K-Tel Records released the compilation 26 Non Stop Sing Along Honky Tonk (Vol. 1) in 1971. It’s weird to me to 1.) sell a compilation of ragtime music in 1971, and 2.) refer to it as “Honky Tonk”. Yes, the origins of the term begin with ragtime, but even just before World War II the term was more closely associated with “Hillbilly Music”, which we know as Country.
So, enjoy “Maple Leaf Rag” written in 1899, published as sheet music in 1900, and released for home listening on everyone’s favorite media format, player piano roll in 1916. This version was recorded and released by Jo Ann Castle in 1960, and again, released on this comp in the Year of our Lard 1971.
(It seems weird, but Ragtime did have revivals in the 1920s, the early 1940s, and again in the 1950s [40s and 50s because of the popularity of home listening on shellac and vinyl]. Revivals happened yet again in 1960 with the release of the book They All Played Ragtime, and then again in 1971 when a compilation of Scott Joplin songs was nominated for a Grammy.)
