Do Not Sell At Any Price

June 2, 2014
In this enjoyable, well-researched work, music journalist Petrusich (It Still Moves) uses the “intense, competitive, and insular subculture” of 78 rpm record collecting as a jumping-off point for more universal discussions of cultural appropriation and historic romanticization of collecting. An outsider to the 78 community, Petrusich staunchly tracks down the key figures and interviews them one by one. Her project leads her to destinations throughout the U.S., including conventions and trade shows in New Jersey and Virginia, and even on a scuba diving mission into the depths of the Milwaukee River, where “race records” from the nearby Paramount factory are rumored to have been dumped. Meanwhile, Petrusich traces the history of recorded sound beginning with Edison’s discoveries and its evolution throughout the 20th century, pointing out along the way that our musical canon and overall understanding of blues was shaped largely by collectors. While critical of the eccentrics she encounters, who are often guilty of neglecting the intrinsic pleasures of song for the superficial sake of keeping an object, Petrusich manages to highlight their wisdom, charms, and influence when possible. What could have easily become an exclusive tome is made entertaining by Petrusich’s sharp and searching guidance. This is an inviting edition that will welcome many to an unfairly ridiculed sphere and send newbies looking up artists they’ve likely never heard of, but will likely fall in love with.

June 1, 2014

This title concerns an obscure corner of the collecting world: old 78rpm records, specifically recordings of blues artists such as Mississippi John Hurt, Skip James, and Charley Patton. Petrusich (If It Still Moves: Lost Songs, Lost Highways, and the Search for the Next American Music) sheds an illuminating and entertaining light on the collectors themselves; the history of the Wisconsin Chair Company and its recording efforts in Grafton, WI, and elsewhere; and even the psychology of collecting. Getting into the acquiring spirit, the author learned to scuba dive in order to search for old 78s in the Milwaukee River near Grafton. VERDICT Offering a fascinating examination of a slice of Americana preserved in old 78s, this book will appeal to those interested in collecting, the history of audio recording (especially the 78rpm era), and particularly those who are interested in the blues scene and the music and history of the first third of the 20th century.--Bruce R. Schueneman, Texas A&M Univ. Lib., Kingsville

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2014
This book constitutes, in effect, an obsession about an obsession. Author Petrusich has written about music before, but the present volume is less about music or musicians than it is about collecting (primarily jazz and blues 78s) and collectors. Record collectors, unlike performers, are less creative than compulsive and less public than, often, reclusive. Petrusich has, however, come to know them well, or as well as they allow. She labors throughout under the handicap that music, especially the largely unknown music dealt with here, cannot really be described evocatively and will not be familiar to more than a very few. This book goes well beyond Charlie Patton and Robert Johnson. Her speculations toward the end of the book about collecting and its parallels with obsessive-compulsive personality disorders, while interesting, seem to come out of the blue. Her own obsession, which at one point includes learning to scuba dive so she can salvage old 78s and masters that may or may not have been Frisbeed into the Milwaukee River decades ago, may sum up the whole enterprise more than she realizes.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)