Augusto Cárdenas Pinelo, better known as Guty Cárdenas, was born in Mérida, Yucatán, in 1905, into a wealthy family that allowed him to dedicate himself to sports and music.
For this reason, he learned to play the piano, the saxophone, the bass and his favorite, the guitar. Very young he established contact with the famous composer Ricardo Palmerín, who introduced him to Pepe Sosa, his future teacher.
He lived for a time in Mexico City, where he graduated as an accountant. Back in the White City, he used to hang out with poets who shared lyrics with him and he transformed them into emotional songs.
A contest changes the life of Guty Cárdenas
In 1926, he met the famous composer Tata Nacho, who convinced him to travel to the capital. There, a year later, he performs at the Teatro Lírico, in the contest The Mexican Song and wins first place with his bolero Never.
From 1928 to 1931, he traveled to the United States to record records, tour and even sing for President Herbert Hoover. He also marries Ann Patrick.
At 26 he had everything: he was young, handsome and famous, he was the star of XEW.
a tragic death
The reason for his death was never made clear. It was noon on April 5, 1932 when Guty Cárdenas, accompanied by his friends Eduardo Gálvez Torre and Rosita Madrigal, entered the elegant Bach Hall on Madero Street, in Mexico City.
As fate would have it, the Spanish brothers, Ángel and José Peláez, well-known businessmen in the area, occupied a private room in front of the singer.
The hours passed and the alcohol flowed without stopping while other friends of the singer arrived to start the bohemia. Unfortunately, it seems that at some point during the night the troubadour’s group had words with the Spaniards, the blows continued and at the last they drew their pistols.
It was almost midnight when all this happened: one of the Spaniards ended up badly injured and Guty Cárdenas, mortally wounded on the floor.
Hours later, Pedro Vargas and Ricardo Palmerín performed some of his most famous songs in his honor at his funeral in Mexico City.
Years later, in 1958, his remains were exhumed from the Spanish Pantheon to be transferred to his hometown in Yucatan.
Legacy of Guty Cárdenas
In Mérida, in the Barrio la Mejorada, the Yucatecans erected the Yucatecan Song Museumin honor of Guty Cárdenas, Ricardo Palmerín and Pepe Domínguez, considered the great troubadours of the state.
Also, the remains of the three rest in a joint monument in the General Cemetery of Mérida.
His most famous songs include Flower, Sunbeam, Yucalpetén, Mayab Walker, The Republic of Spain, Traveling Swallow, Salt Ray and Never.