The Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection has acquired a number of phonodisc record collections, some of which have never received individual online cataloging by performer or title. This guide presents basic information about those phonodisc collections. Information about individual phonodiscs in each collection can be accessed through card catalog files in the Benson Collection Rare Books and Manuscripts Reading Room, where access is provided by Author and Title.
Unrestricted.
Standard copyright restrictions apply. Due to the fragility of the phonodiscs, use is limited to the Benson Collection Rare Books and Manuscripts Reading Room.
Cite as: [Individual Phonodisc Collection Name], Benson Latin American Collection, University of Texas Libraries, the University of Texas at Austin.
The Phonodisc Collections are classified under the following
Biographical information: Dan Dickey. Ethnomusicologist, teacher, and musician. Director of Andean music, Central American marimba, and mariachi ensembles at the University of Texas at Austin.
Consists mainly of sound recordings of Mexican popular music, with some Argentine, Cuban, Puerto Rican, and United States artists represented. Contains many Mexican songs in various regional styles, as well as other Mexican music including boleros, corridos, huapangos, and rancheras. Also includes some blues, guarachas, mambos, rumbas, and tangos. Much of the music is performed by mariachi bands or tríos románticos. Most of the phonodiscs were produced in Mexico, although approximately ten percent consist of Mexican or Latin American music produced in the United States, or Spanish versions of U.S. popular music. Labels which predominate are Columbia, Peerless, RCA Victor, and Victor.
Biographical information: Joe Nicola. Businessman. Operated a vending company in San Marcos, Texas, which furnished jukeboxes to various restaurants and clubs in the San Marcos area. Also published a Spanish-language newspaper, El Sol, in San Marcos from 1956 to 1958.
Consists of over 800 phonodiscs of Mexican and Mexican American music, along with a few paper labels from jukeboxes. Reflects the development of Texas-Mexican musical styles from approximately the late 1930s into the 1970s. Many recordings were released on major U.S. labels such as Decca, RCA, or Columbia, but others are from Mexico or from Texas recording companies like Falcon, Ideal, Rio, Torero, Freddie, or Bego. The music ranges from recordings by accordionist Narciso Martínez on the Bluebird label in the 1930s to releases by Sunny and the Sunliners on Teardrop Records in the 1970s. Other artists represented include Lydia Mendoza, Bruno Villareal, Valerio Longoria, Ramon Ayala, Tony de la Rosa, Beto Villa, and Paulino Bernal, as well as other musicians and musical groups.
324 of the 45s from the Rio Record Shop Collection have been cataloged and are discoverable in the University of Texas Libraries