[78-L] Unissued western swing on Bear Family

[Ray Kilcoyne]

Cary, here's a question I've never seen the answer to here or any other 
place.  What is the difference between NEW SAN ANTONIO ROSE and SAN ANTONIO 
ROSE, and the same for others like NEW SPANISH TWO STEP.
RayK


From: 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!