The Steel Guitar Forum

I tried to go to the Cumquat Records website but it looks like it is down:
http://www.cumquatrecords.com.au/

I know Bruce Clarke, the person behind it, passed away last year. Does anyone know if Cumquat Records is still around? If not, are there plans to revive it someday?

Hi Palo
re bruce clark,s label cumquat records,i will contact the family and let you know
regards alex burns australia

Hi Palo
have spoken to bruce clark,s family re cumquat records,and yes the label is continuing run by his son marshal
regards alex burns

Thank goodness for that. What a wonderful gift this man gave to us. That it should die with him is unthinkable.

Thanks for tracking this down. I'm glad to hear that the Cumquat material will still be available.

What I would like to know is when Cumquat will be offering some new CDs. It's been quite some time now and I'm getting anxious for more. I already have every Hawaiian CD that they have available.
Wally

I placed an order on 8/14/09 and today is 9/2/09 but I still have not received this order. I have emailed cumquat records and every other address they post and no one will reply. My credit card has a debit on it from them but still no cd's and no answer if they shipped. Does anyone know how to get in touch with them I live in Indiana? Were else can I buy hawaiian cd's with all these great artists?

Thanks

I wrote to them by air mail asking if they would care to donate any CDs for our raffle at the Joliet HSGA convention as Bruce always did.
I did not receive a reply so I don't know what to tell you or what the situation is now.
You might try sending them a letter by air mail or calling them on the phone. Other than that I don't know what I could suggest
However, sometime it takes quite a while for packages to come from Australia.
Bruce was always right on top of things and he was always so accommodating. We miss him.
Wally

I actually placed an order with them last night. The first order I placed earlier this year took about 3 months to show up. The discs were lost in transit and had to be re-shipped. It took a couple of tries to get ahold of Dallas Clarke be e-mail but we sorted everything out and I finally got the CDs. The next order I placed arrived in a little less than a month with no problems. I'll post an update about how this latest order goes. I've ordered the Hot Shots play-along set and the Johnny Pineapple CDs. I can't wait.

Cumquat was really Bruce's baby. The secret of the fantastic sound of these CDs was really Bruce; the benefits of his long career in professional music, his ear for how the music should sound and his fanatical attention to detail. He often spent days cleaning up a digital file only to scrap it and start over. Being retired, he had the time to do so. I expect that his sons have to make a living so maintaining Cumquat is more of a chore and I wouldn't expect that any future reissues (if any) would sound quite as good. I'm sure Dallas is committed to maintaining his dad's legacy nevertheless. When you look at the total Cumquat catalog, it's really pretty amazing what Bruce was able to accomplish in a few short years. Especially with the unissued radio cuts, he saved music that would otherwise never have been heard again.

I'm selling 10 CDs from Cumquat, if anyone is interested: http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... 25#1456925

I love the CDs that Bruce put together and I hope that they continue to make these CDs available.

I acquired many of the 78s and also received an almost complete collection of Dick McIntire recordings from a collector, which is why I don't really need these CDs any longer.

Andy, you hit the nail right on the head when you described the dedication that Bruce had for his projects.
Bruce was so particular that if he made a typo error in the graphics or song list,-he would do it over and mail the corrected items to whoever had ordered that CD. Bruce always was so thorough and ready to satisfy everyone. We miss him very much. I'm so glad I was able to get every Hawaiian or steel guitar CDs that he produced.
Wally

Thanks for the replies but I guess I'll just have to keep emailing them to find out what happened to my order. I ordered the THE HOT-PACK and was charged for them so I hope I get them soon.

As posted before I'm still waiting for a reply and my CD's still no answer. Can anyone get in touch with them?

Thanks

Cumquat Records emailed me today and I'm so happy to recieve a reply. They said they had problems with my email account sending me information. So my order is on its way and Cumquat records is still in business and all is good.

Thanks To Everyone
Theresa

I placed an order of $176.32 in early July 2010.
I received an order confirmation on 4 July 2010 and it said it would be shipped the next business day.
The full amount was debited off my credit card on 7 July 2010.
Today is 20 September 2010 but I still have not received the order.

I have emailed Cumquat Records several times and no one will reply.
Does anyone know how to get in touch with them?
I live in South Africa
Thanks

I have e-mailed Cumquat Records several times and no one will reply

This seems to be a common complaint these days.

I had a problem with one of their CD's and e-mailed them several times. Same thing, no answer. It's already been close to a year. They'll probably blame their e-mail server and viruses for not getting your message which is a bunch of BS.

Yes, things were reputable WHEN Bruce was alive as orders and e-mails queries were always sent on a timely fashion. Not the case anymore.

Also, don't expect any new material from Cumquat either. It's a big learning curve to figure out the software to remove most of the imperfections from 78 r.p.m.'s to bring it up to a level which is good enough to sell.

Yes, the Cumquat CD's are worth getting even at the price and the long wait. (but they'll surely take your money from your credit card fast)

If you encounter problems with the CD's later, forget it, you'll never get an answer.

Take your chances. Beware

Going through an Andy Iona phase, I was hunting around for news of Cumquat Records, and found this page...not exactly encouraging. I wonder what the legal implications are for that music...does it ever fall into public domain? Or does the fact that it was recently digitized by Bruce Clarke "reset the clock"? Not a lawyer, but given the company (if it even still exists) is not too interested in keeping up the distribution, would be a shame for this music to just vanish (especially in an age of easy data hosting).

Well, maybe no luck for public domain music:
" It is important to note the distinction between "musical works" (sheet music and other compositions) and "sound recordings" (audio files, CDs, records), as virtually all sound recordings will not fall into public domain until 2067, unless explicitly placed into the public domain by its creators, rights holders or made by an employee or officer of the United States Government acting under their official duty.[1]"

Sorry. I'm certain that Cumquat CDs will never be available again. The only CDs you'll find will be on someone else's website for sale.
Just recently,- thru the efforts of Guy Cundell, Dr. Greg Reish and myself,- 71+ Cumquat CDs were donated to the Middle Tennessee State University .
In addition,-with the approval of Harry B Sorias,- I have donated 100+ CDs of Harry B's Hawaiian radio programs to MTSU.[/img]

It was Bruce's passion that drove Cumquat and understandably, that torch wasn't passed on to the next generation so glad that this music survives in some form. Bruce was one a very interesting and accomplished man and he had a very excellent critical ear that was informed by a lifetime in professional music a youth where he hear a lot of the Hawaiian music he reissued played in live venues so he knew how it should sound.

I'll probably cop a lot of flack for this, but I believe if copyright holders are not prepared to make material available, then it is legitimate to make copies.

Certainly wondered about that. Would be nice if they gave permission for "fair use" (I'm probably not using that term properly) for folks like us with an academic interest in studying the music. I imagine the letter of the law is still with the copyright owner. Still...it's not as if it is the descendants of the actual performers protecting their interests here. Honestly, I know next to nothing about this, but I assume Bruce Clarke got ahold of some original old tapes and then digitized and cleaned them up, right? And then distributed them? Would that mean he held rights to the finished product that was digitized and remastered, but not to the original recordings themselves? Which I assume are hid somewhere in that Indiana Jones warehouse behind the Ark of the Covenant, so maybe that's not a good option.

Even in the internet age when it seems EVERYTHING is available online, I'm surprised by how scarce some resources still can be. I was amused that when I wanted to know the lyrics of the song "Carefree" that Andy Iona recorded, the only way I ended up managing that was to buy 70 year old copies of sheet music off ebay!


Anyway, not trying to sound ungrateful and certainly not advocating "cheating the system", but quoting from another thread:

Gerald Ross wrote:Bruce single-handedly rescued, documented and made easily available the most important Hawaiian music recordings of the early 20th century.

If it wasn't for his efforts this music would have been lost forever.

I'm just hoping that his efforts don't go in vain and the music doesn't end up being lost forever! Particularly before I've had a chance to study it

Harry B's Territorial Airwaves programs are all copyrighted but If Harry gives you the authority to copy them,-I'm sure it's OK to copy them. I doubt if you could sell them, though. I copied over 100 of them over the years but have donated most of them to MTSU just recently.[/img]

Lots of good music and Hawaiian history here.
Wally

Wally, are the CDs available for checkout at MTSU, or just for listening? I have relatives in Murfreesboro and wouldn't mind seeing (or listening to) the collection the next time I visit.

Hi John,
I'm not sure what the set up is with the Cumquat CDs at MTSU.
I would suggest you check
with Dr Reish at gregory.reish@mtsu.edu.

Wally Pfeifer