Cakewalks in the Ragtime
Era
Featuring Mississippi Rag (1897) by
William Krell and Other Cakewalks and Earlier Rags
By
Ted Tjaden
|
Recordings available on this page
(see below): |
Mississippi Rag,
The Cake Winner, After the Cakewalk, and
Cuban Cake Walk
|
|
Sheet music available on this page: |
See below to download
or view (for free) over 145 cakewalk compositions
|
|
Recommended reading: |
Morgan, Thomas L. From Cakewalks to Concert
Halls: An
Illustrated History of African American Popular Music from 1895
to 1930. Washington, DC: Elliott & Clark
Pub., 1992.
|
Cakewalks and cakewalk music were an important and
likely necessary precursor in the late 1800's to the development of
classic ragtime piano music. Although cakewalks and ragtime piano are
technically distinct styles of music, they are often lumped together due
to their similarities in origin and influences. Set out below on this page are the following links with more information on cakewalks in the ragtime era,
including (free) links to over 145 pieces of cake walk sheet music:
1) Introduction to Cake
Walks in the Ragtime Era
2)
My .MP3 Recordings of Selected Cake Walks
3)
Online Cake Walk Sheet Music
4)
Bibliography
1) Introduction to
Cake Walks in the Ragtime Era [top]
Although the American cakewalk dates back
to the early days of slavery, the cakewalk as a distinct music and dance
style had its formal beginning in the 1870's and reached its peak of
popularity at the end of the 19th century and early 20th century. Unlike
classic piano ragtime, cakewalk music was meant to be danced to and
often performed by a small orchestra or band. Although cakewalks were
generally lightly syncopated, their melodies and harmonies were
generally not as sophisticated as those found later in the classic rags
of Joplin, Scott and Lamb.
It is thought that cakewalks were once
called the "chalk-line walk", which "was a dance done by couples along a
straight path, balancing buckets of water on their heads" (Haskins1990:11). The form of dance evolved into a "cake" walk based on the fact that
white slave owners awarded a "cake" to the best dancers among their
slaves:
The cakewalk originated as a slave
dance contest in the antebellum South. White slave owners were fond
of awarding cakes to the best slave dancers at special social
gatherings (Morgan and Barlow 1992:26).
The notion that prize winners would be
awarded a cake is believed to be the origin of the sayings "that takes
the cake" and it was a "piece of cake."
As can be seen in the
video below, cakewalking involved exaggerated steps with high kicks
involved believed in part to be a "send up" by black slaves of the
elitist mannerisms of their slave owners:
The dance was invented as a satirical parody of the
formal European dances preferred by white slave owners, and featured
exaggerated imitations of the dance ritual, combined with traditional
African dance steps. One common form of cakewalk dance involved
couples (one male and one female, with their arms linked at the
elbows) lined up in a circle, dancing forward alternating a series of
short hopping steps with a series of very high kicking steps. Costumes
worn for the cakewalk often included large, exaggerated bowties,
suits, canes, and top hats. (from
the
Wikipedia entry for "cakewalk")
Two very early published cakewalks are Good Enough! (1871) and
Walking For Dat Cake (1877):
Jasen and Jones (2000:xxviii) identify
Opelika Cakewalk from 1892 as the first composition published with
"cakewalk" in the title, although Jasen (1997:iii) identified
Rastus on
Parade (1895) (below) by Kerry Mills as starting the cakewalk craze and also establishing the
cakewalk music structure of beginning in a minor key and finishing in
a major key. The
Mississippi Rag (1897)
(below) was the first piece of instrumental music
published with the word "rag" in the title. Its composer was
William H. Krell, a (white) band leader. The first rag published by a
black composer, the Harlem Rag, by way of contrast, was
published later in 1897 by Tom Turpin, a well-known saloon owner from
St. Louis. There is some irony in The Mississippi Rag
being the first instrumental rag published in print since the
piece is really a "cakewalk" and not a classic rag. And even
though The Mississippi Rag and Harlem Rag have their place in history as the first instrumental "rags"
published, it has been pointed out, however, that ragtime was
certainly known and played before 1897 (Gammond 1975:39).
The potential confusion or mislabeling of
rags as cakewalks and vice versa arises in part because both forms of
music are syncopated and have an "intoxicating" effect. Some rags included "cakewalk" in the title even
though there were closer being a rag than a cakewalk (e.g., Scott
Joplin's Swipesy Cake Walk, which is a rag);
alternatively, the Mississippi Rag includes "rag" as
part of its title, although it is a cakewalk. This labeling was
likely done, in part, by the publisher to better promote the piece,
depending on which form of music was more in vogue at the time.
It seems that cakewalks were not
without controversy over the issue of whether it placed
African-Americans in a stereo-typical light. In an 1893 edition
of the
Cleveland Gazette (see story to the right), a church
pastor is chastised for allowing a cakewalk to occur in his
church since cakewalks were "disgraceful relics of slavery days
and should not be tolerated for a moment in intelligent
Afro-American communities, to say nothing of churches".
|
Source:
The
Library of Congress American Memory Project
|
The
effects of the cakewalk craze (and classic ragtime) did not escape
Canadian listeners and composers where there was a minor boom itself
in this sort of music. Typical of the Canadian version of cakewalk
music would be The Cake Winner (1909) by G.W. Adams (below),
although little is known about this composer or the piece.
The earliest reference I could find in the Globe newspaper (Toronto) was an August 1, 1890 story (page 8) under the title "Colored People Jubilate Today":
This is Emancipation Day, and a
number of our coloured citizens will jubilate in a benefitting manner at
Berlin, in company with brethren from Hamilton, Chatham, Windsor, St.
Catharines and other places . . . . There was an opening ball last night
and this evening there will be a grand concert and cake walk.
A July 3, 1896, story in the Globe
(page 2) describes a "sports meet" in
Quebec where there is mention of a cake walk as entertainment at the
event.
Finally, an August 21, 1899, story in the
Globe describes a mass cakewalk at a summer party at the
"cottage" north of Toronto of what I believe to be the summer home of
Sir Henry Mill Pellatt:
Mr. and Mrs. Pellatt's annual at-home at
Southwood
Hall, Orillia, came off on Friday, August 11th. Mrs. Pellatt was
desirous of introducing some new feature on the occasion and decided
upon holding a "cake-walk." It was felt that this would be at the same
time a novelty to the people of Orillia, and particularly gratifying
to the national pride of the summer visitors, many of whom are from
the Southern States . . . . At about 5:30 the Orillia Band, whose
services had been secured for the occasion, broke into an energetic
burst . . . . A detour among the shrubberies brought the procession in
full view at the bottom of the lawn and the dancers advanced up the
tennis court, two and two, in the cake walk step, to the ragtime music
of the band.
The popularity of cakewalks spread even beyond North America
to Europe where even Claude Debussy wrote Golliwog's Cakewalk
(1908) (below), a "take" on the cakewalk from a classical composer's point of
view. Despite their simple nature, many cakewalks are enjoyable
and fun to play and listen to.
Ultimately, however, the cakewalk craze
gradually subsided as classic ragtime gained in popularity; in
addition, new dance crazes, such as variations on the fox trot, were
introduced prior to and during World War I and eclipsed the cakewalk,
which by that time, must have seemed very dated and quaint.
Jasen and Jones (2000:xxix) sum up
cakewalks in these terms:
In many of the best rags,
especially those by Joplin and Lamb, there is a harmonic richness
which gives them a hint of melancholy that is without counterpart in
the cakewalk. The cakewalk was neither designed for introspection nor
capable of it. It offers liveliness and nothing else.
For more information on cakewalks, there are a number of websites that discuss
the cakewalk in more detail - see:
2) My .MP3 Recordings of Selected Cake Walks
[top]
I hope to add shortly my "live" .MP3 recordings
of the following 4 cakewalks:
 |
Mississippi Rag.
William H. Krell. New
York, New York, NY: S. Brainard's Sons, 1897.[view
sheet music]
Source:
Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (from Duke
University) [top]
|
 |
The Cake Winner. G.W.
Adams. Toronto, ON: Amey & Hodgins, 1909.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Library and Archives Canada [top]
|
 |
After the Cakewalk.
R. Nathaniel Dett. Toronto, ON:
Whaley, Royce & Co., 1900.
[view
sheet music]
|
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Cuban Cake Walk. James
T. Brymn. New York, NY: Richard A. Saalfield, 1901.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Charles H. Templeton Sheet
Music Collection
(MSU) [top]
|
I can also highly recommend the following CD by the
Lake Arrowhead Early Jazz Band which contains 23 cakewalks played in the
style of a small orchestra or military band:
- Lake Arrowhead Early Jazz Band.
The
Cakewalk, 1897-1915.
Stomp Off Records 1365.
Purchase details (includes positive reviews by Jack Rummel and
Eddie Cook).
3) Online Cake Walk Sheet Music
[top]
Set out in the table below are links
to the sheet music and sheet music covers to 147 cakewalks or ragtime-era
compositions with the word "cakewalk" in the title. The list of
compositions below is not exhaustive; I have not included every
cakewalk song (i.e., cakewalks with lyrics) and I have also not
included the more racially offensive compositions. To find sheet
music for cakewalks not listed below, check out the
various online sources of ragtime sheet
music.
Online Sheet Music for Cakewalks
|
|
After the Cakewalk.
Nathaniel Dett. Toronto, ON:
Whaley, Royce & Co., 1900.
[view
sheet music]
|
 |
Alabama Dream (Rag-Time Cake Walk). George D. Barnard. Cincinnati,
OH: The
John Church Company, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
 |
Alagazam! Cake Walk, March, and Two Step.
Abe Holzmann. New York, NY: Leo Feist, 1902.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
IN Harmony: Sheet Music from Indiana [top]
|
 |
Allonzo, Allons-y! Cakewalk.
Fernand Heintz. 1903.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Le Passe Temps (Vol. 9, no 214 (6 juin 1903) at 157-59) as digitized by the
National Library
of Québec
|
 |
At A Darktown Cakewalk.
Charles Hale. Philadelphia, PA: Belmont Music Co., 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
IN Harmony: Sheet Music from Indiana [top]
|
 |
At A Georgia Camp Meeting: A Characteristic March Which
Can be Used Effectively as a Two-Step Polka or Cake Walk.
Kerry Mills. New York, NY: F.A. Mills, 1897.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
 |
Audacious Arabella:
Cake Walk March. Hanna Rion. New York, NY: F.A. Mills, 1900.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Photocopy from
Center for Popular Music [top]
|
 |
Aunt Hannah: March and Cake Walk.
William Loraine. New York, NY: Hugo V. Schlam, 1900.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Detroit Public Library, E. Azalia Hackley Collection [top]
|
 |
Aunt Mandy's Wedding: March & Cake Walk.
Wm. H. Tyers. New York, NY: Jos.
W. Stern, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Photocopy provided by Dave Kerr (England) [top]
|
 |
Aunt Minervy Anns: Cake Walk and
Characteristic March. Joseph St. John. Montreal,
QC: Canadian Foreign Music Co., 1900.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Library and Archives Canada [top]
|
 |
Bamboo Cake Walk. C.G.
McIntosh. Melbourne: Allan & Co., 1905.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
National Library of Australia Digital Collections
[top]
|
 |
Belle of
Richmond: Characteristic March and Cake Walk.
Hans Liné. New York: Jos. W. Stern & Co., 1902.
[view sheet music]
Source: Photocopy from the
New
York State Library [top]
|
 |
Belle of
the Cake Walk: March. Lawrence B. O'Connor.
Boston, MA: B.F. Wood Music Co., 1897.
[view sheet music]
Source: Photocopy from the
New
York State Library [top]
|
 |
Black Cinderella Cake Walk. Florence Wood. Toledo, OH: Peter McCormick,
1900.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
IN Harmony: Sheet Music from Indiana [top]
|
 |
Blackville Society Cake Walk and
Two Step. Bernard Franklin. Boston, MA: G.W.
Setchell, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Charles H. Templeton Sheet
Music Collection
(MSU) [top]
|
 |
Bluffton Carnival Rag: Cake Walk. Verdi Karns.
Bluffton, IN: Verdi Karns, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
IN Harmony: Sheet Music from Indiana [top]
|
|
 |
The Bos'n Rag:
Cake Walk. Fred S. Stone. Detroit, MI: Whitney Warner Pub. Co.,
1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Detroit Public Library, E. Azalia Hackley Collection
|
 |
The Brooklyn Cake Walk
(also known as The
Permans' Brooklyn Cake Walk).
T.W. Thurban. Melbourne : Allan's, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
National Library of Australia Digital Collections
[top]
|
 |
Bunch O' Blackberries: Cake -
Walk & Two - Step. Abe Holzmann. New York, NY:
Feist & Frankenthaler, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Maine Music
Box [top]
|
 |
The Cake-Walk in the Sky.
Ben Harney. New York, NY: M. Witmark & Sons, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
University of Colorado Digital Sheet Music Collection
[top]
|
 |
The Cake Walk Patrol: Two Step.
W.H. Krell. Chicago, IL: The S. Brainard's Sons Co.,
1895.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
|
|
The Cake Winner. G.W.
Adams. Toronto, ON: Amey & Hodgins, 1909.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Library and Archives Canada [top]
|
 |
Campbell Cakewalk.
Brun Campbell (transcribed by Richard A. Egan, Jr.).
Sheet music available in Richard A. Egan, Jr., ed.,
Brun Campbell: The Music of
"The Ragtime Kid" (St. Louis, MO: Morgan
Publishing, 1993). Available for purchase from the
editor: Richard Egan, Jr., 564 Woodlyn Crossing
Manchester, Missouri 63021 USA (highly recommended).
|
 |
Car-Barlick-Acid
Rag: Two-Step-Cake Walk. Clarence C. Wiley.
Detroit, MI: Jerome H. Remick & Co., 1905.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Charles H. Templeton Sheet
Music Collection
(MSU) [top]
|
 |
Careless Sam: Cake Walk & Two
Step. John H. Davies. Kansas City, MO: J.W.
Jenkins' Sons Music Company, 1900.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Kansas City Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
 |
Carlton Cake Walk.
Theo. Bonheur. Melbourne: Cassell & Co., [189-].
[view
sheet music]
Source:
National Library of Australia Digital Collections
[top]
|
 |
Carolina Tar
Heel Cake Walk. Dan Sullivan. New York, NY:
White-Smith Music Pub. Co., 1898.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
IN Harmony: Sheet Music from Indiana [top]
|
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Chocolate Drops: A Darktown
Improbability. Suitable for March, Cake Walk or Two Step. Harry Von Tilzer. New York,
NY: Harry Von Tilzer Music Publishing Co., 1902.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
 |
Colored Aristocracy: Cake Walk. Gus W. Bernard.
Indianapolis, IN: D.H. Baldwin, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
University of South Carolina Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
 |
The Colored Major:
Characteristic March And Two. Stephen R. Henry.
New York, NY: The Lyceum Publishing Co., 1900.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Maine Music
Box [top]
|
 |
A Coon Band Contest: Jazz
Fox-Trot. Arthur Pryor. New York, NY: Emil
Ascher, 1918.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
 |
Coon Hollow Capers: Cake Walk &
Two Step. Frank R. Gillis. New York, NY: Hugo V.
Schlam, 1900.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Detroit Public Library, E. Azalia Hackley Collection
|
 |
Coontown Jubilee: Rag
Time Cake Walk, March and Two Step. Leo
Friedman. Chicago, IL: Sol Bloom, 1898.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Detroit Public Library, E. Azalia Hackley Collection
|
 |
Coon-ville
Festival Cakewalk. Gus H. Kline. Chicago, IL: G.H.
Kline, 1898.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
IN Harmony: Sheet Music from Indiana [top]
|
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The Cotton Pickers: Characteristic
Rag Time, Two Step or
Cake Walk. Will Hardy. Haverhill, MA: Hardy Music Publishing Co.,
1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
IN Harmony: Sheet Music from Indiana [top]
|
 |
Cotton Pickers Rag: Original Cake
Walk.
Wm. J. Braun. New Orleans, LA: Louis Grunewald Co. Ltd., 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
IN Harmony: Sheet Music from Indiana [top]
|
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Creole Belles: March-Two-Step.
J. Bodewalt Lampe. Detroit, MI: Whitney-Warner
Publishing Co., 1900.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
|
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Cuban Cake Walk. James
T. Brymn. New York, NY: Richard A. Saalfield, 1901.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Charles H. Templeton Sheet
Music Collection
(MSU) [top]
|
 |
Dandy Dan: Two-Step
& Cake-Walk. Julian Fredericks. New York, NY:
Jos. W. Stern & Co., 1909
[view
sheet music]
Source:
University of Colorado Digital Sheet Music Collection
[top]
|
 |
The Darkies Delight: Two Step
and Cakewalk. Samuel Lapin. Springfield, MA:
A.H. Goetting, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
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The Darkie's Drill: Cake Walk.
Agnes Melville.
Boston, MA: Avon Music Company, 1902
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Maine Music
Box [top]
|
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Darktown C**n: Cake Walk.
Benoit F. Pourier. 1904.
[view sheet music]
Source:
Le Passe Temps (Vol. 12, no 305 (1 décembre 1906) at
538-41) as digitized by the
National Library
of Québec
|
 |
Darktown Excitement:
March and Cake Walk. William Brown. Baltimore,
MD: George Willig & Co., 1900.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
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Darktown Is Out
To-Night: A Senegambian Review. March Two-Step.
Will Marion. New York, NY: M. Witmark & Sons, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
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De Coontown Jubilee: Cake Walk:
An African Ragtime Oddity. Clarence L. Partee.
Kansas City, MO: C.L. Partee Music Co., 1897.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Kansas City Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
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Democratic Fun: A
Campaign Cake-Walk. Robert Buechel. Denver, CO: Tolbert R.
Ingram Music Co., 1908.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
University of Colorado Digital Sheet Music Collection
[top]
|
 |
Deo
Gratias: Lucien!!!
Cake-Walk. Samuel Emmanuel Duguay. 1903.
[view sheet music]
Source:
Le Passe Temps (Vol. 9, no 222 (26 septembre 1903) at
287) as digitized by the
National Library
of Québec
|
 |
Dixie Flyer:
Cakewalk and Two Step. A.E.
Henrich. Mt. Vernon, IN: A.E. Henrich, 1901.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
IN Harmony: Sheet Music from Indiana [top]
|
 |
Doc
Brown's Cake Walk: Kansas City Rag. Charles
L. Johnson. Kansas
City, MO: J.W. Jenkins' Sons, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Personal copy [top]
|
 |
Down on The Old Plantation:
Cake-Walk. Bayard Wilson. Philadelphia, PA: M.
D. Swisher, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Maine Music
Box [top]
|
 |
Dusky Dinah: Cake-walk and
Patrol. Dan J. Sullivan. Boston, MA: Chas.
Shackford 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (from Duke
University) [top]
|
 |
Dusky Dudes. Jean
Schwartz (lyrics by Will. A. Heelan). New York, NY:
Shapiro, Bernstein & Von Tilzer, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
African-American Sheet Music,
1850-1920 (from Brown University) [top]
|
 |
Dusky Troopers March & Cake Walk.
Will Hardy. Havervill, MA: Premium Music, 1900.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (from Duke
University) [top]
|
 |
Ebony Echoes: A Good
Old-Fashioned Cake-Walk. Dan Walker. New York,
NY: Shapiro, Bernstein & Co., 1915.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (from Duke
University) [top]
|
 |
Eli Green's Cake Walk: March & Two Step.
Sadie Koninsky. New York, NY: Jos.
W. Stern & Co., 1898.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
IN Harmony: Sheet Music from Indiana [top]
|
 |
Eli Green's Cake Walk
(song).
Sadie Koninsky (words by Dave
Reed). New York, NY: Jos.
W. Stern & Co., 1896.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Charles H. Templeton Sheet
Music Collection
(MSU) [top]
|
 |
An Ethiopian Mardi Gras. March, Two-Step and Cake Walk.
Maurice Levi. New York, NY: The Rogers Bros. Music
Publishing Co., 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
 |
Freaks of
Blackville: Cakewalk and Two-Step.
Charles [Clarence?] W. Dalbey. Toronto: Harry H. Sparks,
1899
[view
sheet music]
Source: Personal copy [top]
|
 |
The German Cake Walk.
Paul Rubens. New York, NY: Sol Bloom, 1903.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Library of Congress Sheet Music Collection (Music, Theatre
and Dance) [top]
|
 |
Give Cinda the Cake: March and
Two Step. Theo A. Metz. New York, NY: Edward
Schuberth & Co., 1898.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
 |
Golliwog's Cakewalk.
Claude Debussy (1908).
[view
sheet music]
|
 |
Good
Enough!. Rollin Howard. Chicago, IL: Lyon &
Healy, 1871.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (from Duke
University) [top]
|
 |
Hannah's Promenade: Characteristic
March and Two-Step Dance. Jacob Henry Ellis. New
York, NY: Willis Woodward, 1897.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (from Duke
University) [top]
|
 |
"Happy Hannah": Cake Walk.
Theo Havermeyer. Chicago, IL: McKinley Music Co Place
Pub., 1898.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Maine Music
Box [top]
|
 |
Happy Hottentots: Cake - Walk.
J. Fred O'Connor. Boston, MA: Chas. Shackford & Co.,
1900.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Maine Music
Box [top]
|
 |
Happy Mose Cake-Walk and
Two-Step. Phil Kussel. Cincinnati, OH: Philip
Kussel, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Charles H. Templeton Sheet
Music Collection
(MSU) [top]
|
 |
Harlem Rag. Tom Turpin
(revised and arr. by W.H. Tyers). New York, NY: Jos. W.
Stern & Co., 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
University of Colorado Digital Sheet Music Collection
[top]
|
 |
Harriman Cake Walk - Fox Trot.
Lee S. Roberts. Chicago, IL: Lee S. Roberts Pub.
Co., 1915.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
IN Harmony: Sheet Music from Indiana [top]
|
 |
High Yellow Cake Walk and
Two-Step. F. Henri Klickmann. Chicago, IL: Frank
K. Root & Co, 1915.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Charles H. Templeton Sheet
Music Collection
(MSU) [top]
|
 |
Hello My Baby! Joseph E.
Howard (lyrics by Ida Emerson). New York, NY: T.B.
Harms, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (from Duke
University) [top]
|
 |
His Rag-Time Walk Won the Prize.
Nathan Bivins. New York, NY: Hugo V. Schlam, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
African-American Sheet Music, 1850-1920
(from Brown University) [top]
|
 |
Hoe-Cake
Shuffle: A Characteristic Virginia Dance.
Claudia Jenkins.
Boston, MA: B.F. Wood Music Co., 1903.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Charles H. Templeton Sheet
Music Collection
(MSU) [top]
|
 |
Hog-Town Pig-Aninnies: Two-Step
Cake-Walk: A Very Warm Number. Edmund Braham.
New York, NY: Edmund Braham, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
 |
Honey Boy: Cake Walk. M. Cadenza. Los Angeles, CA: R.L. Durant, 1901.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
IN Harmony: Sheet Music from Indiana [top]
|
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Hop-Lee: A Chinese Cake Walk for
Piano. Ellis R. Ephraim. Baltimore, MD: P.J.
Lammers, 1901.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
 |
Hot
off the Griddle: Novelty Cakewalk. James
White. Chicago, IL: Frank K. Root, 1915.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Personal copy [top]
|
 |
A Hot Old Time in
Dixie. Nat. Rothman. New York, NY: New York
Music Publishing Co., 1904.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (from Duke
University) [top]
|
 |
A Hot Old Time in
Ragtown: Characteristic Cakewalk. Charles B. Brown
(arranged by Lewis Reiterman). Chicago, IL: Will Rossiter,
1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
IN Harmony: Sheet Music from Indiana [top]
|
 |
Huckleberry Finn Cake Walk
Two-Step. H.S. Brennan. Philadelphia, PA: Jos.
Morris, 1900.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (from Duke
University) [top]
|
 |
Hu-la Hu-la Cake
Walk. Egbert van Alstyne. Omaha, NB: A. Hospe, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Digital copy provided by Peter Persoff [top]
|
 |
Hunky-Dory: Characteristic Cake
Walk, March, and Two Step. Abe Holzmann. New
York, NY: Leo Feist, 1900.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
 |
Impecunious Davis:
Characteristic Two-Step, March and Cake-Walk.
Kerry Mills. New York, NY: F.A., 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (from Duke
University) [top]
|
 |
In Ole
Alabam: Rag Time Cake Walk and Two-Step.
Hortensia Weisman. Albany, NY: Henry P. Volgel, 1900.
[view sheet music]
Source: Photocopy from the
New
York State Library [top]
|
 |
Jasper Jenkins: Characteristic
Two-Step. Henry P. Vogel. Albany, NY: Henry P.
Vogel, 1898.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
African-American Sheet Music, 1850-1920
(from Brown University) [top]
|
 |
Jemima's Wedding Day: Cake Walk.
Martin Saxx (words by Jere O'Halloran). Boston, MA: Saxx
Music Co., 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (from Duke
University) [top]
|
 |
Jolly Pickanninies: Cake Walk
and Two Step. Ernst Rueffer. New York, NY: E.
Rueffer, 1905.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (from Duke
University) [top]
|
 |
Jolly Sam: March & Cake Walk.
Russell A Dickinson. Boston, MA: Tremont Music Pub. Co.,
1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Maine Music
Box [top]
|
 |
A Jolly South Carolina Cake Walk: March and Two Step.
Henry F. Volmer.
Philadelphia, PA: J.F. Bellois, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
 |
Keep Moving Cake Walk.
William White. New York, NY: Jos. W. Stern, 1915.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (from Duke
University) [top]
|
 |
The
Kentucky Cornshuckers: Two Step March and Cake Walk.
Alfred Rosenberg. New York: Gagel Bros., 1899.
[view sheet music]
Source: Photocopy from the
New
York State Library [top]
|
 |
Laughing
Lucas: Characteristic March and Two-Step.
Florence McPherran. Chicago, IL: Ellis Music Co., 1901.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
IN Harmony: Sheet Music from Indiana [top]
|
 |
Limber Libby:
Characteristic March, Two Step and Cake Walk. Edward
J. Hogben. New Haven, CT: Edward J. Hogben, 1900.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Copy from
University of Toronto Music Library [top]
|
 |
A Little on the Rag-Time (Makes
the Piano Talk): Cake walk, March and Two-Step.
S.G. Kiesling. New York, NY: C.H. Ditson, 1900.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (from Duke
University) [top]
|
 |
Liza Skinner: De Cake-Walk
Winner. N.H. Moray. Detroit, MI: Zickel Bros.,
1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
African-American Sheet Music, 1850-1920
(from Brown University) [top]
|
 |
Looney Coons: Cake Walk & Two
Step. John T. Hall. New York, NY: John T. Hall
Music Publishing Co., 1900.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (from Duke
University) [top]
|
 |
Loquatias Moll:
Characteristic Cake Walk. Sam Bennett and
Theodore H. Northrup. New York, NY: Armstrong Music,
1900.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (from Duke
University) [top]
|
 |
Ma Tiger Lily. A.B.
Sloane. New York, NY: M. Witmark & Sons, 1900.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
UCLA Archive of Popular Music [top]
|
 |
The Main Gazabo at a Corn Party:
Cake Walk. Chris Praetorius. New York, NY: Crown
Music, 1903.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (from Duke
University) [top]
|
 |
Miss Cinda's Walk Two-Step and
Cake-Walk. Samuel Lapin. Philadelphia, PA: H.L.
Morris, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Charles H. Templeton Sheet
Music Collection
(MSU) [top]
|
|
|
Mississippi Rag.
William H. Krell. New
York, ny: S. Brainard's Sons, 1897.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (from Duke
University) [top]
|
 |
The Mississippi Side-Step: March
and Cake Walk. Leo E. Berliner. New York, NY:
Berliner & Co., 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Maine Music
Box [top]
|
 |
The Mobile Prance:
Characteristic March, Cakewalk or Polka. Chas.
B. Brown. Milwaukee, WI: Chas. K. Harris, 1901.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
 |
Mumblin' Moss: American
Cake-Walk. T.W. Thurban. Melbourne: Allan's,
1902.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
National Library of Australia Digital Collections
[top]
|
 |
Nicodemus and His Banjo: Cake-walk
March & Two Step. E. Ascher. New York, NY:
Standard Music Company, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (from Duke
University) [top]
|
 |
Noires et blanches: cake-walk. Beauchamp. Jos.
1904.
[view sheet music]
Source:
Le Passe Temps (Vol. 10, no 236 (9 avril 1904) at 94-
95) as digitized by the
National Library
of Québec
|
 |
Old Jasper's Cake Walk.
Saint Suttle. New York, NY: S. Brainard's Sons Co.,
1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
 |
An Old Virginia Cake Walk. Louise V. Gustin. Detroit, MI: Belcher & Davis,
1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
IN Harmony: Sheet Music from Indiana [top]
|
 |
Ole Eph's Vision: A
Characteristic March (Two-Step Polka or Cake Walk).
Lee Orean Smith. Williamsport, PA: Vandersloot Music
Pub. Co., 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
 |
Parson Johnson's Rag-Time Mule: A
Characteristic Two Step and Cakewalk. E.E. Huston.
Denver, CO: Tolbert R. Ingram Music Co., 1900.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
University of Colorado Digital Sheet Music Collection
[top]
|
 |
Phoebe Thompson's Cake Walk. Sadie Koninsky. New York, NY: Edw. M. Koninsky & Bros.,
1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Maine Music
Box [top]
|
 |
Pickaninny Shuffle.
Emma Y. Suckert. Detroit, MI: Central Music Pub. Co., 1896.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
The E.
Azalia Hackley Collecttion, Detroit Public Library
|
 |
Pickin' On De Ole Banjo: Old
Fashion Cake Walk. Henry Widmer. New York, NY:
Chas. K. Harris, 1915.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (from Duke
University) [top]
|
 |
Policy Sam: Cake Walk & Two Step.
Joseph Gioscia. New York, NY: T.B. Harms & Co., 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
 |
Pop-corn: Cake Walk & Two Step.
May Summerbelle. Australia?: s.n., 189-?.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
National Library of Australia Digital Collections
[top]
|
 |
Possum
Hall Rag: Cake Walk and Two-Step. Bennett F.
Fritch. Copyright: Bennett F. Fritch, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Personal copy [top]
|
 |
Prancin Jimmy: A Rag Time
Dream: Characteristic Cake Walk and Two Step. E.
B. Claypoole. Baltimore, MD: Cohen & Hughes, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
 |
Prancing Pickaninnies: Cake Walk.
Max Dreyfus. St. Louis, MO: St.
Louis Post-Dispatch, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
IN Harmony: Sheet Music from Indiana [top]
|
 |
Ragelies: Two Step or Cake Walk.
W.M. Fassbinder. St Paul, MN: W.M. Fassbinder, 1899.[view
sheet music]
Source:
Copy from
University of Toronto Music Library [top]
|
 |
A Ragtime Masquerade: Cake Walk and
Two Step. Philip J. Meahl. Chicago, IL: John
Allen, 1900.[view
sheet music]
Source:
Detroit Public Library, E. Azalia Hackley Collection
|
 |
A Rag-Time Skedaddle: March &
Cake Walk. George Rosey. New York, NY: J.W.
Stern, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Charles H. Templeton Sheet
Music Collection
(MSU) [top]
|
 |
Rastus on Parade. Kerry
Mills. F.A. Mills, 1895.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Charles H. Templeton Sheet
Music Collection
(MSU) [top]
|
 |
Rastus Thompson's
Rag-Time Cake Walk. Harry Von Tilzer (words by
Andrew B. Sterling). New York, NY: Jos. W. Stern & Co.,
1898.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
African-American Sheet Music, 1850-1920
(from Brown University) [top]
|
 |
Raz Ma Taz: Cake Walk &
Two-Step; What it is? William H. Smith. New
York, NY: George M. Krey, 1901.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (from Duke
University) [top]
|
 |
Remus Takes the Cake:
Characteristic March and Two Step Dance: A Southern
Melody. Jacob Henry Ellis. New York, NY: Willis
Woodward & Co., 1896.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
 |
Sambo at the Cake Walk.
Alfred C. Marks.New York, NY: C. Schuster & Son, 1896.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (from Duke
University) [top]
|
 |
Simple Simon: Cake Walk.
Louise L. Howarde. Sydney: Mason's Music Stores, 1906.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
National Library of Australia Digital Collections
[top]
|
 |
Smokey Mokes: Cake
Walk and Two Step. Abe Holzmann. New York, NY:
Feist & Frankenthaler, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
 |
Sourires printaniers: marche ou cake walk. Auguste
Bosc. 1899.
[view sheet music]
Source:
Le Passe Temps (Vol. 5, no 105 (1 avril 1899) at 73- 75) as digitized by the
National Library
of Québec
|
 |
South Car'lina Tickle: Cake Walk.
Adam Geibel. Philadelphia, PA: Theodore Presser 1898.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (from Duke
University) [top]
|
 |
Stuttering Jasper: March and
Cake Walk. Robt. Cohn. New York, NY: F.A. Mills,
Music Publisher, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
 |
The Sun Do Move: Cake Walk and
Two Step. John Stromberg. New York, NY: Weber,
Fields & Stromberg, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
 |
Swipesy Cake Walk.
Scott Joplin and Arthur
Marshall. St. Louis, MO: John Stark and Son, 1900.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
IN Harmony: Sheet Music from Indiana [top]
|
 |
Too Much is Plenty: An Ideal
Southern Two-Step and Cake Walk. Henry
Tiedemann. Galveston, TX: Thos. Goggan & Bros., 1906.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Charles H. Templeton Sheet
Music Collection
(MSU) [top]
|
 |
Trombone Johnsen: Rag Time Cake
Walk. E.J. Stark. St. Louis, MO: John Stark &
Son, Sheet Music Publishers, 1902.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
 |
Uncle Jasper's Jubilee: Dance
Characteristique. E. T Paull. New York, NY: E.
T. Paull Music Co., 1898.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Maine Music
Box [top]
|
 |
Uncle Jerry's New England
Two-Step and Cake-Walk. J.C. Rhell.
Philadelphia, PA: Standard Music Publishing Co., 1907.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
 |
Uncle Rufus' Cake-Walk:
Characteristic March and Two Step. Ellis R.
Ephraim. Baltimore, MD: The Baltimore Music Co., 1898.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
 |
Le vrai
cake-walk. Leon Dequin. 1904.
[view sheet music]
[listen
to an .mp3]
Source:
Le Passe Temps (Vol. 10, no 239 (21 mai 1904) at 136-39) as digitized by the
National Library
of Québec
|
 |
Walkin' on de Rainbow
Road. S.M. Roberts. Philadelphia, PA: M.D.
Swisher, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
 |
Walking for
Dat Cake. David Braham (lyrics by Edward
Harrigan). New York, NY: William A. Pond, 1877.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (from Duke
University) [top]
|
 |
A Warm Proposition: Cake Walk.
Paul J Knox and Monroe H. Rosenfeld. Brooklyn, NY: Chas.
W. Held, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Maine Music
Box [top]
|
 |
A Warm Proposition:
Greatest Cake Walk Ever. James B. Glionna. Toronto, ON: H.H. Sparks, 1901.
[view
sheet music]
Source:Toronto Reference Library Microfiche
[top]
|
 |
A Warm Reception: Characteristic
March, Two-Step and Cake-Walk. Bert R. Anthony.
Fall River, MA: G. H. Munroe & Co Place Pub., 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Maine Music
Box [top]
|
 |
A Warmin' Up In Dixie: Cake Walk,
March and
Two Step. E.T. Paull. New York, NY: E.T. Paull,
1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (from Duke
University) [top]
|
 |
Way Down South: Characteristic
March, Cake-Walk and Two-Step. L.S. Fisher.
Boston, MA: G.W. Setchell, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (from Duke
University) [top]
|
 |
Whistling Rufus: A
Characteristic March. Kerry Mills. New York, NY:
F.A. Mills, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source:
Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection [top]
|
 |
Yon Yonson's Version of a
Cake-Walk. Jay V. Youmans. Platteville, WI: Jay
V. Youmans, 1899.
[view
sheet music]
Source: Photocopy
from University of Wisconsin-Madison Library [top]
|
I am currently looking for copies of the following
pieces, set out in rough chronological order; if I obtain copies, I will
digitize them and add them to the table above:
- 1899: The Honolulu Cake Walk: A
Characteristic March. J. W. Lerman.New York, NY: N. Weinstein, 1899
(Source: NLA).
- 1899: Rag-Knots: A Cake Walk and
Two-Step. W.C. Coleman. Galveston, TX: T. Goggan, 1899 (Source: NYPL).
- 1900: Insignificant Thompson: A
Swell Cake Walk And Daisy Two Step. James B. Glionna. Toronto, ON: Harry H.
Sparks, 1900.
- 1901: Echoes From Old
Kentucky: March, Two-Step and Cake Walk. Mynnie Dillingham. Sydney: Alberts,
1901 (Source: NLA).
- 1901:Smiling Remus. E. Raymond
Howe.
- 1902: A Barn Dance Shuffle: A Rag Time Cake
Walk. Wade Harrison (Available in print at
University of Colorado)
- 1902: Easy Pickin’s: Characteristic Dance
and Cake-Walk. Egbert A.Van Alstyne (Available in print at
University of Colorado)
- 1902: Kitchy Coo: Cake Walk March.
Gus Edwards. New York, NY: Mills Music Publisher Inc., 1902 (Source: NLA).
- 1902: Razzle Dazzle: Characteristic Cake
Walk & Two Step. Harry Von Tilzer (Available in print at
University of Colorado)
- 1902: Way Down South: Characteristic March
and Cake Walk. Paul Rubens (Available in print at
University of Colorado)
- 1902: Zig Zag: Cake Walk:
Two-Step March. Cloyd H. Duncan. S.l.: s.n., 1902 (NYPL).
- 1903: At A Niagara Camp
Meeting: Cake Walk And Two Step. James B. Glionna. Toronto, ON: Canadian
American Music, 1903.
- 1903: Boston Banjo Band: Cake Walk
Two Step. M.C. Ives. London: W. H. Broome, 1903. (Source: NLA).
- 1917: Fun on the Levee: Cake
Walk. Charles L. Johnson. Chicago, IL: F.J.A. Forster Music Publisher, 1917.
Sheet music available in Philip A. Stewart, ed. Rags and Other
Riches From Charles L. Johnson. Paola, KS: Philip A.
Stewart, 1995.
4) Bibliography [top]
- Berlin, Edward A.
Ragtime: A Musical and
Cultural History. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1980.
- Emery, Lynne Fauley. Black Dance in the United States from 1619 to
Today. 2nd rev. ed. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Book Company,
1988.
- Fletcher, Tom. The Tom Fletcher Story: 100 Years
of the Negro in Show Business. New York, NY: Burdge and Co.,
1954.
- Gammond, Peter.
Scott Joplin and the Ragtime Era. London: Angus & Robertson,
1975.
- Gottschild, Brenda Dixon.
The Black Dancing
Body: A Geography from Coon to Cool. New York, NY: Palgrave
Macmillan, 2003.
- Haskins, James.
Black Dance in America: A
History Through its People. New York, NY: Harper Trophy, 1990.
- Hitchcock, H. Wiley and Pauline Norton. "Cakewalk,"
Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (Accessed 02 April 2006), <http://www.grovemusic.com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca>
- Jasen, David A., ed. Cakewalks, Two-Steps and Trots for Solo Piano: 34 Popular Works from
the Dance-Craze Era. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications,
1997.
Publication details.
- Jasen, David A. and Gene
Jones. That American Rag: The Story of Ragtime from Coast to
Coast. New York: Schirmer Books, 2000.
- Long, Richard A. Black Dance: The Black
Tradition in American Modern Dance. New York, NY: Rizzoli, 1989.
- Lotz, Rainer E. German Ragtime & Prehistory
of Jazz. Chigwell, England: Storyville, 1985.
- McKinley, Ann. "Debussy and American Minstrelsy"
(1986) 14(3) The
Black Perspective in Music
249-58 (JSTOR).
- Morgan, Thomas L. and William
Barlow. From Cakewalks to Concert
Halls: An
Illustrated History of African American Popular Music from 1895
to 1930. Washington, DC: Elliott & Clark
Pub., 1992.
- "Ragtime"
in Encyclopedia of Music in Canada. Historica Foundation of
Canada, 2006. Available
online.
- Septoff, L. "Coon Songs and Cakewalks: Ragtime Antecedents"
(1983) 3 Jazz Research Papers (NAJE) 106-13.
- Stearns, M. and J. Stearns. Jazz Dance: The Story of American
Vernacular Dance (New York, 1968)
- Sutton, A. Cakewalks, Rags and Novelties: The International Ragtime
Discography (1894-1930).
- Walker, Edward Samuel. English Ragtime: A
Discography. Woodthorpe, England: Edward S. Walker, 1971.
[top]
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