Bob Cole  (1868-1911)
Last updated: 29.01.24
According to the Internet source given below, Robert Allen Cole was an African American composer, actor, playwright, and stage producer and director born in Athens, Georgia.
Working with Billy Johnson, he wrote and produced A Trip to Coontown (1898), the first musical entirely created and owned by black showmen. Cole later partnered with brothers J. Rosamond Johnson, pianist and singer, and James Weldon Johnson, pianist, guitarist and lawyer, resulting in over 200 songs.
Of ragtime interest is Dar's Ragtime in De Moon (1900).
Cole committed suicide by drowning himself in the Catskills.
Websites:
url15.gif Bob Cole (composer) Biography by wikipedia.org.  
  Title (Release Year) Co-Author(s) Performers Issue
         
cylinder15.gif The Wedding of the Chinee and the Coon (1899) Silas Leachman Brown wax cylinder.
cylinder15.gif Sambo and Dinah (1908) Grace Nelson
F.C. Stanley
Indestructible Record: 702
cylinder15.gif He Handed Me a Lemon (1907) R.S. Roberts Columbia Phonograph Co.: 33077
  Title Co-Author(s) Sequencer
       
audiomidi15.gif Sounds of the Times, Lindy (1903) Rosamond Johnson James Pitt-Payne
     Title Attribution Remarks
       
url15.gif Father's Got a Job Bob Cole (music)
James Weldon Johnson (words)
Madie Scott (perf.)
Frank Seeley (perf.)
 
url15.gif Under the Bamboo Tree Bob Cole (music)
J. Rosamund Johnson (words)
Marie Cahill (perf.)
Julie Mackey (perf.)
 
     Title Attribution Instruments Source Remarks
           
pdf15.gif Gimmie De Leavins (1904) B. Cole (music)
James Weldon Johnson (words)
Piano, Voice Indiana wvicon.gif
pdf15.gif If Adam Hadn't Seen the Apple Tree (1906) B. Cole (w&m) Piano, Voice IMSLP Pub.
pdf15.gif Katy-Did, the Cricket and the Frog (1903), The B. Cole (music)
James Weldon Johnson (words)
M. Cahill (perf.)
Piano, Voice Indiana wvicon.gif
pdf15.gif Ma Mississippi Belle (1903) B. Cole (w&m)
J. Rosamond Johnson (coauth.)
M. Irwin (perf.)
Piano, Voice Indiana Pub.
pdf15.gif Magdaline, My Southern Queen! (1903) B. Cole (w&m)
J. Rosamond Johnson (coauth.)
M. Irwin (perf.)
Piano, Voice Indiana Pub.
pdf15.gif Oh! You Georgia Rose (1912) B. Cole (music)
Johnnie Waters (coauth.)
S. Brooks (words)
W. Rossiter (words)
Grace Wilson (perf.)
Piano, Voice Indiana wvicon.gif


pdf15.gif
pdf15.gif
Under the Bamboo Tree (1902) B. Cole (music)
J. Rosamund Johnson (words)
M. Cahill (perf.)
M. Cahill (perf.)
Piano, Voice

Greer
Greer
Pub.
This list is arranged in chronological order and contains 53 works by Bob Cole (1868-1911). It does not claim to be complete and represents only the number of items located. Keys: pdf15.gif (w&m)
Title Year Attribution Remarks
       
Parthenia Took a Fancy to a Coon 1893 Verona Jarbeau (perf.)
Black Four Hundred's Ball, The 1896 Billy Johnson (words)  wvicon.gif
Christening of a Little Black Coon 1897
Hot Coon From Memphis 1897 George W. Walker (co-author)  wvicon.gif
I Hope These Few Lines Will Find You Well (w&m) 1897 Billy Johnson (co-author)  Pub.
I Knowed You Afore Your Hair Got Straight 1897
No Coons Allowed 1897 Billy Johnson (co-author)
Wedding of the Chinee and the Coon, The 1897 Billy Johnson (words)
Silas Leachman (perf.)
 Pub.  cylinder15.gif
I Wonder What Is That Coon's Game (w&m) 1898 J.W. Johnson (co-author)  Pub.
Queen of Shinbone Alley 1898 Gertie Carlisle (perf.)
There's Warm Spot in My Heart For You Baby 1898
Trip to Coontown, A (w&m) 1898 as Cole & Johnson  Pub.
When the War Is O'er 1898 Billy Johnson (co-author)
Louisiana Lize 1899 J.W. Johnson (co-author)
Rosamond Johnson (co-author)
May Irwin (perf.)
Luckiest Coon in Town, The 1899 as Cole & Johnson
Mr. Coon You're All Right in Your Place 1899 Minnie J. Rinehart (perf.)
Title Year Attribution Remarks
       
Dar's Ragtime in De Moon 1900 J.W. Johnson (co-author)
Rosamond Johnson (co-author)
I Must Have Been a Dreamin' 1900  wvicon.gif
I've Got a White Man Working For Me 1900 J.W. Johnson (co-author)
Rosamond Johnson (co-author)
Pickin' on a Chicken Bone 1900 George B. Alexander (perf.)
Come Out Dinah on the Green 1901 James Weldon Johnson (co-author)
Rosamund Johnson (co-author)
Lucy Green 1901
Maid From Tokio, The 1901
Maiden With the Dreamy Eyes, The 1901 J.W. Johnson (words)
Anna Held (perf.)
Thomas Q. Seabrooke (perf.)
 wvicon.gif youtube15.jpg
Old Flag Never Touched the Ground, The 1901 James Weldon Johnson (co-author)
Rosamund Johnson (co-author)
My Angemima Green 1902 Louis Harrison (perf.)
Dan McAvoy (perf.)
Oh, Didn't He Ramble 1902 J.W. Johnson (co-author)  Pub.
Under the Bamboo Tree 1902 J. Rosamund Johnson (words)
Marie Cahill (perf.)
Julie Mackey (perf.)
 Pub. youtube15.jpg
When the Band Plays Ragtime 1902 J. W. Johnson (words)  Pub.
Darkie's Avenoo 1903
Everybody Wants to See the Baby 1903
Katy-Did, the Cricket and the Frog, The 1903 James Weldon Johnson (words)
Marie Cahill (perf.)
 wvicon.gif
Title Year Attribution Remarks
       
Ma Mississippi Belle (w&m) 1903 J. Rosamond Johnson (co-author)
May Irwin (perf.)
 wvicon.gif
Magdaline, My Southern Queen! (w&m) 1903 J. Rosamond Johnson (co-author)
May Irwin (perf.)
 Pub.
Moonlight on the Mississippi 1903 Rosamond Johnson (co-author)
Save It For Me 1903 Marie Cahill (perf.)  Pub.
Sounds of the Times, Lindy 1903 Rosamond Johnson (co-author)
J. W Johnson (words)
 audiomidi15.gif
Big Indian Chief 1904 J. Rosamund Johnson (co-author)  Pub.
Countess of Alagazam, The 1904
Gimmie De Leavins 1904 James Weldon Johnson (words)  Pub.
Mexico (w&m) 1904 James W. Johnson (words)  Pub.
Pretty Little Squaw From Utah 1904 Rosamond Johnson (co-author)
Sambo and Dinah 1904 Grace Nelson (perf.)
Frank C. Stanley (perf.)
 Pub.  cylinder15.gif
My Lulu San 1905 James Weldon Johnson (co-author)
Rosamund Johnson (co-author)
Father's Got a Job 1906 James Weldon Johnson (words)
Madie Scott (perf.)
Frank Seeley (perf.)
 Pub.
He Handed Me a Lemon 1906 J Rosamond Johnson (words)
Robert S. Roberts (perf.)
 Pub.  cylinder15.gif
If Adam Hadn't Seen the Apple Tree (w&m) 1906 from "The Shoo-Fly Regiment"  Pub.
Sugar Babe (w&m) 1907 James Weldon Johnson (co-author)
as Cole & Johnson
 Pub.
Title Year Attribution Remarks
       
Won't You Be My Little Brown Bear? 1907
I've Lost My Teddy Bear 1908 Anna Held (perf.)
M'aimez Vous? 1910
Oh! You Georgia Rose 1912 Johnnie Waters (co-author)
Shelton Brooks (words)
Will Rossiter (words)
Geo. Perry (perf.)
Lee White (perf.)
Grace Wilson (perf.)
 wvicon.gif
Boccaccio March, The n.d. arr. By Wm. A. Cole  wvicon.gif
     Composer Title Performer
       
youtube15.jpg B. Cole The Maiden With The Dreamy Eyes (1904) (2:21) Thomas Q. Seabrooke
youtube15.jpg B. Cole Under The Bamboo Tree (1917) (3:12) M. Cahill