 |
|
|
|
The Tango Kid |
|
Chronologically speaking,
the last great voice produced in the prolific years of the 1940's was that
of Julio Sosa. Although he was born in the same year as another great,
Roberto Goyeneche (1926), success came to Sosa well before "El Polaco"
, and he is considered one of the greatest artists that closed out this
generation.
Julio Sosa, also known as El Varón del Tango (The Tango Kid),was born in the city of Las Piedras (Canelones), Uruguay on February 2, 1926. His family was very poor and as a result he was obliged to leave school as a child and work. He began his career working in cafes in his hometown, where he also did some singing on the side with the Carlos Gilardoni orchestra. Later, Julio moved on to Montevideo and Punta del Este to sing with a succession of bands, including those led by Epifiano Chaín, Hugo Di Carlo and Luis Caruso. In 1949, he began to work in Buenos Aires: first at the cafe Los Andes in the barrio of Chacarita, and later with the orchestra of Joaquín Do Reyes and with the Francini-Poniter duo. The orchestra already had a magnificent singer, Alberto Podestá, with whom Sosa made his first recording. This debut featured the hit El hijo triste. In 1953, Sosa joined the band headed by Francisco Rotundo, and in 1955, after leaving Armando Pontier's group for good, Sosa returned to Rotundo. In 1958 Sosa decided to go solo. Leopoldo Federico was his director, arranger and the first bandoneon of the group that accompanied him from then on. Sosa appeared on radio, television and in the film Buenas Noches Buenos Aires. In addition, he wrote of book of poetry Dos horas antes del alba. The title was all too prophetic: in the early hours of November 26, 1964, Sosa was killed when the car he was driving crashed into a traffic light on Avenida Figueroa Alcorta. His funeral procession brought out into the streets as many mourners as did the funeral of Carlos Gardel, according to those who witnessed both events. In the judgment of Salas, "Sosa embodied, before the rebirth of tango inspired by Edmundo Rivera, Roberto Goyeneche and Astor Piazzolla at the end of 60s, a preview what would have occurred in those years ... The public was looking for a different kind of voice and became infatuated with the robust accent of a singer who knew how to convey the verses of the dramatic and well as the humorous tangos. Sosa ushered in the revival of the traditional virile ethos of tango, of the guy who suffered without complaint even though everything turned against him."
|
 |
For his part, Ferrer believes that Sosa cultivated a style characterized by his fiery temperament inside begun by Edmundo Rivero, and recalled that his repertoire included classic arrabalera (side streets) style tunes such as Ivette, Que me quiten lo bailao, Margot andAraca corazón (one should also add to this list a highly personalized and anthological version of La Cumparsita, El ciruja, Por seguidora y por fiel and El firulete), although according to Ferrer's line of thought, "his greatest interpretive pieces have been the romantic and melodios tangos such as Si no me engaña el corazón, Nada, Qué solo estoy, Yo soy aquel muchacho, La casita de mis viejos, En esta trade gris, Mañana iré temprano, Madame Ivonne, many of which he resurrected and restored to popularity. Of this last list, one would have to add El último caféand Eras como una flor,tunes which became chart-toppers for Sosa. |
| Salas,
as he did in the case of Alberto Castillo, theorized on the sociological
and political implications of "The Tango Kid": "Politically speaking, justas
Castillo had been the singer who become emblematic of Peronism in power,
Julio Sosa was the archetype of the Peronist movement when it was outlawed
during the years of military rule. He was not particularly ideological
per
se: he projected it through gestures, winks and in profound, almost
deafening silences. It was enough for him, for example, to raise his arms
and imitate the exiled Peron's smile at the very moment he intoned a familiar
line from Enrique Cadícamo: Al mundo le falta un tornillo/¡va
a haber que llamar un mecánico,/ para ver si lo puede arreglar!--the
world is falling apart/ you're going to have to call for a mechanic/to
see if he can fix it! for the public to explode into cheers. There
was a tacit agreement between the singer and his fans and this understanding
was what produced the multitude that accompanied his remains to La Chacarita
cemetary with placards and political chants."
As well Salas makes these artistic observations, with sociological connotations, about the singer: "He was not overly refined, and the orchestrations of Leopoldo Federico were intended only as a backdrop. But Sosa didn't need much help. He had revived the old tangos of the 20's, he had dared to sing the melodies of Gardel and he balanced these songs with a few from the Generation of the 40's. His fans looked for a new voice and a tango that didn't imitate the old classics. Sosa did this displaying a style that did not employ complicated forms. The common theme was that of melancholy, of honor and the masculine virility of the old-time tough guys from the side streets. In this sense Sosa was the last singer in the old style. With his death, an epoch was finally brought to a close. |
 |
| from Sentir El Tango, vol.70. published by Ediciones Altaya, Moreno 3362, 1209 Buenos Aires, Argentina. |
|
|
|
|