78 Collectors: Why are they so weird?

I saw an amazing vintage HMV gramophone at a car boot last weekend. £30. Wish I'd taken the thing. I just love the way they're completely portable. And no batteries! Fuck a ghetto blaster...

joe bussard otm

Item: RICHARD HITTERS CAB1NEERS EVERYBODYS 1063 78RPM (180160742569)
Subject: Re: Question for item #180160742569 - RICHARD HITTERS CAB1NEERS EVERYBODYS 1063 78RPM

Q: hi, is this hot fast paced jazz, really hot, burn you hot, need a pucket of water hot- or is it slow dance music also how many records did this group do? and is everybody's record label a spinoff of victor records thankyou

i like this joe bussard guy.

ha ha, yeah, joe bussard is pretty hilarious in his claim that jazz died somewhere around 1932 ... the guy does not mince words! his stories about finding 78 collections off in the hills are practically erotica. He used to have a Web site where you could order homemade cassettes of his old 78s -- i have two of them and they're awesome! Not sure if he still does that though ...

http://www.youtube.com/user/78MAN

for all your 78 viewing needs

his claim that jazz died somewhere around 1932

This kind of opinion is normal amongst folks who are into collecting and listening to these old records. 1930 is usually the cut-off point, with a few minor exceptions into the early 30s. R. Crumb holds this view for example.

There's even a documentary about Joe Bussard... it's got some great music as well as loads of stories about how he amassed this huuuuuuuuuuge collection of ultra rare blue 78's

blues i meant...

I have the Joe Bussard compilation which came out a few years ago, absolutely fantastic, one of the best comps released in the past ten years. Worth getting a copy just for the liner notes, even if he is completely bat shit insane.

http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/51BX3RFX3VL._SS500_.jpg

What are the qualities of post-1930 jazz that are distasteful to these folks? Like what is it about "swing" that ruins it for this guy?

his stories about finding 78 collections off in the hills are practically erotica.

I have to admit, I love the stories. He tells alot of these during the Desperate Man Blues film which is great for what it is -- a film about a long-term record collector. Unlike some of the crazed loners you think of when you think of "78 collector", the film shows Joe just passionate about each record (and music generally), smoking the shit out cigars, dancing around his basement, and ready to talk about and play anything you want to hear. There's even some short clips of Bussard and John Fahey in the 1950s driving down south/west (from Maryland) into the sticks and the old mining communities hunting for records.

Here's a clip with some of Joe's yarns from the short feature about the Dust-to-Digital label (that released the above 78 collection) included on the Desperate Man Blues DVD:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGgvqlCSv1o

Bussard's so old school he doesn't even like swing.

hahaha i offically love this guy! i agree! all that hotsy totsy tomcattin' around stuff is bunko! those swing cats think they're the bee's knees!

That Bussard comp is pretty great -- all wonderful songs/recordings, amazing liner notes, etc. Haven't seen the doc on him yet, tho i think it's on my netflix queue ... but yeah, despite his ummm conservative views on jazz, he definitely doesn't come across as one of those cliched collector scum, really. He seems to really (REALLY) love that music ... and seems to love playing it for people too. nothing really weasal-y about him.

What are the qualities of post-1930 jazz that are distasteful to these folks? Like what is it about "swing" that ruins it for this guy?

They just can't stand the beat.

Rock music is garbage – Straight from hell. Look at the people who do it. Idiots, they’re like animals. 99% of ‘em’s drug heads. The Beatles are crap You ought to step on them. That’s what you do with beetles. It’s just a sign of the times, a bunch of weirdos banging crap. It’s too bad their plane made it over here. If one had to crash that should have been the one. That would have helped our music situation for years.

haha, yes the beatles' arrival here stopped cold the imminent hot jazz revival by mere days! curses!

Geir needs his own documentary.

"It was ALL DOWNHILL after they removed 'Mermaid Smiled' in favor of 'Dear God'!"

"Desperate Man Blues" movie about record collector Joe Bussard
The Bussard documentary is wonderful. Makes you want to drive to Maryland and knock on his door. And if you did, he probably wouldn't let you leave until you heard 20-25 sides.

all that hotsy totsy tomcattin' around stuff is bunko!
haha

these are the 78s i got yesterday. first ones ever. bad habit to get into, but whatevs.

Mohammed Ef Abdel Wahab on Baidaphon. titles in arabic.
Cripple Clarence Lofton "Strut That Thing" / "Monkey Man Blues" repress on Hot Jazz Club of America label.
henry "red" allen "Algiers Stomp" / "When Did You Leave Heaven?" on Vocalion 3302
big maceo "I got the blues" / "Why should I hang Around" on Bluebird 8939
the rev. a.w. nix "black diamond express to hell" parts 1 & 2 on UK Decca 9720
wilmoth houdini & his humming birds "lizzie quit joe" / "drunk and disorderly" on Romeo 751 (this one is rather beat up and grayed.)
faye adams "hurts me to my heart" / "ain't gonna tell" on Herald 434.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Lot-of-40-000-78-RPM-Records-from-The-Music-Exchange_W0QQitemZ320307829509QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item320307829509&_trkparms=72%3A570%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1308&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Christ, that's cheap.

...and here come the last-minute bidders

Damn. 40,000 records for $500. What a bargain.

if i had the space & money i would have bid on that shit in a heartbeat. even with the additional costs of getting them driven from KC to NYC.

http://www.tedstaunton.com/labels/1900-1909.pages/Disque.Arion/image/disque.arion.gif

i still have a big box of these (my dad's collection) in the closet. unfortunately the only known valuable one (elvis' love me tender) cracked right through the middle and broke into pieces. I have no idea what the others are.

New acquisitions:
Pathe-Actuelle 020893 - Original Memphis Five "Four O'Clock Bues" b/w New Synco Jazz Band "Whoah, Tille, Take Your Time"
HJCA 118 Edith Johnson "Ain't No More To Be Said" / "Heart Aching Blues" (Roosevelt Sykes, piano)
Bluebird 7179 Washboard Sam & His Washboard Band "I Love All My Women" / Tommy Griffin "Hey Hey Blues"

Coming from ebay:
Paramount 33023 Louise & Ferera "O Sole Mio" / "Honolulu March"
Okeh 40204 Fiddlin' John Carson "Ain't Gonna Rain No M" / "Alabama Gal"
Conqueror 8170 Tom Darby & Jimmie Tarlton "Let's Be Friends Again" / "When I Take My Vacation In Heaven"

I think this might become a new addictive and potentially expensive new hobby, particularly if I keep buying things on ebay when I'm drunk.

The Washboard Same side of the Bluebird from today sadly sounds worse than I remember it sounding when I played it at the store. Oh well. I traded a pixies t-shirt i don't wear anymore for them.

http://www.tedstaunton.com/labels/1910-1919.pages/Parlophon.1/image/parlophon.1.gif

http://www.tedstaunton.com/labels/1920-1929.pages/Pathe.Actuelle.2/pathe.actuelle.2.htm

http://www.tedstaunton.com/labels/1920-1929.pages/Grey.Gull.1/image/grey.gull.1.gif

http://www.tedstaunton.com/labels/1920-1929.pages/Aeolian.Vocalion.2/image/aeolianvocalion2.gif

http://www.tedstaunton.com/labels/1920-1929.pages/Mimosa.3/image/mimosa.3.gif

http://www.tedstaunton.com/labels/1920-1929.pages/Homo.Baby/image/homo.baby.gif

huh, huh, "homo-baby"

http://www.tedstaunton.com/labels/1920-1929.pages/Nadsco/image/nadsco.gif

Nadsco OTM.

http://www.tedstaunton.com/labels/1900-1909.pages/Busy.Bee.Record/image/busy.bee.record.gif
Founded in 1904, this company had a Sherwin Bisbee as one of its principals (which probably gave rise to the label name). Originally, the company made machines which played outsized cylindrical records, but as the public began to show a preference for discs, switched their product line over in 1906

http://www.tedstaunton.com/labels/1920-1929.pages/Beltona.1920.1929.1/image/beltona.1920.1929.1.gif

i might scan a bunch of vintage 78 sleeves & post them on this thread if i can't find an archive readymade online.

http://www.tedstaunton.com/labels/1940-1949.pages/Beltona.1/image/beltona.1.gif

http://www.tedstaunton.com/labels/1940-1949.pages/Beltona.2/image/beltona.2.gif

Just over a cent a disc on that ebay auction, that is insanely cheap. You only need to cherry pick a handful of them and you'll be in profit.

Probably already cherry-picked, no? Outside of collectible labels are most 78s actually worth anything? I guess most collectors just trade them with each other.

wow. beautiful labels.

Jesus, talk about eye candy! LOL at "Homo-Baby", too.

why do i spend all my spare time now reading 78 auction lists?
help me.

also i want old issues of 78 quarterly.

Am now on the hunt for Annette Hanshaw records. The most charming and disarming of the pre-war pop-jazz honky chanteuses.

https://consequence.net/2023/08/internet-archive-lawsuit/

Major record labels including Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Capitol have filed a copyright lawsuit against the Internet Archive and its founder Brewster Kahle over the “Great 78 Project,” an initiative aimed to preserve and provide free access to pre-1972 musical works from artists like Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Louis Armstrong.

In the suit filed Friday (August 11th), the labels claim that the project — which Internet Archive describes as a hub for “the preservation, research and discovery of 78rpm records” — violates copyright laws, and argues that by “transferring copies of those files to members of the public, Internet Archive has reproduced and distributed without authorization Plaintiffs’ protected sound recordings.”

https://great78.archive.org/

in other news, new r crumb yoga mat just dropped

https://cdn.platformart.com/original_images/a119a596-1581-4568-a757-a6818bb52cb2.RCRUMB_YOGAMAT_unrolling_animation_1.gif

https://www.platformart.com/artworks/r-crumb/shape-up-yoga-mat

I guess this is as close to a Dust-to-Digital thread there is, so might as well post this (very cool) news here:

https://dusttodigital.substack.com/p/dust-to-digital-radio-is-here-new

Earlier this year, the Dust-to-Digital Foundation partnered with the University of California, Santa Barbara to begin sharing something extraordinary: 50,000 recordings we spent the past 15 years digitizing from collectors, now available to anyone who wants to hear them. These rare performances and historical recordings can be explored on demand through UCSB’s platform — a deep well of musical discovery.

Today, we are bringing that same material to you in a new way: Dust-to-Digital Radio, broadcasting 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on the Dust-to-Digital website and via Apple iOS and Android apps.

Throughout 2026, we will be building out the station’s programming to draw from three main sources: the historic recordings the Dust-to-Digital Foundation has rescued and digitized, the Dust-to-Digital label’s catalog of award-winning releases, and the contemporary performances from around the world that we share on Dust-to-Digital’s social media. It’s a continuous journey through time and place, curated by us, always playing. Whether you tune in at noon or midnight, you will encounter music that deserves to be heard — recordings that might have been lost forever, performances etched in time, voices and instruments from across generations and continents. Additionally, the mobile app includes liner notes for what you are hearing, giving context and story to each broadcast. It is an infinite box set in your pocket.

Two years later, and that limited edition yoga mat is still available. It's almost like the Venn diagram of yoga mat owners and Crumb admirers solely overlapped with Aline.

it doesn't seem like it is for sale still? i'm sure there were plenty of people who like yoga and crumb but didn't want to pay $250 for a novelty collector yoga mat