Clarence Woods
Encyclopedia
Ragtime
Ragtime is an original musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918. Its main characteristic trait is its syncopated, or "ragged," rhythm. It began as dance music in the red-light districts of American cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans years before being published...
composer.
Formative years
Born in Adams CountyAdams County, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 27,330 people, 10,501 households, and 7,613 families residing in the county. The population density was 47 people per square mile . There were 11,822 housing units at an average density of 20 per square mile...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
to Samuel C. and Margeret (Maggie) Woods, Clarence was raised in both eastern Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
and Carthage
Carthage, Missouri
Carthage is a city in Jasper County, Missouri, United States. The population was 14,378 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Jasper County and is nicknamed "America's Maple Leaf City."...
in southwest Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
. Note that some sources list him as H. Clarence Woods, but multiple US Census and local Census records clearly list him as Clarence H. Woods, and his WWI Draft card shows him simply as Clarence Woods. The 1895 Kansas Census shows the family in Girard, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
. His father was a blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
, and he had two younger brothers and two younger sisters. Clarence was in the midst of a hotbed of ragtime
Ragtime
Ragtime is an original musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918. Its main characteristic trait is its syncopated, or "ragged," rhythm. It began as dance music in the red-light districts of American cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans years before being published...
as he grew up. He took piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
lessons from the same teacher as James Scott
James Scott (musician)
James Sylvester Scott was an African-American ragtime composer, regarded as one of the three most important composers of classic ragtime, along with Scott Joplin and Joseph Lamb....
, but whether they knew each other well is not known for certain. Both had their first compositions published by Dumars Music in Carthage as well, with Woods contributing Meteor March slightly in advance of Scott's On the Pike.
Early career
In his late teens, Woods started traveling outside of MissouriMissouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
into Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
and Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, playing for stage plays, Vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
olios, silent films, and other accompanist positions. His performance skills eventually saw him lauded in print as the "Ragtime Wonder of the South." He was married by 1913 or so to Marie E. Woods, and Clarence Jr. was born around 1914. In early 1917 he was listed at a Carthage residence of 301 N. Main, and playing for movies at the Sho-To-Al Theater. By 1920 Woods and the family had moved north to Nevada, Missouri
Nevada, Missouri
Nevada is a city in Vernon County, Missouri, United States. The population was 8,327 at the 2011 census. It is the county seat of Vernon County. Nevada is the home of Cottey College, a junior college for women operated by the P.E.O. Sisterhood....
, now playing for movies at the Star Theater plus other area engagements.
Wood's ragtime
Ragtime
Ragtime is an original musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918. Its main characteristic trait is its syncopated, or "ragged," rhythm. It began as dance music in the red-light districts of American cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans years before being published...
output was small, but significant. Even though he had been on the road for some time he was still based in Carthage, his rags and blues heavily reflected the influence of the Jasper County area, with his Sleepy Hollow Rag named for a community on the Spring River near Carthage. Woods was more known as a performer than composer, although he co-wrote a few lesser songs and some early blues. Two of his novelty pieces appeared only on piano rolls, but both Black Satin and the recently discovered Fever Heat show signs of a clear understanding of that genre, in which he did not follow up. The 1930 Census shows Marie and Clarence Jr. back in Carthage, but she is now divorced from the traveling pianist. He was remarried now to Gladys Woods, based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, still listed as a theater pianist.
Later career
In Clarence's later years, he led an orchestraOrchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
, became a radio entertainer, and started composing more. His last pieces, largely unknown and unpublished, were written in his capacity of composer/arranger, mostly for the presentational needs of Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus from the early 1940s to the 1950s, where he also performed on the organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
and calliope
Calliope
In Greek mythology, Calliope was the muse of epic poetry, daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne, and is now best known as Homer's muse, the inspiration for the Odyssey and the Iliad....
.
Known Compositions:
- Meteor March (1903)
- Slippery Elm Rag (1912)
- The Graveyard Blues [w/John S. Caldwell] (1916)
- The Worried Blues [w/Le Roy Williams] (1916)
- Sleepy Hollow Rag (1918)
- Who's Been Playin' Papa 'Round Here While I've Been Gone? (1919)
- Fever Heat [Rag Novelty - Piano Roll] (1919?)
- Black Satin [Fox Trot - Piano Roll] (1920)
- Oklahoma, I Love You [w/Opal Harrison Williford] (1938)
References
- Independent research by the article's author, Bill Edwards, in archives of Carthage, MO, Fort Worth, TX, and Census/Draft records, completed 2007.
- Rudi BleshRudi BleshRudi Blesh was an American jazz critic and enthusiast....
and Harriet Janis, They All Played Ragtime, Oak Press, 1971. LCCC # 59-13575
- Marvin L. VanGilder, "James Scott." in Ragtime, Its History, Composers, and Music, ed. by John Edward Hasse, Shirmer Books, 1985, LCCC #84-13952
- Classic Piano Rags: Complete Original Music for 81 Rags, selected and with an introduction by Rudi Blesh, Dover Publications, 1973.