King of Ragtime by Edward A. Berlin

Author:Edward A. Berlin
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780199740321
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2016-03-19T16:00:00+00:00

When Lamb performed Sensation, one of the boarders asked Joplin about the music, and Joplin responded that Lamb had written it. The man exclaimed, “That certainly is some rag; it’s a real Colored rag.” This was gratifying to Lamb, for it indicated to him that he had succeeded in composing a quality rag.9

Joplin spoke to Stark about publishing Sensation, suggesting that he add his own name as arranger to encourage sales. (In support of Lamb’s contention that he alone was the composer of Sensation, we note that Stark never included Joplin’s name when advertising the piece.) The rag was published and first appears in Stark’s ledgers on May 18, 1908.10 Lamb received an immediate payment of $25, and a month later, after the first thousand copies were sold, another $25. Lamb made no mention of a royalty agreement, but the arrangement seems better than that offered in 1906 to Arthur Marshall.

Lamb offered Stark other rags, which he accepted for publication. From 1908 to 1919, Stark published a dozen of Lamb’s rags, and it was by these publications that Lamb’s name became known and revered by today’s ragtime community. None of the working ragtimers of the period, other than Joplin, knew Lamb personally, because he did not associate with professional musicians on a regular basis. Except for a few months in 1910, when he worked as an arranger for the J. Fred Helf Company on West 37th Street, Lamb did not make music his livelihood. Nevertheless, on the basis of these Stark publications, he became known, along with Joplin and James Scott, as one of the “Big Three of Classic Ragtime.” Lamb and Joplin developed a close personal friendship, close enough for Lamb to bring his girlfriend to visit the older composer.11

Fig. 14.1. Joseph F. Lamb. Courtesy of Pat Lamb Conn.

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