Talk:Eubie Blake

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Contents 1 Age Controversy 1.1 = 2 12 Year Old Composer??? He must have been 1883-1983 3 Personal info

[edit] Age Controversy

Blake's WWII draft registration card lists his birthdate as 1883, so at the very least, the statement that all government documents indicate the 1887 date is incorrect.

The following documents do list the 1887 date:

• Social Security Death Index (SSN 113-05-1371)
• 1920 Census (lists age as 33)

cbustapeck 17:25, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] =

I believe the 1887 date is wrong too. How could he have met his wife in primary school if he was 8 and she was 14? His wife's birthdate is listed as 1881. 1883 would certainly be more plausable. It would have made him 16 when he composed Charleston Rag which is more believable. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 216.227.9.187 (talk) 15:27, 18 January 2007 (UTC).

[edit] 12 Year Old Composer??? He must have been 1883-1983

Supposedly Eubie Blake, born in February of 1887 composed the Charleston Rag in 1899 -- now really ... 16 is plausible, but 12??? Come on.

Ever heard of Mozart? Come on.

List of music prodigies#Composition and Conducting for even more examples.--T. Anthony 16:52, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Good, very, very good point. But he might have changed that later on, he simpy tried to avoid comabt in war. I was told, he was younger, and only a certain age limit is allowed to enter the army.
Keep in mind. Mozart was total prodigy and back then they did not publish notes or rolls. Remember, Maple Leaf Rag was PUBLISHED in 1899 and many more in the next subsequent years.

It's possible he was 96 or even 100, but because of army service, 1887 stayed, including on his social seucirty. He must have been 100 when he died.

And Since the Social Security Board did not have a network of field offices in late 1936,(by then he had personal reasons to change age, many people do) it contracted with the U.S. Postal Service to distribute and assign the first batch of Social Security numbers through its 45,000 local post offices around the country. Of these 45,000 post offices, 1,074 were also designated as "typing centers" where the cards themselves were prepared. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 64.107.1.199 (talk) 17:56, 2 July 2007 (UTC).

your primer on the us ssa is all very fascinating information i'm sure. however, there 'must' be some final arbiter on the subject of an official date of birth, and it seems to me that when every official document on the planet points to a birth year of 1887....well...who better than the ssa? further, i am removing the inline-link again because: 1) the loc is not the arbiter determining birth year, 2) the link clarifies nothing, and 3) the article itself devotes a good thirty percent to the subject which completely addresses the subject. cheers. --emerson7 | Talk 18:44, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Personal info

There is a section left out. At some point Eubie was living in St. Louis. He used to "hang out" at a little piano bar on Euclid in the Central West End. I spent a lot of time listening to him and admiring that at his age, he was still playing. I believe this was in 1980-81.