Made famous by the legendary Scott Joplin, ragtime developed in
African-American communities throughout the southern part of the
Midwest during the last decade of the nineteenth century and had
a profound influence on many early blues performers. Combining
the structure of marches with African-American songs and dances
such as the cakewalk, ragtime's syncopated or 'ragged' rhythm was
initially performed as dance music for the seedier side of
society in areas where bars, dancehalls and brothels were
located. Many blues guitarists attempted to reproduce the
complicated piano sounds, as its faster rhythm created a more
upbeat and lively feel, far removed from the typical intensity of
early country blues. So, when ragtime went out of favour as jazz
cled the public's imagination, it had already entered the folk
consciousness through the playing of blues greats such as Blind
Blake, Reverend Gary Davis and Blind Boy Fuller. Many of the
featured artists hailed from the Eastern States where the
influence of ragtime was instrumental in creating the unique and
much loved 'Piedmont' guitar style. Typically, the Piedmont
guitarist would create an alternating rhythmic bass accompaniment
by moving the thumb of the picking hand between the different
bass strings of the guitar, whilst one or more fingers of the
same hand would pick out the melody on the higher strings.
Essentially this approach gives the impression that the guitar is
being played like a piano. Blind Blake was the first commercially
successful performer of this style, whose intricate fingerstyle
technique and diverse repertoire ranging from upbeat rags and
hokum tunes to slow blues numbers influenced all who followed,
including the likes of Blind Boy Fuller and Reverend Gary Davis,
and modern day guitarists Ry Cooder, John Fahey and Jorma
Kaukonen. Away from the East Coast, Mississippi John Hurt was
another who had a huge influence on guitarists past and present
with a syncopated and danceable style of guitar playing
accompaniment, completely different to that of his Mississippi
regional brethren. Like the guitar style, the vocal delivery
tends to be friendlier, more relaxed and without the tortured
emotional intensity of the Delta blues. This gives the music an
instant accessibility and warmth. Ragtime's musical ideas also
showed up in the travelling medicine shows, where comic songs
were popular. The chord progressions made a perfect foundation
for what was to become known as 'hokum', humorous songs which
used extended analogies or euphemistic terms to make sexual
innuendos. Bo Carter was an early bluesman who became best known
for his bawdy songs such as the featured 'Your Biscuits Are Big
Enough for Me'. Hokum also crossed over to white musical
traditions, highlighted by the Chattanooga-based "brother duet"
the Allen Brothers with their popular comical version of 'Salty
Dog Blues'. On the other side of the coin, Reverend Gary Davis
used the brilliance of his ragtime playing to accompany his
spiritual songs with mesmerizing results. Two towering giants of
the blues, Blind Lemon Jefferson and Charley Patton, also
performed the odd novelty 'rag influenced' tune to vary their
appeal as did country blues diva Memphis Minnie and the
mysterious Geeshie Wiley, who teams up with her female compatriot
Elvie Thomas for a wonderful rendition of Luke Jordan's 'Pick
Poor Robin Clean'. Little is known about many of these artists,
none more so than Willie Walker who only ever recorded two sides
in 1930, with 'South Carolina Rag' being one of the absolute
masterpieces of ragtime guitar playing. Other highlights to
listen out for include 'Ragtime Millionaire' by the barbershop
owner William Moore which harks back to the glory years of
ragtime as well as the cakewalk inspired 'Money Never Runs Out'
by Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers.