The practice of “covering records” – that is, recording songs that had been big hits for others – goes back to the beginning of commercial record sales. The practice was especially strong during the Swing Era, and examples can be found frequently in the World of Soundies.
It is unfortunate that the finest Western Swing band, Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys, never made it to the Soundies screen. However, here we have a very pleasant version of his best-known hit, “San Antonio Rose,” performed by Herbie Kay and his Orchestra. The approach here is certainly musical, although nobody would mistake this for swing music. Harrison Cooper, one of the pianists in the band, was a friend for many years, ]and we’ll let him introduce the film.
“I joined while the band when it was on tour in Texas. It was a fine tenor band – hotel style, you know, and it didn’t play much jazz or swing at all. By tenor band, I mean the three reed players all played tenor saxes, often in unison, something simply scored. We played the Blackhawk in Chicago…. Then we came to New York and played Lowe State Theater. I think we were there when we went out to Long Island to do these films.
“For the films, we recorded first at Victor [in Manhattan], then later did the filming to playback in Astoria. It was a rushed thing and the director [Fred Waller] got peeved at some of the guys, having to stop and tell them ‘Don’t look at the camera.’ But this was new to us and the guys couldn’t stop. Finally, he sighed and signaled to just keep on shooting.
“Ken Nealy was one of the regular band vocalists, and Herbie used Ken as a second pianist. He wasn’t very accomplished, but he didn’t get in the way and it gave him something to do when he wasn’t singing with the band.”
Dancer Mimi Kellerman was very active along the East Coast during the 1940s, and Soundies Director John Primi told me that she had been a premier dancer at the Roxy and was trained by Martha Graham. Kellerman was later known as a highly esteemed dance instructor, founding the Mimi Kellerman Academy of Dance. At this time, Minoco Productions was experimenting with vocal introductions, and that is radio announcer Kenneth Roberts who speaks before the music begins.
Nobody would confuse this arrangement (probably by Ray Whitaker) with Western Swing, or with swing music of any kind. The tenor band sound and lack of any rhythmic drive dates the music, but as a danceable arrangement of Wills’ popular melody, it gets the job done.