What was Rags Ragland's longtime performing partner known as?
Phil Silvers Phil Silvers (May 11, 1911 – November 1, 1985) was an American entertainer and comedic actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah". He is best known for starring in "The Phil Silvers Show", a 1950s sitcom set on a U.S. Army post in which he played Master Sergeant Ernest (Ernie) Bilko.
William Krell William Henry Krell (1868–1933) composed what is regarded as the first rag or ragtime composition in 1897 called Mississippi Rag, published in New York by S. Brainard's Sons and copyrighted on January 27, 1897. The sheet music stated that it was the first rag-time two step ever written and was first played by Krell's Orchestra in Chicago although the structure is in the form of a patrol march. The cover shows a group of all ages dancing to a banjo player before onlookers sitting on a pile of stacked cotton bales on a dock on the Mississippi River. Krell also composed the rag Shake Yo' Dusters! or Piccaninny Rag in 1898. The popularity of "Mississippi Rag" resulted in the emergence of the genre known as ragtime.