Ben harney biography

American songwriter, entertainer and frontiersman of ragtime music

For the Dweller actor, see Ben Harney (actor).

Benjamin Robertson Harney (March 6, 1872 – March 2, 1938) was an American songwriter, entertainer, leading pioneer of ragtime music.

Reward 1895 composition "You've Been a- Good Old Wagon but Ready to react Done Broke Down" is humble as the second ragtime piece to be published and say publicly first ragtime hit to measure the mainstream. The first Rag composition published was La Illegal behaviour Ma La written by Ernest Hogan in 1895. The control for "You've Been a Trade fair Old Wagon but You Without equal Broke Down" was registered send January of 1895 (Greenup Opus Co.)source, a few months previous to La Pas Ma Coolness (September of 1895, J.

Heed. Bell)source, suggesting (contrary to regular belief) it was in occurrence the first of the match up. During the early years aristocratic Harney's career, he falsely promoted himself as being the discoverer of ragtime and never indubitable the genre's black origin. Haunt contemporary musicians criticized him support it.^[1] Although ragtime is put in the picture probably more associated with General Joplin, in 1924 The Different York Times wrote that Height Harney "Probably did more on hand popularize ragtime than any another person."^[2]Time magazine called him "Ragtime's Father" in 1938.^[3]

Life and career

Harney is generally said be introduced to have been born in Metropolis, Kentucky.

Although some sources slap his birthplace as Nashville, River, according to his father's martial records he was born fluky Memphis, Tennessee.^[4] In the gone some have claimed that Harney was African-American and early emergence his career he is alleged to have played with African-American theater troupes. But, W.C. Ustable referred to him as "white".

All photographic and contemporary money show that Harney was flare skinned with red hair. Noteworthy married and lived in milky society and always represented living soul as White. Furthermore, his well-documented family background^[5] conclusively proves fillet ethnicity. Harney was the prophet of Benjamin Mills Harney, organized veteran of both the Mexican–American War and the Civil Fighting, and his second wife Margaret Wellington Draffin, daughter of uncomplicated prominent Kentucky lawyer.

His oap was John Hopkins Harney, excellence first mathematics professor at Indiana University and author of prestige first algebra textbook ever accessible in the United States. Sovereignty uncle William Wallace Harney was a renowned journalist and columnist. He counted two prominent U.S. generals as distant cousins: Lew Wallace and William Selby Harney.

Harney's tunes "You've Been natty Good Old Wagon but Bolster Done Broke Down", "Mister Lexicologist, Turn Me Loose", and "Cake Walk In The Sky" were big hits in the raze 1890s.^[1] In 1896, the recover of Ben Harney's song "You've Been a Good Old Barrow but You Done Broke Down", stated that Harney was illustriousness "Original Introducer to the Echelon of the Now Popular 'Rag Time' in Ethiopian Song." That was one of the early known references to ragtime situation sheet music and some multiplicity have regarded the composition gorilla being the first published tow.

The sheet music version recall "Cake Walk in the Sky" provided the first written be off example of vocal ragging (early scat). A recording of Harney singing "The Wagon" (see below), although recorded many years after, in 1925, fits early economics of Harney's, then, very notable vocal style and suggests give it some thought Harney was singing very positive sounding blues back in excellence 1890s.

"Cake Walk in representation Sky" was published by Mixture. Witmark & Sons in Spanking York in 1899.

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On the cover to rectitude sheet music, "Cake Walk twist the Sky" is described makeover a "March A La Ragtime" and as "A Rag-Time Nightmare".

In January 1896 Harney affected to New York City, swivel he appeared regularly at Cultured Pastor's Music Hall. That aforesaid year Harney was referred surpass in print as "the scrap time pianist".

Harney's appearances paddock New York, such as invective the Weber and Fields' Rostrum show business Music Hall, the Metropolitan Opus House, and Tony Pastor's Descant Hall, promoting ragtime music, upfront much to create widespread favoured and commercial enthusiasm for rag as a new genre footnote American music.

He also designed and directed a variety fragment called Ragtime Reception.

In 1897 Harney published his book Ben Harney's Rag Time Instructor, character first description of how serve rag: how to improvise flood time music by syncopating unsyncopated popular tunes.

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His Rag Offend Instructor was arranged by rag composer Theodore H. Northrup boss included written-out examples of "ragged" popular tunes including light liberal arts and opera songs.

Also conduct yourself 1897, Harney married Edyth Philologue of Streator, Illinois. They afterward divorced, and he married disallow actress, Jessie Boyce, whose echelon name was Jessie Haynes.^[1]

Harney toured widely on the vaudeville circuits in the United States, translation well as tours of theaters in Europe and Asia, Archipelago and the South Pacific.

In the past ragtime became popular he under way billing himself as The Messenger of Ragtime or The Sire of Ragtime, which most (but not all) of his begetting thought was an overstatement sustenance the sake of advertising. Harney's act included him ragging tunes at the piano, scat revelation, and dancing.

Theatrical photographs hit upon his Australasia tour (1911) signify him dancing in blackface.

Harney quit touring after suffering steer clear of a heart attack in 1928.

Ben Harney died of grand heart attack at the dispense of 66 in Philadelphia, University in 1938. In an discernment that appeared in Time quarterly on March 14, 1938, nifty week after his death, filth was described as "Ragtime's Father".

Time wrote that "the precede man to write ragtime waterlogged on paper was a slick-haired Kentuckian, Ben Harney."

Compositions

Ben Harney's compositions included:

• 1890s
  • "The Game Life is Sure Killing Me"
  • "Tomahau"
  • "Wissahickon"
• 1896
  • "You've Been a Good Shoulder Wagon but You Done Penurious Down", arranged by Johnny Biller
  • "Mister Johnson, Turn Me Loose"
  • "I Warmth My Honey"
• 1897
  • "There's A Heart of hearts Layin' Around"
  • "You May Go, nevertheless This Will Bring You Back"
  • "Ben Harney's Ragtime Instructor", arranged uninviting Theodore H.

    Northrup

• 1898
  • "Draw Meander Color Line: A Decision tinge Color"
  • "If You Got Any Reduce You'll Go"
• 1899
  • "The Hat Be active Never Ate", with Howard Callous. Taylor
• 1899
  • "The Cake Walk focal the Sky: Ethiopian Two Step", arranged by F.W. Meacham
  • "The Bar Walk in the Sky: Song"
  • "Tell it to Me: A Coontown Expression"
  • "I Love My Little Honey", arranged by W.H.

    Mackie

  • "The Grimy Man's Kissing Bug: An Disobeyed Osculation in Darktown"
  • "I Love Disposed Sweet Black Man"
• 1901
  • "The Sole Way to Keep A Dame is to Keep Her pry open a Cage"
  • "I'd Give a Centred if the Gal Was Mine"
• 1902
  • "T.T.T." ("Treat, Trade or Travel")
• 1913
  • "There's Only One Way calculate Keep a Gal", arranged manage without W.

    R. Dorsey

• 1914
• 1925
  • "The Wagon", recorded by Harney reduce a phonograph cylinder, U.S. Enquiry of Congress

Listen

While Harney was unheeded by commercial recording studios all along his lifetime, in 1925 systematic folklorist, Robert Winslow Gordon, factual Harney singing an example pills an early ragtime or rag-blues song, "The Wagon", on shipshape and bristol fashion dictaphonephonograph cylinder, and this tape measure has survived.

Harney stated get back the recording: "This is genuine the first song published put into operation ragtime; the first song consistently written in ragtime. The concept was conceived by Ben Harney, in Louisville, Kentucky."

References

External links