Tom Turpin
Thomas Million John Turpin (November 18, 1871 – August 13, 1922) was an African American composer of ragtime music. Tom Turpin was born in Savannah, Georgia, a son of John L. Turpin and Lulu Waters Turpin. In his early twenties he opened a saloon in St. Louis, Missouri which became a meeting-place for local pianists and an incubation point for early folk ragtime, such as musician Joe Jordan. Turpin himself is credited with the first published rag by an African-American, his "Harlem Rag" of 1897 (it was composed by 1892, a year before ragtime's introduction to the world at the 1893 Worlds Fair). His other published rags include "Bowery Buck," "Ragtime Nightmare," "St. Louis Rag," and "The Buffalo Rag". Turpin was a large man, six feet (1.83 m) tall and 300 pounds (136 kg); his piano had to be raised on blocks so that he could play it standing up, otherwise his stomach would get in the way. In addition to his saloon-keeping duties and his ragtime composition, he controlled (with his brother Charles) a theater, gambling houses, dance halls, and sporting houses. He served as a deputy constable and was one of the first politically powerful African-Americans in St. Louis. His influence on local music earned him the title "Father of St. Louis Ragtime." |
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Victor | A-1154 | 7-in. | 3/23/1904 | St. Louis rag | Arthur Pryor's Orchestra | Orchestra | composer | |
Victor | E-1154 | 8-in. | 4/20/1906 | St. Louis rag | Pryor's Orchestra [i.e., Victor Orchestra] | Orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-1154 | 10-in. | 3/23/1904 | St. Louis rag | Arthur Pryor's Orchestra | Orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-3006 | 10-in. | 1/16/1906 | St. Louis rag | Chris Chapman | Bells solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-3049 | 10-in. | 1/26/1906 | The Buffalo rag | Vess L. Ossman | Banjo solo, with piano | composer | |
Victor | E-3853 | 8-in. | 10/5/1906 | St. Louis rag | Chris Chapman | Xylophone solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-3853 | 10-in. | 10/5/1906 | St. Louis rag | Chris Chapman | Xylophone solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-3900 | 10-in. | 10/15/1906 | St. Louis rag march | United States Marine Band | Band | composer | |
Victor | B-6848 | 10-in. | 3/2/1909 | The Buffalo rag | Vess L. Ossman | Banjo solo | composer | |
Columbia | 3360 | 10-in. | ca. 1905-Apr. 1906 | The buffalo rag | Vess L. Ossman | Banjo solo, with orchestra | composer |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Turpin, Tom," accessed September 3, 2024, https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/105784.
Turpin, Tom. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved September 3, 2024, from https://adpprod1.library.ucsb.edu/names/105784.
"Turpin, Tom." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 3 September 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Turpin, Tom, 1873-1922 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n88006024
Wikidata: Tom Turpin - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1345690
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/66733732
MusicBrainz: Tom Turpin - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/b35fb3cc-baca-4241-bd05-6b54ac730657
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