Why Scott Joplin Was America's First Pop Star

00:00 Intro
01:15 Title Card
01:23 King of Ragtime
01:57 Precursors to Ragtime
03:27 Minstrel Music
04:45 Ragtime Explosion
05:24 Music Theory
06:09 Tempo
06:45 Treemonisha
08:14 Death and Legacy
09:25 Revival and Conclusion

[beware_the_moose]

"NOT FAST"

Everyone: 300bpm...

[jackorion]

"When I'm dead twenty-five years, people are going to begin to recognize me."

Scott Joplin is truly one the greatest American composers and the king of Ragtime.

[tss]

Scott Joplin, like Beethoven, Mozart, and Chopin, never died. He simply became music.

[RaverHates]

The more I learn about African American musicians and composers, the more I realise that ALL my fave music started with them

[autonomouscollective]

I once started playing “The Entertainer” on the piano. My little daughter came out of her room, all excited. “It’s the ice cream truck song!”

[shanewright]

Before his death, Joplin told Wilbur Sweatman, one of the early superstars of Jazz (still then called Jas) and a devoted fan that he could have have all of Joplin's notes and manuscripts to do with them what he would. It's due to the dedication Sweatman, who died in 1961, and his daughter, that the bulk of the information we have on Joplin including, I believe, the complete score for Treemonisha.

Aside from his devoted curatorship of Joplin's music, Sweatman had an incredible and fascinating career that saw him become, arguably, the first African American artist with a nationwide fan base based almost entirely on record sales. He was also a fantastic clarinet player, suffice to say.

[cjjones]

Good to see that he's getting the recognition he deserves. Well done.

[TrashTheory]

It sucks man. You try to make a video where all the music is in the public domain, being that all the composers mentioned are more than 75 years dead, and UMG still claim it as theirs. Awesome video as always.

[arikgr]

The first composer who sold a million records deserved a Polyphonic video. One of the best to date. Thank you.

[AdamSalaah]

Moral of the story:
This world is crazy and doesn't know what it wants.
BUT if this world calls you Crazy, for knowing what you want and pursuing those ideas...
Then you're probably on the right track.. and you're in good company

[stischer]

When I was a child in the early 50s, my grandmother would play "Maple Leaf Rag" on our upright. It wasn't until later that I realized that it was the "pop music" of her youth.

[sebastianelytron]

I'm just gonna say it straight-up, this is the best Polyphonic video yet.

[robbiebalboa]

2019: you kids and your dem mumble rap.

1899: You kids and your Ragtime music.

[Doug]

according to Lottie Joplin (Scott's widow), when Alexander's Ragtime Band came out in 1911, Joplin had been trying to publish Treemonisha around Tin Pan Alley, and said of Berlin's song "Thats my tune!" (referring to the stunning similarity to 'A Real Slow Drag', the finale of Treemonisha). She said that he knew he could never prove plagiarism, and had to re-write "A Real Slow Drag" altering it slightly from its original form.

[ProjectMATHEW]

That end really got me emotional. That's such a beautifully sad and uplifting story.

Once again polyphonic your a damn hem keeping these stories of these people alive

[dadatronaut]

god the end of this video made me so happy. He may have had a tragic life but knowing got justice, even so late, still warms my heart

[peelslowly]

"After laying unmarked for half a century, Scott Joplin's grave finally received a marker in 1974."
I don't know why but when he said that I just got the biggest smile on my face. RIP Scott

[shawndavidclare]

I studied ragtime for years in my teens and early twenties...the beauty and depth of his melodies and harmonic style moved and excited me to no end...heart breaking that his life was so hard
An American great..unparalleled!
Long live the king!!

[michaelhedworth]

dementia before 48? christ that's unlucky

[gordondell]

I've been saying for a very long time now that if I ever wrote a doctoral thesis, it would be on how Joplin was arguably the single most influential composer on popular music of the twentieth century. His influence can be felt in every modern genre. Excellent video and many thanks for making it.