Compiling B.M.G. banjo solos

[Ethan Schwartz]

It occured to me: Wouldn't it be nice to take all the banjo solos printed in early issues of B.M.G. and compile them into a single document and/or directory? I enjoy collections/folios at least, and it can be an interesting way to see how things shifted stylistically over time. Well, I started messing around with that today, and I ran into some interesting problems. The first is obviously that many issues pre-1924 are missing from the John Field B.M.G. Library. The second is that there appear to be a significant number of pieces that aren't in the Ning music library. The third is that some number of available issues have their sheet music pages removed; no surprise there either. The fourth (and most speculative) is that there are potentially pieces in the Ning music library that originally appeared in B.M.G., but it would be impossible to verify this without seeing at least the cover page of those missing issues and/or going through every single piece in the library in search of Clifford Essex publications with the month/year printed at the top (any volunteers?). I don't imagine anyone here is sitting on that information, but if so, please speak up! 

I worked through the first ten years (1903-1912), and this is what it looks like so far.

MISSING NOTATION = B.M.G. issue available but notation pages missing; substitute does not exist in Ning library

NOT IN LIBRARY = B.M.G. issue available with notation pages; piece does not yet exist in Ning library

1903/01-10 MISSING ISSUE

1903/11 "The Favorite" by Vess Ossman; NOT IN LIBRARY (this is a different piece than the Joplin arrangement)

1903/12 MISSING ISSUE

1904/01 "Rastus on Parade" by Mills/Essex; MISSING NOTATION (the version in the library is from Turner's Dance Album no. 16 and does not credit Essex; unknown how these two versions differ)

1904/02 MISSING ISSUE

1904/03 "Tyro Mazurka by Brooks/Denton; MISSING NOTATION (the version in the library was published 1923)

1904/04 "Riverside Gavotte" by Joe Morley; NOT IN LIBRARY (not entirely clear if this is the entire 1st banjo part or an excerpt)

1904/05-08 MISSING ISSUE

1904/09 "The Dusky Dandy" by Emile Grimshaw; IN LIBRARY

1904/10 "Sweet Clover Polka" by Alfred West; NOT IN LIBRARY

1904/11-12 MISSING ISSUE

1905/01-12 MISSING ISSUE

1906/01-04 MISSING ISSUE

1906/05 "Zealandia March" by Joseph Wright; NOT IN LIBRARY

1906/06-12 MISSING ISSUE

1907/01-12 MISSING ISSUE

1908/01-12 MISSING ISSUE

1909/01-12 MISSING ISSUE

1910/01-11 MISSING ISSUE

1910/12 "Kentucky Memories" by Emile Grimshaw; IN LIBRARY

1911/01 MISSING ISSUE

1911/02 "Butterfly Waltz" by W. Andreef; MISSING NOTATION (the version in the library arranged by Grimshaw appears to be a later publication, as it is plectrum-optional; unknown how these two versions differ)

1911/03-09 MISSING ISSUE

1911/10 "Scotland" medley by Ernest Rolf; NOT IN LIBRARY

1911/11 "A Celtic Morn" by Emile Grimshaw; NOT IN LIBRARY

1911/12 "Winsome Willie" by Thomas J Armstrong; NOT IN LIBRARY

1912/01 "The College Rag by William Hunter; IN LIBRARY

1912/02 "Valse Sympathie" by Emile Grimshaw; IN LIBRARY

1912/03 "Patrol Comique" by Vess Ossman; IN LIBRARY

1912/04 "The Mississippi Bubble by Chauncy Haines; MISSING NOTATION (how is this version different from the "simplified version" arr. Morley in the library?)

1912/05 "Pearl of the Harem" arranged by Essex; ??? (different than Steve Harrison's arrangement in libary?)

1912/06 "Felicita" by Joe Morley; IN LIBRARY (non-B.M.G. publication but same dots)

1912/07 MISSING ISSUE

1912/08 "Alabama Blossom" arranged by Essex; MISSING NOTATION (different than Steve Harrison's arrangement in libary?)

1912/09 "Lancashire Clogs" by Emile Grimshaw; IN LIBRARY

1912/10 "Out West" by Emile Grimshaw; IN LIBRARY

1912/11 "Ragtime Medley" by Vess Ossman; IN LIBRARY

1912/12 "Dream Dance" by Joe Morley; IN LIBRARY

[Ethan Schwartz]

And 1914 (2.5 more pieces to add):

1914/01 "The Possum's Picnic" by Eric Calcott (A-notation version already in library, this is a C-notation version)

1914/02 Shufflin' Pete by Vess Ossman NOT IN LIBRARY

1914/03-10 MISSING ISSUE

1914/11 National Airs by Bacon IN LIBRARY

1914/12 Lancer's Parade by WM Rice NOT IN LIBRARY

[Russ Chandler]

Is everybody familiar with Phil Spires collection of sheet music. I haven't looked but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of this stuff was in there.

I can supply a copy on request.

[Ethan Schwartz]

Russ, I'm not familiar with the collection. I'm assuming it's not digitized? 

Russ Chandler said:

Is everybody familiar with Phil Spires collection of sheet music. I haven't looked but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of this stuff was in there.

I can supply a copy on request.

[Russ Chandler]

It is digitised - I have sent you a friend request and will inbox you when you accept and we can get it to you.

We need to be friends for me to do that, apparently - I consider everyone on here to be my friend!

Ethan Schwartz said:

Russ, I'm not familiar with the collection. I'm assuming it's not digitized? 

Russ Chandler said:

Is everybody familiar with Phil Spires collection of sheet music. I haven't looked but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of this stuff was in there.

I can supply a copy on request.

[Ethan Schwartz]

Fantastic; I just accepted the request 

Russ Chandler said:

It is digitised - I have sent you a friend request and will inbox you when you accept and we can get it to you.

We need to be friends for me to do that, apparently - I consider everyone on here to be my friend!

Ethan Schwartz said:

Russ, I'm not familiar with the collection. I'm assuming it's not digitized? 

Russ Chandler said:

Is everybody familiar with Phil Spires collection of sheet music. I haven't looked but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of this stuff was in there.

I can supply a copy on request.

[Jody Stecher]

Russ: As I was leaving  Backwell rally in 2010 I was handed a DVD containing a huge amount of sheet music. Handwritten on the face was "Fingerstyle banjo sheet music (Public). August 2010".   Is this the Phil Spires Collection?   

Ethan: Please let me know whether or not ithe pieces I have are in the Phil Spires collection. If they are it save me the time it tales to upload many pages.

[Jody Stecher]

Apologies for the bizarre typos below. I meant to ask if the 5 pieces I mentioned in earlier posts in this thread are in the Phil Spires collection which you are about to receive. If they are I will not need to spend the time it takes to upload them (some  are 5 and 6 pages long).  If they are not then I am happy to assist and I will post them here

Jody Stecher said:

Russ: As I was leaving  Backwell rally in 2010 I was handed a DVD containing a huge amount of sheet music. Handwritten on the face was "Fingerstyle banjo sheet music (Public). August 2010".   Is this the Phil Spires Collection?   

Ethan: Please let me know whether or not ithe pieces I have are in the Phil Spires collection. If they are it save me the time it tales to upload many pages.

[Ethan Schwartz]

Jody -- They're in there! But Alabama Blossom only has the 1st banjo part and is pretty rough quality. Perhaps you could upload just that one? 

[Jody Stecher]

Here it is. I think it's probably the same one you have. One page is all I have.

Ethan Schwartz said:

Jody -- They're in there! But Alabama Blossom only has the 1st banjo part and is pretty rough quality. Perhaps you could upload just that one? 

[Ethan Schwartz]

Alas! It looks to be the same scan. And there must be a missing 2nd page for the trio (you can see the key change to C major right at the very end). 

Jody Stecher said:

Here it is. I think it's probably the same one you have. One page is all I have.

Ethan Schwartz said:

Jody -- They're in there! But Alabama Blossom only has the 1st banjo part and is pretty rough quality. Perhaps you could upload just that one? 

[Richard William Ineson]

I've probably got the complete score, I'll have a look for it tomorrow. It was No. 10 in the Essex lists (1-9 were not listed but may have been the mysterious Morley, Burnthwaite Road publications) this piece may have been the first thing Essex published after the split with Cammeyer in 1900.

Ethan Schwartz said:

Alas! It looks to be the same scan. And there must be a missing 2nd page for the trio (you can see the key change to C major right at the very end). 

Jody Stecher said:

Here it is. I think it's probably the same one you have. One page is all I have.

Ethan Schwartz said:

Jody -- They're in there! But Alabama Blossom only has the 1st banjo part and is pretty rough quality. Perhaps you could upload just that one? 

[Shawn McSweeny]

Here is "Shufflin' Pete". I believe I posted this some years back but it didn't find its way to the library.

Shufflin%20Pete%20Solo-%20Pno%20Acc-TAB.pdf

This is one of several compositions where the UK publisher, usually CE, wrongly attributes the composition to Ossman. It was composed by Edwin F. Kendall in 1899. I have corrected the attached scores. Kendall also composed "A Gay Gossoon" which CE wrongly attributed to Ossman.

Other published Ossman misattibutions to be aware of : 

Cocoanut Dance -  Andrew Herman 1891

The Favorite/Bay State Quickstep - Ike Browne 1886

Honolulu Cakewalk - J. W. Lerman 1899

The Hottest Ever - Chas. B. Brown 1898

Patrol Comique - Thos. Hindley 1886

A Warm Reception - Bert R. Anthony 1899

White Hussars March/White Rats March - Arthur Pryor