Viper's Drag


"Viper's Drag" is a stride piano composition by the jazz pianist, composer, and arranger Thomas "Fats" Waller.

History/Background

"Viper's Drag" was written as a dance tune for a ragtime dance called a slow drag, often shortened to "drag" by song writers of the day.
The song has been performed by Waller and countless other jazz artists, including Cab Calloway, who recorded a big band swing version of the tune on November 12, 1930 as song 10246-1 on the DOMINO label, album 4686 and Judy Carmichael, who recorded it for her Grammy award-nominated Two-Handed Stride on the Progressive label in 1980.
There are two versions by New Orleans piano masters Henry Butler and Allen Toussaint. It is the title cut to an album by Henry Butler/Steven Bernstein and the Hot 9, on Impulse . It can also be found on "American Tunes" -- the final recording from New Orleans jazz and R&B pianist Allen Toussaint, released on Nonesuch Records on June 10, 2016.

Appears on

"Viper's Rag" appears on the following recordings: