July 09, 2005

The Ultimate 78 Collector - 'The very term "folk music" rankles him: The music he worships was made by professionals -- backwoods or no -- and released on commercial records that were revolutionary in their day. He dismisses Dylan as "shit," but then again he despises all forms of rock 'n' roll, which to him is no more than the cuss-word verb of its original meaning, a blues double-entendre for fucking...

He similarly rejects all country music made after '53, saying it was finished when Hank Williams croaked in the back of that Cadillac in West Virginia. As for jazz, well, that died out around '33, murdered in cold blood by the Depression and the arrival of the big bands. When told about the so-called swing revival, he nearly chokes on his cigar, incredulous that anyone would bother resurrecting the brassy dreck of the Dorseys and their ilk. In his absolute negation of postwar American mass culture, Bussard is very much in line with his fellow 78 collectors. This rabid brotherhood is almost invariably made up of eccentrics who came of age in the '50s and '60s, rejecting everything around them. More than just hippie-haters, though, these men loathe the very idea of popular music, right back to the time of fox trots and Al Jolson, the Jazz Age clichés often mistaken for the soundtrack for their beloved era.' This guy is absolutely out there. I hope you enjoy this article as much as I did.

  • Nice, thanks! Now, I want to hear his collection.
  • Fascinating article! In some circles, 20-style jazz and country never went out of vogue. Hot Club of Cowtown and early Asylum Street Spankers (no deeeeemon electricity!) come to mind, but I know they're by no means the only bands out there doing that kind of style. And I'm sometimes happily amazed at what you can get on CD--including stuff that's in boxes in institutions until it can be digitized and cleaned up.
  • Great article. I would gladly shut-up and listen to anything he wanted to play. What a wonderfully crazy old coot.
  • Apparently nowadays he sells mix tapes on the Internet. For such an obstreperous bastard, he's got a pretty slick site.
  • Another interview with the dude. I don't know whether I love the guy or loathe him.
  • big ) for Chy. I went to listen to Original Stack O'Lee Blues, and simply have to hear more. That's my type of music.
  • Wonderful read! Excellent post Chy. I'm reminded of a few things - 1. Steve Buscemi's portrayal of Seymour in Ghost World. 2. Burgess Meredith's portrayal of Henry Bemis in "Time Enough At Last" - from the first season of the Twilight Zone. 3. My own punk-rock version of a great record find: 1990, SNFU had a limited 7" pressing (I think it was 500 copies) of one of thier early singles. Initially pressed on blue vinyl somewhere in the US, the order was packaged in a crate and placed on a freight train due for Canada. I don't recall the exact location, it was either Wyoming or South Dakota, but the train derailed and spilled a crapload of its cargo - the crate in question being one of the items that was lost in the mess. One thing led to another, and a small stack of these 7"s made way into some Mom 'n Pop roadside gas/snack shop, where it sat to be forgotten. By 1990, I belive the record had been re-pressed, but there was talk of "what ever happened to the original?" within the scene. Sometime in late '90, one of my friends was driving back from Wyoming, and stopped in this shop to buy a soda. His eye caught sight of this small stack of SNFU 7"s, and he basically shit his pants on the spot. They sold the stack to him for $10 or near that, and he rode off hardly able to contain his excitement. He sold them off at shows, and made quite a handsome booty. If I was this nut, I'd have one of these to play my collection. Make the record collector nerd sweat!
  • Did the world *really* need another asshole with a big record collection? You favorite band sucks, dude.
  • I can't believe that my computer did not explode as a result of chyren's post. I had it programmed to self-destruct if the words "Dylan is shit" ever appeared across the screen. I will have to have someone look at the damn thing to see what went wrong.