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Tibbals Circus Collection of Buster Bailey Films,1937-1984, 1937-1984

 

Summary

Creator:
Bailey, Elden C.
Extent:
217 items
4 items
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Title of Item], [Date of Item], [ID number], The Tibbals Circus Collection of Buster Bailey Films, 1937-1984, The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art Archives, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida.

Background

Scope and content:

The Tibbals Collection of Buster Bailey Films capture Bailey's insider's view of circus. The general circus community embraced Bailey's familiar presence on the circus lot, granting him extraordinary access to the lots and venues of a variety of circuses including the Al G. Barnes Circus, Clyde Beatty Cole Circus, Amsterdam Circus, Moscow Circus, Russian Ice Show and Circus Benneweis. Bailey's footage of these circuses feature several performances and circus set-ups in venues across America, including scenes of winter quarters, trains loading and unloading, the backyard, animal acts, spec productions, tumbling acts, rolla bolla acts, clown gags, trapeze and web numbers, and much more. Also captured in this collection are Bailey's tours of European circus parks, the circus parade in Baraboo, Wisconsin, and Chicago, Illinois, and the Circus Hall of Fame in Sarasota, Florida.

Biographical / historical:

Elden Chandler "Buster" Bailey spent 42 years as a percussionist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and was a faculty member at Juilliard School of Music from1969 to 1993. He died in April of 2004 at the age of 81. He is fondly remembered by students and colleagues as the greatest snare drum player that ever lived and as a life-long lover of circus music.

In a 2004 interview, with New York Times writer George James, Barbara Bailey reminisces that in the early 1960's, through a colleague at the Philharmonic, Buster Bailey met Merle Evans, the music director of the Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus band, and Red Floyd, its drummer, and they became good friends. From this point on, whenever the circus was in New York, Merle Evans arranged for him to receive circus passes and Mr. Bailey attended whenever he could, absorbing how the circus band supported circus acts. He became so knowledgeable that when Red Floyd took ill one day in the mid 1960's, Mr. Evans turned to Mr. Bailey to take his place. Buster sat in for three days, happily playing drum rolls for thrilling acts and climaxing with a rim shot. For Buster, it was the biggest thrill of his life.

Buster Bailey's last recording, for Angel Records in 1993, was a collection of circus songs, Under the Big Top, with a group he assembled named the Great American Main Street Band.

After 42 years with the Philharmonic, Buster Bailey retired to Sarasota, Florida. He and his wife were familiar with Sarasota having visited annually to see the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey band members they had become friends with over the years.

Physical facet:

super 8mm films

8mm film

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open to all researchers.

Terms of access:

To request permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from the archives, please contact Heritage & University Archives, Florida State University Libraries, Tallahassee, Florida. Researchers must obtain separate permission from the copyright holders of material held within University Archives collections for which the institution does not hold copyright.


Preferred citation:

[Title of Item], [Date of Item], [ID number], The Tibbals Circus Collection of Buster Bailey Films, 1937-1984, The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art Archives, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida.

Location of this collection:
The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art
5401 Bay Shore Road
Sarasota
FL
34243
USA