Down In The Basement. Joe Bussard's Treasure Trove of Vintage 78s 1926 1937 Jewel Case with 28 page booklet

Customer Reviews

GLAD THIS CD WASN'T LEFT " DOWN IN THE BASEMENT "

2007-07-29
After seeing " DESPERATE MAN BLUES " on TV; I found out about this CD & knew that I had to own it. Even though ( as I indicated in a prior review ) I am NOT a 78 rpm Collector; I do know that this CD really is a TREASURE TROVE of some extremely special records that are definitely worth listening to. Kudos to JOE BUSSARD for being the superb Collector that he so obviously is & for putting this incredible Collection together !!!......My only question is ( as other reviewers have also inquired )......JOE; HAVING SOME AWARENESS OF THE EXTENT OF YOUR COLLECTION.....WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO FOLLOW UP WITH ANOTHER CD LIKE THIS ?????

ear candy

2007-06-26
Sell your shoes cause your goin to heaven after you play this one! You can finally say you've heard it all. Top drawer assemblage of roots, blues, and just plain fun. Uncle Joe say it ain't so... give us another, PLEASE!

terrific collection of early songs

2007-02-12
If you're interested in the history of US music, as I am, you'll find this a fine addition. Cleaned up as well as can be expected but still some hum & hiss...but not enough to be distracting.

another great release from OLD HAT.

2006-12-26
everything i've ever bought on the old hat label has been fantastic, and this is no exception. a must have disc for fans of old time music. and if you have no old time music discs, this would be as good a place as any to start with. great sound and a variety of musical styles make this disc a complete winner.

Will Interest Lovers of Roots Music

2006-07-15
A generous 24-track helping of some of record collector extraordinare Joe Bussard's favorites. The examples included run the gamut of early 20th centruy roots music ranging from Hillybilly music to Blues, Jazz, Jug Bands and beyond.

Sound quality is top notch -- these guys really know how to do 78-RPM transfers. Also Joe's records seem to be in excellent condition to begin with so not a lot of noise reduction is required. This is one of the very finest sounding discs of 78-RPM transfers that I have heard.

Packaging is also lavish with a 70 page booklet that contains annotations for each of the 24 tracks, and lots of interesting photos of vintage record labels and packaging, as well as several essays and stories about Joe's record collecting career. There's much of interest here for those who love Roots music.

A total package

2006-02-04
Declan McManus Pumps It Up. Joe Bussard. "He's an eccentric record collector who's preserved all sorts of magical corners of music - although he says things like, 'There are no good jazz records made after 1927.'" Elvis Costello - Esquire UK October 2005

"This is the music of poor whites and blacks: wild-ass jazz and string-band hillbilly, surreal yodels and king snake moans, lightning-bolt blues and whorehouse romps and orgasmic gospel. It's all anti-pop, anti-sentimental: the raw sounds of the city gutter and the roadside ditch." Desperate Man Blues by Eddie Dean - Da Capo Best Music Writing 2000

"Joe has spent more than 50 years pursuing his purpose with a single-mindedness bordering on mania. And his purpose is no less than collecting and preserving the vast wealth of American vernacular music that was recorded on fragile shellac discs during the early decades of this century." A Visit and Interview with Record Collector Joseph E. Bussard, Jr by Marshall Wyatt - Old-Time Herald Spring 1999 - oldhatrecords.com/BussardInt.html

24 Rare Gems From The King Of Record Collectors - String Bands, Blues, Jazz, Country, Cajun, Gospel. Profusely illustrated, 28-page full-color booklet includes biographical essay, fully annotated discography, and (online) firsthand accounts of Joe's record collecting adventures. 72 minutes of newly, digitally remastered music. Jewel case, second edition.

Treasure trove is right! 2006-01-27
This title aptly describes this CD of Joe Bussard's collection of rare hillbilly, jazz and blues tunes of the 20s and 30s.

Some genuine Black folklore and one of the rarest records of all time (from the Black Swan label of the 20s) appears in "Stack O' Lee Blues." Then the legendary Blind Blake does a 20s style rap on "Hastings Street" (then the main drag in Detroit's ghetto, John Lee Hooker would later sing about this street). Bessie Brown's extremely raw "Song from a Cotton Field" is a blunt-no holds barred unsentimental look at Black sharecroppers. A VERY early protest song. Hard to believe she was allowed to record this at the time. As for the Hillbilly tunes, they're also fun. The ever-entertaining Uncle Dave Macon charms us with a banjo solo of the hymn "Rock of Ages" before breaking down into his usual swing-your-partner brand of hokum. Oh what FUN!

If listening to tunes that grandma and grandpa enjoyed while cranking up the old Victrola is not your idea of a good time, you may change your mind after a listen to this! Also recommeded, "Stomp and Swerve" and "Lost Sounds" form Archophone records.

FOUR STARS- BUT NOT FIVE 2006-01-04
THERE IS NO NEED TO GO INTO WHO JOE BUSSARD IS, HE IS A LEGEND AMONG RECORD COLLECTORS. HE HAS THE LARGEST PRIVATELY OWNED COLLECTION OF 78'S IN THE WORLD. THIS CD IS A SNIPPET OF WHAT HE HAS IN HIS BASEMENT. I LIKE THE CD BUT I THINK THERE IS TOO MUCH "HILLBILLY" MUSIC. NOT SURPRISING SINCE THAT KIND OF MUSIC IS REALLY JOE'S PASSION. I AM MORE INCLINED TO LISTEN TO HOT JAZZ, RAGTIME, HAWAIIAN, AND BLUES, BUT THAT'S JUST MY PERSONAL PREFERENCE. ADDENDUM TO ORIGINAL REVIEW: FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DIDN'T LIKE MY REVIEW OF THIS RELEASE, I WOULD DIRECT YOUR ATTENTION TO ANOTHER CD FROM OLD HAT, CALLED "GOOD FOR WHAT AILS YOU" (MUSIC OF THE MEDICINE SHOWS 1926-1937). THIS CD IS INFINITELY MUCH BETTER, AND A LOT LESS "HILLBILLY". DON'T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT, PLAY EACH ONE OF THEM AND YOU TELL ME WHICH ONE YOU THINK IS BETTER.

Fantastic! 2005-12-12
It's fitting that my 78th review on Amazon is for this CD of 78s. This is one of the best CDs I've acquired in some time. Not only is the CD packed with two dozen recorded gems, but the accompanying booklet is one of the best I've seen. Yes, this collection is more about Joe Bussard and his collection than about the music itself--but that's not a bad thing. To the collectors: don't worry--discographical information and brief paragraphs about each tune on the disc are included.The collection is an assortment of jazz, blues, and "hillbilly" records from the 1920s and 1930s, most of them quite rare. The sound quality is marvelous! The producers were careful to use only minimal noise reduction, with none of that artificial reverb or phony stereo that ruins so many other reissues of vintage recordings. The result is not CD-quality surround sound, rather, you feel like you're listening to brand-new, clean copies of the original 78s on good equipment. You'll be amazed how nice these old records can sound! The booklet provides some fascinating anecdotes into Joe Bussard's collecting life, including stories about how he came to own many of the records on this CD. As you read, you'll follow Joe down the backroads of Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and West Virginia, knocking on doors asking for "old records." Collectors will instantly spot taht in some cases, only two or three known copies of a particular 78 on this CD are known to exist. Thank goodness Mr. Bussard is keeping them safe and sharing them with producers of reissues of vintage material. This is a CD I play often, with one of my absolute favorites on the disc being "Get the 'L' on Down the Road." With some hot bass-slappin', hotter jug blowin', and even hotter lyrics, that one's worth the price of the disc alone! There's lots more where these records came from. Let's hope more of them make their way on to CDs like this one. Highly recommended!

Pretty Darn Good! 2005-12-06
This is a nice, if somewhat random, look at a hard-core record collector's collection. It's a great album for someone who's new to old music and wants to get a feel for what types of things are out there. However, most people who are already readily familiar with these early genres and early musicians will more appreciate recordings like "Folks, He Sure Do Pull Some Bow", "Good For What Ails You: The Music of the Medicine Show", "The Roots of Robert Johnson" and other, more specific collections. All in all, though, this is a great album. It's nicely sequenced and makes for particularly nice road-trip listening.