There are instances where a ragtime composer is known largely for one piece, even if they composed a few others. In these cases, particularly when they lived apart from publishing centers or places where demographic records were not always properly kept, it becomes a frustrating journey to locate information of any substance on that composer, especially when they warrant a better accounting of their life. Still, it is sometimes worth the frustrating journey just to flesh them out. In this case, through the efforts of this author and the subject's great grandson Vann Chapman, at least some semblance of a biography has been assembled that gives a view into the life of such a composer.

Lloyd Kidwell was born to Albert Kidwell and Matilda "Tillie" A. Mullins in Covington, Kentucky, just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, Ohio. Albert was listed as a motorman in city directories, with the family living downtown first at 721 Main, then 607 Main by the mid-1890s. By the time of the 1900 census, Lloyd had a younger brother and sister, Raymond (7/1891) and Doris (8/1898). Albert was by then working as a motorman, perhaps an engineer, for what appears to be the SF RR (not likely the Santa Fe, however). The level of musical training that Lloyd received is not known. Some may have been from the public schools, but whether there was any training in harmony or theory is uncertain. Ultimately it was known that he played piano, accordion and trumpet.

On August 6, 1908 Lloyd, then 19, was married to Charlotte "Lottie" Jacobs, daughter of James M. and Lizzie Jacobs, who was only 16. Their marriage is not listed in Kentucky, where consent for marriage of a minor was required, so there is a possibility of an elopement in Ohio, which would explain the lack of records, although this cannot be confirmed. Lloyd was working as a pianist by this time, likely for vaudeville theaters in Covington and Cincinnati. For the 1910 enumeration the couple was shown as living in Covington at 54 Russel Avenue with Lloyd employed as a theater musician.

In 1906 Lloyd had teamed up with fellow teenager Roy Steventon to compose The Powder Rag which they self-published in Cincinnati. However, in 1908 Charles L. Johnson released his own Powder Rag which given Johnson's stature saw much wider circulation than that of the youths. Finally, in 1911 they retooled and retitled the piece as Red Onion Rag. This is the first known piece of this title, with ironically another Red Onion Rag released the following year by composer Abe Olman. There is no known connection with the famous Red Onion Saloon in Skagway, Alaska, and it was more likely a nod to the current vogue of food-named pieces. Published in Cincinnati by Associated Music Publishers, this edition of the piece saw fairly good circulation for a number of years, and found its way to a few piano roll renditions, but was often confused with the more popular Olman work. Another piece from around that time, This Old Town, was his first with lyricist Haven Gillespie, but a surviving copy of this was difficult to locate. Gillespie would eventually co-write many songs with others, including Santa Claus is Coming to Town with J. Fred Coots in 1934.

The Kidwell's daughter Dorothy was born in 1911. Lloyd would release a couple more pieces over the next two years, including his only other syncopated instrumental, Hustling Rag composed with Steventon, which was also recorded on a piano roll. In 1914 he wrote three songs with Gillespie, then his published output suddenly ceased. This may have been due to the amount of work he was engaged in as a musician, as he started traveling the country with vaudeville troupes in 1916 or 1917. One of those was reportedly the curiously named Pansy Entertainers, which included some black-face routines, and in which Lloyd played the trumpet. Virtually nothing exists on them today. On his 1917 draft record, he and the family were living at 828 Stolman in Covington. Lloyd was described as medium height and stout with bad eyes and a weak heart, exempting him from service. He was working for a Cincinnati opera house, most likely a vaudeville theater. The Kidwells welcomed son Lloyd Wesley into the world in 1918. As of the 1920 census they were living at 16 W. 12th Street, and Lloyd was still listed as a theater musician.

The elegant Hotel Gibson in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Starting in either 1919 or 1920 Lloyd recorded a series of rolls for Cincinnati based Vocalstyle. The company later became known for their release of a number of "Jelly Roll" Morton rolls, but in general the well-produced Vocalstyle rolls remain somewhat rare today. The roll release dates appear from 1920 to around 1923. In the 1923 Vocalstyle Catalog, Lloyd receives the following listing: "LLOYD KIDWELL - Pianist and Composer, records his new Hit 'Japanese Lullaby' - Vocalstyle Song Roll No. 12592. Mr. Kidwell is pianist in Justin Huber's Famous Recording Orchestra. He is director of Chester Pare Theatre Orchestra also, and has toured the country in Vaudeville. His harmony playing will be a delight to you. He also recorded 'Wolverine Blues' [Morton], Roll No. 12610."

Another composition of Lloyd's, the aforementioned Japanese Lullaby, appeared in 1923, although it was not located in published form. That same year, he opened a store at what was also apparently his home address, 1912 Madison Avenue, in Covington. As noted in the trade magazine Presto on October 27, 1923: "Lloyd Kidwell, pianist and composer, recently opened a sheet music store on Madison Avenue, Covington, Ky. Mr. Kidwell is well-known to the public, as he has toured the country in vaudeville. As a composer, he has scored a big success with his new song, 'Japanese Lullaby.' " The song was also recorded on a Gennett disc by Justin Huber's Hotel Gibson Dance Orchestra, for which Lloyd was the pianist, on March 26, 1923.

Lloyd (left) with Paolo Grosso's Orchestra
around 1930.

He is listed as one of the personnel on a few additional cuts by that local jazz group, which was the house dance band of the beautiful Cincinnati landmark, Hotel Gibson, around that time.

During his tenure with the music store Kidwell wrote a number of other compositions which remained unpublished and uncopyrighted to his death. Four of them were committed to demo recordings done by Fidelity Records in Cincinnati, likely in 1923, and sung by Colorado born amateur singer John Grefer. Given the locale and that all four pieces were Kidwell's, he was likely the accompanist as well. Fidelity was possible a Wurlitzer enterprise, as they were located in the Wurlitzer building at 121 E. Fourth Street. Following the mid-1920s some of the trail on Kidwell grows cold, but there are a few snapshots of his later life.

The music store does not appear in city directories following 1923, so it was likely a short-lived enterprise. One final published composition, a light novelty titled Tickle 'Em, appeared in 1928 in Cincinnati from the Leffingwell Music Studio. Lloyd continued to play with various orchestras and traveling groups throughout the 1920s into the 1930s. In the early 1930s Lloyd had relocated for a time to the long-established Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs, Arkansas, reportedly a favorite destination of gangster Al Capone. While there Kidwell played with Paolo Grosso and His Orchestra,

The Arlington Hotel pictured around 1930 in
Hot Springs, Arkansas.

and was likely heard on broadcasts from the resident radio station KTHS ("Come to Hot Springs"). There remain many programs and playlists from this period in Lloyd's great grandson's collection. There is also a picture of him with the orchestra where he is holding an accordion, which may have been an alternate instrument.

Possibly due to travel, Lloyd cannot be located in Covington directories of the 1930s, nor does he register in the 1930 census. The Kidwell's daughter Dorothy moved to the area of Manchester, Georgia, possibly in the late 1920s, and was married to Everett Montgomery soon after. Wesley was found to be on his own at age 19, residing with various people in Covington from 1937 to 1942, and living in the Suburban Federal Savings and Loan Building during the war. Wesley later moved down to Orlando, Florida.

In the late 1930s Kidwell settled back down in Covington for a while. According to his obituary he became involved in civic affairs, and directed the first "playground orchestra" comprised of Covington youth. He was the chairman of the organization and steering committees of the Order of Covington Eagles, a local civic group, and became district director of the order as well. In the 1940 census he was found still in Covington, with Charlotte, listed as an automobile salesman. Times were tough, as Charlotte was working as a waitress. Lloyd's 1942 draft record showed him as employed by the Covington Water Works. Lloyd ran unsuccessfully for Covington city commissioner in 1943. Charlotte died in 1947 during a visit to her daughter in Georgia, leaving Lloyd a widower. He eventually was remarried to Nora Berg Peterson before 1950.

The 1950 enumeration showed Lloyd and Nora in Covington with Lloyd listed as a clerical worker for an accountant, and Nora as a telephone operator. The next that is heard of Lloyd is his death less than four years later at his daughter's home in Manchester, Georgia, which as implied by his obituary is where he spent his final one or two years. It appears that his second wife, Nora, survived him by over two decades, dying in Cincinnati in February 1978. To this day the Red Onion Saloon in the gold rush town of Skagway, Alaska, enjoys ragtime performances of either version of their namesake rag, of which Lloyd's composition the author had the privilege of performing there in September 2009 just prior to compiling this biography.