FOLIO
REVIEW
By
Jack Rummel
A Little Lost Lamb
Piano Music by Joseph F. Lamb
Ragtime Press,
The Alaskan Rag / The Beehive Rag / Chasin’ the Chippies / Gee, Kid! But I Like You / Greased Lightening Rag / I Want to Be a Bird-Man / I’ll Follow the Crowd to Coney / The Jersey Rag / Joe Lamb’s Old Rag / Lorne Scots on Parade / Mignonne / My Queen of Zanzibar / Ragged Rapids Rag / The Rag-Time Special / Rapid Transit / Red Feather / Spanish Fly / Walper House Rag.
One piece, The Alaskan Rag, was published in the seminal work by Rudi Blesh and Harriet Janis, They All Played Ragtime. Thirteen other compositions were released in 1964 in a folio entitled Ragtime Treasures. Both are now out of print and have truly become “ragtime treasures” – if you can find them! Two recently discovered works, Brown Derby Rag and Ragtime Reverie, were published privately a few years ago. But the rest have existed only in manuscript form, available to just a select few – until now.
Finding A Little Lost Lamb is somewhat akin to locating buried
treasure or finding the Titanic or unearthing a new Egyptian tomb.
We knew most of these scores existed – we’d even heard recordings of
some of them – but we’d never seen them up close and personal.
Thanks to the efforts of Patricia Lamb
Joe Lamb’s musical interests went beyond ragtime and that is reflected
here. In addition to 10 rags, the
folio contains three songs with words (Gee
Kid! But I Like You, I Want to Be a Bird-Man and I’ll
Follow the Crowd to Coney), two intermezzos (My Queen of Zanzibar and Spanish
Fly), a waltz (Mignonne) and a
stirring march (Lorne Scots on Parade).
Like the early songs of Joplin and Scott, the songs of Lamb may remain
little more than curiosities, while the other non-rags certainly may pique the
interest of the purchaser.
But it is the 10 rags that make this folio such a valuable publication. As an endorsement of their worth, all have been recorded at one time or another. However, to be able to put this collection on your piano’s music stand and play through them is a thrill that even the jaded ragtimer can experience. Joseph Lamb’s elevated status as a ragtime composer cannot be denied. Owning this folio will help to complete the picture of this self-effacing genius whose music continues to stir our hearts. Recommended without reservation.
Available for $25.00 postpaid from Ragtime Press,