Channel surfing yielded a bona fide find last night in the form of the final two-thirds of Desperate Man Blues, a ’02 film spotlighting the life, times and nonpareil vinyl trove of one Joe Bussard. It’s got the usual music documentary tropes: the foreign film crew (in this case Aussies led by Sydney-based Edward Gillan) seeking out an unsung custodian of aural culture long operating under the public radar in an effort to place him and his efforts on the proper pedestal of importance; the round table of talking heads explaining & corroborating the subject’s relevance and stature; prosaic shots of the subject’s daily life, visiting his favorite diner, holed up in his basement listening room, two of the four walls stocked ceiling-to-floor with meticulously catalogued 78s (25K of them by one count), music-related nick-knacks and collectibles festooning other available shelf-space; puffing on stogies, poring over his finds and congenially entertaining the ignorance of the general populace. Most engrossing are the repeated scenes of the vinyl addict in his element, venturing out on record recon safaris. One excursion to a rural elderly black man’s house is a bit sobering as subtle racial and class disparities rear up in Bussard’s interactions with his potential vendor. Surveying the stacks of moldering records in the seller’s basement, he’s polite, but dismissive of the cache and invites the man and a friend out to his truck to hear some “real sounds.”
But what’s continually charming is how Bussard both fits the prevailing stereotype & exists puckishly outside it. His income appears largely derived from taping sides (50 cents apiece) and sending them to fellow collectors, though recurring gigs in radio have padded his pockets occasionally since his teens. That tenure facilitated the formation of an idiosyncratic, if curiously familiar, & endearing world view. There are Bussard’s fuddy-duddy assertions that rock is the cancer of all music; his apparent contentment at catholicizing his daily listening to the library in his basement and taped compilations on his various drives about town; the encyclopedic awareness of record-related trivia and ephemera. One scene documents a game of brinksmanship between Bussard and a visiting friend. The two engage in a face-off over Blind Willie McTell’s biographic minutiae that will ring amusingly familiar with most record geeks. Another Bussard acolyte divides people down along colorful dichotomy: the minority who view Pre-War recordings as the pinnacle of American musical achievement and the eclipsing majority who only hear “scratchy old records.” Bussard holds position as Chief Poobah of the former camp with a congenial nonchalance.
But rather sealing his recherché sides in hermetic sleeves and relegating them to dust magnet status on the shelves, he regularly pulls them out, handles them and plops them on his turntable, a tactic at odds with the usual Cerberus-style curatorial mindset. There’s one scene where he produces what he claims is the “rarest blues record of all” --“Original Stack O Lee Blues” by the Down Home Boys on the Black Patti label-- slides it out of its mummified paper sheath, deposits it on the player and unceremoniously drops the stylus. In another he stomps his feet and gregariously plays air banjo right along with a rollicking Uncle Dave Macon record. Later, holding an audience with two young reporters from a local newspaper, he fetches first a mint copy of Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads Blues” and then another antique picture platter by Jimmy Rodgers, mirthfully spins each for the ladies, regaling them with reasons as to why Rodgers has no vocal equal. The smiling, if slightly perplexed expressions on women’s faces will once again ring true to record fiends who’ve tried in vain to explain their obsessions to friends and acquaintances not afflicted with the addiction.
Despite his comfortably no-shit lifestyle and easygoing exterior, Bussard is definitely and incurably infected with the fever. He muses repeatedly on the diminishing returns nature of his passion, but ultimately appears nonplussed by the finite supply that fuels his pursuits. Vindication comes at the end with the discovery of a rare Gitfiddle Jim 78 at a garden-variety estate sale amongst a crate of records he procured for a mere five bucks. Bussard’s ear-to-ear grin as he proudly holds the priceless relic up to the camera is, well… priceless. All-in-all a great way to kill an hour as, it appears, is a recently released compilation of some of Bussard’s choice selections from his collection.
Posted by derek on April 5, 2005 4:11 PMI recommend the "Down in The Basement" comp. to anybody interested. Bussard lives near Frederick, Maryland and some of his early cohorts in '78 hunting were John Fahey and Dick Spotswood. I believe that Bussard "produced" the original "Blind Joe Death" for Fahey.
Posted by: Clay Fink at April 6, 2005 9:45 AMThis is awesome! Reminds me of Jack Rose and how he likes to burst my bubble of plink-and-plunk improv passion and matter-of-factly tell me that pre-1940 (maybe I have exact year wrong) music is the best music ever made... And that "Charlie Patton is the greatest musician that ever lived. Period. End of story." I can't argue with facts!
Posted by: Michael Anton Parker at April 6, 2005 10:03 AMFink, I think you’re thinking of Fahey’s Fonotone recordings, which, unlike the bulk of the Takoma Records catalog, haven’t yet received the cd reissue treatment (drats!). Except iirc “The Transcendental Waterfall” included on the Fantasy reissue of Legend of Blind Joe Death. In true Luddite fashion many were first circulated as shellac 78s. Fortunately Bussard’s otherwise Amish tastes don’t seem to extend to technology, so hopefully we’ll be seeing a compendium hit the racks soon. Thanks for the thumbs up on the Basement comp, gonna have to hunt me down a copy.
Michael, thems some mighty incontrovertible arguments from Mr. Rose, though my greenbacks go to Blind Lemon as evincing a slight edge over Patton ;)
Just got a bottle of Smirtsol in the mail (part of the endorsement deal) & it's doing wonders on my bunions, ah, such soothing relief.
Posted by: derek at April 6, 2005 4:12 PM[Mike] Just saw this in the latest email update from Ian Nagoski's über-hip record store The True Vine in Baltimore, another co-owner of which is Jason Willett, who I believe is originally from the remote, backwater town of Frederick, MD as well and I can only imagine there is some connection because I've heard stories about Willett's parents having folks like Charles Mingus visit their home...
[True Vine newsletter] COMING THIS WEEK: JOE BUSSARD'S FONOTONE RECORDS 1956-1969
new delux 5-CD box in a cigar box with bottle opener. A retrospective of the 78-rpm label run by the King of Record Collectors, Joe Bussard of Frederick, MD, including some of the first ever recordings of John Fahey and Mike Seeger. From the label that brought you Dick Spottswood's Where Will You Be Christmas Day (now in stock) and the all-time classic Goodbye, Babylon gospel box set. $67
watch out for a release party for this box with an appearance by Joe Bussard at the end of January!
Anybody know when and where the release party for the Fonotone box will be?
Posted by: Derrick D. Little at January 5, 2006 6:00 PMWhoa, is that the Derrick Little, here on Bags? Blow me down! It's an honor to be in your informational service!
The link for the True Vine in that past doesn't seem to work--actually it didn't seem to work at the time either, but I do remember once seeing it work in the dim and distant past... So here is a link to the subscription page for the True Vine mailing list. I'm sure if this event actually materializes it'll be announced there. I read their messages faithfully when they hit my inbox and I haven't seen any mention of it. I just checked the last few and it's not listed among the events slated for January and February. I guess it wouldn't hurt to email or call Ian Nagoski directly to ask. [nagoski, funny symbol, pigeon.berndtgroup.net]
By the way, that's a good mailing list to be on for people who collect left-field music, especially on vinyl... Definitely a certified Alice-in-Wonderland outfit...
Posted by: Michael Anton Parker at January 5, 2006 7:02 PMYes, it is the Derrick you think it is.
I tried to find info on the True Vine site, but can't even come up with an email address. There wasn't anything in the last newsletter, which I do receive. I would love to meet Bussard. I wrote him a letter many years ago before I had email, and he kindly wrote me back and even invited me to come down to see his record collection, since I don't live far from Frederick, but I never did. So if anyone hears anything about the release party, I'd appreciate it if it would be posted here.
Posted by: Derrick D. Little at January 5, 2006 8:27 PMSaturday February 25, 9PM $6
Dust-to-Digital presents Joe Bussard and friends
Fonotone Records box set Release Party
including home movies and record-listening.
Maryland-native Joe Bussard, renowned the world over as the "King of Record Collectors," is perhaps best-known for a mind-numbingly high-quality collection of pre-war Country, Blues and Jazz recordings on 78rpm discs. He was also the head of the last 78 label, Fonotone, which
1956-1969 documented living old-time pickers, including the first recordings of a certian JOhn Fahey as well as many many more. On the 25th, we'll celebrate the release of the 5-CD retrospective of Fonotone issued on the fabulous Dust-to-Digital label by hosting Mr. Bussard in the flesh and some of his musician-friends for an evening of home movies from his music-hunting travels as well as recorded music and some live picking. Sure to be one of the most memorable evenings this address has ever seen.
check out the sights and sounds at:
http://dust-digital.com/fonotone.htm
Wish I could make this. That Fonotone set is a beautiful thing; hope they follow it up with a Fahey one.
Posted by: derek at February 16, 2006 5:54 AMIan, welcome to Bags! any idea when we're going to see the elusive Halana #5? before or after the next MBV CD? :)
but seriously, I'm especially waiting on that Radigue piece, and the last update on your site says it's been delayed to the second half of 2004. any info?
Posted by: jon abbey at February 16, 2006 7:35 AMAmen, Jon, amen!!! We're all waiting for PSI 847!!! Tell us what's up Ian, please!!!
Posted by: Dan Warburton at February 16, 2006 8:04 AMI have been severly moved by my recent introduction to radigue. hearing the fringes cd and lile re sonate both of which i love. for a third purchase the easiest to aquire would be elemtal 2. I am given pause by the listing of it as a piece for electric bass. Should i ginore that pause. is it as great as the other two. does electric bass work convincingly?
Posted by: sws at February 17, 2006 12:28 AMIt doesn't sound like an electric bass at all. I have absolutely no idea of how Kasper did it, but it sounds wonderful. Quintessential Radigue, buy without second thought!
On the other hand, Eliane's new solo cello piece for Charles Curtis is just that: solo cello. Looking forward to hearing that at some stage. Meanwhile, let's hope Ian replies to our please above and lets us know what's up with Halana.
Adnos I-III is her greatest work/s, at least from what's been released on CD so far (although I just got Elemental II yesterday, haven't heard that yet). the Fringes disc is the best single CD entry, I don't really like when she incorporates voices, so I wasn't so crazy about L’Ile Re-sonante.
Posted by: jon abbey at February 17, 2006 7:06 AMall i've heard by radigue is the solo cello thing for curtis (here in LA a couple weeks ago) and while it was pretty demanding, it was also unfulfillingly exhausting to absorb. almost indulgently excessive in its pursuit of complex sonics that are more amazing to describe the existence of than to hear.
that's not to say that some of the moments weren't totally mindblowing with weird harmonic oscillations across the spectrum, but many walked out because it's just not pleasant to sit through this stuff for an hour.
probably much more rewarding to have on at home.
she has quite a reputation - was this piece an anomaly for her?
i would say that the piece for charles (naldjorlak) was an anomaly for radigue in that there seems to be much more of charles in it than there is of her. all of the techniques he used in the piece were ones he uses often in his own improvising. i had seen him play with bhob rainey and anthony burr in david rothbaum's living room a month or so earlier and his contribution was effectively a shorter performance of naldjorlak (though his 'cello was probably tuned differently). that being said, the piece was certainly in-the-style-of eliane radigue, regardless of how their collaboration worked. perhaps this is how elemental II would sound to someone familiar with toeplitz's playing. this is not to say that the performance of naldjorlak at the redcat was disappointing. i found it entirely engrossing. --perhaps it helps to have shown up knowing what to expect and being prepared to sit quietly for an hour long solo 'cello drone. it helped also to have been sitting in the second row because the piece was awfully quiet.
and she was there sitting a couple of rows behind me! i was so starstruck! i turned into a gushing little doofus...
Posted by: William Hutson at February 17, 2006 5:12 PM"Adnos I-III is her greatest work/s, at least from what's been released on CD so far (although I just got Elemental II yesterday, haven't heard that yet). the Fringes disc is the best single CD entry"
Thus spake Abbey - can't you simply say "I think Adnos is her best.." or "I prefer"? You sound like Moses. And I don't mean JC or Bob.
yes, because it's so unclear that that's my opinion. sorry for the confusion.
am I wrong?
Posted by: jon abbey at February 17, 2006 11:24 PMI'll leave you to answer that when you've checked out Elemental II a few times - meanwhile sorry you didn't like L'ile re-sonante (but the vocal loop you mention only accounts for about a quarter of the work's total duration). For anyone else looking for a single CD entry in the Radigue discography, there's the three incher Biogenesis on Metamkine. If it's still in print. Talking of which, the Fringes CD must be OOP now, mustn't it?
Posted by: Dan Warburton at February 17, 2006 11:33 PM"the three incher Biogenesis on Metamkine. If it's still in print"
It was, last time I blinked.
Posted by: Brian Marley at February 18, 2006 12:23 AMRe L'ile re-sonante . . . It didn't work for me either. Keep on handing down the tablets, Moses, and I'll keep on taking them!
Posted by: Brian Marley at February 18, 2006 12:28 AM"the vocal loop you mention only accounts for about a quarter of the work's total duration"
right, but it's right in the middle, really jars me out of the piece.
Posted by: jon abbey at February 18, 2006 12:28 AM"the Fringes CD must be OOP now, mustn't it?"
It mustn't.
Posted by: Brian Marley at February 18, 2006 12:30 AMhi, guys.
Halana was always Chris Rice's trip, a blessing on his head for including me, hothead that I am, and for the incredible work he produced. He recently moved to the West Coast, and I haven't heard from him in a year or so about where the magazine stands. It was, years ago, laid out and finished but for advertising and printing details (which mean a lot to him, as anyone with the previous issues knows), and I can tell you, having seen drafts, that every piece in it is wonderful and the finished product will be beyond any previous issue. It has always been a very special project and a labor of love for Chris. But life takes its course, and I can only guess when it will come out. We certainly haven't see the last of Chris, though; he's a real artist in his bones.
I can, however, say that the hour-long piece that Eliane Radigue submitted is a jewel. I'm a raving, slathering fan of her work - if you put a gun to my head and demanded, "who is the single greatest living composer," her name would come out of my mouth without a thought! And Psi 847 (the piece she gave to Chris and I to publish) is something very special which I would rank, among her published work, only with the Trilogie. I'll be very very happy when it sees the light of day.
And while we're at it, where's Aspen #11? Or Music #4 - I'm a subscriber!
Funny that we should begin talking about Joe Bussard and wind up talking about Eliane Radigue. If anyone cares to talk about another favorite of mine, jumping tracks entirely, Blaster Al Ackerman's mind-splitting LP, I am Drunk, can be downloaded in its entirety at http://ehserecords.com/ .
bests,
Ian
ps.
there will be a Dust-to-Digital CD of 78s from the first half of the twentieth century (Asian, Middle Eastern, European and African) out of my own collection available later this year. I'm hard at work on the notes and very excited about it!
"But life takes its course, and I can only guess when it will come out. We certainly haven't see the last of Chris, though; he's a real artist in his bones."
Ian, hi. That may well be the case, but how long are we going to have to wait? I know offhand of four labels who would be willing and more than able to release PSI 847 very quickly. It is a key work not only of Radigue's output but of the history of electronic music / minimalism / music period and it REALLY MUST BE RELEASED! If Chris isn't going to do it, why doesn't he tell us and pass the recording on to others who will? And if he is, when? It's all right being "an artist in your bones" but that's no excuse for sitting round and doing bugger all, is it?
Dan Warburton and Eliane Radigue up a tree... K - I - S - S - I - N - G...
Posted by: Ape Lord at February 23, 2006 8:32 AMWhy up a tree?
Posted by: Dan Warburton at February 23, 2006 9:55 PMHm, all the snipers on Bags lately seem to be busting out in rhyme.
Posted by: N.D. at February 23, 2006 9:59 PMAbout Chris and his magazine: ask him.
About the influence of "Effortless Battle" on Radigue's Elemental II: ask her.
I have no idea. I'm busy making a living and taking care of my kid.
much love,
Ian
.................................................. © 2003 - 2006 bagatellen ..................................................