Tanda Canaro ~ Famá: With a tutorial and tango lyrics translated

Tango tanda for dancing with Francisco Canaro and singer Ernesto Famá, tango lyrics translated, and a short tutorial.

++Timestamps++
Start 00:00
Tutorial 00:45
Mosterio 05:55
Y no puede ser 08:46
Qué es lo que tiene la Bahiana? 11:22
Al subir, al bajar 14:21

Francisco Canaro was born in San José de Mayo, Uruguay, in 1888. One of ten brothers and sisters, he grew up in very poor circumstances, selling newspapers in the streets of Buenos Aires , where his family had moved, to make some money as a 9 year old boy.

But Canaro worked up his way in music: He played the violin, composed his first tango, ‘Pinta brava’ in 1912, and in 1915 he directed his first orchestra. By the 1920’s, and during the first half of the 1930’s, Francisco Canaro’s had become the most successful tango orchestra, touring not only in Argentina, but Europe as well. Canaro recorded some 3800 tracks and he has almost 300 compositions in his name. His career as a composer and orchestra leader made him a fortune.

Francisco Canaro worked with famous singers of the Tango Canción like Carlos Gardel and Charlo. And also Ada Falcón (with whom he had an affair for 10 years). His most important singers for dancing in the milongas were Ernesto Famá and Roberto Maida. And to be honest, I personally prefer Canaro with Maida. So earlier, we did 2 Tanda of the Week videos with Roberto Maida, but this time we have a tanda with Ernesto Famá.

Ernesto Famá was born in Buenos Aires in the barrio of San Cristóbal in 1908. He was a typical estribillo singer – one of the most prolific in his time. He recorded more than 300 tracks between 1928 and 1941. Famá sang with the orchestras of Osvaldo Fresedo in the late 1920s, with Orquesta Típica Victor, and Orquesta Típica Porteña, with the sexteto of Carlos Di Sarli in the early ‘30s, and with Juan Canaro. But by far most of his recordings he made with the orchestra of Francisco Canaro.

Famá had two stints with Francisco Canaro: the first was from 1930 till 1934. In 1935, Francisco Canaro replaced him with Roberto Maida, but Canaro and Famá reunited in 1939. Famá would stay with Canaro till 1941.The songs in this tanda of the week are from that second period, more specifically they are all from the year 1939.

The first tango of this tanda is ‘Mosterio’. Music written by Alberto Gambino, and lyrics by Fortunato Benzaquen, an actor better known as Alí Salem de Baraja. 'Mosterio' was recorded not only by Canaro, but also by Francisco Lomuto (who recorded it first), and by Enrique Rodríguez. And it’s very much a guardia vieja kind of tango. With a simple rhythm and funny lyrics.

The second track is ‘Y no puede ser’. Music written by Aníbal Troilo, and lyrics by José María Contursi. It’s another tango with a very clear beat, just a bit more serious than 'Mosterio.' ‘Y no puede ser’ was also recorded by Osvaldo Fresedo in 1939. And it’s interesting to compare the recordings by Canaro and Fresedo, the difference between them is huge…

The third track is ‘Qué es lo que tiene la Bahiana?’, or ‘O que e que a Baiana tem’. It’s originally a Brazilian samba, with music and lyrics written by Dorival Caymmi. It was a hit in 1939, sung by Carmen Miranda. Francisco Canaro always had a good ear for novelty hits, and this one is a good example. It may sound strange, the idea of turning a samba into a tango, but it does work somehow. In case you wonder what it sounds like as a samba.

The final track of the tanda is ‘Al subir, al bajar’. Music written by Alberto Suárez Villanueva and lyrics by Enrique Cadícamo. In the late 1930s and early ’40s, Canaro recorded a lot of songs that were also done (better) by other orchestras, but this one is an exception: Canaro’s was the only orchestra that recorded this tango. And it pays off: with ‘Al subir, al bajar’ it’s like he put a bit more effort into it, compared to most of his other tangos from this period. A stand-out track.

Thanks:
www.tangoarchive.com
www.todotango.com
www.tangosalbardo.blogspot.com
www.tangodecoder.wordpress.com
www.agadu.org
tangotranslations.org
Michael Lavocah, Jens Ingo tango DJ
FB pages about tango music like: Archivo Documental Del Tango, Tango Time Machine, Tango y Cultura, Con el tango en las venas, José Maria Otero, Pablo Dario Taboada, TDJ Laura Petroni, TDJ Alessandro Grillo, TDJ La Morocha, Gloria and Eduardo Arquimbau, Xavier Mulet, Carlos Gorrindo, Mercedes Garcia Blesa and many others.
Tangolyrics translations: Derrick del Pillar, www.tangopoetryproject.com and others.

#tangomusictutorials #tandaoftheweek #tanda #canaro #losamigostango

Please note: We do not own the music in this video. Songs are included for educational purposes only. You can buy them from various providers (like TangoTunes, iTunes etc.) or stream them on Spotify.