Will Marion Cook (1869-1944)
Last updated: 09.06.18
Will Marion Cook was an American composer and violinist born in Washington, D.C. He studied violin at the Oberlin Conservatory for two years after which, with the assistance the African American community, he studied under Heinrich Jacobson at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik, Germany from 1887 to 1889. Finally, Cook studied with Antonín Dvorák and John White at the National Conservatory of Music between 1894 and 1895. His career as a concert violinist was brief and he became director of a chamber orchestra touring the east coast in 1890. In 1893 he adapted scenes from the Opera of Uncle Tom's Cabin for performance at the Chicago World's Fair which however were cancelled. His next major work was Clorindy; or, The Origin of the Cakewalk (1898), a musical comedy written in collaboration with Paul Laurence Dunbar. Cook was then appointed principal composer and musical director for the George Walker-Bert Williams Company producing many successful musicals.
Today he is best known for his songs which used folk elements in an original and distinct manner. These songs were mostly first performed in his musicals and some were published in A Collection of Negro Songs (1912).Towards the end of his career, Cook was a choir and orchestral conductor giving concerts both in New York and in Washington, D.C. He founded the The New York Syncopated Orchestra which toured the United States in 1918 and then went to England in 1919 for a command performance for King George V. He died in New York
Today he is best known for his songs which used folk elements in an original and distinct manner. These songs were mostly first performed in his musicals and some were published in A Collection of Negro Songs (1912).Towards the end of his career, Cook was a choir and orchestral conductor giving concerts both in New York and in Washington, D.C. He founded the The New York Syncopated Orchestra which toured the United States in 1918 and then went to England in 1919 for a command performance for King George V. He died in New York
| Performer | CD Title | Supplier |
|---|
| Ragtime Music CDs: | |||
 |
Winifred Atwell | on "Dixie Boogie" | CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)       |
|
Winifred Atwell | on "Let's Have a Party" | CD(s) & MP3 Album(s)  |
|
Eubie Blake | on "Golden Reunion in Ragtime" | |
|
Bob Darch | on "Reunion in Ragtime" | |
|
George Lewis | on "George Lewis' Ragtime Band of New Orleans: The Oxford Series Vol. 09" | |
|
Rod Miller | on "Rod Miller Ragtime" | |
|
Various Artists | on "Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry 1891-1922" | |
|
Various Artists | on "That Devilin' Tune" | CD(s) & MP3 Album(s) |
|
Paragon Ragtime Orchestra | on "Black Manhattan" | CD(s) & MP3 Album(s) |
|
Paragon Ragtime Orchestra | on "Black Manhattan Vol. 2" | CD(s) & MP3 Album(s) |
|
⇑Willie 'The Lion' Smith | on "Lion Roars: His Greatest 1934-44" | |
|
Muggsy Spanier | on "The Great 16" | |
|
Butch Thompson | on "Minnesota Wonder 88's" | |
|
Terry Waldo | on "Hot House Rag" | |
|
Fats Waller | on "Classic Jazz from Rare Piano Rolls" | CD(s) & MP3 Album(s) |
|
Fats Waller | on "Complete Associated Transcription Session 1935-1939" | CD(s) & MP3 Album(s) |
|
Fats Waller | on "The Definitive Fats Waller Vol. 1: His Piano, His Rhythm" | |
|
Fats Waller | on "Fats at the Organ" | CD(s) & MP3 Album(s) |
|
Fats Waller | on "Fats Waller: The Cream Series" | |
|
Fats Waller | on "Golden Greats" | |
|
Fats Waller | on "Part 2 I'm Gonna Sit Right Down: The Early Years" | |
|
⇑Fats Waller | on "The Very Best of Fats Waller" | CD(s) & MP3 Album(s) |
| Item | Title | Available | € | £ | $ | Other |
|---|
| DBE414 | Cruel Papa! (1914) - Fox Trot A/T/T/B/GB(B), approx. 3½ mins. |
out-of-print | €12.00 | £10.00 | $15.50 | |
| DBE415 | On Emancipation Day (1902) - Characteristic Negro March & Two-Step T/T/T/B/GB(B), approx. 3½ mins. |
out-of-print | €12.00 | £10.00 | $15.50 |
This list is arranged in chronological order and contains 56 works by Will Marion Cook (1869-1944). It does not claim to be complete and represents only the number of items located. Key: Items on hold
Negro Love Song (1895)  | My Little Irish Canary Mary Ann (1904) |
| Love Is the Tend'rest of Themes (1896) Words & Music: Cook | Mandy Lou (1905) Words by: R.C. McPherson |
| Darktown Is Out Tonight (1897) Words by: Paul Laurence Dunbar | Bon Bon Buddy (1907) Words by: Alex Rogers |
| Who Dat Say Chicken in Dis Crowd? (1898) Words by: Paul Laurence Dunbar | Corn Song (1907) Words by: Alex Rogers |
| Clorindy (1899) | Dinah (1907) Words by: Alex Rogers |
| By-Gone Days Are Best (1900) Words by: L. Lamprey | Fas' Fas' World (1907) Words by: Alex Rogers |
| Down De Lovers Lane (1900) Words by: Paul Lawrence Dunbar | I'm Very Fond of Jokes (1907) Words by: Alex Rogers |
| Romance (1900) Words by: Harry B. Smith | In Bandanna Lan' (1907) Words by: Alex Rogers |
| Whatever the Hue of Your Eyes (1900) | It's Hard to Love Somebody (1907) Words by: Alex Rogers |
| Wid De Moon, Moon, Moon (1901) Words by: William Moore | Just the Same (1907) Words by: Alex Rogers |
| Brown-Skin Baby Mine (1902) Words & Music: Cook Words by: Cecil Mack | Saucy Little Sadie (1907) Words by: Alex Rogers |
| Good Evenin' (1902) Words by: Paul Laurence Dunbar | Until Then (1907) Words by: Alex Rogers |
| Leader of the Colored Aristocracy (1902) Words & Music: Cook | Any Old Place in Yankee Land Is Good Enough For Me (1908) Co-Author: Chris Smith Words by: Alex Rogers |
| The Little Gypsy Maid (1902) Words by: Harry B. Smith, Cecil Mack | Kinky (1908) Words by: Mord Allen, J. Ed. Green |
| Molly Green (1902) Words by: Cecil Mack | Red Red Rose (1908) Words by: Alex. Rogers |
| My Lady Frog (1902) | Will You Come Along With Me (1909) |
| My Little Gypsy Maid (1902) Words by: Paul Laurence Dunbar | My Lady Nicotine (1910) |
| On Emancipation Day (1902) Words by: Paul Laurence Dunbar | Whoop 'er Up! (1910) |
| Overture to "In Dahomey" (1902) | Exhortation (1912) Words by: Alex Rogers |
| Parthenia Johnsing (1902) Words by: Hugh Morton | Rain Song (1912) Words by: Alex Rogers |
| Returned (1902) Words by: Paul Laurence Dunbar | Swing Along! (1912) |
| She's Dancing Sue (1902) Words by: Charles S. Sager | Cruel Papa! (1914) |
| Tis Sweet to Be Remembered (1902) Words & Music: Cook | An Explanation (1914) Words by: James Weldon Johnson |
| Daisy Deane (1904) Words by: Richard Wilkens | If the Sands of the Seas Were Pearls (1914) |
| Darktown Barbacue [Sic] (1904) | My Lady (1914) Words by: Paul Laurence Dunbar |
| Hurrah for Captain Kidd (1904) Words & Music: Cook | My Lady's Lips Am Like De Honey (1915) |
| It's Allas De Same in Dixie (1904) Words by: Richard Grant, H.B. Smith | I'm Coming Virginia (1927) Words by: Donald Heywood |
| Julep Song (1904) | Hottest Coon in Dixie (n.d.) Words by: Paul Laurence Dunbar |
