Us Rag-Time geeks have certainly run across Ban Harney before.
Harney's early Rag-Time tunes have always been a favourite for record and Rag-Time geeks alike, as they were reasonably well recorded from their publication to as late as 10 years after it was popular. Two names who recorded Harney's best were Silas Lechman:
and Len Spencer:
Harney must have come up to Spencer personally about it(as did many of the famous composers, even Monroe Rosenfeld!) and spoke with him about it very highly. He wouldn't have had an idea of where to find Leachman though, as he was rarely in New York, and when he was, it was for very short periods of time, as they were reserved especially for recording, and maybe performing here and there. Leachman was a very well renowned "coon shouter" just like Harney, and even if Leachman never really heard Harney do his "thing" that he was so good at, he still replicated it very well. Spencer still holds the prize for imitating Harney's singing however. Spencer matches up with the descriptions of Harney's singing better than any other of the ones who recorded his songs. Here is the famous Harney song that Spencer recorded on rare Lambert no. 989 around 1901:
This record has often been a default for Rag-Time researchers in finding what Rag-Time really sounded like, but what they aren't considering is that the way that Spencer sings it, is that is is just like how Ben Harney would sing it. Spencer certainly heard Harney back in the mid or late 1890's, and recorded "Good Old Wagon'' back in 1897(with Hylands on piano) also in 1899 on Berliner. This Lambert cylinder above may be one with a rare occurrence of Hylands on the piano. As many of the thing he does on the piano sounds like Hylands, and the overall feel on the piano sounds like Hylands as well, if any of you can get any ideas on it, do tell me! The wonderful pianist on this famous record shall not remain anonymous for another 110 years!
Another thing to note about Spencer hearing Harney do his whole schtick back in the mid-90's, is that Hylands did the same. Hylands ran the damn theatre that Harney and Mike Bernard were in the pit at! What more needs to be said? It's pretty obvious now where all three of these pianist stole ideas from each other. Hylands is also a good example of how early Mike Bernard would have sounded, also Ben Harney's playing, as the pieces that he wrote were made not nearly a complicated and as syncopated as he would have played them(well, so were Hylands' and Bernard's). Harney's famous blues-like song:
Was recorded countless times by many artists in the late 1890's and 1900's. This song was even recorded by the rare-to-hear Press Eldridge in 1898! But the one who really got it right was not only Len Spencer and Hylands around 1897, but Silas Leachman. Leachman could really get the feel right because he was also from Kentucky like Harney, so it can be assumed that he got the dialect right, and many more things about it. Here you go from 1901:
(Phenomenal piano playing! Oh my god!)
The piano on this one really tops it off.
It's VERY hard to guess who the pianist is on this one, it's either Hylands or Banta like usual, but it's extremely hard to tell. It does have some more Banta in it though.
For a comparison, here is another record with Rag-Time all over it, recorded on the same day:
Even after listening to these two, I'm still stumped.
Leachman's "Mister Johnson Turn me loose" is absolutely a Rag-Time masterpiece on record. There is not a thing wrong with any thing on it, the piano playing is perfect, and Leachman's singing is spot on to Harney's desired style.
Thinking of Leachman, he is always a desired favourite of record collectors. His records are uncommon, all fun and exciting, and he improvised better than any of the earliest recording artists. He was certainly the most creative as well. He was the definition of a musical genius. It was said that he could play back an entire song after just hearing through only once, and could replicate almost exactly, and add even more to it. He learned most of his material from other records by the great comic song singers, such as Len Spencer, Dan Quinn, George Gaskin, and later Arthur Collins. As I have explained before, Leachman made thousands of brown wax cylinders at home in the mid-1890's by the round, and sold them off to the Chicago talking machine company, that was how he got all his money and success in the business. As I have also said, only about twenty or so of his thousands of cylinders exist to-day. Here is an amazing surviving cylinder from 1892:
He must have heard another performer do this one, and created his own version by doing this. He improvises and makes up many of the lyrics here, and he would mumble words he sometimes didn't know or didn't remember. as this can be heard on his very unusual record of "My Maid of Hindoostan" from 1902, which i wish I could share with you, but it is only in a collection of a friend of mine. But he played the Victor monarch for me and I was amazed at what I heard. Amazed and felt kind of sorry for Leachman, as he completely forgets the words of one of the choruses and kinds of mumbles it, and it's completely audible! Amazing to think that they issued the record.
I hope you enjoyed this!
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