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08 Jan 03 - 05:27 PM (#861975) Subject: Obit: Banjo Player Buzz Busby From: Banjer I found this on the newsgroup a while ago. Buzz's bands included notable Banjo pickers Eddie Adcock, Don Stover and Bill Emerson. His band members eventually started the very successful Bluegrass group "The Country Gentlemen. ------------------- By Adam Bernstein Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, January 8, 2003 Buzz Busby, 69, an acclaimed bluegrass mandolinist, songwriter and bandleader who helped Washington develop a reputation as a bluegrass center in the 1950s and spent a lifetime wrestling with an addiction to alcohol and drugs, died of cardiac arrest Jan. 5 at the Forest Haven nursing home in Catonsville, Md. Mr. Busby also had Parkinson's disease and diabetes, and was largely sidelined from his career since undergoing a quintuple bypass operation in 1990. Mr. Busby, who led the Bayou Boys band in the 1950s, was considered a local bluegrass pioneer and specialized in the "high lonesome" sound popularized by Bill Monroe -- a traditional, fast-paced music with which Mr. Busby found favor on television and area clubs. "They were the band that got bluegrass started in Washington," said Tom Mindte, 45, a bluegrass mandolinist who leads the group the Patuxent Partners. "He made Washington a bluegrass hub because of his popularity, mainly." The Bayou Boys appeared regularly on "The Hayloft Hoedown," an evening program on WRC-TV, and also on "Louisiana Hayride," aired from Shreveport, La. The band performed often at such places as the Pine Tavern in Washington. A car accident in 1957, in which the ambulance driver mistakenly pronounced him dead, left him hospitalized for weeks. In the meantime, members of the Bayou Boys wanted to keep their engagements and formed what became the core of the Country Gentlemen, one of the legendary proponents of "newgrass," or modern bluegrass. After recuperating, Mr. Busby turned to songwriting. He wrote such bluegrass standards as "Cold and Windy Night," "Lost," "This World's No Place to Live, But It's Home," "Lonesome Wind" and "Blue Vietnam Skies." Among his most famous was "Just Me and the Jukebox," which includes the lines: "Just me and the jukebox to pass the time away, Just me and the jukebox, who knows the price I paid. A glass of wine to ease my mind since we've been apart, Just me and the jukebox, who knows my broken heart." Jerry Garcia and the Johnson Mountain Boys were among those who recorded his songs. About 1960, Mr. Busby began his descent into alcohol and drug abuse. His marriage unraveled. He spent time in jail. "He would try hard" to overcome his additions, "and he'd experience recidivism," said his brother Wayne Busbice, a guitarist and singer. "He couldn't keep a group together after that." Mr. Busby continued to perform and received new notice when Wayne Busbice started a record company that issued new recordings with his brother. Mike Joyce, reviewing the release "Louisiana Grass" for The Washington Post in 1986, wrote: "As always, it's Buzz's tremolo-humming mandolin style that stands out most, but the singing is heartfelt, the playing surefooted and the songs almost always worth hearing again." Mr. Busby was born Bernarr Graham Busbice and was one of nine siblings to grow up on a farm in Eros, La. He learned guitar and mandolin from his brother Wayne. A high school valedictorian, Mr. Busby was recruited by the FBI in the early 1950s. He did fingerprinting work at the agency while attending George Washington University. He was so successful musically that he gave up the FBI and college to devote himself to music. He worked in a duo called Buzz & Jack with songwriter and guitarist Jack Clement, who became a major record producer in Nashville. Then came the Bayou Boys. Among those who performed in the group was banjoist Don Stover, guitarist Charlie Waller, singer and guitarist Pete Pike, bassist Lee Cole, banjoists Bill Emerson and Eddie Adcock, and fiddler John Hall. After the car accident, the Country Gentlemen formed with Waller, Emerson, mandolinist John Duffey and bassist Tom Gray. Mr. Busby's marriage to Patricia Padgett Busby ended in divorce. Besides his brother Wayne of Wesley Chapel, Fla., survivors include two sons, Timothy Busbice of Westlake Village, Calif., and Glenn Busbice of Huntington Beach, Calif.; another brother; two sisters; and two grandchildren |
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08 Jan 03 - 06:34 PM (#862021) Subject: RE: Obit: Banjo Player Buzz Busby From: GUEST,MTed Thanks for sharing this with us, Banjer-- |
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08 Jan 03 - 07:10 PM (#862059) Subject: RE: Obit: Banjo Player Buzz Busby From: Banjer I had banjo on the brain when I typed the thread title!! I should have said mandolin player. If a Joe Clone would please go and change the title I would appreciate it. And if one does might just wipe out this message. Thanks |
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09 Jan 03 - 11:06 AM (#862637) Subject: RE: Obit: Banjo Player Buzz Busby From: Fortunato Home of the Patuxent Partners Buzz Busby was Tom Mindte's mentor on the mandolin and in Bluegrass in general when he was available. Tom was his champion and a good friend to Buzz when he wasn't doing so well. Tom and I have been friends and partners in other bands over the years, but the not the 'partners. It's a fine traditional bluegrass band. Check them out if you want to see and hear Buzz Busby's tradition surviving. cheers, Chance |
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09 Jan 03 - 11:48 AM (#862695) Subject: RE: Obit: Banjo Player Buzz Busby From: Rick Fielding Thanks for the info. I never got to see Buzz live, but the stories are legion. He was quite the hell-raiser. I recorded the song "This World's No Place to Live in But It's Home" back in 1975 on an album called "Solo", but apparently mis-credited it. Didn't know until now that Buzz had written it. I thought it was a John Duffy song. Rick |