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Born December 3, 1876 in Kansas City, Kansas, Charles Johnson (later on also known as “Raymond Birch“) would become perhaps one of the most prolific composers of his time, writing over a total of 250 individual works during his lifetime career covering a variety of genres such as Ragtime, Tangos, Cakewalks, Novelty Solos, Songs & much more. Alongside this, Johnson had also found himself into the business sector of the music industry, forming his own publishing firm which had lasted through the majority of his career & had become the printing house for some of Ragtime's most prominent figures & stars. Because of this, it is often debated on whether or not Johnson is entitled to be in the same spotlight of Joplin, Scott & Lamb as the greatest figure of Ragtime to ever grace the Earth. Attracted to the piano by the age of six, Charles had always managed to find himself taking lessons from a neighborhood lady on whose piano he had eventually utilized for casual day-to-day practice. And by the age of nine, he had already began studying classical piano, harmony, and even music theory altogether, encouraging his parents to buy him a piano around this age after his phenomenal natural abilities as a music prodigy continued to grow. Despite taking a more formal & serious study into classical music in order to expand his early talent, popular music of the day such as Ragtime & folksongs only tugged at his heat continually, leading to him practicing popular hits of the day on the sly during his studies. This of course did not serve him well when his new teacher, Professor Kreiser, became frustrated by these non-classical piano outbursts, leading Charles to quit his lessons from going any further to pursue his hearts desire: A study into the current trend of folk music & popular tunes. In fact, this is the very thing Johnson had taken to heart, taking courses to better ground him in music theory and compositional skills by picking up the banjo, guitar, brass, violin, drums and mandolin, enabling him to play with small local groups such as the George Washington Juvenile Military Band. From there on and much into the late 1890s, Johnson's earliest of tunes were already being performed by small ensembles, yet many had been left unpublished except for a small handful of them such as Wayside Willie's March published by J.R. Bell of Leavenworth, Kansas in 1895, making it one of his earliest known published works. *Biography is continued in the pinned comment below.* --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Timestamps: 0:00:00 - Scandalous Thompson (1899) 0:03:53 - Doc Brown's Cakewalk (1899) 0:06:58 - Belle of Havana: Waltzes (1899) 0:10:51 - A Black Smoke (1902) 0:14:04 - Iola: Intermezzo Two-Step (1904) 0:17:00 - Dill Pickles Rag (1906) 0:19:18 - Southern Beauties/Lovey Dovey (1907) 0:23:48 - Sneaky Pete/Peet (1907) 0:26:46 - Fine and Dandy (1908) 0:30:01 - All the Money (1908) 0:33:11 - Powder Rag (1908) 0:37:13 - Beedle-Um-Bo (1908) 0:40:41 - Apple Jack: Some Rag (1909) 0:44:00 - Porcupine Rag (1909) 0:46:39 - Pansy Blossoms (1909) 0:49:06 - Silver King Rag (1909) 0:52:48 - Pigeon Wing Rag (1909) 0:55:58 - Kissing Bug (1909) 0:59:19 - Wedding of the Fairies: Waltz (1909) 1:03:41 - Tobasco: Ragtime Waltz (1909) 1:07:09 - Golden Spider: March Two Step (1910) 1:10:27 - Lady Slippers: Two Step (1910) 1:13:25 - Cum-Bac Rag (1911) 1:16:23 - Tar Babies Rag (1911) 1:20:33 - The Barber Pole Rag (1911) 1:24:36 - Cloud Kisser: Rag - Two Step (1911) 1:28:11 - Melody Rag (1911) 1:30:50 - Hen Cackle Rag: A Barnyard Disturbance (1912) 1:33:49 - Swanee Rag: Two Step (1912) 1:38:44 - Crazy Bone Rag (1913) 1:42:07 - Pink Poodle: One Step (1913) 1:46:45 - Peek-a-Boo Rag (1914) 1:50:32 - Alabama Slide: Fox Trot (1915) 1:54:05 - Blue Goose Rag (1916) 1:57:35 - Teasing the Cat (1916) 2:00:38 - Snookums Rag (1918) 2:04:32 - Starlight: Serenade (1918) 2:10:26 - Monkey Biznez: Novelty for Piano (1928) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music composed by Charles L. Johnson with a variety of performances by Leslie Bridges, Dave Tucker, Sue Keller, Waldham Ragtime Pianos, Vincent Johnson, Cory Hall, Richard Egan, Don Beavers & Yowlz (pianist.) ℗ 2005 David W Tucker & Assoc. LLC ℗ 2005 Sue Keller ℗ 2008 Richard Egan ℗ 2013 Leslie Bridges ℗ 2017 Donald Beavers ℗ Waldham Grove Music This video is solely for the purposes of compiling and sharing the music of Charles L. Johnson and in no way or means is being used for monetary purposes.
