José Santos - Para Ti (Brunswick 40357B)
More crazy obscure dance band sides today! This one is from 1929, and is from a little known Spanish language band recorded in the US. Their name was "Los Castilians" and there is near to zero information about them online, which appears to be a recurring theme for this channel. Still, I'll try to lay out all the research and assumptions below!
The obvious first thing to work on is their nationality! Well, their name is the Castilians; were they from Castille? Despite those green label Columbias that recorded music for diaspora populations from Europe, Asia and the Middle East, very few seem to be in any way related to Spain. So while it's possible that they were indeed Castilian, I think it's more likely that they were not, and their name was just a cool-sounding marketing ploy. So were they Mexicans who travelled to New York to record? Tejanos or Chicanos, maybe? Fortunately, one piece of info we do have is the name of only one band member: Louis Katzman. The eagle-eyed among you may spot that this isn't a particularly Mexican name, and for good reason - he was from Moldova.
Katzman's name will be familiar to danceband fanatics as he led the excellent Anglo-Persians Orchestra, who did some fantastic sides. He was one of the directors at Brunswick, and fittingly led a few bands on their roster, the Castilians being one of them. It seems that rather than being a Mexican band, they were Americans who played hottened versions of Mexican pop songs! "Tampico Hermoso" was a very popular song among Mexican populations at this time, with many versions being recorded. Some of those can be heard on the immensely valuable channel known as Frontera Collection, which I believe is operated in part by Arhoolie! The flipside is "Para Ti" by Jose Santos. The Castilians name does not appear on the label, but it's reasonable to suggest that at least some of their members are present on this side too. I almost like this side better, in part because it's a fox-trot (or camel-trot as the label says) but also I really like Santos' voice! Always was partial to a good tenor!
Music transferred from my original 78rpm shellac record 08/12/24.
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