|
Maple Leaf Rag
Old-Time, Country Rag. Lyrics by Sydney Brown – Music by Scott Joplin; learn to play video:
Richard Matteson plays Maple Leaf Rag live in Eden NC 2003: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7tKr-4nhf0&NR=1
Learn to play Maple Leaf Rag on guitar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdV2E404XUg For a TAB of all four strains or a recording: richiematt@aol.com
TAB for A & B Strains (Note: Measure 20 is repeated after meas 27- it's missing in the tab- there's an arrrow that says 20):
Arranged by Richard L. Matteson Jr. (Copyright)
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes. DATE: 1899.
OTHER NAMES: Maple Leaf
SOURCES: USA, Oklahoma (Econtuska County). D Major. Standard. AABCC. Thede (The Fiddle Book), 1967; pg. 147. Also in Mel Bay Fiddle Tunes book;
NOTES: The song is in Eb, not Ab like the rag, and the C section is omitted. Although not the first rag written or published, Maple Leaf Rag did become the first instrumental piece to sell over one million copies. The rag was named by Joplin in honor of the venue in which it was allegedly first heard by publisher John Stark, the Maple Leaf Club in Sedalia, Missouri. The original Maple Leaf Club was actually a social club that met in a saloon run by the Williams brothers, who by some reports may have come from Canada, thus the name. It's run was essentially from December of 1898 to January of 1900. The building no longer stands.
Here are the lyrics to Maple Leaf Rag:
Verse 1: I came from ole Virginy From de county Acomac
I have no wealth to speak of 'cept de clothes upon my back.
I can do de country hoe down I can buck and wing to show down,
And while I'm in the notion just step back and watch my motion.
Chorus: Oh go 'way man I can hypnotize dis nation,
I can shake de earth's foundation wid de Maple Leaf Rag
Oh go 'way man just hold you breath a minit,
For there's not a stunt thats in it with the Maple Leaf Rag.
Verse 2: I dropp'd into de swellest ball, The great exclusive it,
But my face was dead agin me and my trousers didn't fit.
But when Maple Leaf was started my timidity departed.
I lost my trepidation you could taste de admiration.
Chorus: Oh go 'way man I can hypnotize dis nation,
I can shake de earth's foundation wid de Maple Leaf Rag
Oh go 'way man just hold you breath a minit,
For there's not a stunt thats in it with the Maple Leaf Rag.
INTERLUDE WITH DANCE
Verse 3: De men were struck wid jealousy, De razors 'gan to flash.
But de ladies gathered 'round me for I'd sholy made a mash.
De finest belle she sent a boy to call a coach and four.
We rode around a season till we both were lost to reason
Chorus: Oh go 'way man I can hypnotize dis nation,
I can shake de earth's foundation wid de Maple Leaf Rag
Oh go 'way man just hold you breath a minit,
For there's not a stunt thats in it with the Maple Leaf Rag.
|