The best part of this documentary was when Joe Bussard was asked what he thought of rock music. He described it as a cancer which has destroyed all of American music since its inception. When you think about it, he's probably right.
As he says, it's music played by idiots who can't even play their instruments well, have to use electronic gimmickry to hide their incompetence, have no knowledge of the music of the past, and was meant to appeal to immature children.
This is coming from Bussard's viewpoint as a musician. He demonstrates that he can play the guitar, as well as the mandolin and banjo, very well.
Today, rock music is used on every commercial on TV to push any type of product you can imagine.
All types of rock are used- Punk, New Wave, Hard Rock, etc... ad infinitum.
The fact that Bussard collects music of the 20s and 30s (and some blues and country up to the 50s) is part of his effort to preserve non-commercial American music and make it available for people to appreciate.
He does this by playing his 78s on his radio show and offering to make cassette tapes of his rare records for a few dollars.
Bussard was a "trust fund baby" and has never had a steady job, so he has been able to spend all of his 78 years hunting for the American music described above.
The film shows him going on some record hunts and listening to his favorite records in his basement of 25,000 rare records.
It could have been more informative by interviewing some musicologists (although Bussard has nothing but disdain for them)and people in the present or past record business to make it a little more rounded a viewpoint, but the director didn't seem interested in that aspect of the subject.
On a completely unrelated aspect of this film- does anyone know what breed Bussard's dog was? He looked a lot like mine, a Briquet Griffon Vendeen.
As he says, it's music played by idiots who can't even play their instruments well, have to use electronic gimmickry to hide their incompetence, have no knowledge of the music of the past, and was meant to appeal to immature children.
This is coming from Bussard's viewpoint as a musician. He demonstrates that he can play the guitar, as well as the mandolin and banjo, very well.
Today, rock music is used on every commercial on TV to push any type of product you can imagine.
All types of rock are used- Punk, New Wave, Hard Rock, etc... ad infinitum.
The fact that Bussard collects music of the 20s and 30s (and some blues and country up to the 50s) is part of his effort to preserve non-commercial American music and make it available for people to appreciate.
He does this by playing his 78s on his radio show and offering to make cassette tapes of his rare records for a few dollars.
Bussard was a "trust fund baby" and has never had a steady job, so he has been able to spend all of his 78 years hunting for the American music described above.
The film shows him going on some record hunts and listening to his favorite records in his basement of 25,000 rare records.
It could have been more informative by interviewing some musicologists (although Bussard has nothing but disdain for them)and people in the present or past record business to make it a little more rounded a viewpoint, but the director didn't seem interested in that aspect of the subject.
On a completely unrelated aspect of this film- does anyone know what breed Bussard's dog was? He looked a lot like mine, a Briquet Griffon Vendeen.