A brief overview of "The Westphalia Waltz Story"
Or, how a risqué Polish folk song swam the Atlantic, migrated across the northern US over land and air, returned to Europe on a troop transport during World War II, got dusted with the powdery rosin of a Texas fiddler’s bow in Germany, and ended up back in the USA, becoming one of America’s favorite country fiddle waltzes.
The documentary DVD illustrates how the melody of the Westphalia Waltz derives from a Polish song known by several titles -- "Pytala Sie Pani," "Wszystkie Rybki" and later, "Dreamy Fish Waltz." The film describes the roots of this tune, which was in circulation in Poland before 1920, and in the northern and northeastern parts of the U.S. during the 1930's, and tells the fascinating story of its metamorphosis into a country fiddle classic that many fiddlers today consider "traditional."
The film captures a wide array of people, places and artifacts significant in the regional and national development of the "Westphalia Waltz," a tune whose history typifies the process by which music of diverse heritages coalesces to become "American."
The Walter Fronc Orchestra recorded "Pytala Sie Pani" for Victor in 1930 |
From the mills of New England and the coal mines of Pennsylvania, to the farms of Wisconsin and the boisterous taverns of Chicago, “Pytala Sie Pani” was a unifying and bawdy favorite that the overworked, underpaid, ostracized and homesick Polish-Americans sang to forget the Great Depression. Victor (1930) and Columbia (1937) both recorded it. Publishers in Chicago (Sajewski) and Philadelphia (Podgorski) sold the sheet music. But near Panna Maria, the rural south Texas site of America’s oldest Polish settlement, just 50 miles east of San Antonio, the locals sang a different song. |
Ignacy Podgorski recorded "Pytala Sie Pani" for Columbia in 1937, and published the sheet music. |
“Westphalia Waltz” was the "B" side of "Jole Blon," sung by Cotton Collins. |
Cotton Collins, a gifted Texas fiddler, recorded the piece in 1946 with the Waco-area band the Lone Star Playboys, shortly after he returned from Germany, where he’d learned “Pytala Sie Pani” during World War II. The documentary explains how Collins may have chosen to name the tune after the small Texas village of Westphalia, just 35 miles south of Waco. After the Blue Bonnet Music Company release in 1946, the piece gained great popularity in the country music arena. The Lone Star Playboys performed it frequently at gigs and on their daily radio show, broadcast at lunchtime on WACO in Waco. “Westphalia Waltz” was recorded by a long string of artists, notably Floyd Tillman (in 1947, on Columbia) and Hank Thompson in 1955, on Capitol Records. Thompson’s well-produced recording, with Capitol’s national promotion and distribution, elevated the Westphalia Waltz to national exposure, where it enchanted fiddlers and listeners alike. |
Cottton Collins, fiddler for the "Lone Star Playboys" |
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Link to a graphic display of the tune's names and some of its publication and recording history. "The Westphalia Waltz Story" is produced by Joe Weed If you have anything to contribute to our story, please In advance, we thank you for your contributions for possible use in our documentaries. |
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