Argentinian bootleg copies of CTA-CDs?

I take for granted that you know about CTA meanwhile. If you are not sure about this please take a look at my CTA-catalog or CTA-FAQ first.

Some people think that it is impossible to get the original Japanese CTA-CDs. This is not correct. Plenty of CTA-CDs can still be ordered. We keep all available CTA-CDs in stock for you. You can find them on Tango-DJ.at CDs. There are new releases every 3-4 months. Since the prices for these professional produced CDs are very different to argentine homemade CDs there has always been a discussion going on about where and how to find CTA-CDs in BsAs. Most people who bought their CDs in BsAs want to believe that their copy is a 1:1 copy of an original CTA-CD just with a different cover. In most cases it's not.

Since you may read and hear lot's of wrong information about this issue I want to publish my findings about this issue after comparing and discussing a lot of original CTA-CDs straight from Japan with all kind of bootleg copies. You may come across all different kind of CDs such as:

Fake bootleg-copies (different cover, same tracklisting, different transfers)
CTA-look-alike CDs continueing the CTA catalogue
CTA-look-alike CDs (more or less identical looking cover but different tracklistings)
Real bootleg-copy (possible 1:1 copy of an original CTA-CD but different cover and albumname)
Original CTA-CD including original CD and cover

Fake bootleg-copies

CDs having the identical tracklisting of an original CTA-CD, but different cover and different transfers most of the time. So you might get the same tangos as on a CTA-CD, but not the transfers being done by CTA. In most cases the quality of these argentine compilations are inferior to the CTA transfers. You will find differences in the quality of the source being used, the speed of transfer (huge differences can be found here), processing of the sound (filtering) and finally reproduction of the CD.

In this category you may find more or less everything. Compilations of any argentinian transfers having no connection to CTA-CDs whatsoever but featureing the same tracklisting as well as sound manipulated copies of tracks probably taken from CTA-CDs before.

I will list some soundsamples from bootlegs and original CDs demonstrating this:
(all converted to first 60 seconds, 192kbps mp3 from lossless CD-quality)

A la luz de candil, Ricardo Tanturi con Carlos Ortega, 1937 on bootleg album
Ricardo Tanturi Vol. 01 (1937-1941) Sello Odeón, RCA Victor:
A la luz de candil, Ricardo Tanturi con Carlos Ortega, 1937 on original CTA-371
Ricardo Tanturi Vol. 1 (1937-1941):
more to come...

Of course differences may vary a lot from track to track, but the point is that these are different transfers and definitely no copy of CTA-CDs.

CTA-look-alike CDs continueing the CTA catalogue

I know of collections of CDs for Juan D'Arienzo, Francisco Canaro and Orquesta Típica Victor which seem to continue the known CTA-catalogue. So the question is: Are these original CTA-CDs or not?

I'll explain this on Juan D'Arienzo. CTA published CDs covering recordings of Juan D'Arienzo starting with CD CTA-301 Juan D'Arienzo Vol. 1 (1935-1936) till CD CTA-325 Juan D'Arienzo Vol. 25 (1956-1957) which was published 1996. So far there is no other original CTA-CD for the period of D'Arienzo after 1957.

You may find a collection of Juan D'Arienzo CDs continueing this CTA-catalog with Vol. 26 (1957-1958) until Vol. 48 (1973-1975) which look more or less like CTA CDs. You may also find these CDs wrongly listed as CTA-CDs on various websites. My result of investigation is that these are not CTA-CDs. Details of the original CTA-CDs are missing and characteristic of presented tracks are very different to those of CTA-CDs. You may find more details about this on my page To be, or not to be a CTA-CD, that's the question!

You may find this collection with covers as CTA-look-alikes:

or completely different like this:

CTA-look-alike CDs

Just recently I received scans of covers which look quite similar to real CTA-covers: (thanks to Polo Talnir)

On first sight it looks like a real CTA-CD as far as the cover is concerned. But let's take a look at the original CTA-518 here:

Interestingly enough we find lot's of differences:

some details of the original CTA-back-cover are missing (matriznumbers and years, mentioning of Akihito Baba, JASRAC registration number, etc.)
totally different tracklisting (it is extremly unlikely that Mr. Akihito Baba reissued a new CD with same number but completely different tracklisting within his existing numbering scheme)
most important of all: different transfers (cross-listening to tracks from both CDs)

Listen to: (first 60 seconds converted to 192kbps mp3s)

Germain, Carlos Di Sarli, 1951 from above bootleg CD Carlos Di Sarli Vol. 18:
Germain, Carlos Di Sarli, 1951 from original CTA-516 Carlos Di Sarli Vol. 16:

Of course differences may vary a lot from track to track, but the point is that these are different transfers and definitely no copy of CTA-CDs.

Real bootleg-copy

There are CDs which could be copies of CTA-CDs. The problem with them: There are not many and you won't notice, unless you know the original. Most of the CDs I have found featuering the same tracklisting and having no audible difference compared to the original CTA-CD had a different cover and albumname. So you do not find them easily. And some will have manipulated sound as I pointed out on my page discussing WAV-examples. Please mind that plenty of those CDs still can be obtained as originals from the issuing label CTA!

Original CTA-CD

It is possible to find original CTA-CDs in BsAs. These might be sold by private collectors, mostly as individual item. You may recognize them easily when CD and cover look like this:

Anything else is most likely not an original CTA-CD, nor a copy of one. If you want to be sure you get the originals from Tango-DJ.at CDs. This will be the only way to get recordings of outstanding quality like this:

Siete palabras by Carlos Di Sarli, 1952 on CTA-517: Carlos Di Sarli Vol. 17 (1952):