[Dixielandjazz] The Entertainer - even more

[Anton Crouch]

Hello all

This is getting more complicated by the day. My earlier "conclusions" (they
should have been called "hypotheses") are now highly suspect.

First, let me say that I agree with everyone that there is no doubt that
Scott Joplin wrote the music (thanks to Dan Hardie for the sheet music
scans). The problem is the matter of copyright.

I went to the ASCAP website and wasn't too surprised to get no hit for
Joplin - he died in 1917 and African-Americans did not (weren't able to?)
join ASCAP at that time. There were 56 hits for "The Entertainer", with no
reference to Joplin. Then I realised that this is hardly surprising - the
piece was published in 1902, Joplin died in 1917; hence public domain.

I then searched for Johnson J R and that's when the real surprises emerged.
Under Johnson's listing, "The Entertainers" (note plural) occurs, with J
Rosamond Johnson and James Weldon Johnson shown as composers. Is this the
same piece? I suspect that it is and that the Johnson brothers claimed the
piece on the basis of the words, which Steve Heist drew attention to. It
also means that the various Columbia sleeve notes and labels were based on
hard evidence, which was misinterpreted.

If this is not strange enough, I ranged down J R Johnson's listing and
found; wait for it; Saint Louis Blues! Yes, THAT Saint Louis Blues. The
composers are given as William C Handy and J Rosamond Johnson. Johnson's
claim may be based on the arrangement which he did for the Bessie Smith
movie of June 1929.

Ain't copyright wonderful? 

All the best
Anton