"Whistling Rufus"
By Rob DeLand
Whistling Rufus is an early rag/cakewalk by Kerry Mills, which was copyrighted in 1899. Other Mills tunes include At a Georgia Camp Meeting (one of my favorites -- I bet a few MMD'ers remember the Encore banjo roll of this tune on one of the Paul Eakins compilation records), Impecunious Davis, Happy Days in Dixie, That Fascinating Ragtime Glide, and Kerry Mills Ragtime Dance.
Rufus hasn't been recut in ages: AMR (Frank Adams) recut it from QRS 30811, and PianoRecord (Lyle Martin) recut it from Connorized 121. It's likely that this would turn up on 65-note rolls since it's so early, and there's a chance that I'll be able to convert 65-note rolls to 88-note recuts before the end of the year. If you still have troubles locating the roll, keep after me! I think I know where I can find an original.
I have a photocopy of the sheet music with an interesting introduction printed above the title; it's quaint, so I'll copy it here. I wonder if Mills wrote it or if the publisher came up with it. I would like to think it's Mills, but I have no idea. A similar but longer introduction appears on Impecunious Davis, which is reprinted in Ragtime Rarities (the common Dover rag folio compiled by Trebor Tichenor). The latter finishes with the line, "The composer takes this opportunity of portraying the musical eccentricities of Impecunious Davis", so I guess that answers my question! Here's the Whistling Davis quote:
"No Cake Walk given in the Black Belt District in Alabama was considered
worthwhile attending unless 'Whistling Rufus' was engaged to furnish
the music. Unlike other musicians Rufus always performed alone,
playing an accompaniment to his whistling on an old guitar, and it was
with great pride that he called himself the 'One Man Band'."
I was quite surprised to hear of this on an Welte roll, but looking it up I find they issued Whistling Rufus (Welte 354), At a Georgia Camp Meeting (Welte 353), Kerry Mills Barn Dance (Welte 1808) and several more Kerry Mills tunes. It's a small world! I just checked, and there is no Kerry Mills on Ampico, but Duo-Art issued Barn Dance in 1922 pb Frank Milne. Since Welte was the first reproducer on the market I guess it should come as no surprise that they issued more Mills songs.
Last but not least, there are 3 Kerry Mills tracks on that delightful CD of Regina music box rags & cakewalks issued by Nancy Fratti: Georgia Camp Meeting and Rastus on Parade on 15-1/2" and Georgia Camp Meeting on 20-3/4" disks. Mills would have been most popular right in the heart of the Regina era.
Cheers,
Rob DeLand |
(Message sent Tue 1 Apr 1997, 07:02:23 GMT, from time zone GMT-0800.) |
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