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A Touch Of Clare


polavoy

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Is there no desire out there to keep Kitty's recordings in print?

 

It's a matter of viability that has to be considered as much as anything else. Custy's kept 'Touch of Clare' going for a few years after she died, there's still a few copies of 'remembered' around. I had to decide on a re-print of 'They'll be good yet' around the time she died but with her gone I didn't feel like keeping it going so the book on that one is closed. I can't speak for the other two CDs. I haven't seen 'Touch of Clare' in the shops for ages but I'll keep an eye out.

 

The shop facebook page linked above is not Magnetic Music's, I don't think that still exists. It's the Traditional Music shop, a different outfit. Nicer, FWIW.

Edited by Peter Laban
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With the heightened interest in concertina for ITM, it is really dismaying to think of this player's music not being heard . . . Now that you note this, Peter, I do see several other small-production gems by now-gone elders of Clare concertina playing also appearing scarce----

 

"Two Gentlemen of West Clare Music" with Gerdie Commane and Joe Ryan (another irresistible one from the same co-conspirators who produced "Touch of Clare")

[[update Edit: I now see Custys lists this as in stock. At a marked-down sale price. It is really precious. But, why not "Touch of Clare," too???]]]

 

 

"Tom Carey" by the late West Clare player

 

"Elizabeth Crotty: Concertina Music From West Clare"

(The scarcity of this RTE archival recording is really a shock, given that it was out of print and much sought for years, and reiussed only a decade-ish ago to much rapture)

 

The archival Paddy Murphy CD Gearoid produced a few years ago seems available still.

Edited by ceemonster
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Well, I can tell you it's very daunting to have several thousand CDs sitting in boxes in the corner of the room, hoping they will eventually go. It's a large stack of big boxes.

 

You reach a point where perhaps 95% of people who may want a CD of this kind have bought it and you will have to take a hard look at the viability of a re-print, taking into account the minimum order of 1000 copies and the economics of it.

 

It may not have been my main consideration when letting 'They'll be good yet' slip away, but it was a consideration. I am sure the same goes for the other CDs you mentioned.

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Slightly off the original topic, but might I suggest, for those who own the original recordings, something like CD Baby for keeping CD's and mp3's available as print-on-demand (or download-on-demand) as a way of keeping these important recordings available? No need for minimum orders or huge upfront costs, or boxes and boxes of unsold inventory under the bed.

 

Gary

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I remember Dympna O'Sullivan telling me she would not reissue her original solo CD, "Bean Cairdin," once the original run was gone. And lo, I see this beautiful recording is not available anywhere. Custys only has the second one. I've really been in the dark and out of touch RE, the status of all this. Your point is well-taken, Peter, but it's sad. Perhaps those in a position to decide, will make some of these recordings available again as mp3s.

 

I always like a tangible object, but it's wonderful to have the mp3 option as an alternative to, nothing. The Lucy Farr solo fiddle record "Heart and Home," is a good example. This was just about the only out-of-print classic I badly wanted but have not been able to nab lying in wait on the internet, due to its only issuing in cassette form--vintage cassettes are very scarce with dealers and private sellers.

 

I do have a copy of the Lucy Farr tape through the kindness of the trad samizdat, but just on principle, it was a lovely thing to see a couple years ago when this recording entered the world again, in mp3 form.

 

I had also despaired a few years ago of finding the Joe Ryan/Eddie Clarke cassette, when to my surprise an LP version popped up during a word search crawl--I had thought this one was cassette only. I see the Joe Ryan/Eddie Clarke gem is now seeing the light of day again in digital form as well. Again, better than nothing.

Edited by ceemonster
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It probably easy to overestimate the demand for this sort of recordings and mind you, Touch of Clare has had a good run, it probably has been available longer than any of the others mentioned on this thread. But from an economic point of view there comes a point where demand just becomes too small.

 

 

I agree with you on digital versions, I don't fancy them and never wanted to go that road for 'They'll be Good Yet', and I had a few people shouting at me online for it too, when it first came out. I'd never buy digital music although if all else fails the digital samizdat will have to do. I did get the Lucy Farr one that way too. It never 'feels' quite the same though.

Edited by Peter Laban
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I'm slowly coming round to acceptance of music downloads Like most here (?) i was brought up on vinyl and eventually moved over to cd's. But when i look at how i actually listen to recorded music I realise its digitally. Even back in the days of cd's i would buy a cd then immediately copy it on to my computer. The physical cd would probably never get played again. In fact thats exactly what i still do. Sure I enjoy the little packet from Custy's or elswhere dropping through the door, often with a little note in but I'll take the cd out put it onto my computer and then the cd will go on the shelf.

I like to look at the sleeve notes -but not very often and theres no real reason the sleeve notes cant be made available with a download and they often are.

 

For example i recently bought 'Two Gentlemen from Clare' from Custy's. Great service, as always. The cd arrives, i copy it on to my computer and then onto my 'fone. The actual cd now sits with all the others on the shelf. The digital copy is the one that gets played (very often, a wonderful album!) via my fone through my van stereo.

 

probably too set in my ways now but i do accept that we cant reasonably expect people to be sat there with a 1000+ cd's when only a few 100 of us might actually buy a copy. Strangely i'd still want to own a physical copy BUT its having access to the music thats more important to me and if a download is all thats available, ill take that

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I've bought a few of the releases by Raelach, and always buy the CD version. But I must admit it's very convenient with that label that if you buy the CD the price includes digital download and unlimited streaming of the recording. I do tend to listen to tangible formats---LP, cassette, CD. But the realization that so much stuff I consider vital portions of the Trad Alexandria is disappearing, has me thinking about putting the stuff on the hard drive and then making my own homemade 2nd-copy CDs to play while keeping the original in the pantry.

 

Much for thought in all this. I was reading Raelach site material during my last purchases, and came across an interview in which founder Jack Talty (who has his own lovely concertina CD in his label roster, along with concertina CDs by Liam O'Brien and Cormac McCarthy), stated that last year there were one-hundred-and-sixty trad recordings released. The context was the crowded field, and the competition for ears.

 

Fiddler Aidan Connolly, who has a wonderful recent solo release on that label, also cited this figure in one the mini-interviews Custys now does during those little player clips they post. He filmed one just before going out to Pepper's Feakle for a release wing-ding. And when John O'Connor asked something like, Do you think you'll record again, or, Now that you've done it would you still choose to make this record, Connolly hesitated a while, said he wasn't so sure, and then brought up the crowded field and that "160" figure.

 

 

So Peter, when you say you "the book is closed," or, you let TBGY "slip away," does that mean the master is destroyed or disappears? I don't know anything about record engineering.

Edited by ceemonster
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So Peter, when you say you "the book is closed," or, you let TBGY "slip away," does that mean the master is destroyed or disappears?

 

 

No, it just means I called time on it.

 

May 17 will be the tenth anniversary of Kitty's death. Cherish the memory.

 

Kitty_copy_2.jpg

Edited by Peter Laban
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Why do musicians put out CDs? Obviously, they hope to make some money from it, but it's also a wish for their music to be heard.

 

CDs are expensive to produce and have a minimum run which means that you have to be confident of selling a decent number for it to be worth the cost. However there may be still be interest in the music even if there is not enough demand to justify re-issuing it in physical form. Publishing online is cheap and easy. If it means keeping good music alive and still heard, why not? Like many older people, I'd prefer to have a physical product, but where this isn't possible then downloads provide an opportunity to hear the music, which otherwise would be lost unless you are lucky enough to pick up a second-hand copy.

 

I have published 3 albums digitally, using CD Baby. Two of these are simultaneous digital releases of current albums which are also available on CD, the other is an out-of-print LP by a long-defunct band. They've more than covered the costs of online publication. What I find fascinating is the reach - these albums, by not especially well known bands playing an obscure genre of music, have been played in more than 30 countries from all around the world, and not just the anglophone ones. I find it extraordinary to think that my music has been listened to in Guatemala and Turkey, to name but two unlikely markets for traditional English dance music.

 

I'd urge anyone with an out-of-print recording to consider publishing it online. You probably won't make much money but over time you should recover your costs and more, and more people will hear your music.

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