"San Antonio Rose" is a

swing Swing or swinging may refer to: Apparatus * Swing (seat), a hanging seat that swings back and forth * Pendulum, an object that swings * Russian swing, a swing-like circus apparatus * Sex swing, a type of harness for sexual intercourse * Swing ri ...

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...

introduced in late 1938 by

Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although S ...

. Quickly becoming the band's most popular number, Wills and band members devised lyrics, which were recorded on April 16, 1940, and released on Okeh 5694 in August as "New San Antonio Rose". Despite having completed a lengthy Hillbilly/Folk chart run in 1939, which culminated at #1, it quickly rose to the top again, in early 1941. It went on to become the band's theme song for the next forty years, reverting to its original title. The song is written in the first person with the "Rose of San Antone" being the singer's lost love. In 2010, the

Western Writers of America Western Writers of America (WWA), founded 1953, promotes literature, both fictional and nonfictional, pertaining to the American West. Although its founders wrote traditional Western fiction, the more than 600 current members also include historian ...

ranked it at number 49 on its list of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.

Recordings

While it was also a successful hit for other

Hillbilly Hillbilly is a term (often derogatory) for people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in southern Appalachia and the Ozarks. The term was later used to refer to people from other rural and mountainous areas we ...

artists, it also broke through to the

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ( ...

charts, where Bing Crosby's version reached #7 on December 16, 1940. Over a million copies were sold for which Bing was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

. "San Antonio Rose" was the third dominating hit by Wills in the

Western Swing Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands. It is dance music, often with an up-tempo beat, which attracted huge crowds to dance ...

field over the last five years. "

Spanish Two Step "New Spanish Two Step" is a Western swing standard based on a traditional fiddle tune, "Spanish Two Step". Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys recorded the latter on September 23, 1935, and released it on Vocalion 03230 in 1936. Ten years later, Will ...

" was second to only Mexicali Rose in 1936, "

Steel Guitar Rag "Steel Guitar Rag" is the seminal Western swing instrumental credited with popularizing the steel guitar as an integral instrument in a Western band. Written by Leon McAuliffe, it was first recorded by Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys James ...

topped the 1937 chart, and "San Antonio Rose" finished in the top ten in 1939 and 1940. The Texas Playboys finished with thirteen Number one chart hits. The song, both the music and lyrics, reflects the Mexican influence Bob Wills found growing up in the

Southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

. Wills developed the melody of the original "San Antonio Rose" itself from a traditional tune, "

", by playing the bridge in reverse. "New San Antonio Rose" ruffled the feathers of Southern country music moguls when Wills and the Playboys performed it with horns and a drum at the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a divis ...

on December 30, 1944.Kienzle, ''Southwest Shuffle'', p. 257: "When Acuff finished the introduction, the Playboys snapped into 'New San Antonio Rose,' Montjoy's drums and Brashear's trumpet clearly visible to the audience. ... 'They couldn't get the people to quit applauding; they just kept on and on and on. They kept tryin' to quiet the crowd down, and they wouldn't quiet down.' That kind of response usually justifies an encore. But Wills had remorselessly flouted Opry tradition, first by the act of bringing a drummer, then by defying their request that Mountjoy stay concealed. ... There would be no encore. But no one forgot, either."

Film appearances

*1941: ''

San Antonio Rose "San Antonio Rose" is a swing instrumental introduced in late 1938 by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. Quickly becoming the band's most popular number, Wills and band members devised lyrics, which were recorded on April 16, 1940, and releas ...

'' *1982: ''

Honkytonk Man ''Honkytonk Man'' is a 1982 American comedy-drama musical western film set in the Great Depression. Clint Eastwood, who produced and directed, stars with his son, Kyle Eastwood. Clancy Carlile's screenplay is based on his 1980 novel of the same ...

'' *1985: '' Sweet Dreams'' – sung by

Patsy Cline Patsy is a given name often used as a diminutive of the feminine given name Patricia or sometimes the masculine name Patrick, or occasionally other names containing the syllable "Pat" (such as Cleopatra, Patience, Patrice, or Patricia). Among I ...

Cover versions

The song has been recorded by many artists in several genres. * The pseudonymous Jericho wrote the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

lyrics. A Swedish version was recorded by Ingalill Rossvald and

Harry Brandelius Harry ''Torbjörn'' Brandelius (14 June 1910 – 5 September 1994) was a Swedish singer of schlager music. He made his debut as a gramophone singer in 1932 with ''Midt i natten'' (''Miss i nassen'') accompanied by Folke Andersson's orchestra (HM ...

with Thorsten Sjögren's orchestra in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

on February 7, 1952. It was released on the

78 rpm record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts nea ...

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice (HMV) was the name of a major British record label created in 1901 by The Gramophone Co. Ltd. The phrase was coined in the late 1890s from the title of a painting by English artist Francis Barraud, which depicted a Jack Russ ...

X 7795. * American pianist

Floyd Cramer Floyd Cramer (October 27, 1933 – December 31, 1997) was an American pianist who became famous for his use of melodic "half step" attacks. He was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His signature ...

had his version go to No. 8 on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 pop and country singles charts in 1961. * In 1966,

Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947 but shortly after he reorganized ...

released a version on his album ''Harry James & His Western Friends '' ( Dot DLP 3735 and 25735) * American R&B and

boogie-woogie Boogie-woogie is a genre of blues music that became popular during the late 1920s, developed in African-American communities since 1870s.Paul, Elliot, ''That Crazy American Music'' (1957), Chapter 10, p. 229. It was eventually extended from pian ...

pianist and singer

Little Willie Littlefield Willie Littlefield, Jr., billed as Little Willie Littlefield (September 16, 1931 – June 23, 2013), was an American R&B and boogie-woogie pianist and singer whose early recordings "formed a vital link between boogie-woogie and rock and roll". ...

recorded a version for his 1982 album '' Houseparty''. * Other notable recordings are by

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Doll ...

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning s ...

Gordon MacRae Albert Gordon MacRae (March 12, 1921 – January 24, 1986) was an American actor, singer and radio/television host who appeared in the film versions of two Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals ''Oklahoma!'' (1955) and ''Carousel'' (1956) and who pl ...

Jo Stafford Jo Elizabeth Stafford (November 12, 1917July 16, 2008) was an American traditional pop music singer, whose career spanned five decades from the late 1930s to the early 1980s. Admired for the purity of her voice, she originally underwent classi ...

The Mills Brothers The Mills Brothers, sometimes billed the Four Mills Brothers, and originally known as the Four Kings of Harmony, were an American jazz and traditional pop vocal quartet who made more than 2,000 recordings that sold more than 50 million copies an ...

Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer and actor. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in mo ...

Patti Page Clara Ann Fowler (November 8, 1927 – January 1, 2013), known professionally as Patti Page, was an American singer and actress. Primarily known for pop and country music, she was the top-charting female vocalist and best-selling female ar ...

John Denver Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, activist, and humanitarian whose greatest commercial success was as a solo singe ...

Steve Lawrence Steve Lawrence (born Sidney Liebowitz; July 8, 1935) is an American singer, comedian and actor, best known as a member of a duo with his wife Eydie Gormé, billed as " Steve and Eydie", and for his performance as Maury Sline, the manager and fr ...

Teresa Brewer Teresa Brewer (born Theresa Veronica Breuer; May 7, 1931 – October 17, 2007) was an American singer whose style incorporated pop, country, jazz, R&B, musicals, and novelty songs. She was one of the most prolific and popular female singers of th ...

, and

Don Wilkerson Don Wilkerson (c. 1932 – 18 July 1986) was an American soul jazz / R&B tenor saxophonist born in Moreauville, Louisiana, probably better known for his Blue Note Records recordings in the 1960s as bandleader with guitarist Grant Green. Prior t ...

Other uses

It lends its name to

San Antonio Rose Palace The San Antonio Rose Palace is a 4,500-seat multi-purpose arena in the Leon Springs area of San Antonio, Texas. It hosts local sporting events, rodeos, and concerts. History San Antonio lawyer Wayne Crocker originally constructed the complex ...

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

, Texas, owned by

George Strait George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait is considered one of the most influential and popular recording artists of all time. In the 1980s, he was credited for ...

. Tish Hinojosa's "San Antonio Romeo", on her album ''Culture Swing'', provides Rose's side of the story.

References

Bibliography

*Boyd, Jean Ann. ''Jazz of the Southwest: An Oral History of Western Swing''. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1998. *Dorman, Robert. ''It Happened in Oklahoma''. Globe Pequot Press, 2006) . *Gioia, Ted "Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys: New San Antonio Rose", Jazz.com, July 8, 2008 *La Chapelle, Peter. ''Proud to Be an Okie: Cultural Politics, Country Music, and Migration to Southern California''. University of California Press, 2007. *Kienzle, Rich. ''Southwest Shuffle: Pioneers of Honky Tonk, Western Swing, and Country Jazz''. New York: Routledge, 2003. *McWhorter, Frankie. ''Cowboy Fiddler in Bob Wills' Band''. University of North Texas Press, 1997. *Whitburn, Joel. ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits''. Billboard Books, 2006. *Wolff, Kurt; Orla Duane. ''Country Music: The Rough Guide''. Rough Guides, 2000. {{authority control Western swing songs Western music (North America) 1938 songs 1940 singles Willie Nelson songs Floyd Cramer songs Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Songs about Texas Songs written by Bob Wills United States National Recording Registry recordings Ray Price (musician) songs Little Willie Littlefield songs 1961 singles