Joseph Francis Lamb (December 6, 1887 – September 3, 1960) was an American ragtime composer and pianist of Irish descent from Montclair, New Jersey. Lamb was one of the "Big Three" composers of classical ragtime, alongside Scott Joplin and James Scott. A self-taught pianist, Lamb composed his earliest pieces, “Meet Me at the Chutes” and “Idle Dreams”, in 1900. While living in Toronto, he published marches and waltzes including “The Lilliputian's Bazaar” (1905). In 1907, Lamb met Scott Joplin, who recommended him to publisher John Stark. Stark published twelve of Lamb's rags between 1908 and 1919, including “Sensation Rag” (1908), “Ethiopia Rag” (1909), and “Bohemia Rag” (1919). Lamb worked as an arranger for the J. Fred Helf Music Publishing Company and as an accountant starting in 1914. During the 1950s ragtime revival, Lamb recorded the album Joseph Lamb: A Study in Classic Ragtime (1959). Lamb died of a heart attack in Brooklyn.
