Carlos Gardel - Biography
By Robert Leaver
This suave and debonair Argentinean singer graced with movie star good looks became the first international Latin cinema superstar in the early days of motion pictures. More importantly “El Rey del Tango” or “El Mago,” the King of Tango or The Magician, as he was known, has inspired generations of music aficionados and still has a large following more than seventy years after his death. Rarely photographed without his perfectly tilted fedora hat and easy smile Gardel’s charm is obvious, but ultimately it is his naturally sonorous baritone voice that enthralls the listener.
His life was full of mystery and intrigue beginning with his birth. Varying accounts claim he was born in Argentina, Uruguay, and France. Likewise, historians dispute whether he was born in 1887 or 1890, with most agreeing on the latter date. The illegitimate son of a hat maker it seems likely that he was born in Toulouse, France and moved to Uruguay as an infant with his mother. Later they moved to Argentina’s bustling capital, Buenos Aires. He was raised in the Abasto barrio near the Central (food) Market. Gardel was energized as a young teen by the bustling cityscape and by age 15 was singing impromptu gigs at bars and bowling alleys.
He formed a duo with singer/guitarist José Razzano, whom he had met earlier in a singing match, in 1913. Razzano’s tenor and Gardel’s baritone were perfectly complimentary and their 78 r.p.m. recordings for Colombia records garnered immediate success. He began singing Argentinean folkloric tunes such as zambas and romantic songs in the popular bolero style. Amidst an environment that encouraged musicians the Spanish style guitar and the bandoneon, or accordion, along with the piano and violin were the principal instruments. The ambiance in Buenos Aires could be raucous and musicians had to be prepared for anything. One tale that is told of Gardel’s early years is that he was shot and wounded in a barroom brawl by Che Guevara’s father.
In 1917 he had a huge hit that swept Latin America, “Mi Noche Triste” (My Sad Night). It sold more thatn 100,000 copies upon release and helped establish a new song form, tango-cancíon, otherwise known as tango. Propelled into the spotlight Gardel toured extensively throughout Latin America including Brazil, Puerto Rico, and Colombia and played in prominent venues in European cities such as Paris, and Barcelona. He also drew rave crowds in New York City where society embraced the tango in song and dance.
Also in 1917 he began his movie career acting in a silent film entitled El Flor del Durazno (The Peach Flower). Maintaining a steady routine of rehearsals, recordings, and concerts the duo, supported by a small ensemble, enjoyed continuing success. Their 1921 hit “Medallita de La Suerte” would become a timeless classic. Gardel’s appetite and growing wealth meant an expanding girth so in an effort to maintain his physique he began doing gymnastics.
In 1925 they performed for Edward of Windsor, Prince of Wales, in England but later that year Razzano had to stop singing due to a throat illness. From then on Gardel would be a solo artist, although Razzano stayed close to him as his manager. Over the next several years he spent more time in Spain and did most of his recording in Barcelona. He made his Parisian concert debut in 1928, singing some songs in French, and sold more that 70,000 records that year in Paris alone. That same year he made his first recordings for the Odeon label in France.
Back in Buenos Aires in 1930 he recorded songs for a film he acted in called Diez Cortometrajes or Ten Short Films. In 1931 while performing in the French Riviera he befriended Charlie Chaplin who greatly admired Gardel’s talent. Chaplin said (in eulogizing his death), “he had a superior presence of voice and figure, an enormous personal sympathy that would gain him the immediate affection of everyone.” Signed as a star to Paramount he was the principal actor in the film Luces de Buenos Aires or Lights of Buenos Aires shot in Paris that spring. More films followed in quick succession: Espérame (Wait for Me), La Casa es Seria (The House is Somber), and Melodia de Arrabal (Melody of the Suburb).
He spent most of 1933 in Argentina, perhaps weary of international travel. Towards the end of the year he traveled back to Barcelona and then on to New York City for his NBC radio debut on New Year’s Eve. Celebrating his success the following spring an unprecedented broadcast was made with Gardel singing from New York City as three guitarists played live in Buenos Aires. His film career continued with Cuesta Abajo (Downhill) whose title track would become part of the timeless Latin American songbook.
El Tango En Broadway (1934 Paramount) is a wistful comedy about a carefree Latin playboy in New York City whose life is interrupted by the arrival of his disapproving uncle from Argentina. Ultimately, the uncle is seduced by the glamour and joy of the nightlife in the big apple. Although clichéd it was a perfectly believable vehicle to further the star’s trajectory.
Recording now for the RCA Victor imprint he continued to produce on average a song a week. In a recording career that spanned barely twenty years he recorded nearly 800 songs, over 500 of which were tangos. His next film began production near the end of 1934, Cazadores de Estrellas (Hunters of Stars), and would be finished in Hollywood. The following year began with a busy film schedule. El Día Que Me Quieras (The Day You Will Love Me) featured another immortal classic with the title cut and Tango Bar followed.
He ended an extended tour of Latin America in 1935 in Bogotá, Colombia with a special farewell radio broadcast. The next day Gardel along with his musicians and business associates were departing Medellín, Colombia aboard a small aircraft that crashed into another plane upon takeoff. All passengers on both craft died. Gardel’s death was the headline news throughout all of Latin America on June 24, 1935. His body was flown to New York, then taken to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, then to his (presumed) birthplace, Montevideo, Uruguay, before being returned to Buenos Aires. Along the way millions mourned and showed up to pay their respects. His body remains buried in La Chacarita Cemetery where a life size statue of Gardel stands, often seen with a cigarette burning between his fingers. It is a fittingly symbolic remembrance for the man whose legend still burns with life.
Among his recordings are a handful of songs which have become classics and been recorded by scores of artists over time. “Mi Buenos Aires Querido” is an ode to his beloved city, “Volver” (Return) coined the common Spanish aphorism “veinte años no es nada,” or “twenty years is nothing.” “Soledad” and “Por Una Cabeza” are now well known Latin American standards. Most of the time Gardel composed melodies and co-wrote with lyricists like the brilliant Alfredo Le Pera. Whatever he sang rang with sincerity as if had composed the lyric himself.
Gardel’s music has remained constantly in print in virtually all of the Americas, France, and Spain. He must be counted among the world’s most popular artists of all times selling millions of 78 r.p.m. Singles, LP collections, cassette tapes, compact discs and MP3’s. The images on his recordings stand out like presidential portraits on postage stamps.
Gardel’s iconic status made him tango’s ambassador to the world at large. A singing sensation, pop star, film star and all around dandy Gardel transcended Latin America impacting the broader culture of Europe and the whole of the Americas. He legitimized tango as a classic music form. Even though its roots are in Latin American folk idioms and its subject matter often bawdy Gardel brought elegance to the form. One could no more imagine Gardel and his tango being denied entrée into the salons of polite society than Enrique Caruso and Italian opera. The combination of sheer talent, creative drive, and charm helped him to achieve a status hitherto unknown to artists from Latin America.
The cult of his personality spurred on by a wealth of imagery and music continues to this day. The mysterious quality of his life, the endless tales of kindness and liaisons, and the tragic dimension of his death feed the power of his myth. Meanwhile tango, in the hands of such artists as Astor Piazzolla, has become a respected genre in both the classical and jazz realm. A nattily dressed specter from beyond time Gardel remains frozen in time as his voice still rings clearly through the din of old vinyl cracks and pops.
