Chauncey Richmond
& "The Old Buckbee":
The Story of a Banjo, Its Maker,
and Its Player
Chauncey Richmond
& "The Old Buckbee":
The Story of a Banjo,
its Maker, and Its Player
by Reginald W. Bacon
(Newburyport, Mass.:
Variety Arts Press, 2018)
6x9 softcover, 224 pages
ISBN: 978-0-9977528-3-0
LOC: 2018905457
Chauncey Richmond & "The Old Buckbee" tells the story of three discoveries: a banjo, its maker, and its player. The first discovery was a filth-encrusted 100-year-old no-name banjo found in a tumbledown shed in 1982. The restoration of this banjo years later led to the discovery and research of its original maker, the resolutely anonymous John Henry Buckbee (1837-1890) and his high-volume Bronx, N.Y. banjo factory; and its original player, Chauncey E. Richmond (1872-1910), a Connecticut farmer, rural mail carrier, and unlikely vaudeville impresario. Along with revealing new details about J. H. Buckbee, the prolific "Henry Ford of banjos" in the 1880s, the three context-rich studies in musical micro-history yield useful insights into the essence of research, evidence, and conclusions. Banjo history enthusiasts will appreciate the research backed with 297 endnotes; 230 photos, illustrations, and maps; and appendices on the research methodology and banjo restoration.
In late 2018, the author was engaged to present new research findings at The Banjo Gathering, a conference of scholars and collectors, at the Smithsonian-affiliated Birthplace of Country Music Museum, a Smithsonian affiliate in Bristol, Va. The presentation, "A Banjo Factory in the Bronx?: New Findings About John Henry Buckbee," introduced the book to an eager audience of banjophiles and musicologists, and revealed new information about the prolific "ghost" manufacturer of banjos in the late 19th century. A veritable "banjo history convention," the event was an opportunity to make new friends and personally thank notable scholars whose prior work paved the way for current research.
In 2019 the genealogical component of the research for this book --- research that uncovered many new details about the lives of both Chauncey Richmond and John Henry Buckbee --- was recognized at the annual Literary Awards of the Connecticut Society of Genealogists.
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