![Russian Rag (1918) by George L. Cobb [Played by the Okeh Dance Orchestra, 1919] @GLepRagtimeChronicle](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/aj-QanN7_oQ/hqdefault.jpg)
Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The Okeh Dance Orchestra, conducted by Fred Hager, performs George L. Cobb's legendary 'Russian Rag' was written a year after the collapse of the Russian Empire.
This song was the first ragtime song outside of Joplin, Lamb, or Scott to catch my attention when I was 11, so it holds a special place in my heart.
George L. Cobb was a renowned ragtime composer, best known for his 'Russian Rag', a syncopated interpolation of Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C Sharp Minor. Additionally, he wrote 'Baboon Bounce', 'Peter Gink', 'Rubber Plant Rag', and adapted to the novelty craze with the likes of 'Procrastination Rag', 'Snuggle Pup', 'New Russian Rag', and 'Piano Salad'.
More George L. Cobb: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLMkuz4vEFoMmKnMX_XTtVc088tt4JKto&si=khs3ygc9aiy2R7Aj
The Okeh Dance Orchestra, conducted by Fred Hager, performs George L. Cobb's legendary 'Russian Rag' was written a year after the collapse of the Russian Empire.
This song was the first ragtime song outside of Joplin, Lamb, or Scott to catch my attention when I was 11, so it holds a special place in my heart.
George L. Cobb was a renowned ragtime composer, best known for his 'Russian Rag', a syncopated interpolation of Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C Sharp Minor. Additionally, he wrote 'Baboon Bounce', 'Peter Gink', 'Rubber Plant Rag', and adapted to the novelty craze with the likes of 'Procrastination Rag', 'Snuggle Pup', 'New Russian Rag', and 'Piano Salad'.
More George L. Cobb: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLMkuz4vEFoMmKnMX_XTtVc088tt4JKto&si=khs3ygc9aiy2R7Aj
![Russian Rag (1918) by George L. Cobb [Played by the Okeh Dance Orchestra, 1919]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/aj-QanN7_oQ/mqdefault.jpg "Russian Rag (1918) by George L. Cobb [Played by the Okeh Dance Orchestra, 1919]
The Okeh Dance Orchestra, conducted by Fred Hager, performs George L. Cobbs legendary Russian Rag was written a year after the collapse of the Russian Empire.
This song was the first ragtime song outside of Joplin, Lamb, or Scott to catch my attention when I was 11, so it holds a special place in my heart.
George L. Cobb was a renowned ragtime composer, best known for his Russian Rag, a syncopated interpolation of Rachmaninoffs Prelude in C Sharp Minor. Additionally, he wrote Baboon Bounce, Peter Gink, Rubber Plant Rag, and adapted to the novelty craze with the likes of Procrastination Rag, Snuggle Pup, New Russian Rag, and Piano Salad.
More George L. Cobb: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLMkuz4vEFoMmKnMX_XTtVc088tt4JKto&si=khs3ygc9aiy2R7Aj")
![A Real Slow Drag (1911) by Scott Joplin [1976 SMOOTH JAZZ SOLO by Mike Wofford]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/cqOuXSAnalI/mqdefault.jpg "A Real Slow Drag (1911) by Scott Joplin [1976 SMOOTH JAZZ SOLO by Mike Wofford]
156 years ago today, on November 24, 1868, the King of Ragtime, SCOTT JOPLIN, was born in Texarkana, Texas, then under military occupation by the Union Army. Ive said it before and Ill say it again, without this man, this channel would not exist. With The Entertainer, Maple Leaf Rag, and Solace under his belt, he is the undisputed King, nay, the Emperor of Ragtime.
#ragtime #scottjoplin #smoothjazz
A Real Slow Drag is the most popular song in Joplins opera, Treemonisha. Treemonisha is the greatest American opera, and it tells the story of a woman who is abandoned at birth and grows up to become a leader of her community after she is kidnapped by evildoers. Though it would only be performed once in Joplins lifetime, lacking orchestration and heavily abridged, it experienced a grand revival in 1972, and went on to win a Pulitzer Prize in 1976.
©1976 Flying Dutchman Productions, Ltd.
More Scott Joplin:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbGAQvbfY3Z3FDwU5UdnwCnkd7zkbX4mS&si=dlDrjm5EjRfaaUKt
Full album of this song:
https://youtu.be/BL_43JExzVY?si=vnv4U-eSJCvV5Rxh")
![Nola (1915) by Felix Arndt [PIANO SOLO by Peter Van Spall]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/d_4aJ36cLl4/mqdefault.jpg "Nola (1915) by Felix Arndt [PIANO SOLO by Peter Van Spall]
On a rare record label called Pyramid Records, pianist Peter Van Spall gives an excellent rendition of Felix Arndts smash hit, Nola. The first song to be considered novelty piano, a more jazzy, sophisticated version of ragtime. This was recorded at an unknown date in the early 1950s, during the 50s Ragtime Revival.
Flip side to this record: https://youtu.be/f2ujYldRy-Y?si=WCTPD3tnUSWZZIUV
Felix Arndt, a relative to French Emperor Napoleon III, was the father of novelty piano. His song Nola from 1915 is regarded as the very example of this genre. But aside from that, he was no stranger to one steps, fox trots, waltzes, and popular songs. Clover Club, Toots, and Marionette are examples of these. But you cant forget his ragtime arrangements of classical medleys, Desecration Rag and Operatic Nightmare. Unlike most ragtime composers of the era, he recorded piano solos of most of his songs and others, as well as piano rolls. I find these to be very valuable to the ragtime community.
Felix Arndt died young before the novelty era formally arrived, at the height of his career. He contracted the infamous Spanish Influenza and died in 1918 at the age of 29.
More Felix Arndt: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLMkuz4vEFoMGlLb94xnPjmcULthr04AI&si=gXyys7p0BddriV0g
Felix Arndt piano and celeste recordings:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbGAQvbfY3Z2evd3Ws5JDn_CrgrohpzDQ&si=6CIyJp5Mqs_cRabz")
![🇵🇱 Polish Piano Polka 🇵🇱 (1953) by Eddy Hanson [Played by Lawrence Duchow & His Orchestra]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/e9STLqDw8PQ/mqdefault.jpg "🇵🇱 Polish Piano Polka 🇵🇱 (1953) by Eddy Hanson [Played by Lawrence Duchow & His Orchestra]
#poland #polka #78rpm
By the composer of Rattlesnake Rag.
Though titularly deceivingly, there is no piano to be found in this recording. Instead, it is played on accordion and accompanied by an orchestra.
In 1953, the Polish Peoples Republic was headed by Chairman Aleksander Zawadzki of the State Council.
Ethwell Eddy Hanson had a remarkably long career, beginning in 1911, and continuing until retirement in 1973. His Rattlesnake Rag (1917) is what is he known for today in the ragtime community, especially thanks to its 1952 recording by Lou Busch (Joe Fingers Carr). But his Windy City Polka (1947) and Only a Weaver of Dreams (1924) were also well received. But what eclipses all of that was The Wisconsin Waltz (1951), which became the state anthem of Wisconsin in 2001.
More Eddy Hanson:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLMkuz4vEFoNdrzTmk5RFjNvoLnNkj-oS&si=a8hcClOnpU556Jsw")
![Calico Rag (1914) by Nat Johnson [Xylophone Solo by Andrew Setaro, 1917]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/f1m9sKg6J_M/mqdefault.jpg "Calico Rag (1914) by Nat Johnson [Xylophone Solo by Andrew Setaro, 1917]
Calico Rag is in pure classic rag style, and sounds like something James Scott or Charles L. Johnson would have wrote. But it was actually Nat Johnson, a relatively obscure figure in the ragtime community to write it.
More ragtime songs about cats: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLMkuz4vEFoNTqY2NJRt0g1HwOKnFvnzO&si=rJxMZZ0GTMSQEaiP")
