Features and Reviews
Dick/Tracy at Old Town Music Hall
By Bill Mitchell
When Yvonne and I left the Rose Leaf Club meeting in Pasadena the evening of October 29, 2000 it was raining, but that wasn't about to deter us from hitting the Pasadena freeway toward another destination, the Old Town Music Hall in El Segundo. Richard Zimmerman and Tracy Doyle were scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. appearance. Unfortunately, we got into a wrong lane in L.A. and found ourselves in Chinatown. This cost us fifteen minutes trying to get back onto a main artery, and it appeared we would be late. Well, we were - but not to worry. When we found our seats the proprietor, Bill Coffman, having possibly just completed a short sermon, was introducing Richard Z. The evening's program cut a wide swathe through the ragtime literature, including classic, folk, and novelty.
Dick opened with a florid version of Joplin's "Pineapple Rag," followed by "Something Doing," composed by Scott Hayden with the collaboration of Scott Joplin. Dick's interpretation included some intriguing variations in thirds.
Things then took a tack toward less familiar material. "I'm Alabama Bound," by Robert Hoffman, was published in New Orleans in 1909. It's first theme was a "floating folk song" of the Mississippi Valley. Dick told us about a singer/composer named Art Gillham, an early crooner who was on the first electrical recording in 1924. He was billed as "The Whispering Pianist," because of his rather light voice. Dick played a medley of songs associated with him: "Whispering," "If We Can't Be Sweethearts, Let's Be Friends," and "Hesitation Blues." "Doctor Brown," by Fred Irvin, was a fox trot from 1914. It came across as a catchy rag with unusual syncopation. No Zimmerman concert would be complete without "12th Street Rag," by Euday Bowman. After discussing the itinerant Texan, Dick played this big-time hit as the composer wrote it (pretty much, anyway), including the seldom-heard first strain.
The first non-Joplin rag published by John Stark was "Manhattan Rag,: by one Ted Brownold. This folksy number of 1901 was not named after the New York island, but the town of Manhattan, Kansas
Ragging the classics was once very popular, though the practice undoubtedly tweaked the longhairs. (For you youngsters, this was a term we used 50 years ago for classical musicians. It lost its validity when all the rock musicians let their hair grow longer than any known classicist did.) Borrowing some ideas from Franz Liszt, Julius Lenzberg had a big hit with his "Hungarian Rag" back in 1913. This Tin-Pan-Alley effort sold a million copies, it is said.
"Sweet Dreams of Youth" doesn't sound like a rag title, but its appealing melodies and syncopation qualified it for inclusion in Zimmerman's 1975 ragtime folio, A Tribute to Scott Joplin and the Giants of Ragtime. Its composer, George English, was from Joplin, Missouri.
The prolific Charles L. Johnson of Kansas City was represented by one of his later, lesser-known pieces, "The Pink Poodle." It incorporated various rhythms, including tango.
E. R. Whitlow, a St. Louis orchestra leader, was the composer of an obscure John Stark publication, "Schultzmeyer Rag, a Yiddisher Novelty," which featured unusual syncopations in a minor key.
Just before intermission Dick played "The Turkey Trot." I have it in my notes that this was a Henry Lodge composition, but Rags and Ragtime attributes it to Ribe Danmark, while Henry Lodge gets credit for "Oh You Turkey."
Opening the second half, Dick played "World's Fair Rag," by Harvey Babcock, ostensibly anticipating the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco.
Dick performed a second Charlie Johnson rag, "Teasing the Cat," one of the composer's later efforts
My notes, taken in a dark theater, are skimpy and incomplete for the next piece, "S.O.S. Musician's Distress." It was a 1919 oddity by F. W. Bradshaw, published by John Stark in St. Louis. I didn't catch what its distinction was.
Dick pointed out that ragtime songs were always more popular than the instrumentals. To give us a sampling of this genre, he introduced his wife, the talented vocalist Tracy Doyle. Dick accompanied her on the Bosendorfer as she led off with "Give Me the Good Old Days," by Egbert Van Alstyne and Gus Kahn, followed by a 1904 song entitled "I'm Going Back Back Back to Baltimore." Ms. Doyle continued with what she termed an "opera house medley," which included "Ida," "My Navajo," "Meet Me in St. Louis," "Yama Yaama Man," "Harrigan, That's Me," and "Loading Up the Mandy Lee." Ms. Doyle, as always, gave a dynamic, appealing performance.
Zimmerman's concluding segment featured music of the piano roll era, notably the late teens and 1920's, honoring the 100th anniversary of the QRS ("Quality Reigns Supreme") piano roll company. QRS is still in business, releasing rolls from its factory in Buffalo, N.Y.
Sometimes the pieces written for the piano rolls were unpublished, as was the case with Charley Straight's "Black Jack Rag," a characteristic novelty number that was new to me. Like Straight, Max Kortlander was a well-known piano roll composer/performer. His 1922 "Huntin' the Ball" was also unpublished. Dick went into a piano rollish mode for these performances.
Pete Wendling was another of the piano roll artists. Not only a spectacular pianist, he was also the writer of several rather well known popular songs. As the penultimate number of the evening, Dick chose Wendling's "Take Your Girlie to the Movies," from 1919. Accompanying Dick was Bill Coffman on the Mighty Wurlitzer. As a closer this duo played the ever-popular "Black and White Rag."
As always, Dick and Tracy provided an entertaining evening. Dick's piano style continues to be imaginative, powerful, and distinctive. His patter between numbers was amusing and informative. Tracy engagingly presented some of the vocal gems of the ragtime years.
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