Composer, born in Montclair, New Jersey, USA. As a young white man, he studied the published scores of the African-American ragtime composers such as Scott Joplin and James Scott. He then published his own rag, Sensation (1908) and by 1919 had composed 12 more that ensured his later reputation. He remained unknown for years while working in the New York textile trade. He resumed composing in 1949, occasionally performing his works, and made his first recording in 1959.
For Sir Joseph Lamb, 1930s Staffordshire politician, see Joseph Lamb (politician)Joseph F. In 1908 Lamb was purchasing the latest Joplin and James Scott sheet music in the New York City offices when he met his idol Joplin. Lamb, of Irish descent, was the only non-African American of the "Big Three" composers of classical ragtime, the other two being Scott Joplin and James Scott.
Some of Lamb's best-regarded rags include:
"Sensation" (1908) "American Beauty Rag" (1913) "Ragtime Nightingale" (1914) "Cleopatra Rag" (1915) "The Top Liner Rag" (1916) "Bohemia Rag" (1919)"Bohemia Rag" was the last of Lamb's rags published before his death in 1960.
When popular music interest shifted from ragtime to jazz at the end of the 1910s, Lamb went to work for an accounting firm, only occasionally playing music as a hobby. With the revival of interest in ragtime in the 1950s, Lamb shared his memories of Joplin and other early ragtime figures with music historians.
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