![[Cowboy Pianist] A.O. Babel the "Cow Boy Pianist" Original Photograph of A.O. Babel the "Cow Boy Pianist"](http://www.schubertiademusic.com/cdn/shop/files/28Cowboy_Pianist_29_A.O._Babel_Photograph_23490.jpg?v=1722190784)
[Cowboy Pianist] A.O. Babel the "Cow Boy Pianist". Original Photograph of A.O. Babel the "Cow Boy Pianist". Intriguing and uncommon original cabinet photo of a A.O. Babel the "Cow Boy Pianist" who dazzled audiences across the U.S. during the 1880s and 1890s. Stamped "A.O. Babel / Cow Boy Pianist" in lavender ink and inscribed in contemporary fountain pen "Nichols, Iowa" in the lower margin. One slight crease and small thumbtack holes at the corners; otherwise a very crisp image in fine condition. 4.25 x 6.25 inches.
"His wrists are of spring-steel, and his finger [sic] like unto the comb of a musical box. His octave playing is beyond all doubt the most extraordinary we have ever heard." Thus, The New York Mirror lauded A.O. Babel, known as the "Cowboy Pianist," for his debut at New York City's Steinway Hall on March 10, 1886. For a few glorious years, during the 1880s and 1890s, this "Steer Puncher" dazzled audiences across the United States. His recitals at concert halls, theatres and dime museums, in cities such as Chicago, New Orleans, Cincinnati and New York, featured showstopping feats that included playing his instrument with a cloth hiding the keys. The piano master claimed a repertoire of more than 1,200 songs.
Babel told fantastic tales of his adventures as a cowboy and scout who spoke nine Indian languages and served as an interpreter for the military. He also claimed to have brought desperados to justice. His fall from a horse resulted in terrible injuries, but after a lengthy convalescence, Babel discovered his sudden and miraculous talent for the piano. About 1885, he emerged as a "musical prodigy" from Texas. "Mr. Babel plays entirely by ear," the New Orleans Graphic commented, "and is a genuine cowboy never having been out of the State until about a month ago."
For all the fans who hailed his musical prowess, Babel also had his share of detractors. One reviewer for Kansas's The Atchison Daily Globe caustically described his "delirious tune" on a "jim jam piano" in 1887: "He had three or four revolvers strapped to his waist, and wore a greasy suit of buckskin shadowed by a huge sombrero...the quality of his music...was so bad that everyone wondered how any people outside of a lunatic asylum could be fooled by such a dizzy fraud." (Website of Texas State Historical Association, Laurie E, Jasinski, updated Dec. 17, 2015)
[Cowboy Pianist] A.O. Babel the "Cow Boy Pianist". Original Photograph of A.O. Babel the "Cow Boy Pianist". Intriguing and uncommon original cabinet photo of a A.O. Babel the "Cow Boy Pianist" who dazzled audiences across the U.S. during the 1880s and 1890s. Stamped "A.O. Babel / Cow Boy Pianist" in lavender ink and inscribed in contemporary fountain pen "Nichols, Iowa" in the lower margin. One slight crease and small thumbtack holes at the corners; otherwise a very crisp image in fine condition. 4.25 x 6.25 inches.
"His wrists are of spring-steel, and his finger [sic] like unto the comb of a musical box. His octave playing is beyond all doubt the most extraordinary we have ever heard." Thus, The New York Mirror lauded A.O. Babel, known as the "Cowboy Pianist," for his debut at New York City's Steinway Hall on March 10, 1886. For a few glorious years, during the 1880s and 1890s, this "Steer Puncher" dazzled audiences across the United States. His recitals at concert halls, theatres and dime museums, in cities such as Chicago, New Orleans, Cincinnati and New York, featured showstopping feats that included playing his instrument with a cloth hiding the keys. The piano master claimed a repertoire of more than 1,200 songs.
Babel told fantastic tales of his adventures as a cowboy and scout who spoke nine Indian languages and served as an interpreter for the military. He also claimed to have brought desperados to justice. His fall from a horse resulted in terrible injuries, but after a lengthy convalescence, Babel discovered his sudden and miraculous talent for the piano. About 1885, he emerged as a "musical prodigy" from Texas. "Mr. Babel plays entirely by ear," the New Orleans Graphic commented, "and is a genuine cowboy never having been out of the State until about a month ago."
For all the fans who hailed his musical prowess, Babel also had his share of detractors. One reviewer for Kansas's The Atchison Daily Globe caustically described his "delirious tune" on a "jim jam piano" in 1887: "He had three or four revolvers strapped to his waist, and wore a greasy suit of buckskin shadowed by a huge sombrero...the quality of his music...was so bad that everyone wondered how any people outside of a lunatic asylum could be fooled by such a dizzy fraud." (Website of Texas State Historical Association, Laurie E, Jasinski, updated Dec. 17, 2015)