This is another good composition from Johnson but a rag it isn't. It has a very 'old timey' sound to it, especially the first part, and is well suited to the banjo. In his younger days, Johnson played banjo and mandolin and would have been familiar with old time music. The Trio is worth a look and listen, I've arranged it as a reverse bass solo where the chords carry the melody and the bass notes fill the spaces in between. The score and midi are in the library...Steve.

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Very neat, Steve. I think you're spot on, this was made for the banjo!

When I listened to it on youtube (I can't listen to the files here from work), there was another interesting rag right below it: "Blacksmith Rag" by Cobb. Some cool stuff in that one. Not sure how it would lay on the banjo though.

Hi Marc, thanks for that, I'll have a look at BS Rag and put it on the 'to do' list.

Trapdoor2 said:

Very neat, Steve. I think you're spot on, this was made for the banjo!

When I listened to it on youtube (I can't listen to the files here from work), there was another interesting rag right below it: "Blacksmith Rag" by Cobb. Some cool stuff in that one. Not sure how it would lay on the banjo though.

Whoops. In the usa BS means "bullish** !  What a great title for a tune. The B*** S*** Rag. Anyway I listened to the midi of Barber Pole Rag, er, I mean BP (no, wait, that's British Petroleum) Rag, and except for the 3rd part I don't see why this is not a rag. I do hear its banjo-ness and I also like it.  If this is not a rag where does that leave Dill Pickles? How would you classify Whistling Rufus and  Pensacola?  Calling Chris Ware! we need the expert!


Steve Harrison said:

Hi Marc, thanks for that, I'll have a look at BS Rag and put it on the 'to do' list.

Trapdoor2 said:

Very neat, Steve. I think you're spot on, this was made for the banjo!

When I listened to it on youtube (I can't listen to the files here from work), there was another interesting rag right below it: "Blacksmith Rag" by Cobb. Some cool stuff in that one. Not sure how it would lay on the banjo though.

Jeez, Jody, I am flattered that I'd be considered an authority on any subject; my wife will laugh at me when I tell her. While one could go on and on tirelessly about such questions (and many ones, myself included, do) in this case it seems to me that if it was written in 1911 by the composer of "Dill Pickles" and he called it a rag, then it's a rag. It's peppered with what is frequently referred to as the "cakewalk syncopation" (main theme, second measure), it has a nice semi-syncopated break between the admittedly almost completely unsyncopated but generally lyrical third section and reprise of the second theme (sort of similar to the break in "Palladium Rag," actually -- since we're crossing oceans and instruments here) and I'd bet that everyone who bought the sheet music in 1911 also called it a "rag" and if it got their feet moving, then it did its job.

One of the characteristics of Johnson's music is that even if the melodies are bland, the harmonies generally always "go somewhere," which isn't always true of a lot of this stuff, much of which was published quickly to make a buck. Come to think of it, maybe this was an old cakewalk Johnson had laying around that he shaped up to capitalize on the success of DP (I won't go into the double-meanings of any acronyms there.) Then again, maybe it was originally a "Characteristic Caprice" and the publisher is simply the one who titled it. Who knows?

I'm just glad that Steve seems to have made it his life's work to adapt the entire library of ragtime literature to the fingerstyle banjo. I'd never heard this one before, and wouldn't have otherwise, so thanks, Steve!

I certainly consider your reply to be indicative of expertise, Chris, you betcha!   I also have never heard Barber Pole before and I think it's a good one. It goes on my "must learn" list, though I'll probably not get to it until next year. Thanks for your reply Chris, and thank you Steve for sharing and transcribing this piece of music.

Hi Chris,  many thanks for your very informative comments, the argument about what is or isn't ragtime is, to some extent, down to personal musical tastes. Whether I'll ever complete my 'life's work' before I join Joe at the great  banjo rally in the sky is doubtful...but I'll do my damnedest.....Steve. 

F. Chris Ware said:

Jeez, Jody, I am flattered that I'd be considered an authority on any subject; my wife will laugh at me when I tell her. While one could go on and on tirelessly about such questions (and many ones, myself included, do) in this case it seems to me that if it was written in 1911 by the composer of "Dill Pickles" and he called it a rag, then it's a rag. It's peppered with what is frequently referred to as the "cakewalk syncopation" (main theme, second measure), it has a nice semi-syncopated break between the admittedly almost completely unsyncopated but generally lyrical third section and reprise of the second theme (sort of similar to the break in "Palladium Rag," actually -- since we're crossing oceans and instruments here) and I'd bet that everyone who bought the sheet music in 1911 also called it a "rag" and if it got their feet moving, then it did its job.

One of the characteristics of Johnson's music is that even if the melodies are bland, the harmonies generally always "go somewhere," which isn't always true of a lot of this stuff, much of which was published quickly to make a buck. Come to think of it, maybe this was an old cakewalk Johnson had laying around that he shaped up to capitalize on the success of DP (I won't go into the double-meanings of any acronyms there.) Then again, maybe it was originally a "Characteristic Caprice" and the publisher is simply the one who titled it. Who knows?

I'm just glad that Steve seems to have made it his life's work to adapt the entire library of ragtime literature to the fingerstyle banjo. I'd never heard this one before, and wouldn't have otherwise, so thanks, Steve!

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