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2nd anniversary of losing Buster

PostPosted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 4:30 pm
by RandeDager
Hello Everyone!

Along with much of the MidWest, Michigan was paralyzed with a blizzard last night that shut down all local schools and much of my town of Battle Creek. Being one of the last in modern civilization to shovel snow by hand, I spent 2 & 1/2 hours out in my driveway today doing this while contemplating and reflecting on my life in general. For some reason I distinctly remember that we lost Buster B. Jones on Ground Hog Day of 2009. Today would be the 2nd anniversary of our losing him. I first knew him as "Brad" in about 1991. I'll never forget an afternoon I spent with him in 1995 at CAAS in the lounge area of the Sheraton, which he referred to as his "office" and though I don't drink, I continued to purchase cans of beer for him while he allowed me to record him on my Sony DAT recorder for quite a while. That was his required form of payment. I came home with a priceless tangible memory of that experience. His right hand technique was nearly supernatural and I've never seen it duplicated nor could I ever personally hope to myself. It was a genetic physical gift. He may have been limited in many other ways in life, but he really found his "niche" with the way he handled the guitar. His ability to create "grooves" and build on them has been a huge inspiration to me. I don't mean to discount the ability of Brooks Robertson, but there was a degree of "fluidity" that always struck me. Buster would begin to develop a high speed groove and then seemingly effortlessly he would cross his legs while sitting back and "settling in". With Chet, Jerry, Tommy Jones, and Buster all being gone, it feels like a much different world.

Rande

Re: 2nd anniversary of losing Buster

PostPosted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 12:26 pm
by bill_h
Thanks for posting Rande. I'll never forget what little time I was able to spend with Buster either. I'm better off for having heard him play and making his aquaintance.

Re: 2nd anniversary of losing Buster

PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 11:35 am
by Tony Enamel
Rande,

thank you very much for sharing your thoughts. I had the pleasure of meeting him a couple of times when he was at the Guitar Festival in Rietberg/Germany. Buster was a very special person with all his ups and downs and a breathtaking guitarpicker. He is greatly missed.

Sure, Brooks is different than Buster though he studied his style. And I'm happy about it. There's nothing more boring than musicians who try to copy others exactly. While Buster was an extroverted kind of guy who could suprise people with a tender side, Brooks appears to be shy and introverted and surprises people with powerful Buster picking. And he adds a jazzy note to the country, folk and funk stuff that was rather unusual for Buster.

Buster visited the Rietberg festival three times and it quickly became a habit to him doing the bartendering at the local pub, where the after show party was held on Sunday night after the final concert. The night before, he would always pass around the hat, collecting money for the waitress who usually had her day off that night.

Apart from all the machine gun picking, what I love best in the end is his duet performance of "I'll See You In My Dreams" with Bobby Gibson on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiWFOKA6LAI

Regards,

Ingo