Desperate Man Blues: Discovering the Roots of American Music

Desperate Man Blues tells the story of self-proclaimed king of record collectors Joseph E. Bussard, Jr. of Frederick Maryland. Joe has amassed probably the greatest collection of 78 rpm recordings of country, blues, jazz, cajun and gospel music in the world. He has spent most of of his waking hours in pursuit of old 78s. To call it a hobby would be an insult: It’s his life.

Collectors and musicians come to see and hear first-hand what is considered to be the most vital, historically important privately owned collection of early-20th-century American music. Although other formidable private record collections exist, what makes Bussard such an undeniable force in old-time music circles isn't simply his collection but what he has done with it over the years. It is a fusion of obsessive, almost pathological hoarding and an equally strong impulse for rampant dissemination. He has got to own the record, yes, but he wants the whole world to hear it, too.

Audio Interviews about this Title

Joe Bussard discusses record collecting with Justin Levy:

Acknowledgments

"Check out the DVD Desperate Man Blues. Joe'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

"It's nice to have a DVD of this great documentary on Joe Bussard, plus another featurette, King of All Record Collectors, and other bonus stuff. Bussard is a stone gas, grooving around his basement amidst one of the finest collections of pre-war 78s ever assembled. A few nice archival shots of Fahey, too. And the stories are hilarious."
— Byron Coley and Thurston Moore, #4 on their Top 80 of 2006

Excerpts from Selected Reviews

Foxy Digitalis: "We know about Alan Lomax, John Hammond, and of a few others who spent most of their life looking for artists who told their story and the story of America in the same line. Joe Bussard belongs among those archeologists of the heart."

Urban Pollution: "The DVD and CD release of Desperate Man Blues should be celebrated by music lovers everywhere, as it genuinely documents the passion of a great collector of early American records, Joe Bussard."