Charles Theodore Straight (January 16, 1891 – September 22, 1940), better known as Charley Straight, was an American pianist, bandleader and composer. Events 27 BC - The title Augustus is bestowed upon Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian by the Roman Senate. Year 1891 ( MDCCCXCI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 66 - Emperor Nero creates the Legion I Italica. 1236 - The Lithuanians Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A pianist (/'piənɪst/ is a Musician who plays the Piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces play with an ensemble or Orchestra A bandleader is the leader of a band of Musicians The term is most commonly though not exclusively used with a group that plays Popular music as A composer (literally meaning 'one who puts together' is a person who creates Music, usually in the medium of notation, for Interpretation and Performance He started his career in 1909 accompanying singer Gene Greene in Vaudeville. Eugene Delbert Greene ( June 9 1881 &ndash April 5 1930) better known as Gene Greene was an American Entertainer Vaudeville was a Genre of variety entertainment prevalent on the stage in the United States and Canada, from the early 1880s In 1916 he began working at the Imperial Piano Roll Company in Chicago were he recorded dozens of piano rolls. Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. A piano roll is the music Storage medium used to operate the Player piano, pianola or a Reproducing piano. He became a popular bandleader in Chicago during the 1920s. A bandleader is the leader of a band of Musicians The term is most commonly though not exclusively used with a group that plays Popular music as Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. His band the Charley Straight Orchestra had a long term engagement at the Rendezvous Café from 1922 to 1925 and recorded for Paramount Records and Brunswick Records in the 1920s. Paramount Records was an American Record label, best known for its recordings of African-American Jazz and Blues in the 1920s and Brunswick Records is a United States based Record label. The label is currently distributed by Koch Entertainment.
It was during the 1920's that Straight worked with Roy Bargy on the latter's eight Piano Syncopations. Roy Fredrick Bargy ( July 31 1894 &ndash January 16 1974) was an American Composer and Pianist. In describing "Rufenreddy", the fifth in the series, ragtime historian "Perfessor" Bill Edwards has stated:
- The actual parentage of this piece will likely remain obscured to some degree, since Bargy's collaborator, Charley Straight, more or less may have let Bargy take credit when the piano rolls of the Eight Piano Syncopations were transcribed into sheet music form. It is likely that Straight wrote the bulk of the composition in 1918, and Bargy added many of his individual touches to it in the performance, the end result being that there is some of each of them within.
Straight died in Chicago on the evening of September 22, 1940 after being struck by a car. Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. Events 66 - Emperor Nero creates the Legion I Italica. 1236 - The Lithuanians Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. At the time, Straight was working as a sanitary inspector for the city of Chicago, and was emerging from a manhole in the street.
Selected Compositions
- Rufenreddy
- Knice and Knifty
- Playmor
- Itsit
- Blue Grass Rag
- Let's Go
- Humpty Dumpty
- Hot Hands
- Sweet Pickin's
- Wild And Wooly
- S'more
- Nifty Nonsense
- Black Jack Rag
- Rag-A-Bit
- Fastep
- Dippy Ditty
- Lazy Bones
- Out Steppin'
- My Baby's Rag
- Universal Rag
- Mow 'Em Down
- Try Me
- Red Raven Rag
- Mocking Bird Rag
References
- Rags and Ragtime by Jasen and Tichenor, Dover, 1978.
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