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Joseph
Lamb — The Humble Ragtime "Sensation"
Featuring
Bohemia Rag (1919) and
other Rags by Joseph Lamb
By Ted Tjaden
(originally
published June 2006 and updated periodically)
Joseph Francis Lamb is
rightfully regarded as one of "The Big Three"
composers of classic ragtime music, along with Scott Joplin
and James
Scott. Unlike Joplin and Scott, however,
Lamb outlived the era of classic ragtime and
briefly took part in the ragtime revival in North
America in the late 1950's. Lamb's compositions
are highly regarded for their melodic harmonies
and sophistication. The Library of Congress has
a short biography on Joseph Lamb; in
addition, the Library of Congress also has
recently
recorded an interview with Lamb's daughter,
Patricia Lamb Conn, in which she describes her
father's music. In 2012, Carol Binkowski
published
Joseph F Lamb: A Passion for Ragtime
(McFarland & Company).
Set out on this page below is more information on
Joseph Lamb, divided into the following topics:
1) Introduction
2) Life of Joseph Lamb
3) Sheet Music of Joseph
Lamb Compositions
4) Recommended Commercial
Recordings of Joseph Lamb Compositions
5) Bibliography
1) Introduction [top]
That Joseph Lamb was a white man composing such
intricate ragtime music is not that significant
since there were a number of important white
composers of ragtime (George Botsford, George Cobb
and Percy Wenrich, for example), and it would be
debatable in any event to argue that ragtime
composition is somehow race-dependent. What is
significant about Joseph Lamb is his relatively
late introduction to ragtime (at the age of 18)
and his isolation from the ragtime community other
than a brief meeting and friendship with Scott
Joplin. In addition, unlike many ragtime
composers, it would seem that writing ragtime was
merely a hobby for Joseph Lamb who otherwise
worked full-time in the garment industry and did
relatively little live performing. Lamb also was
able to live a relatively long life (he passed
away at age 72) which meant that he was able to
partake in the ragtime revival, if only briefly;
to this extent, he is alone with Eubie Blake being
the only other original ragtime personality to
have taken part in the renewed interest in ragtime
music.
Jasen and Tichenor in Rags and Ragtime: A
Musical History (1978:
124) argue that "Lamb was the consummate ragtime
composer, the genius who possessed the ability to
synthesize the best from all of the Folk, Classic
and Popular ragtime music worlds into stirring
works of his own great originality." Schafer and
Riedel (1973: 85) in the
Art of Ragtime: For and Meaning of an Original
Black American Art echo these comments:
. . . Lamb wrote very lively and
completely organized rags; their thrust not
toward technical or emotional complexity but
toward lyrical flow, transparent vitality, and
constant motion. Rags like "Cottontail Rag,"
"Reindeer Rag," and "The Ragtime Nightingale"
show a powerful consistency of lyrical and
rhythmic invention. Lamb's work is fully worthy
of Scott or Joplin, and his rags are as
"Negroid" and as individualized as anything
written in ragtime.
2) Life of Joseph Lamb (6 December 1887 – 3 September
1960) [top]
Much has been written on Joseph Lamb's life (see
the bibliography below for more
detailed information). Here are a few fast facts
about his life:
- Lamb had a brother James and two sisters,
Anastasia and Katharine, from whom Lamb claims
to have learned the piano.
- In 1901, Lamb went to school at St Jerome's
College (now St Jerome's
University) in Berlin (now
Kitchener), Ontario, after death of his
father on October 4, 1900.
- Lamb took lessons from a priest at the school
but quit after six weeks or so because "the good
father had nothing to offer Joe" (Scotti 1977: 15-16).
- Lamb is quoted as having said "I never took
lessons, and I can't explain how I happened to
be able to write the rags I did. At about eight
I started to fool around on the piano, but
didn't know one note from another – on the piano
or on the music": from Cassidy
(1961: 4) cited by (Scotti
1977: 15).
- McCarthy (1974: 20)
quotes Amelia Lamb as follows on her husband's
school days in Canada:
Joe used to laugh when he remembered those
days at the college. He was so homesick that
he wrote his mother and told her that if she
didn't send him the fare home, he'd walk to
New Jersey. I'm surprised he didn't ... he was
so strong-willed.
- In addition, Amelia mentions that Lamb grew
tired of eating sauerkraut, a regular staple in
Kitchener, Ontario, which was (and remains) a
major centre for German immigrants (and home of
Schneiders,
a major sausage and food producer founded in
1890 in Kitchener). Amelia Lamb also recounts in
that article a story of how Lamb broke his nose
while a student in Canada:
Apparently in those days, the boys used to
have to go without butter once a week but it
was the custom that everyone took turns
buying some on those days. One day, Joe was
running back to school with the butter when
he ran right into a brick wall and broke his
nose.
- Lamb stayed in Canada in school likely to
around 1904 (when he would have been 17 years
old) since he had been accepted at the Stevens
Institute of Technology in New Jersey for an
engineering course in 1904 (although he did not
attend there): Scotti
(1977:19).
- According to Morriss
(1959), in 1907, Lamb walked into the
offices of HH Sparks in Toronto and sold Celestine
Waltzes (below)
for $5, since according to Lamb, "[h]e generally
sold his compositions for anything between $25
and $50 because he wanted to see them in print."
Scotti (1977: 73)
confirms the $5 fee for the sale of Celestine
Waltzes. The 1907 date suggested by
Morriss would seem, however, to be in error
since Lamb most likely left Canada around 1904
and there is no evidence that he returned to
Toronto, and it would seem unlikely that he
would return to Toronto to "walk into the
offices" of HH Sparks in 1907. More likely than
not, Lamb made visits to Toronto and to Sparks
while he was resident in Berlin (Kitchener).
Most scholars agree that most if not all of the
Lamb pieces published with Sparks in Toronto
were written by Lamb while he was resident in
Canada and that publication was delayed by
Sparks. Most of the early pieces by Lamb
published by Sparks are extremely rare and hard
to locate; for a listing of these pieces, see below.
- Scotti (1977: 73)
quotes a letter written by Lamb to a friend in
which Lamb describes his relationship with
Sparks, a relationship that was more of a
friendship than a business relationship:
You know that my first compositions were
published by Harry H Sparks of Toronto. Well,
he published several before I even met him. On
one of my vacations after leaving college my
first thing was to meet him. He invited
me to his home to meet his family and have
dinner with them. As soon as we got in the
house his wife was there to greet us. Here's
the exact wording of his introduction of his
wife to me: "This is my wife and Sweetheart."
It was so unusual I shall never forget it. He
was not a newlywed – he had children going to
school. From observation then as well as in
later years they lived the kind of life
together that you would expect from an
introduction like that.
- In Lamb's compositions published by HH Sparks
in Toronto it appears that Sparks used the
spelling of "Josef" for Lamb's first name, a
practice not realized for any other (American)
publications. I could find no specific
discussion of this issue in the literature on
Lamb. I would speculate that one possible reason
for using "Josef" on the Spark publications was
perhaps due to the German influence of living in
Berlin (Kitchener), Ontario, with "Josef" being
a Germanic spelling of "Joseph" since Lamb, as
an Irish Catholic, appeared to have used
"Joseph" on all other publications.
- Pseudonyms: not widely known is the
possibility that Lamb used the pseudonyms of
"Harry Moore" and "Earl West" (and "Gordon
Hurst" as publisher of Love in Absence,
below). Scotti (1977:55-56)
recounts a December 28, 1975, interview he had
with Amelia Lamb to confirm the use of these
pseudonyms for some of the compositions
published in Canada with HH Sparks (and for Love
in Absence). The reason for using
pseudonyms for the Sparks publication is not
that unusual. Many ragtime publishers would use
pseudonyms for their composers to give the
impression that they had more composers under
contract than they actually did.
- After graduating from St Jerome's College in
1904, Lamb returned home and went to work for a
dry good store in New York; he was an avid
purchaser of sheet music from Gimbel's and
Macy's where sheet music was discounted on
Saturdays to seven or eight cents each (Scotti 1977: 35).
- Lamb visited his brother in California in 1906
(Scotti 1977:36).
- Lamb formed an orchestra circa 1906-11 – "The
Clover Imperial Orchestra" – that played for
church and lodge dances, hayrides and other
local affairs: Scotti
1977:41.
- Blesh and Janis note that Lamb was a regular
customer of John Stark's music store in New
York, where he was offered a discount: Blesh and Janis (1966:235).
- During the period 1910 to 1913, Lamb married
Henrietta Schultz in 1911 and tried "song
plugging" on Tin Pan Alley for a short time for
J Fred Helf. Scotti speculates that Lamb
may have tried the song-plugging out of a
partial sense of panic since this was shortly
after John Stark left New York in 1910: (Scotti 1977:79).
- In 1914, Lamb went to work for LF Dommerich
& Company Inc, where he worked until he
retired in 1957 (Scotti
1977:86). Scotti describes the company as being
in the import, customs and "factoring" business.
Joe Lamb's draft
card from this era has recently been made
available on the website of Monrovia
Sound Studio; in addition, Ed Berlin has
written a short blurb on Joe Lamb on this page.
- Scotti (1977:49)
suggests that Lamb became close friends with
Scott Joplin during their chance encounter 1907
in John Stark's music store in New York (Joplin
died in 1917).
- Joe Lamb Jr was born (to Henrietta) on July
23, 1915. Henrietta died on February 6, 1920, of
influenza: Scotti
(1977:106).
- Lamb married Amelia Collins on November 12,
1922. The couple had four kids: Patricia (Feb 6,
1924), Richard (Mar 19, 1926), Robert (November
20, 1927) and Donald (July 18, 1930).
- During the 1920's, Lamb wrote novelty rags or
novelettes with the following names: All Wet,
Apple Sauce, Banana Oil, The Berries, Brown
Derby, Chime In, Cinders, Crimson Ramblers,
Knick Knacks, Ripples, Shooting the Works, Soup
and Fish, Sweet Pickles, and Waffle (Scotti 1977:111-12).
Unfortunately, these compositions were lost when
the publisher moved offices in 1935: Scotti (1985:249).
However, the following four pieces were recently
rediscovered and are available for purchase
online here:
Cinders, Shooting the Works, Chime In, and
Crimson Rambler.
- During the period 1928 to 1935, Lamb presented
minstrel shows at St Edmonds Catholic Church in
Brooklyn. These shows involved skits jokes and
songs, where Lamb supplied much of the music and
was also the rehearsal pianist but apparently
did not perform: Scotti
1977:113; Wilkes.
- As part of the overall "ragtime revival" in
North America, and due to the efforts of Blesh
and Janis to track down and interview Lamb,
Joseph Lamb was brought to Toronto by Ragtime
Bob Darch and others for a tribute in October
1959 at Club 76 where Lamb was prevailed upon to
play several of his rags, one of his very few
public performances. More than 400 persons
attended the event: McCarthy
(19). During this trip, Lamb also visited the
gravesite of his Canadian publisher, Harry
Sparks (Morriss 1959).
- Joseph Lamb died in Brooklyn, New York, of a
heart attack at age 72.
- Scotti (1985:254-55)
eloquently places the contributions of Joseph
Lamb in these terms:
When Joe Lamb died in 1960 at the age of 72,
he left a rich legacy. A composer almost
solely by avocation, he in fact produced
thirty-six piano rags, seventeen piano
novelties - including the rag/novelties Hot
Cinders and Arctic Sunset,
twenty-odd miscellaneous pieces, and
forty-three songs. Lamb was a composer of
imagination, craftsmanship, experimentation,
and longevity. He synthesized the widely
divergent styles of Joplin and Scott with the
idioms of commercial ragtime, manipulated
disparate musical materials into organic
wholes, and utilized a tremendous diversity of
textures. By thinning out its texture, Lamb
distilled and culminated the legato piano rag
style. He was able to break through the rag's
convention of four-measure phrase lengths, and
brought tonal and structural sophistication to
the piano rag. A white emulator of a black
musical tradition, Joe Lamb took for granted
the very respectability of ragtime, which his
black hero, Scott Joplin, died proving.
Selected Notes on Compositions:
- Scotti (1977: 28)
analyzes Celestine Waltzes (below) and Liliputian's
Bazaar (below)
in these terms:
These two publications of 1905 are
convincing substantiation of Lamb's claims
to being innately talented and self tutored.
Composing and notating multipartite forms
with fairly acceptable tonal plans, melodic
contours, harmonic/rhythmic accompaniments,
and appreciable variety of texture after
about ten years of unsupervised musical
study indicates not only innate potential
but a high degree of motivation. At the same
time these examples contain awkward voice
leading, monotonous harmonic rhythm, and
slipshod notational grammar, lending
credibility to the composer's assertion that
he was self tutored.
The Florentine Waltzes of 1906
exhibits considerable improvement.
- Celestine Waltzes (below) was named after
one of Joe Lamb's sisters.
- There appears to be a typo on Liliputian's
Bazaar (below),
with the cover using the spelling of
"Liliputian" and the first page of the music
using the more orthodox spelling of
"Lilliputian." Most library catalogues use the
(incorrect) spelling from the cover.
- Lamb likely wrote Walper House Rag
around 1903; the composition was likely named
after the Walper House Hotel in Kitchener,
Ontario (Scotti 1977:34).
- Three Leaves of a Shamrock
describes mixed marriage between an Irish man
and an African-American woman, which, according
to Scotti (1977:56) is
perhaps the first and only song of that era to
openly discuss mixed marriage.
- Mary O'Reilly, who wrote the lyrics to Love
in Absence (below),
was a lifelong friend of Lamb's mother; Joseph
Lamb wrote the music and published the piece
using the pseudonym "Gordon Hurst."
- My Fairy Iceberg Queen (below) was originally
intended to be a cowboy song but was changed to
take advantage of the current popularity of
Eskimo songs (Scotti 1977:72).
- Contentment Rag (below) by Joseph Lamb was
written to commemorate the 50th wedding
anniversary of his main publisher, John Stark,
who Lamb considered more a personal friend than
a business acquaintance: Scotti
(1977:71). The original cover for the piece
depicted an elderly couple by the hearth;
however, publication was delayed and by the time
is was published, Mrs. Stark had passed away and
the cover used on the published version shows
instead an elderly gentleman by himself smoking
a pipe.
- Topliner Rag (below) was renamed from Cottontail
Rag by Stark to better accommodate the use
of unused sheet music cover art (depicting
clowns) that Stark had on hand. Scotti also
notes that many sheet music covers during this
time (during WW I) used smaller paper due
to paper shortages (Scotti
1977:95).
- The title for Sensation (below) was suggested by
Theodore (Teddy) Gatlin, the black elevator
operator in the building where Lamb worked in
1906 (Scotti 1977:37).
Stark paid $25 to Lamb for Sensation,
along with a promise of $25 more if a thousand
copies were sold. According to Blesh
and Janis (1966: 40), "Lamb got the second
$25 in four weeks but nothing further."
- Lamb considered American Beauty
(below), Topliner
Rag (below)
and Patricia Rag (below) his best rags: Blesh and Janis (1966:239).
Citing a letter written by Lamb to a friend, Scotti (1977:102)
documents that Lamb thought that the Gladiolus
Rag by Joplin (available here) was the
"most beautiful rag I have ever heard."
- An unpublished song by Lamb from 1914 is named
after a greeting between Italian Americans that
is otherwise considered derogatory: Wal-Yo,
see below).
- Many people, myself included, mistakenly
assume that Lamb named Patricia Rag (below) after his first
daughter, Patricia. On close inspection,
however, this would not be possible since Patricia
Rag was published in 1916 and Pat
Lamb was born in 1924 (nor was Pat Lamb named
after the rag).
- Lamb's Ragtime Nightingale (below), intended in part
to mimic the sounds of a nightingale, was
written in response to James Scott's Ragtime
Oriole (available here) even though
it is likely that James Scott did not intend his
work to be birdlike: Scotti
(1977:90).
- The opening arpeggiated chord from Ragtime
Nightingale (below)
is likely based on Chopin's Etude in C
Minor, Opus 10, no 12, a piece of music
Lamb was likely familiar with through
Etude magazine.
- Lamb himself described his rags in terms of
"heavy" and "light" rags based, in part, on the
complexity and harmonies present in the rags,
with the heavy rags synthesizing the styles of
Joplin and Scott (Scotti
1985:245). The "heavy rags, which tend to
be more complex and difficult to play, include:
Sensation, American
Beauty Rag, Ethiopa Rag,
Excelsior Rag, Ragtime
Nightingale, and Top Liner.
The lighter rags, which are more in the cakewalk
tradition, include: Bohemia Rag,
Champagne Rag, Cleopatra
Rag, and Reindeer: Ragtime
Two Step. (Scotti
1985:245) suggests that the remaining two
Stark compositions - Contentment Rag
and Patricia Rag - fall in
between these two groups.
- Jasen and Tichenor in Rags and Ragtime: A
Musical History (1978:123-24)
describe Lamb's works in these terms:
The strength of Joplin's ideas in ragtime
is best exemplified by the rags of Joe Lamb.
Rags written before 1907 (which is to say
before he became aware of the Joplin rags) .
. . show a rather mediocre attempt at
composing rags, using all of the overworked
devices of the cakewalk, Popular rag and
song. From the twelve works published
between 1908 and 1919, we find that his rags
are more predictable, as he synthesized the
Joplinesque legato melody style with Scott's
expansive keyboard work. Then, Lamb replaced
Joplin's phrase structure, making the first
half of a section contrasting rather than
parallel. He also avoided the short, motivic
phrasing of James Scott, but used Scott's
echo effect and rhythmic exuberance. Among
Lamb's greatest original stylistic features
are his use of sequences for developmental
purposes and his diversity of texture, not
only from light to heavy rags, but from
section to section and even phrase to phrase
. . . .
- Scotti (1985:247-49)
discusses some of Lamb's musical influences in
these terms:
[Lamb's] esoteric commitment to classic
ragtime isolated him from Tin Pan Alley
exploitation, and his residing in New York
City precluded his participation in the
Midwestern ragtime community; yet, he became
familiar with much published ragtime and with
other music as well. As a lad he had listened
to German folk singers in Berlin, Ontario, and
late he learned the music of Sissle and Blake,
amassed an impressive library of popular songs
and all types of rags, listened to black
religious singing at a camp meeting ground,
and participated in family sings and parish
minstrel shows. His experience with music was
multifaceted.
3) Sheet Music of Joseph Lamb Compositions [top]
Set out below is a complete
listing of Joseph Lamb compositions, published and
unpublished. For those compositions in the public
domain, the sheet music is provided (for free).
Also included are Lamb's early "Canadian"
ragtime-era compositions published by HH
Sparks of Toronto, including those composed
by Lamb under his known pseudonyms of Harry Moore
and Earl West.
a) Joseph Lamb's HH Sparks Compositions
It is likely that Lamb wrote
many of these pieces between 1901 and 1903 when he
was a student in Berlin (now Kitchener), Ontario
and that publication was delayed by Sparks (see Scotti 1985:244).
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Joseph Lamb. Celestine
Waltzes. Toronto, ON: HH
Sparks, 1905.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Personal photocopy [top]
|
|
Joseph Lamb. The
Lilliputian's Bazaar: A Musical
Novelty. Toronto, ON: HH
Sparks, 1905.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Personal copy [top]
|
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Joseph Lamb. Florentine: Valse.
Toronto, ON: HH Sparks, 1906.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Toronto
Reference Library Special
Collections [top]
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Josef F Lamb. The Lost Letter:
She Tho't Him False, He, Her Untrue
(words by Margret Anga Cawthorpe).
Toronto, ON: HH Sparks, 1907.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Toronto
Reference Library Special
Collections [top]
|
|
Joseph Lamb.
Dear Blue Eyes: True Eyes
(words by Llyn Wood). Toronto,
ON: HH Sparks, 1908.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Personal photocopy from Pat Lamb Conn
[top]
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Joseph Lamb.
If Love is a Dream Let Me Never
Awake (words
by Llyn Wood). Toronto,
ON: HH Sparks, 1908.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Personal photocopy provided by Pat
Lamb Conn [top]
|
|
Josef Lamb. Love's
Ebb Tide (words by Samuel
White) (Toronto, ON: HH Sparks, 1908).
[view
sheet music]
Source: University
of Toronto Music Library
[top]
|
|
Josef Lamb. Three
Leaves of Shamrock on the Watermelon
Vine (words by Harry Moore)
(Toronto, ON: HH Sparks, 1908).
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Photocopy from Library
and Archives Canada
[top]
|
|
Joseph Lamb, arranger (composition by Charles Wellinger).
Twilight Dreams: Reverie (Toronto,
ON: HH Sparks, 1908).
[view
sheet music]
Source: University
of Toronto Music Library [top]
|
|
Joseph Lamb. The
Homestead Where the Suwanee River
Flows (words by Joseph Lamb)
(Toronto, ON: HH Sparks, 1909).
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Photocopy from Library
and Archives Canada
[top]
|
|
Joseph Lamb. Love
in Absence (words by M.A.
O'Reilly) (Gordon Hurst, 1909).
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Personal copy provided by Pat Lamb
Conn [top]
|
|
Joseph Lamb. I
Love you Just the Same
(words by Joseph Lamb) (Toronto, ON: HH
Sparks, 1910).
[view
sheet music]
Source: Toronto
Reference Library Special
Collections [top]
|
|
Joseph Lamb. My
Fairy Iceberg Queen (words
by Murray Wood) (Toronto, ON: HH Sparks,
1910).
[view
sheet music]
Source: Toronto
Reference Library Special
Collections [top]
|
|
Joseph Lamb. Playmates:
Waltz Song (words by Will
Wilander) (Toronto, ON: HH Sparks,
1910).
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Personal photocopy provided by Pat
Lamb Conn [top]
|
b) "Canadian" compositions
believed to be written by Joseph Lamb using a
known pseudonym
In Joe
Lamb: A Study of Ragtime’s Paradox,
the 1977 thesis from the University of Cincinnati
(55-56), Joseph Scotti recounts a December 28,
1975, interview he had with Amelia Lamb, wife of
Joseph Lamb, about his use of the pseudonyms
"Harry Moore" and "Earl West." The reason Sparks
published compositions by Joseph Lamb using these
pseudonyms was to give the impression he had more
composers under contract than he actually did (a
common tactic by other sheet music publishers). As
such, it is believed that Joseph Lamb is the
composer of the pieces below. In fact, Scotti (1977:18) writes
that Amelia Lamb gave him a copy of In the
Shade of the Maple by the Gate (below) by "Earl West," it
being a composition by her husband). Of note, all
of the pieces are published by HH Sparks except
for The Ladies' Aid Song (1913) (below), which was published in
Toronto by Musgrave Bros & Davies "on behalf
of the composer." One possible explanation for
this is that HH Sparks is thought to have gone out
of business around 1910; as such, Sparks would not
have been able to publish this piece. It is
reasonable to surmise that Lamb had shopped the
piece around and eventually had it published "on
his behalf" by Musgrave Bros & Davies. As far
as I know, I am the first person to document the
possibility that The Ladies' Aid Song is
a "lost Lamb" composition.
|
Moore, Harry (likely
pseudonym for Joseph Lamb). Sweet
Nora Doone. Toronto, ON: Harry
H Sparks, 1907.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
British Library [top]
|
|
Moore, Harry
(likely pseudonym for Joseph Lamb). The
Engineer's Last Good Bye.
Toronto, ON: HH Sparks, 1908.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Library
and Archives Canada
[top]
|
|
Moore, Harry (likely
pseudonym for Joseph Lamb). I'm
Jealous of You. Toronto, ON:
Harry H Sparks, 1908.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
British Library [top]
|
|
Moore, Harry (likely
pseudonym for Joseph Lamb). She
Doesn't Flirt. Toronto, ON:
Harry H Sparks, 1908.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Toronto Reference
Library Special Collections [top]
|
|
Moore, Harry (likely
pseudonym for Joseph Lamb). The
Ladies' Aid Song. Toronto, ON:
Musgrave Bros & Davies, 1913.
[view
sheet music]
Source:Library
and Archives Canada
[top]
|
|
West, Earl (likely
pseudonym for Joseph Lamb). Somewhere
a Broken Heart (words by
Samuel Alexander White). Toronto, ON:
Harry H Sparks, 1908.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Toronto Reference
Library Special Collections [top]
|
|
West, Earl (likely
pseudonym for Joseph Lamb). In the
Shade of the Maple by the Gate
(words by Ruth Dingman). Toronto, ON:
Harry H Sparks, 1908.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Toronto Reference
Library Special Collections [top]
|
c) Joseph Lamb's Classic Rags
published by Stark [top]
Between 1908 and 1919, Joseph
Lamb published 12 classic rags with John Stark,
the ragtime publisher of Scott
Joplin and James Scott.
The Joseph Lamb "Stark" rags below are all in the
public domain and are set out below.
|
Joseph Lamb. Sensation:
A Rag. New York: Stark Music
Company, 1908. Copyrighted: 8 October
1908.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Cover from Library
of Congress, Music Division
[top]
|
|
Joseph Lamb. Ethiopia Rag.
New York: Stark Music Company, 1909. Not
copyrighted.
[view
sheet music] [top]
|
|
Joseph Lamb. Excelsior Rag.
New York: Stark Music Company, 1909. Not
copyrighted.
[view
sheet music] [top]
|
|
Joseph Lamb. Champagne Rag.
St Louis, MO: Stark Music Company, 1909.
Copyrighted 15 September 1910.
[view
sheet music] [top]
|
|
Joseph Lamb. American
Beauty Rag. St Louis, MO:
Stark Music Company, 1913. Copyrighted 27
December 1913.
[view
sheet music] [top]
|
|
Joseph Lamb. Contentment
Rag. St Louis, MO: Stark Music
Co, 1915. Copyrighted 10 January 1915.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Indiana
University Sheet Music Collections
[top]
|
|
Joseph Lamb. The
Ragtime Nightingale. St Louis,
MO: Stark Music Company, 1915. Copyrighted
10 June 1915.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Cover from Library
of Congress, Music Division [top]
|
|
Joseph Lamb. Cleopatra Rag.
St Louis, MO: Stark Music Co, 1915.
Copyrighted 16 June 1915.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Indiana
University Sheet Music Collections
[top]
|
|
Joseph Lamb. Reindeer:
Ragtime Two Step. St Louis,
MO: Stark Music Company, 1915. Not
copyrighted.
[view
sheet music] [top]
|
|
Joseph Lamb. Top
Liner Rag (St Louis, MO: Stark
Music Company, 1916). Copyrighted 4
January 1916.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Warren
Trachtman [top]
|
|
Joseph Lamb. Patricia
Rag. St Louis, MO: Stark Music
Company, 1916. Copyrighted 19 November
1916.
[view
sheet music] [top]
|
|
Joseph Lamb. Bohemia
Rag. New York: Stark Music Co,
1919. Copyrighted 17 February 1919.
[view sheet
music]
Source:
University of
Colorado Digital Sheet Music
Collection [top]
|
d) Joseph F Lamb, Ragtime Treasures Piano
Solos (New York: Mills Music, 1964) [top]
This now out-of-print folio
was published shortly after Lamb's death and
contains 13 previously unpublished rags by Lamb,
most of them written during the ragtime era and
revised or updated right until the composer's
death. These works likely remain protected by
copyright. The Table of Contents, in alphabetical
order, is as follows:
- Alabama Rag
- Arctic Sunset
- Bird Brain Rag
- Blue Grass Rag
- Chimes of Dixie
- Cottontail Rag
- Firefly Rag
- Good and Plenty Rag
- Hot Cinders
- The Old Home Rag
- Ragtime Bobolink
- Thorough Bred Rag
- Toad Stool Rag
e) Joseph F Lamb, Brown
Derby #2, a.k.a. Untitled Rag (St
Louis, MO: Penny 3, Robinson & Wells Inc, nd).
This composition, a previously
unpublished rag made available by Joseph Lamb's
daughter, was available for purchase from
the online store of the Scott Joplin
International Ragtime Foundation, but as of
October 2016 it is not clear if it is still
available.
f) Joseph F Lamb, Ragtime Reverie
(St Louis, MO: Penny 3, Robinson & Wells Inc,
nd).
This composition, a previously
unpublished rag made available by Joseph
Lamb's daughter, was available for
purchase from the online store of the Scott
Joplin International Ragtime Foundation,
but as of October 2016 it is not clear if it is
still available.
g) Joseph F Lamb, A
Little Lost Lamb: Piano Music by Joseph F Lamb
(Oak Forest, IL: Ragtime Press, 2005) [top]
This
wonderful folio of previously
unpublished rags and songs by Joseph
Lamb is available for purchase from Ragtime
Press, PO Box 630, Oak Forest, IL
60452 (Attention: Sue Keller). Sue
Keller has recorded a CD of the pieces
(with some of the vocals sung by
Patricia Lamb Conn, a daughter of the
composer). Both are highly recommended.
These works remain protected by
copyright. The Table of Contents, in
alphabetical order, is as follows:
- The Alaskan
Rag (1959)
- The Beehive
Rag (1959)
- Chasin' the
Chippies (1914)
- Gee, Kid!
But I Like You (1909)
[published 1909, Shapiro Music, NY?]
- Greased
Lightening Rag (1959)
- I Want to Be
a Bird-Man (1913)
- I'll Follow
the Crowd to Coney (1913)
- The Jersey
Rag (1959)
- Joe Lamb's
Old Rag (1959)
- Lorne Scots
on Parade (1904)
- Mignonne
(1901)
- My Queen of
Zanzibar (1904)
- Ragged
Rapids Rag (1905)
- The Rag-Time
Special (1959)
- Rapid
Transit (1959)
- Red Feather
(1906)
- Spanish Fly
(1912)
- Walper House
Rag (1903)
|
|
h) Four recently
re-discovered pieces [top]
The
following four pieces by Joseph Lamb, thought to
be lost, were recently rediscovered and are
available for purchase online here
- Joseph
F. Lamb. Cinders
- Joseph
F. Lamb. Shooting the
Works
- Joseph
F. Lamb. Chime In
- Joseph
F. Lamb. Crimson
Rambler
i) Unpublished Compositions
by Joseph F Lamb
[top]
The 1977 University of
Cincinnati dissertation by Joseph Scotti entitled
Joe Lamb: a Study of
Ragtime’s Paradox (273-85) contains a
list of works by Joseph Lamb. In his thesis,
Scotti identifies the following additional
compositions possibly by Joseph Lamb not already
included above:
Title |
Date Composed |
Sent to Library of
Congress |
Meet Me at the
Chutes |
1900 |
4 September 1961 |
Idle Dreams |
1900 |
August 1962 |
Lenonah |
1901 |
August 1962 |
Dora Dean's Sister |
1902 |
August 1962 |
Muskoka Falls,
"Indian Idyll" |
1902 |
4 September 1961 |
Golden Leaves
(Canadian Concert Waltzes) |
1903 |
4 September 1961 |
Le Premier - French
Canadian March |
1903 |
4 September 1961 |
Midst the Valleys of
the Far off Golden West |
1903 |
August 1962 |
When the Winter is
Over |
1903 |
February 1962 |
The Ivy Covered
Homestead on the Hill |
1904 |
4 September 1961 |
Tell Me that You
Will Love Me as I Love You |
1904 |
4 September 1961 |
The Eskimo Glide |
1905 |
4 September 1961 |
Florida |
1905 |
August 1962 |
A Rose and You |
1905 |
February 1962 |
My Little Glow Worm |
1905 |
August 1962 |
Sourdough March |
1906 |
August 1962 |
Samuel Coon Song |
1908 |
4 September 1961 |
Dear Old Rose |
1909 |
4 September 1961 |
Let's Do It Again |
1912 |
February 1962 |
A Little Girl Like
You |
1913 |
4 September 1961 |
Romance Land |
1913 |
February 1962 |
That Wonderful
Melody |
1914 |
February 1962 |
Wal-Yo
(words by
Mrs Joseph Lamb) |
1914 |
August 1962 |
I'd Give the World
to Have You Back Again |
1915 |
February 1962 |
Just for You |
1915 |
October 1962 |
For the Cause of
Liberty |
1916 |
August 1962 |
Oh! You with Hair
Like Mine |
1916 |
October 1962 |
Love me Like I Like
You |
1926 |
4 September 1961 |
It Breaks My Heat to
Leave You Melie Dear |
1959 |
4 September 1961 |
Wanda |
? |
October 1961 |
Only You |
? |
October 1962 |
The 22nd Regiment
March |
? |
October 1962 |
Ilo-Ilo |
? |
October 1962 |
The Dying Hero |
? |
October 1962 |
She's My Girl (Intro
Playmates) |
? |
? |
I'd Like You to Love
Me |
? |
? |
I Should Have Known |
? |
? |
Since You Took Your
Heart Away |
? |
? |
I'm Going to Go
Somewhere |
? |
? |
Don't You Be Lonely |
? |
? |
Our Emperor |
? |
? |
Our Empire |
? |
? |
Nemesis |
? |
? |
Scotti
(1977:278) also mentions the following titles from
a list held by Ragtime Bob Darch as possibly being
compositions by Lamb:
- Jennie Song
- Farewell My Love
- Cheese It
- Down in Dear Old Florida
- In Gay Old Golden Gate
Scotti also lists the
following three pieces as being published; these
pieces are also contained in Keller's A Little
Lost Lamb. If Scotti is correct, as he is
with the first title below, then these three
pieces are likely in the public domain as being
pre-1923:
|
Joseph Lamb, Gee,
Kid! But I Like You (New
York: Maurice Shapiro, 1909).
[view
sheet music]
Source: Library
of Congress, Music Division [top]
|
|
Joseph Lamb, I Want to Be a
Bird-Man (Brooklyn, NY: G
Satterlee, Satterlee Music Company,
1913).
Available from A
Little Lost Lamb, above.
|
|
Joseph Lamb. I'll Follow the
Crowd to Coney (words by G
Satterlee) (Brooklyn, NY: G Satterlee,
Satterlee Music Company, 1913).
Available from A
Little Lost Lamb, above.
|
There is some discussion in
the ragtime literature that Joplin and Lamb
collaborated on a composition circa 1910 and that
a piece entitled Scott Joplin's Dream is the
result. However, most scholars now doubt that is
the case – see, for example, Scotti
1977:46.
"Perfessor" Bill Edwards lists the following two
compositions as being co-written by Lamb with Gus
Collins, an in-law:
- Purple Moon (1930)
- So
Here We Are
Finally, journalist Mary Jukes
in a July 20,
1963, Globe & Mail newspaper
story at page 15 entitled "Designers
Collect Music in Ragtime" mentions Joseph Lamb who
"went to school in Berlin (now Kitchener) and
composed such old-time pieces as The Humber
Rag and The Muskoka Rag." In 2006
when I was writing this essay, this was the only
mention I had uncovered of possible Lamb
compositions entitled The Humber Rag and
The Muskoka Rag, although Scotti
does mention Lamb as a possible composer of Muskoka
Falls, "Indian Idyll" (1902), which is also
mentioned as being composed by Lamb in the
"Rivers in Canadian Music" entry in the
Encyclopedia
of Music in Canada (an entry which,
among other things, discusses Canadian music on
the theme of rivers). In the Fall of 2006, the
composer's daughter provided me with a photocopy
of a handwritten, unpublished manuscript called
Muskoka Falls, "Indian Idyll."
4) Recommended
Commercial Recordings of Joseph Lamb
Compositions [top]
Set out below are some of the
better compact disc (CD) recordings of Lamb's
compositions. Below this list are links
to a number of MIDI recordings available on
the Internet, recorded by various artists.
- Arpin, John. Champagne Rags (ProArte
– Feb 1993):
- Sensation: A Rag
- Ethiopia
- Contentment Rag
- Topliner Rag
- Cleopatra Rag
- Champagne Rag
- American Beauty Rag
- Reindeer Ragtime Two-Step
- Ragtime Nightingale
- Excelsior Rag
- Patricia Rag
- Bohemia
- Eskin, Virginia. American Beauties: The
Rags of Joseph Lamb (Koch Int'l
Classics, May 2000) [Amazon
entry]
- Walper House Rag
- The Alaskan Rag
- Ragtime Reverie
- Brown Derby No 2
- Alabama Rag
- Arctic Sunset
- Bird-Brain Rag
- Cottontail Rag
- Hot Cinders
- Ragtime Bobolink
- The Old Home Rag
- Firefly Rag
- Thoroughbred Rag
- Toad Stool Rag
- Sensation
- Ethiopia
- Excelsior
- American Beauty Rag
- Patricia Rag
- Nightingale Rag
- Keller, Sue. A Little Lost Lamb
(with vocals on select songs by Patricia Lamb
Conn) (Oak Forest, IL: Ragtime Press, 2005)
[see: http://www.rtpress.com/lamb.htm]
- Jersey Rag
- Chasin' the Chippies
- Greased Lightening Rag
- Mignonne
- Gee, Kid! But I Like You
- Lorne Scots on Parade
- Rapid Transit
- I Want To Be A Birdman
- Red Feather
- Ragged Rapids Rag
- Walper House Rag
- My Queen of Zanzibar
- Beehive Rag
- Joe Lamb's Old Rag
- Ragtime Special
- Spanish Fly
- Follow the Crowd to Coney
- Alaskan Rag
- Cottontail Rag
- Excelsior Rag
- Cleopatra Rag
- Meeting with Scott Joplin
- Sensation – A Rag
- Arthur Marshall, Artie Mathews, James
Scott
- Topliner Rag
- Alaskan Rag, The
- The Composition of "Nightingale"
- Ragtime Nightingale, The
- American Beauty Rag
- The Naming of Contentment
- Contentment Rag
- Patricia Rag
- Nielson, Guido. Complete Stark Rags of
Joseph F Lamb (Basta Records) [Amazon
entry]
- Teck, Kath. On
Track! Ragtime Music of Joseph Lamb
[Amazon
entry]
MIDI Recordings of Joseph
Lamb Compositions
There are a number of MIDI recordings of Lamb
compositions available on the Internet:
5)
Bibliography on Joseph Lamb [top]
In 2006, when first writing this essay, I tried
to compile below the most complete bibliography of
books and articles about Joseph Lamb. This
bibliography was created through a combination of
my own index searches and by consulting the
various bibliographies in books on ragtime. I have
not been able to obtain copies of every item in
the bibliography below so have not been able to
verify every entry (but I hope to do so some day).
Readers are encouraged to consult Carol
Binkowski's book (listed below).
- Balliet, Whitney. "Ragtime Game." (2 July
1960) New Yorker 20-21.
- Blesh, Rudi &Harriet
Grossman Janis. 1966. They All Played
Ragtime, 4th ed. New York: Oak
Publications [Internet Archive version].
- Blesh, Rudi, "Notes on an American Genius."
Foreword to Joseph F Lamb, Ragtime Treasures
Piano Solos. New York: Mills Music, 1964.
- Borgman, GA. "Joseph F Lamb, Classic Ragtimer"
(Aug 2001) 28 The Mississippi Rag 1-2.
- Borgman, GA. "Joseph F Lamb, Classic Ragtimer,
Part 2" (Sept 2001) 28 The Mississippi Rag 23-27.
- Cassidy, Russ. 1961.
"Joseph Lamb: Last of the Ragtime
Composers" (1961) 7 Jazz Monthly (August,
1961), 4-7; (October, 1961), 12-15; (November,
1961), 9-10; (January, 1962), 1-6; (February,
1962), 1-4; (March, 1962), 1-3' (April, 1962),
7-8.
- Charters, Samuel. 1960. "Notes on Joseph
Lamb: A Study in Classic Ragtime,"
Folkways FG 5363 [liner notes].
- "The Compositions of Joseph F Lamb." (January
1963) 2 Ragtime Society 5-6.
- Eccles, William. "Mr Ragtime Comes Home: After
50 Years, Ragtime's Pioneer Makes a Canadian
Comeback." The Toronto Star Weekly (21
November 1959).
- Freilich-Den, Marjorie. Joseph F Lamb, A
Ragtime Composer Recalled (Thesis,
Brooklyn College, CUNY, 1975).
- Hutton, Jack. 1984. "Chatting with Amelia"
(Nov-Dec 1984) The Ragtimer.
- "Inside Stuff – Music." (7 October 1959) 216 Variety
65.
- Jasen, David & Trebor Jay
Tichenor. Rags and Ragtime: A Musical
History. New York: Dover Publications,
1978 at 122-133.
- "Joseph Francis Lamb Dies" (1961) Second
Line No 3-4, 15.
- Jukes, Mary. "Designers
Collect Music in Ragtime" (20 July 1963) Globe
& Mail 15. [articles mentions Joseph
Lamb who "went to school in Berlin (now
Kitchener) and composed such old-time pieces as
The Humber Rag and The Muskoka Rag"].
- Massey, D. "Unifying Characteristics in
Classic Ragtime" (Fall 2001) 22 Indiana
Theory Review 27-50.
- McCarthy, Eugene.
"Joseph F Lamb: Ragtime Great Started Composing
at Kitchener, Ontario" (21 October 1974) The
Kitchener-Waterloo Record. Reprinted in
(November/December 1974) The Ragtimer 19.
- Montgomery, Mike. "A Visit with Joe Lamb"
(December 1957) 19 Jazz Report.
- Montgomery, Mike. "Joseph F Lamb: A Ragtime
Paradox, 1887–1960" (1961) Second Line
No 3-4, 17–18.
- Morriss, Frank. "Visit
in a Rainswept Cemetery: Ragtime Composer
Recalls a Debt" (8 October 1959) Globe &
Mail 15.
- Morriss, Frank. "What's This? A Cult Among
Ragtime Fans" (14 October 1959) Globe &
Mail 22.
- (Obituary): 6 Jazz Monthly (December,
1960), 16; Jazz Report, I (October,
1960), 12; Variety, CCXX (September 28,
1960), 79.
- "Rag Composer Remembered" (Jan-Feb 1979) The
Ragtimer 4-5.
- "Ragtime Aids United Appeal" (3 October 1959)
Globe & Mail 16 [describes
efforts by Bob Darch to raise money to bring
Joseph Lamb and his wife to a ragtime benefit in
Toronto].
- Schafer, William. "Joseph F Lamb: 'Sensation."
(September 1975) 2 Mississippi Rag,
6-7.
- Schafer, William &
Johannes Riedel. 1973. The Art of Ragtime:
Form and Meaning of an Original Black American
Art. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State
University Press [Internet Archive version].
- Scotti, Joseph. Joe
Lamb: A Study of Ragtime’s Paradox
(Dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 1977).
- Tichenor, Trebor Jay. "The World of Joseph
Lamb: An Exploration." 7 Jazz Monthly (August,
1961), 7-9; (October, 1961), 15-17; (November,
1961), 10-11; (December, 1961), 16-17.
- Wilkes,
Galen. "The Black Lamb of the Family: Joseph F
Lamb's Minstrel Shows" Vol 1 The Ragtime
Ephemeralist. Excerpt available online.
[top]
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