Frank Hutchison, “K.C. Blues” / “Hell Bound Train,” Okeh 45452, 1929.
Skip James, “Devil Got My Woman” / “Cypress Grove Blues,” Paramount 13088, 1931.
Skip James, “Drunken Spree” / “What Am I to Do Blues,” Paramount 13111, 1931.
Blind Lemon Jefferson, “That Black Snake Moan” / “Stocking Feet Blues,” Paramount 12407, 1926.
Robert Johnson, “Cross Road Blues” / “Ramblin’ on My Mind,” Vocalion 03519, 1937.
Robert Johnson, “From Four Until Late” / “Hell Hound on My Trail,” Vocalion 03623, 1937.
Tommy Johnson, “Alcohol and Jake Blues” / “Riding Horse,” Paramount 12950, 1929.
Angelas LeJeune, “Perrodin Two Step” / “Valse de la Louisiane,” Brunswick 369, 1929.
Dennis McGee and Sady Courville, “Mon Chere Bebe Creole” / “Madame Young Donnez Moi Votre Plus Jolie Blonde,” Vocalion 5319, 1929.
Arthur Miles, “The Lonely Cowboy Part 1” / “The Lonely Cowboy Part 2,” Victor 40156, 1929.
Chubby Parker, “Davey Crockett” / “His Parents Haven’t Seen Him Since,” Conqueror 7895, 1931.
Chubby Parker, “Nickety Nackety Now Now Now” / “Whoa Mule Whoa,” Silvertone 5011, 1927.
Charley Patton, “High Water Everywhere Part 1” / “High Water Everywhere Part 2,” Paramount 12909, 1929.
Charley Patton, “Mississippi Boweavil Blues” / “Screamin’ and Hollerin’ the Blues,” Paramount 12805, 1929.
Charley Patton, “Pony Blues” / “Banty Rooster Blues,” Paramount 12792, 1929.
Charley Patton, “Some These Days I’ll Be Gone” / “Frankie and Albert,” Paramount 13110, 1929.
Ma Rainey, “Ma Rainey’s Mystery Record” / “Honey, Where You Been So Long?,” Paramount 12200, 1924.
Long Cleve Reed and Little Harvey Hull, the Down Home Boys, “Original Stack O’Lee Blues” / “Mama You Don’t Know How,” Black Patti 8030, 1927.
Sylvester Weaver, “Guitar Blues” / “Guitar Rag,” Okeh 8109, 1923.
Geeshie Wiley, “Last Kind Words Blues” / “Skinny Leg Blues,” Paramount 12951, 1930.
Alexis Zoumbas, “Tzamara Arvanitiko” / “Syrtos Sta Dyo,” Columbia 56094-F, 1928.
Compilations on Long-Playing Vinyl
The Country Blues, Folkways, 1959.
Country Blues Encores 1927–1935, Origin Jazz Library, 1965.
The Mississippi Blues, 1927–1940, Origin Jazz Library, 1963.
Really! The Country Blues, 1927–1933, Origin Jazz Library, 1962.
The Rise and Fall of Paramount Records Vol. 1, Revenant, 2013 (LP and MP3).
Robert Johnson: King of the Delta Blues Singers, Columbia, 1961.
The Rural Blues: A Study of the Vocal and Instrumental Resources, RBF, 1960.
Compilations on Compact Disc
Aimer et Perdre: To Love & to Lose Songs, 1917–1934, Tompkins Square, 2012*.
American Primitive, Vol. I: Raw Pre-War Gospel (1926–1936), Revenant, 1997.
American Primitive, Vol. II: Pre-War Revenants (1897–1939), Revenant, 2005.
The Anthology of American Folk Music, Smithsonian Folkways, 1997 (CD reissue).
Five Days Married & Other Laments, Angry Mom, 2013*.
Fonotone: Frederick, Maryland 1956–1969, Dust-to-Digital, 2005.
Goodbye, Babylon, Dust-to-Digital, 2003.
Skip James: Hard Time Killin’ Floor, Yazoo, 2005.
Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings, Columbia, 1990*.
Mama, I’ll Be Long Gone: The Complete Recordings of Amédé Ardoin, Tompkins Square, 2011.
Masters of the Delta Blues, Yazoo, 1991.
Mississippi John Hurt: 1928 Sessions, Yazoo, 1990.
Opika Pende: Africa at 78 rpm, Dust-to-Digital, 2011.
The Return of the Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of, Yazoo, 2012.
Screamin’ and Hollerin’ the Blues: The Worlds of Charley Patton, Revenant, 2001.
The Secret Museum of Mankind, Yazoo, 1995–1998.
The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of, Yazoo, 2006.
Victrola Favorites: Artifacts from Bygone Days, Dust-to-Digital, 2008.
To What Strange Place: The Music of the Ottoman-American Diaspora, 1916–1929, Tompkins Square, 2011*.
Work Hard, Play Hard, Pray Hard: Hard Time, Good Time, and End Time Music, 1923–1936, Tompkins Square, 2012*.
Alexis Zoumbas: Lament For Epirus, 1926-1928, Angry Mom, 2014*.
(* Denotes a release that is also available on LP.)
Index
African Dance Band of the Cold Storage Commission of Southern Rhodesia, 221
African recordings, 176–77, 221–22
“Aimer et Perdre” (Joe and Cleoma Falcon), 33
Aimer et Perdre (Tompkins Square), 35
Albanian folk tradition, 36, 43, 190–92, 196
“Albanian Nightingale” (Zoumbas), 197
“Alcohol and Jake Blues” (Johnson), 79
Allen, Ray, 145
Amato, Pasquale, 29
American Folklife Center (AFC), Library of Congress, 163, 164
American Primitive, Vol. I and Vol. II (Revenant Records), 36
Anal Staircase, The (Coil), 15
Andersen, Lale, 186
Anderson, Gene, 47, 48–49
Anthology Film Archives, New York, 148
Anthology of American Folk Music, The (Smithsonian Folkways), 136–43
categories in, 138, 165
cultural impact of, 136–37
folk revival and, 142–43, 182
Guthrie on, 134
range of music in, 38, 133–34, 139–40, 213
responses to, 141–42, 144, 152
Smith’s compilation of, 133–34, 135, 137–41, 142, 145–46, 147, 150–51, 153
success of, 145, 152–53, 156
Antique Phonograph Music Program (radio program), 233–34, 235
Archive of Folk Culture, Library of Congress, 163
Ardoin, Amédé, 41, 191
Armstrong, Louis, 115, 123, 222
Asch, Moe, 134–35, 145–46
Ashford, R. T., 69, 74
Asperger’s syndrome, 225–26, 228, 229
autism, 39, 225, 226, 228, 229
Autry, Gene, 161–62, 166–68, 169, 201
Avery, Tex, 238
Bailey, Kid, 57–61, 63
“Banty Rooster Blues” (Patton), 74
Barbecue Bob (Robert Hicks), 128, 180
Baron-Cohen, Simon, 228–29
Barrett, Edward Jenner, 207
Barry, John M., 76
Barth, Bill, 28
Baudrillard, Jean, 5–6
Bear Family Records, 185–88
Beck, 152, 211
Berliner, Emile, 10
Big Joe’s (Jazz Record Center; Indian Joe’s), New York, 117–21, 122, 125, 130, 131–32
“Big Leg Blues” (Hurt), 15, 16, 17
Bilbyl, Riza, 43
“Black Bottom” (Johnny Hamp’s Kentucky Serenaders), 89
Black Patti label, 206–9, 212
“Black Snake Moan” (Jefferson), 48
Blackwood, Dean, 239
Blake, Blind, 101, 105, 113–15, 218–19, 237, 238
“Blind Thomas Blues” (Fahey), 199
Blue Bird label, 67, 72
bluegrass music, 27, 32, 186, 204
Blues Mafia, 127–28, 129, 182
Bostwick, Dorothy Larson, 72
Bracey, Ishman, 60
Breaux, Cleoma, 23
Bristol Sessions, 1927–1928, The (Bear Family), 185
Broadway label, 67, 72
Brower, Eden, 9, 14, 22
Brown, Cecil, 210
Brown, Ron, 36, 201
Brown, Willie, 57–61, 63, 104
Brunnquell, Jim, 94
Brunswick Records, 57, 59, 67, 77, 161
Bryan, Sarah, 217–22
Buckley, Jeff, 107
“Buddy Won’t You Roll Down the Line” (Macon), 140
Bulawayo Sweet Rhythms Band, 221–2
2
Burhop, Walter, 106–7
Burke’s Register of Record Collectors, 166
Burnett, Dick, 160
Bussard, Esther, 203–04
Bussard, Joe, 189–214
Black Patti records and, 206–09, 212
as collector, 146, 189–99, 201–14, 237
Fahey’s work and, 199–200
Calt, Stephen, 21, 66–67, 69, 80, 125
“Candy Man Blues” (Hurt), 156, 157
Cannon Jug Stompers, 15
Cantwell, Robert, 141
Cardinal, Roger, 119
“Careless Love” (Fuller), 129
Carolina Tar Heels, 140, 155
Carr, Leroy, 182
Carson, Fiddlin’ John, 146
Carter Family, 49, 133, 155, 185, 208
Catawba Farm Fest, 45–46
Cat Scratch Fever (Nugent), 5
Cave, Nick, 152
Charles, Harry, 73
Charters, Samuel, 70, 182
Chicago Defender (newspaper), 72, 75, 99
“Christopher King Plays Geeshie Wiley” (recording), 38
Cincinnati Jug Band, 151
Clapton, Eric, 183
Clark, Helen, 67
Clauberg, Big Joe, 118–20, 125, 131–32
Cofer Brothers, 220
Cohen, John, 138, 141, 147
Cohen, Leonard, 183
Coil, 15
Coley, Byron, 28
collecting
beginning of hobby of, 119
Dunner on, 22–23, 161
Heneghan on, 10, 11, 12, 13, 18, 21, 23, 82
King on, 32–33, 34, 42
Nagoski on, 179–80, 181–82
obsessive nature of, 18, 224–25, 226
possible reasons for, 4–5, 21, 22–23, 32–33, 62–63, 179, 223–24
prices of 78s and, 11, 48, 79, 97, 123–24
Reynolds on, 62–63
seduction of the chase in, 13, 19–20, 24, 36, 48, 99, 100–4, 169–70
Smith on, 136
sources in, 12, 15, 41–42, 46–52, 81, 97, 99, 100–1, 113–155, 117–21, 125, 131–32, 166–68
Tefteller on, 97
Ward on, 177, 178
Wahle on, 165
Weize on perspective in, 187–88
Whelan on, 54–55
collector biographies
Sarah Bryan, 217–22
Joe Bussard, 189–214
Christopher King, 31–52
James McKune, 121–31
Ian Nagoski, 179–85
Jerron Paxton, 235–38
Harry Smith, 133–53
John Tefteller, 96–107, 114–15
Don Wahle, 156–71
Pete Whelan, 53–58
collectors
archival value of recordings and, 11
authenticity and, 199–200
as authorities, 62–63
bartering and trading among, 38, 97, 166–67, 203, 213
Blues Mafia among, 127–28, 129, 187
context and, 42–43, 44, 62, 139, 163, 169, 175, 176, 177, 191, 230
field recordings and, 163–64
grading system used by, 26–27
historical aspects of recordings and, 12–13, 21, 61, 62, 96, 127, 175, 177, 225, 237–38
hoarding and, 5, 119, 224–25
impulse to master what masters you by, 62–63, 119
Noah as first, 119
preservationist work of, 12–13, 121, 126–27, 188, 234, 237–38
reaction to Anthology of American Folk Music by, 141–42
reasons for collecting given by, 4–5, 21, 22–23, 32–33, 179, 223–24
responses to music by, 16–17, 23–24, 32–33, 38–39, 57, 63, 103, 123, 125, 197
sharing of information by, 6–7, 185–86, 200
stereotype of, 4
subculture of, 4–5
women as, 222–23
Collins, Sam, 122
Columbia Records, 67, 68, 89, 145, 183–84, 190, 203
Conte, Pat, 160, 174
Corso, Gregory, 135
Country Blues, The (Folkways), 182
country blues music, 15, 16, 27–28, 43, 47, 52, 57, 73, 79, 95, 125, 128, 159, 182, 185, 199, 204, 214, 224, 226, 238
Courville, Sady, 197
cowboy music, 159–60
“Crazy Blues” (Smith), 68
Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (Pavement), 5
“Cross Road Blues” (Johnson), 58
Crumb, Robert, 12, 18, 135, 182
Cumella, Michael, 233–35, 238–39, 240
Curry, Ben, 102, 140
“Daddy Blues” (Hunter), 68
Dalhart, Vernon, 204
“Davey Crockett” (Parker), 19
Davis, Gary, 236, 238
Dean, Eddie, 28, 203–4, 205
Death, Blind Joe (name used by John Fahey), 28, 199, 237
de Bry, Theodor, 138
Decca Records, 78, 222
Delaney, Mattie, 60
Delta blues, 60, 73–74, 76, 183–84, 219
Dennett, Fred, 207
“Denomination Blues” (Phillips), 22
Denver, John, 51
“Devil Got My Woman” (James), 13, 19–21, 57, 77
“Devil’s Haircut” (Beck), 211
“Diamond Joe” (Cofer Brothers), 220
Dickerson, Aletha, 69
Dinosaur Jr., 3
“Dissatisfied Blues” (Blake), 113–14, 115
Dixie String Band, 73
“Don’t Pan Me” (Hunter), 68
“Don’t Stop Believin’ ” (Journey), 142
“Down on Me” (Eddie Head and His Family), 49
“Downhearted Blues” (Hunter), 126
“Downhearted Blues” (Smith), 126
“Downhearted Blues” (Taylor), 126
Dozewiecki, Victor, 166–68
Driggs, Frank, 183
“Drunken Spree” (James), 57
Dunner, Sherwin, 22–24, 161–62
Dust-to-Digital label, 174, 176, 199
Dylan, Bob, 20, 143, 183, 211, 237
Eagle, Bob, 218
Earl Johnson and His Clodhoppers, 159
Earle, Eugene, 146, 160, 218
“Early Morning Blues” (Blake), 219
East River String Band, 22
eBay, 19, 79, 97, 99, 157
Eddie Head and His Family, 49
Edison, Thomas, 10, 14, 65, 67
Edison cylinders, 10, 119
Edison phonographs, 10, 65–66, 225
Edison Records, 65–66
Edison Tone Tests, 66
Edwards, John, 218
Eigo, Jim, 29
Eliot, T. S., 162
Elliott, Ramblin’ Jack, 143, 237
Elsner, John, 119
Emerson, Ralph Waldo (pipe organist), 207
Evans, David, 60
Excavated Shellac (website), 176–77
Facebook, 23, 34, 58, 113
Fahey, John, 27–28, 136–37, 199, 237, 239
Fairfield, Frank, 174
Falcon, Joe and Cleoma, 23, 33
Famous Blue Jay Singers, 102
Fatsis, Stefan, 240
“Fe Fe Ponchaux” (Breaux and Falcon), 23
field recordings, 163–64
Fields, Arthur, 67
“Fifty Miles of Elbow Room” (McGee), 142
Filzen, Sarah, 69, 71, 73, 77
Five Days Married & Other Laments (Angry Mom), 190–92, 196
“Flat Wheel Train Blues” (Gay and Wellman), 161
Flaxer, Hal, 120
Fludd, Robert, 138
folk music, 16, 19, 36, 74, 124, 128, 129, 133–34, 135, 136–37, 141–43, 153, 163–64, 169, 182, 186, 190–92, 211
Folkways Records, 133, 134, 145, 147, 182
Fonotone (Dust-to-Digital), 199
Fonotone label, 199
Ford, Rob, 218
Foye, Raymond, 144
Frankie Franko and His Louisianans, 15
Freeman, Dave, 146
Freud, Sigmund, 187,
210
Frost, Randy O., 225
Fuller, Blind Boy, 49, 129, 157
“Future Blues” (Brown), 58
Gallo, Dave, 112
Gallo Record Company, 221
Gallotone label, 221, 222
Garcia, Jerry, 143, 144
Gardner, Julie, 78
Gaspard, Blind Uncle, 36, 38, 40, 197, 231
Gay, Red, 161
Gegenhuber, Kurt, 139, 140, 141
General Phonograph Corporation, 68
Gennett, Fred, 207
Gennett Records, 74, 122, 129, 207, 209, 211
Ghost World (film), 20, 182
Gillespie, Dizzy, 135
Ginsberg, Allen, 135, 136, 143–44
“God Don’t Never Change”(Johnson), 33
Goldsmith, Peter, 134
“Gonna Die with a Hammer in My Hand” (Williamson Brothers and Curry), 140
Goodman, Benny, 123, 125
gospel music, 16, 142, 156, 180, 199, 237
“Got the Farm Land Blues” (Carolina Tar Heels), 140
grading system, 26–27
Grafton, Wisconsin, 95–96, 105–07
Paramount studio in, 19, 36–37, 75, 77, 79
Paramount pressing plant in, 70–72, 77–79, 92, 96, 100–03
“Grandma Blues” (Brown), 57, 104
Grand Ole Opry, The (radio program), 19
Grateful Dead, 144, 211
“Guitar Blues” (Weaver), 49
“Guitar Rag” (Weaver), 49
Gustafson, Dean, 192–93
Guthrie, Woody, 124, 134, 211
Haley, Bill, 187
Hamilton, Marybeth, 120, 124–25, 126, 127, 128, 130
Hammond, John, 183
Hamp, Johnny, 89
Handy, W. C., 240
Harry Smith Project, 152
Heller, Sig, 75
“Hell Hound on My Trail”(Johnson), 40, 129
Heneghan, John, 3, 9–24, 26, 58, 82
Hiam, Jonathan, 147, 148–49, 150, 151, 240
Hicks, Robert (Barbecue Bob), 128, 180
Hicks, Rodger, 46, 47–49, 115
“High Water Everywhere” (Patton), 75–77
Hill, King Solomon (name used by Joe Holmes), 102–4, 114
Hillsville VFW Flea Market and Gun Show, Virginia, 41–42, 46–52, 113, 115, 202, 218
History Detectives (TV show), 79
hoarding and, 5, 119, 224–25
Hohn, Donovan, 50, 51
Holmes, Joe (known as King Solomon Hill), 102–4, 114
Honig, Peter, 218, 220–21
Hoskins, Tom, 156
House, Son, 58, 60, 77, 79, 105, 127, 182
How Bluegrass Music Destroyed My Life (Fahey), 28
Howell, Peg Leg, 220
Hull, Little Harvey, 209
Hunter, Alberta, 68, 126
Hurt, Mississippi John, 15, 16, 17, 140, 141, 155–57
Hutchison, Frank, 213
“If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day” (Johnson), 183
Do Not Sell At Any Price Page 27
