Cobb,
George. Give My Love to Dixie (words
by Robert Levenson). Providence, RI:
Harold Freeman Music, 1920.
Source: University
of New Hampshire, Alvah Sulloway Sheet
Music Collection [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. I've Been Living in the
Land of Sunshine (words by
Irving Crocker). Boston: Walter Jacobs,
1920.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (February 1920) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Over the Rockies (Down
Frisco Way) (words by Jack
Yellen). Buffalo, NY: HC Weasner & Co,
1920.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Maine
Music Box
[top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Peek In.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1920.
[view sheet
music]
Source: Melody
magazine (April 1920) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Umpah! Umpah! One-Step
Oddity. Boston: Walter Jacobs,
1920.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Maine
Music Box; also
Melody magazine (October/November
1920) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. When You Made My Dreams
Come True (song). Boston:
Walter Jacobs, 1920.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (September 1920) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. You've Been a Dear Old Pal
(Mother of Mine) (with Harold
Freeman and Robert Levenson). Providence,
RI: Harold Freeman Music Co, 1920.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Maine
Music Box
[top]
|
1921
 |
Cobb,
George. Across the Hot Sands: March.
Boston: Oliver Ditson, 1921.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Maine
Music Box
[top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Almond Eyes: Fox Trot.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1921.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (August 1921) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Asia Minor: Fox Trot.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1921.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (July 1921) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. The Faun: Danse.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1921.
[view sheet
music]
Source: Melody
magazine (October 1921) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Hop Scotch: Fox Trot.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1921.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (April 1921) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George & HC Weasner. Let's Take
a Trip Back to Dixie. New
York: HC Weasner, 1921.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Personal copy [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Love Lessons Waltz.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1921.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (May 1921) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Put and Take: One Step.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1921.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (December 1921) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Shivaree: One Step.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1921.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (October 1921) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Square and Compass March.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1921.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (August 1921) [top]
|
|
Cobb,
George. Torrid Dora (Toreador).
Chicago: Will Rossiter, 1921. Listed in TAR. Copyright
registration date: 18 December 1921.
[view
sheet music]
Source: York
University Libraries, Sheet Music
Collections [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. "Wild Oats": One Step.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1921.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (May 1921) [top]
|
1922
 |
Cobb,
George. Broken China: An Oriental
Novelty. Boston: Walter
Jacobs, 1922.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (March 1922) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Burglar Blues: Eccentrique
Fox Trot. Boston: Walter
Jacobs, 1922.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (July 1922) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Carnival Revels Dance.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1922.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (September 1922) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Ghost Walk: Eccentric
Novelty. Boston: Walter
Jacobs, 1922.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Photocopy from University
of Toronto Music Library; also
available in Melody magazine
(September 1922) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Love and Laughter
(Pizzicato) Novelette. Boston:
Walter Jacobs, 1922.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (November 1922) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. March of the Walking Dolls.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1922.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Melody
magazine (December 1922) [top]
|
 |
Cobb,
George. Potato-bug Parade: An
Aroostook Episode. Boston:
Walter Jacobs, 1922.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Maine
Music Box; also
available in Melody magazine
(February 1922) [top]
|
The foregoing compositions by
George Cobb all appear to have been published prior
to January 1, 1923, and, as a result, are "out of
copyright"" and in the public domain.
The pieces that follow below, to
the contrary, all appear to have been published
since January 1, 1923, and may still be protected by
copyright. If I have time, I hope to more closely
investigate the copyright status of these pieces.
For example, Walter Jacobs, as publisher, appears to
have properly renewed copyright registration for
some of the pieces below 28 years after the initial
copyright was registered. These pieces where
copyright was properly renewed would presumptively
be protected by copyright until 95 years after the
publication date. However, it is not entirely clear
to me who owns the copyright in many of these
post-1923 compositions where copyright was properly
renewed. For example, Jasen and Jones in That
American Rag (2000:244)
indicate that the Walter Jacobs company was taken
over in 1943 "by a Hollywood firm, but the Walter
Jacobs imprint remained on the music."
Unfortunately, the authors do not indicate which
Hollywood firm took over Walter Jacobs.
On a practical level, it is
likely that copyright has been abandoned in most of
the post-1923 Cobb publications due to the lack of a
commercial market for these compositions. However,
legal speaking, courts will generally require some
active step by a publisher to abandon its copyright
and mere inactivity is not necessarily sufficient to
prove an intent to abandon copyright.
Alternatively, if some of the
post-1923 that are still covered by copyright have
not been legally abandoned, I wonder if an argument
could be made that some of the works may have been
orphaned if there has been no clear chain of title
over ownership of the copyright over the passing of
time (but this is pure speculation on my part). The
concept of "orphaned" copyrighted works has
recently been studied by US lawmakers. In
Canada, by way of contrast, there are already procedures
in place for a person to obtain clearance to use
orphaned works, although the Canadian system
is not without its critics since any license fees to
use an orphaned work operate as a tax and will not
likely provide any incentives to creators.
1923
 |
Cobb,
George. Doll Days: Novelette.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1923.
Source: Melody
magazine (March 1923) [top]
|
| |
Cobb,
George. High Brows March.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1923.
Source: Melody
magazine (March 1923) [top]
|
| |
Cobb,
George. Mist of Memory Waltz.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1923.
Source: Melody
magazine (June 1923) [top]
|
| |
Cobb,
George. Morning Kisses Waltz.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1923.
Source: Melody
magazine (February 1923) [top]
|
| |
Cobb,
George. The New Russian Rag.
Chicago: Will Rossiter, 1923. Listed in TAR. Copyright
registration date: 16 May 1923.
[view
sheet music] [listen
to Warren Trachtman MIDI]
Source: York
University Libraries, Sheet Music
Collections [top]
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Cobb,
George. A Night In India.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1923.
Note: This
piece contains five movements entitled:
Twilight in Benares; The Fakirs; Dance
of the Flower Girls; The Temple of Siva;
and March of the Brahmin Priests.
Source: British
Library catalog [top]
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Cobb,
George. Piano Salad.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1923. Listed in TAR. Copyright
registration date: 19 January 1923.
Source: Ragtime:
100 Authentic Rags (Jasen);
also available in Melody magazine
(January 1923) [top]
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Cobb,
George. Slumber Song
(instrumental). Boston: Walter Jacobs,
1923.
Source: Melody
magazine (January 1924) [top]
|
1924
| |
Cobb, George. The
American Broadcast March.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1924.
Source: Melody
magazine (March 1924) [top]
|
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Cobb,
George. Cortege of the Cyclops.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1924.
Source: Melody
magazine (September 1924) [top]
|
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Cobb,
George. Dance of the Satyrs.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1924.
Source: Melody
magazine (May 1924) [top]
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Cobb,
George. Mountain Laurel Waltz
(with Thomas Allen & RE Hildreth).
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1924.
Source: The
music for this piece is available in
print at the Houston
Public Library [top]
|
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Cobb,
George. Puddle Ducks: March
Grotesque. Boston: Walter
Jacobs, 1924.
Source: Melody
magazine (April 1924) [top]
|
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Cobb,
George. Spooks: Eccentric Novelty.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1924.
Source: Melody
magazine (February 1924) [top]
|
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Cobb,
George. Summer Furs (A Syncopated
Classic: Scarf Dance Chaminade).
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1924.
Source: Melody
magazine (August 1924) [top]
|
1925
| |
Cobb,
George. Chromatic Capers.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1925. Listed in TAR. Copyright
registration date: 12 June 1925.
Source: The
sheet music is available in print in Ragtime:
100 Authentic Rags (Jasen)
[top]
|
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Cobb,
George. The Days Gone By (words
by George Cobb). Buffalo, NY: HC Weasner
& Co, 1925.
Source:
Available at the Maine
Music Box
[top]
|
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Hop House Blues.
Available in Dementia Americana: A
Super-Syncopated Suite: For Piano.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1925.
Source: British
Library catalog [top]
|
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Owl
on the Organ. Available in Dementia
Americana: A Super-Syncopated Suite: For
Piano. Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1925.
Source: British
Library catalog [top]
|
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Savanna Sunset.
Available in Dementia Americana: A
Super-Syncopated Suite: For Piano.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1925.
Source: British
Library catalog [top]
|
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Static
and Code. Available in Dementia
Americana: A Super-Syncopated Suite: For
Piano. Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1925.
Source: British
Library catalog; also available in
Melody magazine (January 1925)
[top]
|
1926
| |
Cobb,
George. The Lion Tamer: Galop.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1926.
Source:
Available online at the University of
South Carolina Sheet Music
Collection [top]
|
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Cobb,
George. "Old Ironsides": March.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1926.
Source:
Available at the Maine
Music Box
[top]
|
| |
Cobb,
George. Patrol of the Pelicans.
Chicago: Will Rossiter, 1926.
Source: British
Library catalog [top]
|
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Cobb,
George. Power and Glory:
Processional March. Boston:
Walter Jacobs, 1926.
Source:
Available at the Maine
Music Box
[top]
|
1927
| |
Cobb,
George. Cubistic Rag.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1927. Listed in TAR. Copyright
registration date: 14 October 1927.
Source: The
sheet music is available in print at Mississippi
State University [top]
|
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Cobb,
George. Lindy: Youth with the Heart
of Gold (with Norman Leigh).
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1927.
Source: The
sheet music is available in print at Dartmouth
College Library and Indiana University
[top]
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Cobb,
George. Piano Sauce.
Boston: Hub Music Co, 1927. Listed
in TAR. Copyright
registration date: 13 August 1927.
Source: I have
been unable to identify a source for
this piece [top]
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Cobb, George.
Procrastination Rag. Boston:
Walter Jacobs, 1927. Listed in TAR. Copyright
registration date: 19 June 1927.
Source: The
sheet music is available in print at Mississippi
State University [top]
|
| |
Cobb,
George. The Tipster: Eccentric
March. Boston: Walter Jacobs,
1927.
Source:
Available at the Maine
Music Box
[top]
|
1929
| |
Cobb,
George. Snuggle Pup.
Boston: Walter Jacobs, 1929. Listed
in TAR. Copyright
registration date: 4 March 1929.
Source: The
sheet music is available in print in Ragtime:
100 Authentic Rags (Jasen)
[top]
|
1942
Unidentified compositions by
George Cobb
Various Internet sources suggest the following
titles are compositions by George Cobb, but I have
not been able to confirm the existence of these
compositions through bibliographic entries or other
methods of verification:
- Puttin' Out The Kitten Cues
4) Commercial
Recordings of George Cobb Compositions [top]
Set out below are several
commercially available CD recordings that contain
the music of George Cobb:
In addition, there are a number of MIDI recordings
of George obb compositions available on the
Internet, as follows:
5)
Additional Avenues of Research on George Cobb
[top]
There are a number of additional
avenues for additional research to be done on George
Cobb, including:
- Syracuse, NY: a search
of the archives at Syracuse University for any
fonds on George Cobb and a search for student
newspapers or music clubs from the era circa 1903
to say 1908 when Cobb was likely there; a search
of city directories from that era.
- Buffalo, NY: a
search of Buffalo, New York, newspapers for
mention of Cobb's "Buffalo Means Business"
prize-winning song and a search of local archives
and city directories for information on Cobb.
- Boston: a search of
city directories, archives and public and
university libraries for information on Cobb and
Walter Jacobs and the various musical periodicals
published by Walter Jacobs; also search for
obituaries for Cobb (date of death: December 25,
1942).
- Analysis of music: I
have spent so much time compiling Cobb's music, I
have not had a chance to analyze it. There are
several areas of work that could be done in this
regard:
- I suspect most of Cobb's
compositions were written first for piano with a
number of them being arranged for orchestra or
band; it is possible, however, that some of his
music was written specifically for orchestra or
band with piano parts included. Further work
could be done to catalogue which of Cobb's
compositions have been arranged for orchestra or
band and to analyze whether those compositions
were first written for piano or not.
- Jason and Tichenor (1989:174) describe Cobb's rag
as spanning three phases – Popular, Advanced and
Novelty. Given the foregoing extended list of
over 200 compositions, there is likely further
room for more detailed analysis of his
compositions in light of these three phases.
- Music in context: Cobb
appears to have been a clever person with many
allusions in his music to contemporary life and
to classical compositions (e.g., Torrid
Dora, Asa's Toddy).
Researching the antecedents and inspirations for
some of his compositions would likely produce
interesting research and insights into his work.
6)
Bibliography [top]
Set out below are resources that
contain information on George Cobb.
- Edwards, Bill
("Perfessor"). Email from Bill Edwards to Ted
Tjaden (13 July 2007).
- Jasen, Dave & Trebor
Tichenor. Rags and Ragtime: A Musical History.
New York: Dover, 1989.
- Jasen, David & Gene Jones.
That American Rag: The Story of Ragtime from
Coast to Coast. New York: Schirmer Books,
2000.
[top]
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