I cannot help but notice how much, stylistically, Mr. Confrey was influenced by his peers at QRS. The verse and first chorus seem to state the tune in the manner of Arden and Kortlander, with some of Mr. Confrey's characteristic devices and harmonies cleverly woven in. I hear echoes of other QRS artists as well in the second chorus, such as measures 101-102 which are characteristic of Mr. Pete Wendling. According to Todd Robbins, the main prolific QRS artists all knew each other and hung out from time to time, sometimes playing cards together, so the cross-pollination of influences makes perfect sense.

this reminds me of Albert Von Tilzer : It's All Over Now (1920)

Very Very nice !!! Thank you !!!!

Shane Fenton also recorded this in 1960

Fantastic arrangement and transcription, thanks! I have one thing to correct so far: At measure 42, the lowest notes (in the 3/8 hemiola pattern with the crush chord on the major 7th) should be played by the left hand, not the right. This is this one of those two-handed close harmony breaks for which Mr. Confrey was famous, and later, would become more closely identified with Mr. Rube Bloom. Thanks for posting!

Measures 101 and 102 are completely characteristic Pete Wendling; so are the triplet arpeggios at 93, 109, and 125; so is the walkdown at 106; so is the 3/8 over 8/8 ragtime figure at 113; and so is circle-of-fifths reharmonization at 114. But- enough of it is Confrey that I think it is really his work rather than QRS getting Wendling to tack on the last chorus, which had been my first thought.

The tenor countermelody line heard from measures 40 to 42 at 0:48, is actually part of the melody to a fox-trot rag called "Pretty Polly" composed by Dan Caslar and published by Remick in 1918. That is quite an obscure piece today but I wonder whether Confrey knew it, or if this same 2-bar phrase also appeared in another piece somewhere else. You can compare here at 0:48 for the sheet music of "Pretty Polly": kzread.info/dash/bejne/d4mM0ZWahsiTpJM.html

@garklein8089

3 жыл бұрын

The little melody isn't extremely unique, it could also just be a coincidence. A piece another part close by reminds me of is in the right hand in measure 42 and a bit of 43. It sounds like the theme ending of Confrey's "Sport Model Encore". That piece was written sometime in the 1930s, a lot later than this one, so that probably means that the little flourish had been lying around in his brain for a while.

I believe the section picking up to measure 76 and finishing at measure 92 is an original piano solo theme of Mr. Confrey's invention... a sort of thematic "easter egg" that other QRS artists would also employ (like Pete Wendling) to liven up an arrangement/performance and give it contrast. In Mr. Wendling's case it's known that many of his interludes on blues rolls were actually composed by Mr. Perry Bradford and sent in manuscript form to QRS to be put on the rolls... but here I think this theme is probably Mr. Confrey's own, although I _do_ hear bits of Roy Bargy in there(!)

Excuse my ignorance but could this be called a “ragtime” version? Very “bouncy” nonetheless, and an excellent recording.👍🏼

@gwiyomikim5988

Жыл бұрын

My favorite vocal recoding (~1920) of this song is by Frank Crumit : kzread.info/dash/bejne/aJ6nrauNltvPg8o.html 🤗

@MatthewDLDavidson

4 ай бұрын

There is nothing “ignorant” about your question, it is highly observant. “Zez” Confrey was the “father” of Novelty Piano Ragtime, a 1920s virtuosic style of Ragtime which took elements from Popular and Advanced Ragtime of the 1910s and mixed them with techniques used by early 20th Century composers like Claude Debussy. He was also a highly trained classical pianist who did not have the money to study in Europe, and could not get work as such in the US so he turned to popular music of the time, and one of his jobs was arranging piano rolls. While this piece is technically a popular song, his arrangement reflects the instrumental ragtime compositions of the 1920s. I hope that answers your question. 😊