The Frederick Music Man
Who knew Frederick had it’s own music mogul.
Perhaps because so much of music is rhythm — time cut into metric pieces — it has the power to rearrange, obliterate or reclaim time. So as we reach the part of the year when we become most attuned to the passage of days, it’s worth looking back at some releases that reach into the past and pull it gloriously into the present.
Appropriately, a couple of these projects come in replicas of old cigar boxes. However, only one comes with a bottle opener. The church key is included in “Fonotone Records,” a five-CD box from Atlanta’s Dust-to-Digital Records devoted to the quixotic label enterprise of Joe Bussard of Frederick, Md., record collector par excellence.
Bussard contributed some of the choicest sides from his laboriously assembled collection of 25,000 priceless 78s to Dust-to-Digital’s Grammy-nominated 2003 gospel box “Goodbye, Babylon.” The company’s new 131-track set is a monument to Bussard’s other obsession — Fonotone, which from 1956 through the late ’60s issued dozens of homemade 78s, long after the format had been displaced by the 45 rpm single.
Bussard’s love for the old-time blues, hillbilly music and hot jazz he collected was reflected in the music he recorded. You won’t hear any drums or electric instruments on Fonotone records; you will hear lots of bottleneck guitar, fiddles and, frequently, jugs (usually played by Bussard himself).
This isn’t the first time I have read about Bussard, but I didn’t know he was putting out CDs. Cool beans! Check out this site for more details or go here to buy the box set.
