[Dixielandjazz] Public Domain Tunes

[Bill Haesler]

Kevin Yeates wrote:
> I am trying to identify as many OKOM tunes (especially
> New Orleans stuff) that are in the public domain.  I
> have been using the pre-1923 rule but can't always
> identify for sure when a piece was written.
> Does anyone know of a list somewhere or has anybody
> already started to put together a list of PD tunes?  I
> am quite willing to compile it if people want to send
> me what they know to be PD.

Dear Kevin,
A good start would be to consult Volume 1 'Music Year By Year 
1900-1950' of Roger D Kinkle's 'The Complete Encyclopedia of Popular 
Music and Jazz 1900-1950' (1974. Arlington House).
The 'popular songs' listing for each year is very comprehensive and 
includes full composer credit for each tune.
A more time-consuming exercise would be to obtain a copy of 'Who Wrote 
That Song" by Dick Jacobs (1988. Betterway Publications) then go 
through the 268-page alphabetical song listing (which provides the 
copyright year for each) and extract all those prior to 1923.
As nearly all Ragtime compositions were pre-1923 you could consult the 
appendices of books on this subject starting with 'They All Played 
Ragtime' by Rudi Blesh R Harriet Janis (1950. Alfred E Knopf: New 
York). Then try 'Kings of Ragtime by Edward A Berlin (1994. Oxford 
University Press).
Kind regards,
Bill.
PS: I'm not quite sure what you mean by "OKOM tunes (especially New 
Orleans stuff)."
I would assume that all pre-1923 'popular songs' and 'ragtime' would 
automatically fit this definition.