Years before there was rock and roll, and rap and hip-hop, there was Scott Joplin. Without him, none of the other musical styles would be quite the same.
"The music that people listen to today - early spirituals, gospel, swing, jazz, rock, R&B, pop, reggae and rap - it all originated with the ragtime era," Bobby Norfolk said. "All that music is an offshoot."
Since 1985, Norfolk has been performing as Joplin, who was born in the late 1860s in Texarkana and died too young in 1917. On Monday, Norfolk visited branches of the Daniel Boone Regional Library system, including the Fulton branch.
The script Norfolk uses in his performances, he said, was written by Bob Ault and Trebor Tichenor, a consultant for a 1977 movie named "Scott Joplin" that starred Billy Dee Williams. Norfolk related biographical information and spoke about the influences of all kinds of music on Joplin, who learned by rote - even classical pieces.
"Joplin took the European beat and the music of the 'rag,' which was the African beat," Norfolk said.
His pianist for the day was Brad Ellebrecht, of St. Louis, who performed numbers by Joplin including The Maple Leaf Rag, the Easy Winners and The Entertainer. Ellebrecht started playing piano at the age of 13, he said.
"Ragtime stuff was some of the first stuff I started playing," he added. "Ragtime is fun, joyful music."
Ellebrecht met Norfolk in the fall of 2016, and they've been performing together since.
"Music makes you want to dance," Norfolk told his audience.
He said Joplin came from a musical family, and his father played the violin and his mother "loved the banjo."
"(His) biggest influence was the music of the church," he added.
Joplin began performing as a teenager, and traveled about, also living here and there in Missouri. Realizing he needed to further his education, he located to Sedalia in 1894 and in 1896, enrolled in college to study music seriously and learn to write music down. In 1899, a local music publisher printed Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag," a classic ragtime piece that thrust Joplin into the national spotlight. In 1901, he and his bride, Belle Jones, moved to St. Louis, and Joplin eventually moved to New York where he passed away.
Joplin is remembered each year in Sedalia with the annual Scott Joplin Ragtime Music Festival.
As a child, Norfolk overcame a stuttering obstacle and in 1975, became a stand-up comedian and actor. He also worked 10 years at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis as a National Park Service ranger. He won three Emmy Awards as host of the CBS television show "Gator Tales," based from St. Louis.
"Music is the healing force of the world, misunderstood by every man, woman, boy and girl," he said. "What else is there to say?"
He will return to Fulton at 2 p.m. Feb. 19 to perform as George Washington Carver, also at the Callaway County Library. People can learn more and check his calendar of appearances at bobbynorfolk.com.