Saturday Music Post - The Entertainer

"The Entertainer" was written by Scott Joplin in 1902. The sheet music sold well, and by 1910 it was distributed on piano rolls played by Joplin himself. Some of Joplin's rolls still exist, but none of "The Entertainer." Most surviving Joplin rolls were "edited" by others, and the only pure example of Joplin's playing is a roll of "Maple Leaf Rag" (maybe for another post some day). The first recording of "The Entertainer" was by The Blue Boys in 1928 (see bottom of the post), on guitar and mandolin, which may explain why it has become such a popular guitar piece. Ragtime had a resurgence in the 1970s with Eubie Blake's Broadway revue and the anachronistic score of The Sting, and arrangements of "The Entertainer" remain popular to this day on piano, strings, woodwinds, horns, and vocal arrangements.

The clips are at The Faculty Lounge.