Lucian P. Gibson is only known to have composed three works, one of which is The Cactus Rag, published by Stark Music Company in 1916. It is noticeably derivative of Artie Matthews’ Pastime Rags (especially No. 3, the habanera), but is also unique and inventive. Observe the “prickly” right hand chord clusters (shown above)! Like Robert Hampton’s 1914 Cataract Rag (also published by Stark Music Company), The Cactus Rag is a virtuoso study in octaves.
I first encountered The Cactus Rag in the now-defunct Dover Publications anthology Ragtime Rarities. The score for the piece can be downloaded from several places on the internet, including Ted Tjaden’s website ragtimepiano.ca on the “rare rags” subpage. Lucian P. Gibson’s biographical information can be found on Bill Edwards’ website ragpiano.com.
