[78-L] Cielito Lindo

[Bart]

Poking around the "Online Discography Project" I've found these  early 
recordings of Cielito Lindo listed:

Artist:    Max Dolin's Orchestra
Date Recorded:    12/22/21

Artist:    Vincent Lopez & His Orch
Date Recorded:    11/1/23

Artist:    Castillians (l.katzman)
Date Recorded:    10/??/23

Artist:    Imperial D.o. (samuels)
Date Recorded:    11/29/23

Artist:    Bob Haring & His Orch
Date Recorded:    02/22/24

Artist:    Frank Ferrera & John Poaluhi
Date Recorded:    06/09/25

Artist:    Ferera & Paaluhi
Date Recorded:    6/??/27

Artist:    Stieff,ruth
Date Recorded:    12/14/28

Artist:    Galla-rini
Date Recorded:    8/?/28

And many, many more from the late thirties when the tune must have had a 
spell of popularity.  The earliest version I have is the Nite Owls 
(Columbia 20234) from 1938.  (I'd love to hear that Ferrera - 
Poaluhi/Paaluhi one!)  Does anyone know of recordings of Cielito Lindo 
from the cylinder era, in other words, from the 'teens or before?  I'm 
interested because of a story my late aunt wrote in the 1970's about her 
remembrances of life in her hometown of Kingsville.

--------

"In 1911, the Cinco de Mayo was the most beautiful ever seen by a young 
Mary Bartlett.  Wilbur Bartlett, who spoke fluent Spanish and had 
friends among the young fiesta promoters, had learned that a large 
platform of forty feet square was being built for dancing.  Wilbur also 
learned that some of the young fellows were paying their little brothers 
a penny a piece for each bug of a certain type that they could bring to 
the fiesta. 

" Wilbur insisted that the entire Bartlett family attend the fiesta that 
night.  The weather was good and the moon was bright.  The ladies wore 
full skirts and the men wore dark suits; they moved gracefully around 
the platform to the spirited music. 

"At 9:00 the (newly installed) lights went out, the band played "Cielito 
Lindo" and the dancing went on.  What a beautiful sight it was.  The 
bugs brought by the little boys were the harmless fireflies of spring; 
now they were blinking and sparkling in the ladies' hair.  The music 
played that night will forever bring to mind the lovely fiesta scene to 
everyone who witnessed it that night.

--------

Literally bringing the "beautiful sky" down to the dance floor!  The 
boys and young men that danced that night would soon be swallowed up in 
the Great War, but the world was full of promise then.  The railroad had 
come through town, and now electricity.  My aunt doesn't describe the 
band, but I like to imagine it as a mix of a mariachi conjunto and a 
military band -  that's what would have been available.  I would love to 
hear what a contemporaneous recording might have sounded like.  Was 
probably about the last time you *could* turn off all the lights, and I 
can't imagine getting the girls to put bugs in their hair today,  even 
if they were "harmless fireflies"...

Bart