"A Bunch of Rags", by Vess L. Ossman

"A Bunch of Rags"

by Vess L. Ossman

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Full Digital Discography

12

releases

Get all 12 Centuries of Sound releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of A Holiday Between The Wars: Christmas Records 1926-1938, Deep Magic From Before The Dawn of Time: Christmas Records 1902-1924, Halloween Between The Wars - 1927-1938, Hallowe’en Dance: Original Recordings 1902-1926, Brass Peacocks, The Westering, Russian Records 1901-1908 Volume Three "Already The Evening Enfolds The Distant Fields", Russian Records 1901-1908 Volume Two "Thou Brilliant Bird in the Forest", and 4 more. , and , .

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1.	Cocoanut Dance (1895) 02:10	buy track
2.	A Bunch Of Rags (1898) 02:26	buy track
3.	Little Bit Of Everything (1899) 02:26	buy track
4.	Whistling Rufus (1899) 02:40	buy track
5.	The Old Folks At Home (1900) 02:23	buy track
6.	A Coon Band Contest (1901) 03:04	buy track
7.	Darkies Awakening (1902) 02:16	buy track
8.	Razzle Dazzle (1903) 02:12	buy track
9.	Marriage Bells (1904) 02:13	buy track
10.	The Drakes Awakening (1904) 02:19	buy track
11.	St. Louis Rag (1905) 00:56	buy track
12.	Medley Little Bit Of Everything (1906) 02:13	buy track
13.	The Buffalo Rag (1906) 02:06	buy track
14.	Maple Leaf Rag (1907) 02:39	buy track
15.	Fun In A Barber Shop (1908) 02:02	buy track
16.	Smiler Rag (1908) 02:20	buy track
17.	Moon Winks (1909) 02:09	buy track
18.	The Moose (1910) 02:25	buy track
19.	Vess Ossman's Banjo Orchestra - Universal Fox Trot (1915) 03:48	buy track
20.	Vess Ossmans Banjo Orchestra - Merry Whirl (1916) 04:23	buy track

about

Trailblazing artists are usually better-remembered than Vess L. Ossman. The first musician to make a ragtime record, the ‘King of the Banjo’, and one of the biggest names of the Edwardian era, Sylvester’s reputation suffered three blows in the post-WW1 era – his genre (ragtime) was superseded by a more inventive one (jazz) , his reign as the ‘King of the Banjo’ was cut short by the rapid rise of a rival, and most importantly perhaps, his instrument fell out of fashion, except in bluegrass music, where it was played in a very different way.

Vess was born in Hudson, New York in 1868, and spent the entirity of his adult life as a professional musician, recording for 25 years, and touring America and further afield for more than 30. His final recordings were made in 1917, but he continued to tour with his son, Vess L. Ossman Jr., until his death from an on-stage heart attack in 1923 at the age of 55.

Vess L. Ossman was the first musican I felt I’d “discovered” in my research – a bit of an arrogant framing, I’m afraid. In his lifetime Vess achieved international fame and recorded plenty of good music, much of it of great historical importance, but the ragtime banjo now seems like it should be an obscure footnote. it isn’t. With this compilation I hope to do a little to spread awareness of his legacy.