Todo Gardel collection and the List of 971 titles
La colección Todo Gardel y la Lista de 971 títulos

Esta lista esta basada en la colección de 50 CDs de Todo Gardel, editada por Ediciones Altaya, S.A., Cerrito 1320, 1º piso of. C, 1010 Buenos Aires. Esta producida por Sintagma Creaciones Editoriales, Tuset 19, 4º 3º, Barcelona 2001, Ediciones Altaya y Editorial Planeta DeAgostini Argentina, (email: info@eplaneta.com.ar). Esta colección fue producida en Argentina en los anos 2001-2 y se publica de nuevo en 2003. Para una introducción a esta colección, oprime aquí. Desafortunadamente, esta únicamente disponible en la Argentina. Como ultimo, sabemos que hay errores en esta lista, favor no enviar correcciones individuales si no esta preparado en corregirlo todo.

This list is based on the TODO GARDEL - Altya, 50 CD collection from, Ediciones Altaya, S.A., Cerrito 1320, 1º piso of. C, 1010 Buenos Aires. Created by Sintagma Creaciones Editoriales, Tuset 19, 4º 3º, Barcelona 2001, Ediciones Altaya and Editorial Planeta DeAgostini Argentina, (email: info@eplaneta.com.ar). This collection was published in Argentina from 2001-2 and again in 2003. For the introduction to this collection, click here. Unfortunately, and without explanation, they do not sell outside of Argentina.

Here are all of the Todo Gardel collection covers.
Aquí están todas las tapas de la colección Todo Gardel.

He aqui la lista de TODO GARDEL compilada por Elsa Lumenti en 2006.

Cante Don Carlos, cante
Tras el aniversario de la muerte de Carlos Gardel, Ediciones Altaya y la Editorial Planeta De Agostini lanzan Todo Gardel, una completa colección sobre la obra y la vida del Zorzal criollo. Opinión: Muy Buena. La Maga 11 del 7 de 2001.

Well-known Gardel collector, Jorge Finkielman, does not like much the quality of Todo Gardel collection (and for that matter, neither do I). Read his comments by clicking here. To suppress the noise from old records, they have also drowned out Gardel's voice and music). EMI Odeon in Britain did a much better and professional job with Gardel Inédito.This list is by no means the Bible of Gardel discography as no-one knows for sure how much Gardel recorded. For example, there is a version of the tango "Silencio" which is absent from Todo Gardel. It can be found on EMI's "Vida y obra de Carlos Gardel", vol. 40. One thing is for sure. This is the most complete Gardel discography available on the Internet. 

* According to Gardel's excellent biographer, Miguel Angel Morena, Gardel recorded a total of 772 themes and 26 music styles, including: 514 tangos; 25 styles; 42 waltzes, 25 Argentinean folk songs; 5 cifras, 5 milongas; 1 serenata; 5 tonadas; 3 fados; 12 shimmys; 1 Colombian pasillo; 11 zambas; 1 triste; 1 camel trot; 1 vidalita; 7 fox-trots; 1 Russian balad; 5 pasodobles; 2 chacareras; 1 jota; 2 gatos; 5 rancheras; 1 triunfo; 2 rumbas; 5 French songs; 1 Neapolitan song; 1 tango in English. To this we have to add: 4 styles; 2 songs and 1 waltz, recorded, accompanying himself in 1913, and the themes he recorded in duo with José Razzano. See also: Songs Gardel interpreted in his films.

According to others, Gardel produced close to 1500 recordings of which almost a 1000 went public. Some of the more popular songs were recorded a number of times. Due to technical reasons, some of these versions were never published. In 1999 and 2001, 43 of the unpublished songs were released on two Gardel Inédito (Gardel unpublished) CDs by EMI Odeon. Those unpublished songs are not a part of this list. 

Here are the numbers of published song versions that I am aware of:
1. Todo Gardel = 971
2. Gardel Inédito = 43
3. Vida y obra de Carlos Gardel vol. 40 = 1 (the tango, Silencio)
3. The fifteen short films (Diez cortometrajes) = 10
That is a total of 1025 songs. This means that there are about 500 versions unaccounted for, some of which might be in the hands of jealous collectors (such as the 'Adelante' march which had to be secretly copied by a friend of the collector. (Needless to say, they are no longer friends). Other versions might be forever lost. Example: In 1962, RCA Victor designated the Colombian Ricardo Mejías as their artistic manager in Argentina. In the 1070's, apparently due to a lack of storage space, he destroyed all of Gardel's original masters and of many other artists. Victor and Odeon did the same. We can thank the collectors such as Boris Puga in Uruguay for lending their records to the recording companies, otherwise much of Gardel's music might simply not exist. 

For an excellent Gardel discography, you might wish to buy: Historia artistica de Carlos Gardel*, by Miguel Angel Morena - Ediciones Corregidor, Argentina 1998. Address: Rodriguez Peña 452 (cp c1020adj) Capital Federal - Buenos Aires Argentina - Phone:54 (11) 4374-5000/4959. Email: mfp@corregidor.com. You can also buy it at Amazon.com (which I did).

(*) Please note that Morena's discography is largely based on the May 1969 fundamental investigation of Gardel's discography by Boris Puga of the "Club de la Guardia Nueva" of Montevideo, Uruguay (founded in 1954 by Boris Puga and Horacio Ferrer). Puga's research has to a great degree contributed in the creation of heightened interest on the history of Tango.

Try to obtain: Boris Puga's. "Carlos Gardel -Discografía- Guía de información especializada para coleccionistas y estudiosos". Cuaderno no 7 de la revista Tangueando, published by the "Club de la Guardia Nueva", 1st edition, May 1969 and 2nd Edition, May 1970, Montevideo, Uruguay. It's out of print and it was to be reprinted as 3rd edition in 2000 by "Ediciones de la Plaza". I have not seen this new edition anywhere. See also: Por siempre... Gardel - La discografia de Boris Puga.

Another worthy discography can be found in: CARLOS GARDEL su vida y sus canciones, (Carlos Gardel, his life and his music) by Jaime Rico Salazar - December 10, 1990. Published by CENTRO EDITORIAL DE ESUDIOS MUSICALES, Bogota, Colombia. Order directly from the author.

Simon Collier also recommends another very detailed discography: Estudio de la discografía de Carlos Gardel by S. Nicolás Lefcovich - Buenos Aires 1986.

You will be able to find many of the books on Gardel at Amazon.com. Try their Miami merchant, FJ books, fjbooks@hotmail.com.

Sobre los catalogos de Gardel
La confusion en la numeracion de los discos que grabo Gardel
(The confusion in the numeration of Gardel's records - in Spanish)

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