[78-L] Unissued western swing on Bear Family

[Cary Ginell]

Just listened to this CD and the sound quality is quite incredible. The vocals on the small groups bring forth nuances that you could not hear on a 78, and it's pretty astounding what kind of quality Columbia was getting in the late '30s and early '40s on these field sessions. The songs themselves are hit-and-miss, however, hearing the roaring steel guitar of Emil Hofner, the hot fiddle of Leon Selph, and various and sundry primitive amplified instruments make this a relevatory set to listen to. Bear Family has also maxed out the amount of music you can put on a CD, cramming in 31 songs and over 84 minutes of material. It's also nice to see that Bear Family has gone green in its packaging, dispensing with the clumsy jewel case in favor of a sleeker fold-out cardboard model with a plastic Digipak-style insert. Also plenty of photographs, enlarged sufficiently to see faces (not like in some other European product). Kevin Coffey's notes reveal a number of revelations, including the tantalizing possibility that the lyrics to "New San Antonio Rose" may have been penned by the Nite Owls' electric steel guitarist Bobby Symons, as evidenced by a vintage lyric sheet kept by Symons' widow. She claims that her husband sold the words to Bob Wills for $30. Coffey reports some "fascinating differences" between Symons' version and the one that Wills finally used, but doesn't elaborate, possibly saving that for another time. These kinds of stories are rife in western swing, especially in light of the presence of notorious song-grabbers like Jimmie Davis, who never met a hit he wouldn't underpay for. Wills was known to have bought songs himself, so it's possible, though not provable at this late date, that the San Antonio-based Symons may have had a hand in writing the most celebrated western swing song of all. Nice job, Bear Family!

Cary Ginell

> From: soundthink at live.com
> To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
> Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:02:39 -0700
> Subject: [78-L] Unissued western swing on Bear Family
> 
> 
> Bear Family has finally decided to issue western swing other than Bob Wills, 
> and they've started in fine fashion with a single CD consisting of 
> unissued recordings from the nascent pre-war era. The material was culled from the 
> Columbia/Brunswick/ARC archives. (don't know if one is forthcoming for 
> Victor/Bluebird and Decca masters).
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.bear-family.de/repertoire/country-bearfamily/you-oughta-see-my-fanny-dance.html?lang=1
> 
> 
> 
> My good friend Kevin Coffey was put in charge of annotating the set, so 
> you know that a lengthy, interesting essay and complete sessionography 
> would be included. The set features unissued tracks by Roy Newman, Ocie 
> Stockard, The Nite Owls, Al Dexter, Slim Harbert, The Hi Flyers, Leon 
> Selph, Dick Reinhart, Adolph Hofner, and Bob Wills (what? no Light Crust
>  Doughboys?). John Sellards, who does all of our art design at Origin 
> Jazz Library, did the design and photo restoration. The set will be 
> officially released next Monday. I just got my copy today and will be 
> hunkering down with a cold lemonade, put my feet up, and listen to some 
> hot western swing recordings I've never heard before. It's like unwrapping a
>  present.
> 
> 
> 
> Cary Ginell 		 	   		  
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