San Antonio Rose

Not to be confused with San Antonio Rose (film) or San Antonio Rose (album).

"San Antonio Rose"
Single by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
B-side"The Convict And The Rose"
PublishedJune 5, 1940 (1940-06-05) by Irving Berlin, Inc.[1]
ReleasedApril 1939 (1939-04)[2]
RecordedNovember 28, 1938 (1938-11-28)[3]
StudioDallas, Texas
GenreWestern swing
Length2:35
LabelVocalion 04755
Songwriter(s)Bob Wills
Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys singles chronology
"Whoa Babe"
(1939) 		"San Antonio Rose"
(1939) 		"Liza Pull Down the Shades"
(1939)
"New San Antonio Rose"
Single by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
B-side"Bob Wills' Special"
ReleasedAugust 1940 (1940-08)[4]
RecordedApril 16, 1940 (1940-04-16)[5]
StudioBurrus Sawmill Studio, Saginaw, Texas
GenreWestern swing
Length2:37
LabelOkeh 05694
Songwriter(s)Bob Wills
Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys singles chronology
"Lone Star Rag"
(1940) 		"New San Antonio Rose"
(1940) 		"Time Changes Everything"
(1940)

"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,[3] 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.[5] 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 ranked it at number 49 on its list of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.[6]

  1. ^ Library of Congress. Copyright Office. (1940). Catalog of Copyright Entries 1940 Musical Compositions New Series Vol 35 Pt 3 For the Year 1940. United States Copyright Office. U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
  2. ^ 78 Record: Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys - San Antonio Rose (1939), retrieved July 20, 2021
  3. ^ a b "The Online Discographical Project". 78discography.com. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
  4. ^ 78 Record: Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys - New San Antonio Rose (1940), retrieved July 20, 2021
  5. ^ a b "The Online Discographical Project". 78discography.com. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
  6. ^ Western Writers of America (2010). "The Top 100 Western Songs". American Cowboy. Archived from the original on October 19, 2010.