This 78 rpm record from 1926 features two songs by a duo known only as
Rutherford and Foster, playing fiddle and guitar. What the record
doesn't tell you is that John D. Foster, the singer and guitar player on
the record, was from Robbins in the south end of Scott County. Foster
was born in Scott County in 1896 and served in the first World War.
After returning from the army, he
saw a
mandolin player and comedian named Jesse James and was interested in
joining his show. The duo made their first records in 1927. John
Foster would meet up with Leonard Rutherford, a notable fiddler from
Kentucky, and they began recording in 1929 and recorded an amazing
twenty three songs during a three day stay in the studio. According to
Foster, he was offered $25,000 dollars by Sears & Roebuck to play
over the radio station WLS in Chicago, but a conflict with his manager
kept him from taking the offer. Foster would not record very much after
this and turned to carpentry work during the Great Depression and
worked at the secret city of Oak Ridge during WWII. Foster lived in
relative obscurity for the rest of his life except for a visit by the
country music scholar Tony Russell. He died on February 10, 1984 and is
buried in the Concord Cemetery in Robbins.
What did this song sound like? Click on the link to hear it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5M-u2YoFJ8
Bonus fact: RPM means rotations per minute, meaning that this type
of record rotates seventy eight times a minute on a turntable.
A biography of Foster's music career can be found in Tony Russell's book "Country Music Originals: The Legends and the Lost."
 |
| This
record was recorded in 1929 by John D. Foster, a guitar player from
Robbins, and a fiddler from Kentucky named Leonard Rutherford. |
 |
| John
D. Foster (left) is shown here with fiddler Leonard Rutherford around
the time they recorded in 1929. Foster was once offered $25,000 to play
over radio station WLS in Chicago but a disagreement with his manager
prevented him from going. |
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