The Black Lamb of the Family:
Joseph F. Lamb's Minstrel Shows.
The great classic ragtimer Joseph Lamb did not make his living with music, so he had no obligations to keep composing. But what did he do after the ragtime era ended? We know from Rudi Blesh and Harriet Janis' They All Played Ragtime that in the 1920s Lamb composed novelty piano solos for Mills Music, but they were never published. Recollections from his family tell us of his dedication to his music through the years. His widow, Amelia, told me years ago that "every night he played the piano, every night." 2 This was his after-dinner ritual. His daughter Patricia enjoyed listening to him when she was a girl, and sometimes played along with him.
"He kept composing rags, but I don't think he wrote any of them down at that time. He would just get these melodies in his head and he'd play them...I would say to him, 'Well, that's a pretty thing -- have you got it written down?' and he'd say, "No -- why should I bother? Nobody's interested in this stuff anymore. Nobody cares any more about it.'"
"When I was graduating from high school (1942) -- I was in a private school -- any girl that could [write music was invited to] write a song for the graduation. Not being musically inclined myself, I said to my father. 'Well, you have this rag; it's such a pretty thing, why don't you write some words and I'll take it to school?' He said, 'You can't do that.' I said, 'Why not?' and he said, 'Because you didn't write it,' and I said, 'Well, that's true.' It turns out that piece was Cottontail Rag...I was willing to have a rag played at [my graduation!] But that never materialized...It never even came out until it was published in the Ragtime Treasures book. All that time it was hanging around and I thought it was so pretty."
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