Arthur Marshall: Select Works (Ragtime)

Born November 20th, 1881 in Pettis County, Missouri, Arthur Marshall would go on to become a prominent yet quiet figure in the world of Ragtime, tying his story together with the likes of Scott Joplin & even high school classmate & future composer, Scott Hayden. At his early age, the Marshalls had moved into the fairly new town of Sedalia, mainly because black children were allowed to attend school nine months a year there as opposed to the three months they were allowed elsewhere. In fact, upon Sedalia’s early days of development, it’s been said that the townspeople were reportedly more accepting of African Americans, giving Marshall room to comfortably attend primary education. By the time Scott Joplin had first arrived in Sedalia, Marshall was only fifteen years old. And after seeking out lodging for his new town to call home, he had moved in with the Marshalls, from where Arthur was able to showcase his unique piano technique and a gift for syncopation, having taken private lessons in classical music years before. With Joplin’s new career in Sedalia as a piano tutor & instructor, he took on Marshall as his protégé and together helped him form his first published (duo) piece: Swipsey Cakewalk. Joplin had even helped young pianist earn himself a job at the now-famous Maple Leaf Club during its single year of existence in 1899. It was there that Marshall reportedly got into a fight on October 1 with Ernst Edwards over his girlfriend. The fight was taken from downstairs in the club into Main Street where Marshall allegedly beat Edwards with a cane, the latter responding with a drawn gun and causing Marshall to flee, ending the fight. Getting back on point however, Marshall had continued his passion of music and began it’s studies at George R. Smith College from Joplin’s encouragement. From there, his studies would further propel Marshall’s reputation as an outstanding local musician. While still in college, he traveled with McCabe’s Minstrels for nearly two years, playing during intermissions & helping cover his school expenses by playing ragtime in public venues, dances and special occasions. He also played where work was available; in the brothels, where substantial tips regularly exceeded his standard wage by a great deal. Despite eventually graduating from the Teacher’s Institute with a license, Marshall had enjoyed pursuing a the career & lifestyle of a musical performer, playing in various tours and contests, both in St. Louis and at places such as Chicago. From 1901 to 1902, Marshall had moved in with Scott Joplin & the Hayden’s in St. Louis, along with Scott Hayden, Hayden’s wife Nora, Joplin’s wife Belle, and Joplin’s brother Will, granting him access to eventually work at greater venues such as the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904. Having worked with publisher John Stark as Joplin had for his own Maple Leaf Rag, Arthur even managed to get a nominal royalty deal and $50 payment from Stark on three of his solo works; Kinklets, Ham And!, and The Peach. However, when it came to negotiating with Stark on The Pippin, the publisher, or possibly his son Will, was less amenable to such a deal, and Marshall had to accept an outright payment of $10 and 200 copies of the published work, making it apparent he may have been making more for his playing than he did for his compositions. *Biography is continued in the pinned comment below.* --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Timestamps: 0:00:00 - Swipsey Cakewalk [With Scott Joplin] (1900) 0:03:43 - Kinklets (1906) 0:07:25 - Lily Queen [With Scott Joplin] (1907) 0:10:31 - Missouri Romp (1907) 0:15:09 - Ham and ! (1908) 0:18:52 - The Peach (1908) 0:22:41 - The Glory of the Cubs [Lyrics by F. R. Sweirngen] (1908) 0:25:47 - The Pippin (1908) 0:28:52 - Century Prize (c. 1966) 0:32:33 - Little Jack’s Rag (Posthum. 1976) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music composed by Arthur O. Marshall with performances by Guido Nielsen with his album “Scott Joplin: The Complete Works (Rags, Waltzes & Songs),“ James Marshall with his album “Classic Piano Rags Collection,“ Richard Egan with his albums “Missouri Romp“ & “From the Land of Ragtime“ Bryan Wright with his album “Syncopated Musings: Classic Piano Rags And Ragtime Waltzes“ & Max Morath with his album “The World Of Scott Joplin“ ℗ 2000 Basta Audio-Visuals ℗ 2008 Richard Egan ℗ 2009 Music Studio ℗ 2004 Bryan Wright ℗ 2006 Vanguard Records, a Welk Music Group Company ℗ Piano Joys Records This video is solely for the purposes of compiling and sharing the music of Arthur O. Marshall and in no way or means is being used for monetary purposes.