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This Is Ragtime
In This Is Ragtime , Terry Waldo, musician and scholar, explores ragtime in detail, offering music lovers and social historians a unique view of the music from its inception through its colorful evolution. Waldo tells the story of Scott Joplin and his frustrating attempts to elevate his music to the status of the classics, from his first rags to the tragedy surrounding his operatic masterpiece Treemonisha. Waldo also depicts the exciting and often bawdy settings of the the earthly minstrel shows, the whorehouses, the cold and commercial publishers of Tin Pin Alley, the traditional jazz emporiums of Dixieland, and finally the prestigious concert halls of the world. Amplifying Waldo's accounts of how and why ragtime continues to fascinate the music world are pithy interviews with most of its enduring Eubie Blake, Max Morath, Turk Murphy, Lu Watters, Joe "Fingers" Carr, Johnny Maddox, Gunther Schuller, William Bolcom, and Joshua Rifkin. Illustrated with art work and artifacts, This Is Ragtime is an enduring classic for all ragtime and jazz enthusiasts.
254 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1976
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 4, 2024
CW: Offensive racial language quoted in song titles/genres
This is a fascinating book that is as relevant now as it was in its original release in 1974. Written for a more general audience, rather than an academic one, the book serves as a Who's Who in Ragtime from its beginnings in the nineteenth century through the 1970s (and the 2009 Jazz at Lincoln Center Library Edition adds some additional names and info), as well as an excellent primer on the genre/style. The JALC edition also has some beautifully digitized images of sheet music, that do not come without their share of problems in terms of context, as I will come back to. Also valuable is the discography and bibliography (although in need of an update).
The language reflects norms of the 1970s, so it would be nice to see any further updates consider paying attention to some of that, although I acknowledge it might be that in another twenty years those norms may change again. Waldo doesn't do much to engage with his own positionality as a white man, but he certainly has the professional and experiential credentials to write about Ragtime. The discussion of minstrelsy is fairly objective, and he hints at ideas of internalized racism and respectability politics without naming them. There are some "question mark" moments, particularly in regard to his discussion of the sheet music. For example, p. 22 reproduces sheet music for Ernest Hogan's "All Coons Look Alike to Me" with a strange caption: "This song actually has innocent lyrics and is not a typical "coon" song" with no further explanation until p.100-102 when he modestly clarifies: "...this song, which had very innocent lyrics, for its title alone became a symbol for racism and haunted [Hogan] for the rest of his life." It would have been good to see the actual lyrics, which are only innocent in the context of a Black man in the 1890s writing about being discarded for another man by Lucy Janey Stubbles. While it would have been beyond the scope of the book (and probably the time) to engage in a discussion of ownership of derogatory names (and Waldo does try to explain that "coon songs" became a much more egregious genre), one omission is any discussion of the "art" on the sheet music. The sheet music for this song, in particular, makes use of racial caricature, similar to that used by the Nazis for their publicity surrounding "Entartete Musik" ("degenerate" music), which Waldo does not mention in his otherwise ample discussion of the racial stereotypes and caricatures perpetuated in minstrelsy. Several of the color plates included in the book feature these caricature depictions--notably Harry von Tilzer's "Moving Day" on p. 92. Given the role of sheet music in marketing these songs, it seemed like a missed opportunity to mention the impact of the graphics in perpetuating ideas--even just of plantation nostalgia. In retrospect, it is hard to see any of it as "innocent."
As the book progresses, Waldo relies more upon anecdotal recollections of living performers, which is not a bad thing, but comes with it a responsibility to edit and frame. Six pages are given over to lengthy quotation from conversations with trumpeter Lu Watters (1911 - 1989) which felt better suited to an oral history project, particularly when they veered further afield from actually discussing Ragtime.
The information about Joplin's opera Treemonisha does a good job of mostly objectively explaining the sticky political mess of its copyright and initial productions, and unfortunately the "Introduction to the paperback edition" (1991) was just before University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign mounted a production. There's no update given to what happens with the rights/royalties, which was in litigation as in 1976.
The book does suffer from some copyediting errors, including a rather significant typesetting issue with some musical examples, one that seems to have persisted through the three editions.
Waldo does present ample perspectives about performing Ragtime, although seems not to want to commit too strongly to parsing Ragtime from Jazz (although he does just that in many instances). The recollections from Joshua Rifkin stand in to represent the "academic" perspective (not that it is at all singular), and the subtext here is that "legitimacy" and "authenticity" are moving targets, depending on who is trying to defend what. Waldo notes: "So on a personal level, we all bring the bias of our particular disciplines to the music, we begin to categorize and nail it down in terms of what we already know" (223). This observation at the end of the 1974 edition lends a lot of value to the book as a whole, and helps keep the recollections in check in terms of documentary value. While the book is dated and deserves an update, it is a solid starting point for anyone interested in learning more about Ragtime.
This is a fascinating book that is as relevant now as it was in its original release in 1974. Written for a more general audience, rather than an academic one, the book serves as a Who's Who in Ragtime from its beginnings in the nineteenth century through the 1970s (and the 2009 Jazz at Lincoln Center Library Edition adds some additional names and info), as well as an excellent primer on the genre/style. The JALC edition also has some beautifully digitized images of sheet music, that do not come without their share of problems in terms of context, as I will come back to. Also valuable is the discography and bibliography (although in need of an update).
The language reflects norms of the 1970s, so it would be nice to see any further updates consider paying attention to some of that, although I acknowledge it might be that in another twenty years those norms may change again. Waldo doesn't do much to engage with his own positionality as a white man, but he certainly has the professional and experiential credentials to write about Ragtime. The discussion of minstrelsy is fairly objective, and he hints at ideas of internalized racism and respectability politics without naming them. There are some "question mark" moments, particularly in regard to his discussion of the sheet music. For example, p. 22 reproduces sheet music for Ernest Hogan's "All Coons Look Alike to Me" with a strange caption: "This song actually has innocent lyrics and is not a typical "coon" song" with no further explanation until p.100-102 when he modestly clarifies: "...this song, which had very innocent lyrics, for its title alone became a symbol for racism and haunted [Hogan] for the rest of his life." It would have been good to see the actual lyrics, which are only innocent in the context of a Black man in the 1890s writing about being discarded for another man by Lucy Janey Stubbles. While it would have been beyond the scope of the book (and probably the time) to engage in a discussion of ownership of derogatory names (and Waldo does try to explain that "coon songs" became a much more egregious genre), one omission is any discussion of the "art" on the sheet music. The sheet music for this song, in particular, makes use of racial caricature, similar to that used by the Nazis for their publicity surrounding "Entartete Musik" ("degenerate" music), which Waldo does not mention in his otherwise ample discussion of the racial stereotypes and caricatures perpetuated in minstrelsy. Several of the color plates included in the book feature these caricature depictions--notably Harry von Tilzer's "Moving Day" on p. 92. Given the role of sheet music in marketing these songs, it seemed like a missed opportunity to mention the impact of the graphics in perpetuating ideas--even just of plantation nostalgia. In retrospect, it is hard to see any of it as "innocent."
As the book progresses, Waldo relies more upon anecdotal recollections of living performers, which is not a bad thing, but comes with it a responsibility to edit and frame. Six pages are given over to lengthy quotation from conversations with trumpeter Lu Watters (1911 - 1989) which felt better suited to an oral history project, particularly when they veered further afield from actually discussing Ragtime.
The information about Joplin's opera Treemonisha does a good job of mostly objectively explaining the sticky political mess of its copyright and initial productions, and unfortunately the "Introduction to the paperback edition" (1991) was just before University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign mounted a production. There's no update given to what happens with the rights/royalties, which was in litigation as in 1976.
The book does suffer from some copyediting errors, including a rather significant typesetting issue with some musical examples, one that seems to have persisted through the three editions.
Waldo does present ample perspectives about performing Ragtime, although seems not to want to commit too strongly to parsing Ragtime from Jazz (although he does just that in many instances). The recollections from Joshua Rifkin stand in to represent the "academic" perspective (not that it is at all singular), and the subtext here is that "legitimacy" and "authenticity" are moving targets, depending on who is trying to defend what. Waldo notes: "So on a personal level, we all bring the bias of our particular disciplines to the music, we begin to categorize and nail it down in terms of what we already know" (223). This observation at the end of the 1974 edition lends a lot of value to the book as a whole, and helps keep the recollections in check in terms of documentary value. While the book is dated and deserves an update, it is a solid starting point for anyone interested in learning more about Ragtime.
June 27, 2025
Why does it seem the greatest genre-defining musicians are always doomed to depression, madness, and malady? Why is it that music movements that were considered radical departures from tradition like old school rock and roll and ragtime then become dated after getting popular and have their impact diminished by nostalgia in the modern mind? Ragtime now is associated with silent films and goofy portrayals of the early 20th century but at the time it was a rebellious departure from Eurocentric classical piano music.
I wanted to read this because I am fascinated by how black music has influenced all of American music history, and ragtime is an early example of this. Scott Joplin, the founding father of ragtime, was a son of former slaves, and he advocated for the betterment of his race through his music. So much of history is captured in this one music movement: technology, race, politics, economy. Ragtime came about at the turn of the century, and changes in music and recording technology had a huge impact on how people at the time engaged with it, as well as on how it was archived. It’s fascinating to me how the efforts of just a few dedicated people can preserve a whole music movement. It’s also interesting reading this book written in the 70s after a ragtime revival had occurred, with half a century of additional R&B, hip hop, and pop music, all derived in some form from the ragtime and jazz traditions. Scott Joplin lived a hundred years ago, and we remember him not only because he was a genius, but because he was lucky enough to just get enough recordings out there, have enough people imitating him and writing his stuff down, to last a century later.
I wanted to read this because I am fascinated by how black music has influenced all of American music history, and ragtime is an early example of this. Scott Joplin, the founding father of ragtime, was a son of former slaves, and he advocated for the betterment of his race through his music. So much of history is captured in this one music movement: technology, race, politics, economy. Ragtime came about at the turn of the century, and changes in music and recording technology had a huge impact on how people at the time engaged with it, as well as on how it was archived. It’s fascinating to me how the efforts of just a few dedicated people can preserve a whole music movement. It’s also interesting reading this book written in the 70s after a ragtime revival had occurred, with half a century of additional R&B, hip hop, and pop music, all derived in some form from the ragtime and jazz traditions. Scott Joplin lived a hundred years ago, and we remember him not only because he was a genius, but because he was lucky enough to just get enough recordings out there, have enough people imitating him and writing his stuff down, to last a century later.
March 29, 2020
This book has everything you want to know. Well written, definitely interesting. Mr. Waldo loves his subject and it shows. I read it a couple of times and now use it as a reference.
December 6, 2021
Learned so much!
January 3, 2025
A nice, readable, history of a genre that is so much more than Scott Joplin and the soundtrack to the Paul Newman Robert Redford movie The Sting'.
April 23, 2020
I think you must have to be really interested in Ragtime to want to read this, but it is comprehensive and marvelous and Terry is a great writer. I bought this book from him at the World Champion Old Time Piano Competition in 2019 in Oxford MS. Got to chat with him quite a bit and hear him play a bunch of Eubie Blake. He was a guest judge. Also this version has some color reproductions of some early ragtime covers and minstrel songs that are pretty amazing quality. Recommended for the curious...
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews