Scott Joplin, the King of Ragtime
Upon opening Edward A. Berlin’s book The King of Ragtime: Scott Joplin and His Era, I was expecting a straightforward biography of the famed ragtime composer. Instead, I was greeted by something that was more of a mystery novel than a biography. The book provided insight not only into Joplin’s life, but also into ragtime itself, its origins, and other musicians who had grown to fame through this form of music. Rather than accept the firsthand reports of many individuals as facts, Berlin went out of his way to prove and disprove them. From this book, I learned a lot about ragtime and it’s “king.”
I was surprised at how little is known about Scott Joplin. From the very beginning, the facts are muddled. In 1942, Lottie Joplin, Scott’s widow, set Scott’s date of birth at November 24, 1868, in Texarkana, Texas. This is almost certainly incorrect. It is possible that Scott himself did not know that there was no such place as Texarkana until five years after he was born. However, the date is up for questioning as well, due to inconsistent reporting of his age at various times following this. This ambiguity followed Joplin throughout his life. Many of the reports of Scott’s childhood disagree with each other as well, and many dates and stories seem to have been confused over time. However, there are certain aspects that seem to be confirmed at every turn.
One of these aspects is Joplin’s personality. Every person who knew him seemed to agree on one thing – Joplin was a quiet, withdrawn man, who spoke little, and had a reputation of never smiling. Sam Patterson commented that “Joplin never smiled in his life. We would have lunch together and I used to tell him jokes, but couldn’t get a smile out of him.” (Pg. 97).
Ragtime itself had its beginnings before Joplin began to write. It started out as music for saloons, brothels, and other disreputable places. There was much criticism surrounding the style of music. Though some were thrilled to have a truly all-American style of music that had not been influenced by European music, others frowned upon ragtime. The fact that the music was first composed by Blacks made it subject to criticism. Others claimed that “Ragtime had dulled their taste for pure music just as intoxicants dull a drunkard’s taste for pure water.” (Pg. 87) Despite words such as these, the music lived on and became a part of America.
Scott Joplin died a terrible death on April 1, 1917, of syphilis. Tremors took him over, and he lost control of his fingers and to speak intelligibly. He was entered into Bellevue Hospital in New York, but on February 3rd was transferred to Manhattan State Hospital, to a mental ward, where he died. Although his death was only mentioned by two newspapers, Scott Joplin left behind him a legacy, and his contributions to ragtime and music in general outlive him. Pieces such as “Maple Leaf Rag,” and “The Entertainer” are still heard and respected today. Joplin’s publisher John Stark put this into one sentence in the musician’s eulogy: “Scott Joplin is Dead – A homeless itinerant, he left his mark on American music.” (Pg. 240)
