The great Scott Joplin
and fat Freddy Hylands.
What am I planning on connecting with these two completely different composers? Well, I just made an interesting connection this evening between Hylands' playing and Joplin's composing mastery. It's a small connection, that I'm not entirely sure what it means, but it's odd.
We all know of Mr. Scott Joplin, and his masterful pieces from "Maple Leaf Rag" to "Solace", but the one piece of his I would like to point at is his beautiful work "A Real Slow Drag" from his 1911 opera Treemonisha, which is a fascinating work of Rag-Time history. "A Real Slow Drag" is the main part of the overture in the opera, and reoccurs throughout the overture, and the finale as well. Here's the connection, the link to a gorgeous piano roll is on this link here. The one characteristic about this piece I would like to point out us that left hand pattern at the beginning minor section and the second section which is in F. I realized that these same patterns are one I have heard on records many years before this was written. It was from 1898, 1899 and 1900 that I heard Fred Hylands play these patterns in his improvised accompaniments. The record labels I heard these on vary however, one was on a Zon-O-phone, a Columbia, and another on the obscure American Talking machine label of 1899. Here is the Zon-O-phone from 1900:
It's very hard to notice, but just after each of the choruses, you can kind of hear it. It's the same left hand pattern! Played 11 years before Joplin wrote the overture for Treemonisha. Another thing to note about this record, is that on the second attempt at that odd ragged left hand pattern, Hylands speeds up the tempo, only in trying to get it again.
I'm sure that Hylands probably wouldn't approve of anyone comparing him to Joplin, but it's just an interesting thing to note. I do not know if that means Joplin ever heard Hylands(though he may have, as Hylands was a very skilled and popular accompanist in the time that Joplin had moved to New York). I do not know really how to connect the two things, but where this style of Rag-Time came from, I would like to know. I do not know if it came from Hylands directly, but it sounds slightly tango-ish, or West Indian in a way. I have heard Hylands play it in a variety of ways, from slow drag to quick but Ragged. Just a thought.
Now onto a few odd Hylands accompaniments. I know I use his accompaniment quite a lot on this blog, and I exhaust certain ones sometimes, but this evening I have some ones I don't think I've used. Starting with this odd one with Pete LaMaire, who I would have a picture of here, but have never seen one yet. Yes, it's labeled as George Watson on the video, but that is not who is singing here. Here you go with Pete LaMaire's "Sleep Baby, Sleep", from 1902.
That was weird.
I don't really know what was happening in the accompaniment. Especially under the yodelling. I have listened to this record many a time since I found it, and I still don't know what's going on in the accompaniment during the yodelling. Am very unsure about what Hylands is actually doing to create that somewhat quick and slightly syncopated pattern, but I'm guessing by the way that is sounds, that it involves both his hands, not just the left hand. It sounds almost like he's trying to imitate the xylophone in a way, whether that was his intention or not, that's really what it sounds like. It would be similar to if Hylands tried to play the exact melody line of the xylophone on this cylinder here, from 1898.(he's on piano here as well)
This next one is by a singer I don't showcase too often on this blog.
George J. Gaskin.
Now, I'm not really a big fan of Gaskin, but his significance in the early recording business overtakes my opinions of his singing style. Here is his and Hylands' "Gwine Back to Arkansaw", from 1898. Hmm...stoptime. Interesting Mr. Hylands. It's some odd stoptime as well. It's not really the easiest to follow along with, as I have tried to play along with this one, and it's a little bit weird. Gaskin didn't normally sing "Coon Songs", and that's what this one just happens to be. They even said that Gaskin singing a coon song was something dreaded by all the people on the staff, so they really must have hated it. There weren't too many things about the singers' choices of songs that were complained about, but this was one exception. They were even alright with Hylands' loud, and somewhat obnoxious voice! It's an interesting cylinder nonetheless, and the piano accompaniment is even more so, with Ragged patterns, and a wirey piano, just like it ought've sounded at Columbia in 1898.
This last one is one I may have showcased here before, but it's a very odd and amazing example of Hylands' mastery , and it's with Joe Belmont, the human bird:
Here you go with Hylands and Belmont's "The Bobolink" from 1903.
A truly amazing piece of Hylands mastery. He plays it to perfection and it sounds even better in that room that it was recorded in. There's really not much to say here, other than just listening to it to hear how extraordinary it is. When I hear it, I tune out the whistling completely and can hear every single note that is hit on that piano, and how it's hit. This is one of the few records of Hylands where the main performer can be tuned out by the listener and the piano can be heard exclusively. This is usually the case with Belmont's records, as his whistling didn't blend at all with the piano. It makes listening very interesting for the anxiously listening Rag-Time pianist.
I don't really know what was happening in the accompaniment. Especially under the yodelling. I have listened to this record many a time since I found it, and I still don't know what's going on in the accompaniment during the yodelling. Am very unsure about what Hylands is actually doing to create that somewhat quick and slightly syncopated pattern, but I'm guessing by the way that is sounds, that it involves both his hands, not just the left hand. It sounds almost like he's trying to imitate the xylophone in a way, whether that was his intention or not, that's really what it sounds like. It would be similar to if Hylands tried to play the exact melody line of the xylophone on this cylinder here, from 1898.(he's on piano here as well)
This next one is by a singer I don't showcase too often on this blog.
Now, I'm not really a big fan of Gaskin, but his significance in the early recording business overtakes my opinions of his singing style. Here is his and Hylands' "Gwine Back to Arkansaw", from 1898. Hmm...stoptime. Interesting Mr. Hylands. It's some odd stoptime as well. It's not really the easiest to follow along with, as I have tried to play along with this one, and it's a little bit weird. Gaskin didn't normally sing "Coon Songs", and that's what this one just happens to be. They even said that Gaskin singing a coon song was something dreaded by all the people on the staff, so they really must have hated it. There weren't too many things about the singers' choices of songs that were complained about, but this was one exception. They were even alright with Hylands' loud, and somewhat obnoxious voice! It's an interesting cylinder nonetheless, and the piano accompaniment is even more so, with Ragged patterns, and a wirey piano, just like it ought've sounded at Columbia in 1898.
This last one is one I may have showcased here before, but it's a very odd and amazing example of Hylands' mastery , and it's with Joe Belmont, the human bird:
A truly amazing piece of Hylands mastery. He plays it to perfection and it sounds even better in that room that it was recorded in. There's really not much to say here, other than just listening to it to hear how extraordinary it is. When I hear it, I tune out the whistling completely and can hear every single note that is hit on that piano, and how it's hit. This is one of the few records of Hylands where the main performer can be tuned out by the listener and the piano can be heard exclusively. This is usually the case with Belmont's records, as his whistling didn't blend at all with the piano. It makes listening very interesting for the anxiously listening Rag-Time pianist.
I hope you enjoyed this!
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