We Celebrate 1,000 Posts with 19 Busters

My namesake above appears unenthusiastic, but I am pleased to be marking an even (or uneven) 1,000 posts on this blog, spread out over the last 12 years. To celebrate, I've put together a post consisting of 19 tracks either involving artists named Buster or songs with Buster in the title.

So we have Busters Moten, Harding, Bailey, Dees, Benson, Ferguson, Brown, Larsen, Falkenberry and Bennett among the artists, plus songs titled "Button Buster," "Finger Buster," "Atom Buster," "Skull Buster," "Banjo Buster" and "Buster Astor." There are jazz, country, blues and pop records, but no classical items by Buster Heifetz or Buster Toscanini.

My thanks go out to my great pal Ernie Haynes, who has been encouraging me since the beginning - and who actually came up with the concept of this post. And of course thanks to all of you who have followed this blog through the years, especially those who comment. Your contributions make the comment sections just as lively than the posts themselves, if not more so.

Here is some commentary on today's selections, as usual presented in chronological order.

The first selection is "Button Buster" from 1922, a version of the laughing record that was inexplicably popular back then. No artist is listed on this cheapo Grey Gull pressing, but it is thought that the original was recorded in Berlin in 1920 for the Beka label. By the way, I think the record is called "Button Buster" not because you bust your buttons from laughing but you bust the buttons on your player in your frenzy to shut the darn thing off.

Our next item, "Just You, Just Me," comes from 1929 and the almost certainly pseudonymous Buster Benson and His Band, on the Jewel label. The name "Buster Benson" appears on just this one record, and is possibly the better known and wildly prolific recording artist Adrian Schubert under another name. I did need to make a small edit to this transfer to eliminate noise.

Also from 1929 is the Gus Arnheim band on Victor with "One Sweet Kiss," vocal by Buster Dees. The singer did not record much, but managed to make 10 records in 1929 with Arnheim, Henry Halsted and Jackie Taylor.

Buster Moten

From 1932 comes the superb and important Bennie Moten band from Kansas City, featuring Count Basie, Lips Page, Walter Page and Eddie Durham. The song "Toby" was written by Bennie's brother Buster Moten and arranger Eddie Barefield.

Moving on to 1937, we have the wonderfully vulgar Western swing anthem "Ain't Nobody Truck Like You" by the Texas band Ocie Stockard and the Wanderers, with a vocal by Buster Ferguson. Despite the title, Buster repeatedly insists that "ain't nobody truck like me" in the lyrics.

The Tune Wranglers, with Buster Coward to the right of the microphone

Another excellent Western band with a fellow named Buster as singer was the fecund Tune Wranglers, also from Texas, who present "Honey, Smile for Me" with Buster Coward on vocals. This, too, was from 1937.

Buster Bailey

Switching styles, we hear from clarinetist Buster Bailey and His Rhythm Busters in "Chained to a Dream," from 1938. I could have made a post of Bailey' records alone - he worked with everyone from W.C. Handy to King Oliver, Fletcher Henderson and John Kirby, among others.

Another key artist was the famous New Orleans pianist Jelly Roll Morton, heard here on "Finger Buster" from 1938, a few years before his early death. I've corrected the pitch on this one.

Our next selection comes from 1940 and returns us to the sound of Kansas City jazz. This record involves two Busters. One is again Buster Moten, who composed "Moten's Swing" with his brother Bennie. As "Moten Swing," this became a standard both in Bennie's own recording and in the Count Basie version of 1940. Our record is a rendition by a studio group led by guitarist Eddie Durham with solos by the brilliant alto saxophonist Buster Smith.

Buster Harding

Our next Buster is Buster Harding, an influential arranger and composer. Here is his composition "Bedford Drive," which he arranged in 1945 for Artie Shaw's band.

Buster Bennett

A much different sound from Shaw's suave tones is provided by the singer and altoist Buster Bennett, who tells us about his "Reefer Head Woman" in this 1945 Columbia recording of his own blues concoction.

Atomic bombs were on everyone's mind in the postwar era, and any number of songs at that time made use of the theme. This 1946 record not only includes it in the title, "Atom Buster," it came out on the Atomic label. The composition, which sounds like it is based on "I Got Rhythm," is by guitarist Barney Kessel, who leads an excellent ensemble in this swinging outing.

I couldn't resist adding another Buster Bennett opus to the mix. This is his entertaining double-entendre blues "Fishin' Pole" (in which he brags about his "very long pole," of course). This came out under the name of tenor saxophonist Tom Archia in a 1947 issue on the Aristocrat label. I faded this one in after a few moments because of groove damage at the record's edge.

Also from 1947 is "Silver and Gold," a pleasant country tune from the obscure Bob Pressley and His Sagebrush Serenaders, with whistling by the even-more-obscure Buster Falkenberry. Pressley cut a total of six sides for Decca at about this time.

Larry Vincent

The Pearl label was mainly if not exclusively a vehicle for the Pearl Boys, who were mainly if not exclusively a vehicle for label owner Larry Vincent and his mildly risque party-record compositions. "Buster Astor" from 1949 is a typical example of his inspirations.

"Skull Buster" from 1949 came out under the name of bop pianist Al Haig, but is mostly a showcase for the superb tenor saxophonist Stan Getz, who was making a name for himself at about this time as a member of Woody Herman's "Four Brothers" band.

Smilin' Ed O'Connell and Froggy the Gremlin

The "Witch-a-Ma-Jig Song" comes to us courtesy of the great Smilin' Ed McConnell and His Buster Brown Gang, who had a well-remembered children's show on both radio and television. The Buster Brown Gang, named after the sponsor, Buster Brown Shoes, featured the inimitable gravel-voiced Froggy the Gremlin, who became one of my favorite impersonations as a annoying teenager ("Hiya, kids! Hiya, hiya!"). I also wore the shoes (see below), although not as an adolescent.

Buster Brown's stylish selections

Quick aside - Buster Brown Shoes were one of the leading examples of a commercial image well outliving its inspiration. Buster Brown was a cartoon character (supposedly inspired by the young Buster Keaton) who had disappeared by the mid-1920s, but he, his pageboy haircut, enormous chapeau and floppy cravat were still selling shoes well into the 50s. Notable recent examples of this atavistic phenomenon are Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben, minstrel show stereotypes who are still hawking packaged food today - although not for long.

Arthur Smith and His Cracker-Jacks

Arthur Smith was known as a many-noted guitar player (he is dubbed "Arthur (Guitar Boogie) Smith" on the label of this tune), but on "Banjo Buster" from 1950 he became a many-noted banjo player. As sometimes happened with these knock-'em-out virtuoso exercises, the record company sped up the master to make the playing more impressive, but I've tamed the pitch. Billboard called this selection a "sparkling hunk of hominy," which is saying a lot. The flip side was "Mr. Stalin, You're Eating Too High on the Hog." (Mr. Stalin and his hog are not included here.)

Buster Larsen

Our final Buster is Buster Larsen, a Danish stage, film and TV actor of the time. His selection is titled "På Bustur Med Buster" ("On a Bus Trip with Buster"). Could you imagine something like this today - "On a Bus Trip with Lady Gaga." "På Bustur" comes from 1957.

Thanks, everyone, for taking this bus trip through my record collection for the past 12 years! Hope you have enjoyed yourselves.

In closing, let me mention some frequent commenters and contributors, knowing that I am sure to forget some people - in no particular order, Charlot, centuri, David Federman, Bryan Cooper, 8HHaggis, JAC, Ernie, A N Other, Scoredaddy, Eric, Grover Gardner, Andy Propst, jserraglio, coppinsuk, Sky Raven, gpdlt2000, Phillip, alfred venison, Boursin, Lennonka, Your Pal Doug, Rich, Addison, rev.b, styles, Jim, StealthMan, Rich, Rootie, SwingKing, Morris, RonH, monkeeboy, RecordHunter, hkitt42, iracema1, Jim in Seattle, flurb, TupeloBrian, Badgercat, kiken, 78heretic, dave_bruce, Geoconno, Nigel, Nick, Randy, Lee Hartsfeld, Ronnie, Alan Eichler, Kevin WOlf, luckymike, boppinbob, bhowani, jeronimo, barba, thedentist, Kwork, BobSanders, Muff Diver, Ravel, flyingfinger, woolfnotes, Moahaha, Wortley Clutterbuck, Andrew, dgrb, MOQChoir, tony, DonHo57, Richard Bock, Rio Veneno and Unknown. Thanks to them and everyone else who has been part of this wonderful community!