Vess Ossman
Vess Ossman | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Sylvester Louis Ossman |
Born | Hudson, New York, U.S. | August 21, 1868
Died | December 7, 1923 Fairmont, Minnesota | (aged 55)
Genres | |
Occupation(s) | Musician |
Instrument(s) | Banjo |
Years active | 1893–1923 |
Labels | Columbia, Vim |
Sylvester Louis "Vess" Ossman (August 21, 1868 – December 7, 1923) was a leading five-string banjoist and popular recording artist of the early 20th century.
Biography
Sylvester Louis Ossman was born in
Ossman married Eunice Smith and they had three children, Vess Jr., Raymond, and Annadele.[2]
In 1900 and 1903, when Ossman's reputation and fame had spread internationally, he toured England and recorded. With the brothers Audley and George Dudley he performed in the Ossman-Dudley Trio.[3] He led his own dance band, the Ossman's Singing and Playing Orchestra, in Dayton, Ohio, and Indianapolis, Indiana. The increasing popularity of his rival Fred Van Eps, after 1910, made Ossman's name appear less frequently in record company supplements. He temporarily ceased recording in 1913 but resumed in late 1915. In April 1917, he became a member of the Popular Talking Machine Artists, a group of unrelated musicians who toured as an act. By the early 1920s, he had left the touring act.[4]
On December 14, 1917 he made his final recordings for Columbia Records. He continued to travel with his dance orchestra, working in hotels throughout Midwest while living in Dayton with his family. In 1923, he joined B. F. Keith's Vaudeville houses on tour with his son, Vess Jr. At a theater show in Minneapolis, Ossman suffered a heart attack. He was brought to the hospital but soon returned to the show. Later, in Fairmont, Minnesota, he suffered another heart attack, this time fatal, after his last performance on stage. He was buried in Valhalla Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri.[2]
Ossman played in what is now known as the classic banjo style. He
His recordings include "St. Louis Tickle", "Yankee Doodle", "Rusty Rags", "Maple Leaf Rag", "Spaghetti Rag", "The Stars and Stripes Forever", "A Bit of Blarney", "My Irish Molly O", "A Gay Gosson", "Yankee Girl", "Bill Simmons", "Karama" and "Tell Me Pretty Maiden". His recordings also include ragtime-era
See also
Notes
- ISBN 978-1-61713-023-6.
- ^ a b Gracyk, Hoffmann 2000, p. 266.
- ^ "George N. Dudley, Harp Guitarist of the Ossman-Dudley Trio".
- ^ Gracyk, Hoffmann 2000, p. 265.
References
- Gracyk, Tim - Hoffmann, Frank W. (2000), Popular American Recording Pioneers, 1895-1925, Routledge
- Heier, Uli; Lotz, Rainer E. (Eds.) (1993) The Banjo on Record - A Bio-Discography, Greenwood Press, ISBN 0-313-28492-X
External links
- Collected Works of Vess L. Ossman Downloadable recordings from archive.org
- Vess Ossman cylinder recordings, from the UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive at the University of California, Santa BarbaraLibrary.
- Vess Ossman recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.
- Audio recording of "Rusty Rags" at the Library of Congress jukebox