1903's "Weeping Willow" isn't Joplin's best-known ragtime, but it's absolutly his style. "Weeping Willow" is also one of the few compositions which, after various disputes, was not published by his regular publisher John Stark & Son.

Scott Joplin's date of birth is unknown, but is believed to have been born in Texas between June 1867 and January 1868. His parents were freed slaves who left the farm they had worked on shortly after Scott's birth. Joplin inherited his love of music from hi...