S.O.D. "La Pas Ma La" by Ernest Hogan
2/24/2019 Referred to as ‘The Father of Ragtime,’ he was born Ernest Reuben Crowders in 1865, and composed some notable songs on the piano in 1895. He became the first African American to produce and star in a Broadway production. The play was “The Oyster Man” and the year was 1907. One of his earlier compositions, “All Coons Look Alike to Me,” was not meant to be derogatory but of course it ended up that way, and he regretted using the slur. Hogan was considered one of the greatest performers and comedians of his day and practically founded the genre of Ragtime.