Miguel Caló with Alberto Podestá

In the previous post I wrote that one of Caló's contributions to tango is discovering great singers Raúl Berón and Alberto Podestá. I'm particularly grateful for the second one, since he is one of my favorite singers.

I split recordings of Podestá with Caló into early and late ones. Early recordings cover only 4 tangos. In my opinion it is a mixed bag. "Yo Soy El Tango" is very light, almost kitschy. "Percal" is deep and very emotional. The other 2 songs: "Si Tu Quisieras" and "Dos Fracasos" are somewhere in between.

Alberto recorded those songs under the name of Juan Carlos Morel. Podestá was name after his mother. At that time in Buenos Aires there were some other singers with this name and Alberto wanted to avoid confusion. It was Carlos di Sarli who convinced him to use name Podestá. He said: "Kid, from now on you will be Alberto Podestá and out of all singers with this surname only you will endure".

  

The late recordings cover period from 1954 till 1972, the year when Miguel Caló passed away. Among recordings from this period we will find "Qué Falta Que Me Hacés" - possibly the best tango of all times! This song has everything a great tango should have: beautiful melody, a dose of drama, perfect orchestration, clear & regular rhythm. And let's not forget about the voice of Podestá. Sounds like a perfect recipe for a hit!

Apart from tangos, Podestá recorded with Caló's orchestra a few very popular valses... I will write about them some other time. Stay tuned :)



Early recordings:

Percal, Miguel Caló canta Alberto Podestá, 1943
Yo Soy El Tango, Miguel Caló canta Alberto Podestá, 1941
Dos Fracasos, Miguel Caló canta Alberto Podestá, 1941
Si Tu Quisieras, Miguel Caló canta Alberto Podesta, 1941

Late recordings:

Qué falta que me hacés, Miguel Caló canta Alberto Podestá, 1963
Bailan Javier Rodríguez y Geraldine Rojas

El Bazar De Los Jugetes, Miguel Caló canta Alberto Podestá, 1954
Cómo Le Digo A La Vieja, Miguel Caló canta Alberto Podestá, 1954

Miguel Caló - Overview

Miguel Caló is a name each tanguera and tanguero should be very familiar with. He is best known for his beautiful Golden Age recordings from 1940ies. But that is not all, we should know more...

Caló started his musical career in mid twenties. In 1926 he joined the orchestra of Osvaldo Fresedo, as a bandoneon player. A year later he joined Francisco Pracánico. His first own orchestra was created in 1929, but the project did not last long. Only 3 years later, in 1932, the second attempt of creating orchestra was successful.

Miguel Caló should be appreciated for his great musical legacy. Further more, he had another contribution to tango by introducing two greatest singers in the history: Raúl Berón and Alberto Podestá.

To learn about Caló´s music in more systematic way, I suggest to split his work into 3 parts:

- early recordings (1932-1938)

- Golden Age recordings (1940ies)

- late recordings (1950-1972)

Golden Age recordings are very famous and you will hear them in most milongas. The music from the other two periods is much less known, but also very interesting and worth discovering.

For more detailed biographical and discographical information please go to:
Todo Tango - Miguel Caló

In the next post I will start with Miguel Caló and Alberto Podestá...