![St. Louis Rag (1903) by Tom Turpin [1948 Pianola Recording] @GLepRagtimeChronicle](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/uoDAe8HJAPc/hqdefault.jpg)
Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Tom Turpin wrote this classic rag ahead of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, one of many ragtime composers to do so. It is played here on pianola, piano roll courtesy of George Moore. Note how the record label erroneously says Turpin is the pianist. Turpin is not known to have recorded any piano rolls, so I rule this out.
I posted the flip side of this record nearly two years ago, as the second video on this channel. It is kind of shocking it took so long to post the flip side: youtu.be/NGGALrlZepo?si=P_UolNFY0Fn__H5Q
Tom Turpin (1871-1922) was the composer of the first ragtime piece with the word 'rag' in the title. "Harlem Rag" is his greatest hit. It was written from 1889-1892, but it wasn't published until 1897, making so that "Mississippi Rag" by William Henry Krell got moniker as the first piece with rag in the title. Other famous pieces include "Buffalo Rag" and "St. Louis Rag.
This record is not yet public domain; all rights reserved to the copyright owner. Obviously, these videos are not posted for financial gain.
More Tom Turpin: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLMkuz4vEFoOzFldAWPzj6flrm7lG-c3H&si=NqMzp-z2GiLUoY0B
Tom Turpin wrote this classic rag ahead of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, one of many ragtime composers to do so. It is played here on pianola, piano roll courtesy of George Moore. Note how the record label erroneously says Turpin is the pianist. Turpin is not known to have recorded any piano rolls, so I rule this out.
I posted the flip side of this record nearly two years ago, as the second video on this channel. It is kind of shocking it took so long to post the flip side: youtu.be/NGGALrlZepo?si=P_UolNFY0Fn__H5Q
Tom Turpin (1871-1922) was the composer of the first ragtime piece with the word 'rag' in the title. "Harlem Rag" is his greatest hit. It was written from 1889-1892, but it wasn't published until 1897, making so that "Mississippi Rag" by William Henry Krell got moniker as the first piece with rag in the title. Other famous pieces include "Buffalo Rag" and "St. Louis Rag.
This record is not yet public domain; all rights reserved to the copyright owner. Obviously, these videos are not posted for financial gain.
More Tom Turpin: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLMkuz4vEFoOzFldAWPzj6flrm7lG-c3H&si=NqMzp-z2GiLUoY0B
![St. Louis Rag (1903) by Tom Turpin [1948 Pianola Recording]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/uoDAe8HJAPc/mqdefault.jpg "St. Louis Rag (1903) by Tom Turpin [1948 Pianola Recording]
Tom Turpin wrote this classic rag ahead of the 1904 St. Louis Worlds Fair, one of many ragtime composers to do so. It is played here on pianola, piano roll courtesy of George Moore. Note how the record label erroneously says Turpin is the pianist. Turpin is not known to have recorded any piano rolls, so I rule this out.
I posted the flip side of this record nearly two years ago, as the second video on this channel. It is kind of shocking it took so long to post the flip side: https://youtu.be/NGGALrlZepo?si=P_UolNFY0Fn H5Q
Tom Turpin (1871-1922) was the composer of the first ragtime piece with the word rag in the title. Harlem Rag is his greatest hit. It was written from 1889-1892, but it wasnt published until 1897, making so that Mississippi Rag by William Henry Krell got moniker as the first piece with rag in the title. Other famous pieces include Buffalo Rag and St. Louis Rag.
This record is not yet public domain; all rights reserved to the copyright owner. Obviously, these videos are not posted for financial gain.
More Tom Turpin: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLMkuz4vEFoOzFldAWPzj6flrm7lG-c3H&si=NqMzp-z2GiLUoY0B")
![Prelude to Act III (1911) by Scott Joplin [1976 SMOOTH JAZZ SOLO]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/vvXqBMA8Qq4/mqdefault.jpg "Prelude to Act III (1911) by Scott Joplin [1976 SMOOTH JAZZ SOLO]
Mike Wofford plays a famed Treemonisha opera segment, the first song of the final act, in the improv style of smooth jazz.
#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")
![The Murray Walk (1914) by Paul Biese and F. Henri Klickmann [Played by Princes Band in 1916]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wkZlFOAeHGU/mqdefault.jpg "The Murray Walk (1914) by Paul Biese and F. Henri Klickmann [Played by Princes Band in 1916]
The Murray Walk (1914) by Paul Biese and F. Henri Klickmann [Played by Princes Band in 1916]")
![12th Street Rag (1914) by Euday Bowman [1920 PIANO DUET BY MAX KORTLANDER & VICTOR ARDEN]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/x8afRX0zxW8/mqdefault.jpg "12th Street Rag (1914) by Euday Bowman [1920 PIANO DUET BY MAX KORTLANDER & VICTOR ARDEN]
Euday L. Bowmans perennial rag classic as played by QRS piano roll artists Max Kortlander and Victor Arden. Despite the dozens of piano roll recordings by Kortlander, he made very few 78 rpm records. Now is your chance to hear one. If youre curious about Max Kortlander, check out his Wikipedia page...which I wrote!
Both of these pianists have played this song by themselves before, but only on this record can you find them together:
-https://youtu.be/Nam2Uz25xLc?si=Qd_rmEWALWPEIs5e
-https://youtu.be/PUj93K2ATF4?si=9o13zO6zKB_z2i9U
This song later became known for its arrangement by Roy Smeck, which later became famous for being played in none other than Spongebob Squarepants.
Early arrangement by Smeck (1928):
https://youtu.be/r1uCnkYPNUg?si=Ig40kKkOJZTXFfN8
More Max Kortlander:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbGAQvbfY3Z3_bZUen0MBvCIKO2MIuDQe&si=B_A5c1xbYQDVvRLc
More Victor Arden:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLMkuz4vEFoOLUC9crOLb-pc-InmFG8jW&si=MCCyAu5gcSOT85Yw")
![Nantucket (1910) by Kerry Mills [Played by the New York Military Band]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xDiZVCRzPZc/mqdefault.jpg "Nantucket (1910) by Kerry Mills [Played by the New York Military Band]
By the composer of At a Georgia Campmeeting, heres a 4-minute Edison Amberol Record playing one of his lesser known later works for military band.
Mills, with the aforementioned hit, and others like ‘Meet Me in St. Louis’, ‘Rastus on Parade’, and ‘Happy Days in Dixie’, was an accomplished composer of the 1890s and early 1900s. Though his career continued into the 1910s and 20s, those songs are mysteriously underrepresented on YouTube.
More Kerry Mills:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbGAQvbfY3Z3EyNHtLw2oc7kl0sRbzo1n&si=FRnUoiOSf596c3IA")
![When Dewey Comes Sailing Home (1899) by Kerry Mills [Sung by Frank C. Stanley]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/yGhonsc8tvc/mqdefault.jpg "When Dewey Comes Sailing Home (1899) by Kerry Mills [Sung by Frank C. Stanley]
A post-Spanish-American War recording which patriotically praises Admiral George Dewey, the only U.S. naval officer to achieve the rank of Admiral of the Navy. He is best known for the overwhelming victory he achieved over the Spanish Pacific Fleet at the Battle of Manila Bay in 1898.
Kerry Mills, composer of the hit cakewalk, At a Georgia Campmeeting, and other songs like ‘Meet Me in St. Louis’, ‘Rastus on Parade’, and ‘Happy Days in Dixie’, was an accomplished composer of the 1890s and early 1900s. Though his career continued into the 1910s and 20s, those songs are mysteriously obscure.
More Kerry Mills:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbGAQvbfY3Z3EyNHtLw2oc7kl0sRbzo1n&si=FRnUoiOSf596c3IA")
