[ARSCLIST] Hawaiian discography

[Malcolm Rockwell <malcolm@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I just received the Spring 2008 issue of the ARSC Journal and wish to 
thank Dick Spottswood for his review of my discography, "Hawaiian & 
Hawaiian Guitar Records 1819 - 1960".
Dick is correct in that the criteria explaining who was entered and who 
was not is complex, especially when it comes to Country, Dance Bands and 
International entries. I have made an effort to listen to as many 
recordings of the entries in the book when possible and made my 
selections based thereon.
Do 2 bar steel fills in a selection comprise enough material to list? I 
decided no. Do indigenous styles combining with Hawaiian, such as 
Krongjong or Middle European chamber music, merit inclusion? I decided 
no to the first example and yes to the second. Do the inclusion of the 
words "Hawaii", Hawaiian", "Aloha", or "Hula", or any other numerous 
Hawaiian words in the title, regardless of content, mean the selection 
should be ignored? I said yes.
I will admit I missed the boat on Joe Kaipo's recordings with Jimmy 
Rodgers, but... after listening to the sides and hearing what I 
considered mostly a Country derived steel-guitar style, as opposed to a 
clearly Hawaiian style, I decided for omission, except for the 2 sides 
that appeared. Because many researchers have wrestled this point with me 
at length (!!) his work will appear in the revised edition.
This is an especially tricky distinction: where does the Hawaiian style 
of playing stop and Country style begin? To me the distinction begins 
with the single string glissando, two string harmonies and 
triple-picking (all Hawaiian playing characteristics, two of which are 
mostly ignored in country styles).
And where do independently developed indigenous styles, such as Blues 
and (Indonesian) Krontjong fit? Do they or do they not? I said no to 
both, with the rare exception.
On the International front there are quite a few Scandinavian sides I 
have not heard personally, and Middle European recordings as well - 
especially those by Wictor Tychowski on the pre-war Polish label Syrena 
- and others, including much of the Japanese material. In these 
instances I decided for inclusion of what I could locate, and what my 
sources heard, as most of the recordings were previously undocumented. 
I'm sure I will get feedback of any mis-listings or missing material as 
time goes by. I encourage it.
Now to the format.
I put this work together to be published initially as a library-bound 
hardback but, for numerous reasons, that was not to be. A 1400 page 
book, with artist and song title indexes accounting for an additional 
100 - 250 pages, is an expensive undertaking, especially for what is 
essentially considered a very niche market. After being turned down by 
the 4 big academic publishers in Hawaii, I turned to US and then 
international publishing houses, to no avail: "Very nice, but there's no 
money in it," they explained. It was only then I decided to publish as a 
CD-ROM.
I am not entirely pleased with the result, neither am I disappointed. I 
published it using Adobe Acrobat because is is a flexible and somewhat 
intuitive format. If one can use Word, one should be able to use Acrobat 
with only a little effort. I'm constantly amazed that I've had to show 
some users the basics, especially  how to use the search function! The 
discography is entirely searchable, thus no indexes; they are 
unnecessary in this format. I do have a song title index for my own use 
in Word but it is incomplete (just when do you put the page numbers in, 
and do you update them every time new additions or deletions are made? 
Feh. It's more hassle than it's worth) and they are balky. And I won't 
even go into titles in foreign languages!
As with publishing in any new format, CD-ROM will have its supporters, 
its detractors and its wafflers. First there was Lord; he pioneered the 
format for discography. Then I came along. And now there are Michel 
Ruppli's new editions of his Mercury and Decca works. I think as time 
goes by there will be more.
So for now it's either a CD-ROM or an online subscription service. Both 
have their merits. If there's a publisher out there who wants to do a 
revised, hardbound set in four or five years, possibly the second 
edition, I'm open to it.
To conclude, it's been a gass doing this project, and many thanks to you 
all and to Dick for his support and his review. I couldn't have done it 
without you.
As for now, there are still copies available from me at 78data.com but 
they won't last, so order soon.
Aloha!
Malcolm Rockwell
Kula, Hawaii