"Money Musk"

by Jasper Bisbee

Fiddler Jasper Bisbee was eighty years old when he made six sides for Edison Labs, on November 24 of 1923, with his daughter Beulah Bisbee accompanying him on piano. This was the first tune of the session, judging from the matrix numbers, but it was not the first one issued - that honor belongs to "McDonald's Reel" (the previous selection in these archives). It's a nice early rendition of this traditional tune, and it can't get more "old time" than this considering the performer's age and the eighty-plus years that have passed since the recording. Edison's engineers got a slightly "shrill" sound out of Bisbee's fiddle, but it's up close and has lots of presence. The disc from which this was sampled had been played quite a lot, but on decent equipment, so there was some life left in the grooves.
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