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Joe Bussard: The Pipe Smoking King of the Record Collectors
For most people, the name Joe Bussard is unlikely to be familiar, though many of us have been affected by his work. Anyone with an appreciation for early country and blues artists like Jimmie Rodgers, Charley Patton, and the Carter Family, has benefited from Bussard's obsessive passion for music. That passion led him to amass over 15,000 78-rpm singles over the course of his life. Not only did he collect and preserve the music of the '20s and '30s, he made it available to anyone who wanted to listen. Many of his copies were later digitized and distributed in reissue by various record labels, saving those performances from permanent loss and inviting countless people to hear rare early recordings of the foundations of American popular music.
The boy who would become the record king was born on July 11th, 1936 in Frederick, Maryland, where he would reside throughout his life. His father owned a local farm-supply business and his mother was a homemaker. The younger Bussard became enamored with music early and started collecting 78s at age eight, when he was gifted some Gene Autry singles by his parents.
According to an interview he gave the Baltimore Sun, the great turning point in his life came the first time he heard Jimmie Rodgers on the radio, "the greatest singer that ever lived, no doubt about it." It was his search for Rodgers' recordings that led the teenaged Bussard to go door-to-door looking for records. He found a wealth of sounds that spurred him to collect as many old country records as he could. As he grew up, he began working at his father's store, though his hours spent listening to records and digging up as many of his favorites as he could around Frederick left time for little else. Soon, he dropped out of school, quit his job, and devoted himself to music.
At 16, Bussard began exploring Frederick County, stopping at dilapidated houses that held the promise of shellac (before vinyl became the standard for producing phonograph records, natural shellac resin was used). As his collection grew, so did his desire to share his music with others. In 1959, Bussard assembled an array of radio equipment in his basement and began broadcasting his own program, the fabled "Country Classics" radio show. Unbeknownst to his father, Joseph Bussard Sr., his son never bothered to go through the bureaucratic procedures required to operate a radio station legally, and when officials from the FCC came looking for "Joseph Bussard," the elder Joe hurried home from work under the impression they were looking for him, only to learn that his son was running a pirate radio operation. Joseph Sr., a severe man, was displeased. Joe, however, was quite amused and relished telling that story in the ensuing decades. The FCC agents, who were fans of the show, reluctantly shut it down, though Bussard would later bring "Country Classics" back in a more legal capacity.
As his collection grew, so did his desire to share his music with others
Bussard's radio show would prove useful in finding more records as well. In the documentary Joe Bussard: King of Record Collectors, his friend Jim Beachley relates how the two of them came upon an old house in West Virginia on a record-hunting trip. As they approached, it became clear that the residents were in the middle of making a batch of moonshine nearby, and were also armed. Sure they were about to be mistaken for revenue officers and shot, his friend remained in the car while Bussard cheerily approached and introduced himself to the imposing man standing with a shotgun in the yard. Upon hearing his name, the man exclaimed, "It's Joe Buzzard (sic) from the radio!" The two men were promptly invited to dinner and left with a box of priceless recordings.
In addition to collecting 78s, Bussard helped keep them in production by Fonotone, the last record label to make 78-rpm singles, running from 1956 to 1969. Bussard made recordings in his basement, often of himself performing with friends from his National Guard unit, as well as other musicians from near and far, such as the legendary guitarist John Fahey, who made his first albums with Fonotone. The label was born when Bussard came into some old recording equipment, including a hand-operated pressing machine, with which he made each individual record that Fonotone sold.
The label was born when Bussard came into some old recording equipment, including a hand- operated pressing machine, with which he made each individual record that Fonotone sold
Joe's passion for curating and sharing American traditional music didn't end with his radio show and record label. With the advent of tapes and CDs, Bussard, whose collection had already reached the thousands, converted the recordings into digital files, selling compilations of his favorites in the new formats through the mail for a fraction of the value of such rare recordings. For intrepid music fans, a trip to Joe's basement was an opportunity to hear the old songs in their earliest recorded form. Bussard's home was always open to those who wanted to listen to records from his collection, often in a haze of smoke from Joe's pipe and a succession of Dutch Masters cigars. Weekends often saw Bussard huddled behind his turntable, blaring Blind Blake or Charlie Poole, regaling a circle of listeners with stories of how he found the records and all he had learned about the music they contained, and dancing like mad. Over the years, many high-profile guests visited the Bussard home, including members of the band Canned Heat, as well as Jack White, of the eponymous stripes. His daughter, Susannah, estimates that around 150 people made the pilgrimage to their basement.
Bussard's affinity for early recorded music was perhaps matched only by his love for pipes and cigars. Many visitors remarked on his ever-present Dutch Masters or other bargain sticks, with plenty of home videos showing a younger Bussard with various pipes, though he appears to have favored a long-stemmed Billiard not unlike the pipes Bing Crosby smoked. Eventually, his pipes and cigars were replaced by candy canes, but 50 years of smoking must have left its traces in the wood paneling of Bussard's basement.
... he appears to have favored a long-stemmed Billiard not unlike the pipes Bing Crosby smoked
Joe was a notoriously opinionated man, known for his particular distaste for rock and roll, which he likened to a "musical cancer." For Bussard, jazz died in 1934, and country in 1955; everything that came after was corrupted by the influence of rock and big band music, which Joe thought of as being either mindless noise, or too commercialized. Was he biased? Of course. But that dislike for new music, matched with his love for old and rare sounds, kept Joe on the hunt for 78s for the rest of his life.
It's difficult to overstate just how important his collection is to the history of American music. Bussard had discovered not a few records that contained the earliest known renditions of classic songs, some which are the only copies that have ever been found. The most notable example is the only extant copy of "Original Stack O' Lee Blues" by Long Cleve Reed and Little Harvey Hull–Down Home Boys. Recorded in 1927, it's the oldest version we have of what has become a well-known standard of early blues performance, and the only copy known to exist. The record was released by Black Patti, a short-lived endeavor from Chicago whose total production numbers in the hundreds, very little of which has survived. Bussard's basement is more than simply his personal record collection, it's a true archive of the music of the '20s and '30s that remains unmatched by any other American collection, including those of prominent universities that specialize in musicology.
Bussard's basement is ... a true archive of the music of the '20s and '30s that remains unmatched
Bussard was approached by various record labels that sought to reissue complete works of early string bands, bluesmen, and ragtime ensembles. He was happy to cooperate, and allowed the labels to release digitized versions of his records for fees well below what he could easily have asked. For fans of early blues, it's highly likely that Bussard provided the records used to create many of our favorite compilations.
With the onset of old age, Bussard's scavenging trips grew less frequent, but never stopped completely. In his final months, Joe visited a flea market in Maryland looking for records, still searching for the ever more elusive 78s to which he dedicated his life. Joe Bussard passed away on September 26th, 2022, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer at the age of 86. He is survived by his daughter Susannah. As of this writing, there are no plans to move Joe's collection. It remains in his basement, a testament to his life's work.
Bibliography:
- "Joe Bussard, Obsessive Collector of Rare Records, Dies at 86" (2022), by Richard Sandomir
- "Joe Bussard Is Feeling Adamant Today: Inside the mind of an unyielding record collector" (2007) by Skip Heller
- "Remembering Joe Bussard" (2022), by Eddie Dean
- "Joe Bussard's Frederick basement holds a whole era of swinging American music" (1992), by Tom Keyser
- "Original Stack o' Lee Blues" (1927) by Long Cleve Reed and Little Harvey Hull
- "Joe Bussard Obituary" (2022) The Guardian
- "A Savior of Abandoned American Music Contemplates His Collection," (2022) by Joe Heim
- "Joe Bussard, Who Built a Basement Temple for Music Worshipers, Dies at 86" (2022) by Joe Heim
- East Tennessee's Own WDVX — Joe Bussard
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Comments
Although it is not country music I listen to, I love the sound of the music on those 78's.. I ...there is something nostalgic about them. Thanks to people like Joe who saved them and shared them on CD or digital files or post them on their YouTube channels. Just put them on and listen and you are brought back to another time and better place!!
What a fascinating article. Why haven't more people (myself included) heard about Joe Bussard? His collection sounds priceless and irreplaceable and I hope someday it finds a safe home (I don't think an old basement is the best place to store priceless recordings.)
Outstanding articleWell done Thank you for a deep dive into American musical history
Thank you for a wonderful article.
Another great article.Thank you