(from my own art)
We all know him and we love him, Frank P. Banta.
I have really been digging through the Frank P. Banta accompaniments on the Edison cylinders to-day and yesterday. In doing this, I have found some really interesting and fun ones, and not all of them are Ragged!
The first rarity I must share is this great one by Arthur Collins:
This cylinder was recorded not long before Banta met his premature end in November 1903. How Banta makes the piano sounds like chiming bells!
It's a very interesting piece, that has some very pretty and mournful voicings, even if the cylinder is slightly messy, Banta comes through like a bell. Just a beautiful rendition.
This next one is also by Collins and Banta, but it's a little bit older than the last one, and it's fully Ragged! Banta's all secretly boozed like he would be and was anxious and still accurate as an arrow.
Here you go, from 1901:
That Rag-Time is just wonderful Banta! It's truly great if you try to pull the accompaniment apart, because sometimes, Banta could be more rough and tattered than Hylands.
Now this next one also has Collins, but also his first vocal partner Joseph Natus:
(The picture came from a piece of sheet music by the way)
Now this 1902 Collins and Natus cylinder is very fun because Banta just tops off the comedy and great lyrics with his jumpy and playful style.
Here you go:
Such a perfect correspondence between Collins and Natus with Frank P. Banta!
Collins should have treated Natus better than he did. When Collins left him in late-1902 for Byron G. Harlan, Natus still got some records in for the next two years or so, but then he just faded away from the public, until he completely was forgotten by 1907. From there, he moved out of sight to a small town in northern New York where he worked at an obscure hotel as a clerk there. He lived there until 1917 where he died forgotten, and not a single person recognized Hoyt's old "Black Sheep" of 1893 and Arthur Collins' recording partner Joe Natus. This came about all because of Collins just leaving him behind and not willing to ever work with him again.
Anyhow, back to the records, this next one is a good cornet solo by the great Bohumir Kryl(of Bohemia!)
(love this caricature so much!)
This one is not Ragged whatsoever, but it is a very good one to hear all the same, as Banta always tops off a good record with his accompaniment.
Here it is, from 1902:
Interestingly enough, Banta recorded this exact same tune with Herbert Clarke on a Victor from 1901, and the accompaniment is, well, the same! I would love to set the link here, but this computer will not allow it, so I will have to skip out on that. Damn this computer! That was a good record!
So onto the next one, which is a Victor where the first Victor house band is playing Banta's most popular composition from 1899, "Ragged William" which is a Rag-Time take on the famous "William Tell Overture"
Here you go, with two different takes!
The funniest thing about the sheet music fir "Ragged William" is that right under the title it says, "With apologies to Rossini"!
Oh Frank, what a great musical sense of humor...
I hope you enjoyed this!
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