Song:Volver
Album:The Best Of Carlos Gardel
Despite his tragic death in a plane crash at age 44, Carlos Gardel is still revered today in Argentina as a tango pioneer. He wrote a lot of tango standards and had the matinee idol looks to be a huge star. He was born Dec. 11, 1890 in Toulouse, France. There has been some confusion about his birthplace but it appears Gardel may have created that confusion himself to avoid service in the French military. Gardel and his mother moved to Buenos Aires in 1893. He started performing folk songs professionally as a teen and first recorded with Jose Razzano in 1913. Gardel was shot during a nightclub fight on Dec. 11, 1915 but he was fortunate that the bullet lodged in his lung and he made a full recovery. He started recording tangos in 1917 and by 1925 he was a solo star in Argentina and Spain. He made his Paris debut in 1928 and became a star there too. Then he started appearing in films and Paramount paired him up with lyricist Alfredo LaPera and they would write many of Gardel's best loved songs including Volver. So now he was becoming a marinee idol. Gardel went on tour and the plane was taking off from Madelin, Colombia and it veered and crashed into another plane. Carlos Gardel was dead on June 24, 1935 at age 44. LaPera died in the crash too. His death hasn't diminished his impact in Argentina and he is still revered today. He's not well known in the US but Paramount had plans to make him a star. He appeared in The Big Broadcast Of 1936 but his scene was cut when he died. This comp is a good intro to his music. Here's Carlos Gardel performing Volver in the 1935 film El Dia que Me Quieras.
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