Songs from the Pima Gazette
A collection of music related to 1930-1940 in Gila River
I was in an elder meeting recently and they were discussing popular songs that some of our elders from the 30’s and 40’s might have listen to.
I went home that night and I was thinking about what those songs might be – and I realized I have a pretty good source from that era – the Pima Gazette!
So, I went through the issues and pulled any song that was mentioned. Many of these were from musical numbers or mentioned that someone played the song for a recital or some other function.
I’ve included snippets of the articles where I found each set of songs so you can see who sang them or what the song was related to. I’ve also tried to find a copy of each song so you can listen to a version of it.
This is likely not all the songs from the paper, I might have missed a couple – but I think it is a good start. Let me know if you find any I missed!
All issues of the Pima Gazette can be found at my Newspaper Database below
January 1938
Reuben and Rachel
Bullfrog on the Bank
(Can’t find)
Kentucky Babe
(Very original HERE if interested)
Stars of the Summer Night
February - 1938
Can’t You Hear Me Calling Caroline
March 1938
The Old Refrain by Kreisler
Neapolitan Nights
January 1939
My Reverie
My Walking Stick
I Still Love to Kiss You Goodnight
February 1940
Carry me Back to Old Virginia (Virginny)
March 1941
Mexicali Rose
Buttercups and Daises
(Can’t find)
Where the Wild Rose Sweetly Doth Grow
(Can’t find this one either…)
Little Sir Echo
Columbia the Gem of the Ocean
(I didn’t include most of the more well known songs like America the Beautiful or the Christmas songs, but I figured this one might be lesser known by most folks. Columbia has a very fascinating history)
May 1941
My Task
Follow the Gleam
Amapola
San Antonio Rose
The Missouri Waltz
Old Barn Dance
Old Faithful
Pale Moon (An Indian Love Song)
October 1945
Home on the Range
Santa Fe Trail
Go Down Moses
(Alright… so this song is super old, but this version is so legit…)
Texas Cowboy
(Can’t find this one)
La Paloma – Spanish
(This is not the oldest version - this song is super popular, but I’m not sure what a version from ~1940 would have been… so I just picked this one.)
And that is about it…
Surprised you made it this far! Congrats! I don’t have anything else to add - hopefully this trip down the songs of the Pima Gazette was time well-spent =)