1888, November 26 – BIRTH OF FRANCISCO CANARO
Composer, Leader, Violinist (Sagittarius) – born into extreme poverty in the city of San Jose de Mayo, Uruguay he would grow to become the richest man in tango history so much so that a popular saying arose “he has more money than Canaro”…he left school very early, he had no choice, he had to work; his parents, immigrants from Rovigo, Italy had eight children…he was mesmerized by the violin; his first violin he constructed himself from an old oil can with which he would play on the streets to earn money…years later he would recall with tenderness, the patch quilt cloth case his mother had made for his “violin”; at the age of 18 he finally bought himself a real violin…his first gig was in a seedy bar in the outskirts of Buenos Aires where gun fire to resolve arguments was not uncommon…in 1908 he composed his first tango “Pinta Brava”, many more were to follow including great hits however many other tangos attributed to him, he actually bought from destitute composers…
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No one is sure how many recordings he made but the estimates range from 3500 to 7000…in 1924 he pioneered the idea of having a singer in the orchestra but only to sing the “estribillo” the bridge or the main section of each tango…by 1915 his orchestra was immensely popular; so popular that he created three orchestras with his name which performed simultaneously around Buenos Aires…his one area of failure was the film industry; his film company Rio de la Plata had only one film that made money, “Idolos De La Radio”…….some time in late 1920s he began his affair with the legendary Ada Falcon who was very much in love with him…when he realizes how much money he would lose in a divorce,
he reneged on his promise to marry Ada…at one point his wife actually threatened Ada by pointing a gun to her head…it has been speculated that Ada’s sudden retirement from show business at the height of her career to enter a convent was related to her broken heart and this incident
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- CLICK HERE – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYJJQqoE3Dw to hear the Francisco Canaro Orchestra play “Yo No Se Que Me Han Hechos Tus Ojos” (I don’t understand what your eyes have done to me) with music and lyrics by Francisco Canaro
TODAY IN TANGO ! 
Still my favourite, I don’t know anyone who can sit down through Poema (yes I know he did not write it, but his is still the best version).
And Nobody does milonga quite like Canaro, I am listening to Milonga Brava as I write.
Makes me want to be back in BsAs
well Canaro had quite a run didn’t he…it seems he wasn’t particularly a nice guy…yes some of his compositions are great…the most beautiful I tend to think he did not write himself however