Michael Wang

“Viper's Drag”
Composer and Pianist: Fats Waller
Recording Date: November 16, 1934
Release Date: 1935
Label: Victor (25015) (78rpm) (as a single)

FORM
- 4 bar intro
- 32 bar head “AABA”
- on last “A”: (alternate ending to key change and double time)
- 32 bar second theme “CCDC”
- Solo over “CCD”
- Last “C” melody out
- (second ending, last two bars back to halftime, key change)
- 8 bar “A”
- First 4 bars of second “A”
- 4 bar piano solo/cadenza over last 4 bars of second “A”

“Viper’s Drag” was written as a “slow drag” style dance tune which is a form of
ragtime dance only slower. “Slow drag” was sometimes shortened to just “drag” by
songwriters. ​Waller plays very true to the stride piano style during both the down
and up tempo parts of the tune. Most of the recording is playing the melody with
less than a whole chorus of soloing.

This tune has many other famous versions, including Cab Calloway’s, who
recorded a big band arrangement of the tune in November of 1930, four years
earlier than Waller’s own version.