Kalo Posted June 15, 2007 Report Posted June 15, 2007 Serge Chaloff? Love him. Serge Gainsbourg? Until I achieve fluency in French, which ain't about to happen anytime soon, the jury is out. I do agree with his assessment of Whitney Houston, as of the time he made his astute observation... Quote
Teasing the Korean Posted June 15, 2007 Author Report Posted June 15, 2007 Serge Chaloff? Love him. Never heard of her... Quote
Van Basten II Posted June 15, 2007 Report Posted June 15, 2007 (edited) I have about everything there is to be owned in terms of CD about this guy. Love about everything he did except the stuff with the American musicians which was not great to begin with and sounds awfully dated now. Too bad that in his last years, to remain in the spotlight, he acted more as a buffoon especially on television, the i want to fuck her to a shocked Whitney Houston or when he burned a money bill, which is illegal, live on tv. The fact that he did not sold that many albums probably incited to do that stuff, the alcohol did not help either. If Melody Nelson is his chef d'oeuvre, gotta say i have a fondness for Initials B B One of the fun things to search for is the stuff he wrote for other people, of course the most famous are Brigitte Bardot and Jane Birkin, any guy who had an intimate relation with those ladies is ok in my book by the way. Juliette Greco was an earlier recipient, La Javanaise was written for her, so was France Gall (Les sucettes) and of course Françoise Hardy among modern french stars Alain Bashung had an album writen in collaboration with Gainsbarre. I do agree that a knowledge of french is necessary to enjoy most of his stuff, however thay are still a bunch of his pieces that go beyond the understanding of the language. By the way on Tzadik there is an intriguing cd of Gainsbourg covers made by a wide range of musicians. Edited June 15, 2007 by Van Basten II Quote
Kalo Posted June 15, 2007 Report Posted June 15, 2007 If you judge him by his female "recipients" the guy was a genius. Quote
Kalo Posted June 15, 2007 Report Posted June 15, 2007 By the way on Tzadik there is an intriguing cd of Gainsbourg covers made by a wide range of musicians. Part of the "Great Jewish Music" series, which also includes volumes featuring interpretations of the compositions of Burt Bacharach and Marc Bolan. Quote
brownie Posted June 15, 2007 Report Posted June 15, 2007 Too bad that in his last years, to remain in the spotlight, he acted more as a buffoon especially on television, the i want to fuck her to a shocked Whitney Houston or when he burned a money bill, which is illegal, live on tv. The fact that he did not sold that many albums probably incited to do that stuff, the alcohol did not help either. Gainsbourg was no buffon. He acted as a bad boy in the later part of his life but never made a fool of himself. His later albums may not have sold as well but he made tons of money from his songs which is why he was bold enough to burn money on live TV. He overdid almost everything. He overdrank and oversmoked whi accelerated his heart problems. The list of the women he went with would fill a book. From Bardot to Deneuve and on and on... His fame remains intact. Fans still go regularily to his Left Bank home to add graphics on the outside wall There are talks now to turn the house into a museum! Quote
brownie Posted June 15, 2007 Report Posted June 15, 2007 Serge Gainsbourg, the jazz pianist (in 1964 with Elek Bacsik and Michel Gaudry All the Things You Are With Screamin' Jay Hawkins Quote
B. Goren. Posted June 15, 2007 Report Posted June 15, 2007 If you judge him by his female "recipients" the guy was a genius. I tend to agree. Take a look at Gainsbourg with Jane Birkin. Quote
Brownian Motion Posted June 15, 2007 Report Posted June 15, 2007 I like his daughter, Charlotte. Quote
tonym Posted June 15, 2007 Report Posted June 15, 2007 That is one hell of an album. One of the best of 2006 IMO. Quote
Teasing the Korean Posted June 15, 2007 Author Report Posted June 15, 2007 I tend to agree. Take a look at Gainsbourg with Jane Birkin. OH, MY!... Quote
BFrank Posted June 15, 2007 Report Posted June 15, 2007 That is one hell of an album. One of the best of 2006 IMO. I've been hearing good things about it and wanted to hear it. Quote
Van Basten II Posted June 15, 2007 Report Posted June 15, 2007 For you anglophones among the best Gainsbourg related stuff. Two albums from the Bad seed member who did a fine job recreating the Gainsbourg universe and adapting his stuff in English The lovely Jane Birkin covering once again her ex but this time using Maghrebian arrangements, very powerful and very emotive. I'm still crying from the live show that i attended years ago. This lovely American did an album with mostly Gainsbourg covers. Mostly from his yé yé period the silly songs are pretty rocking in garage rock mood. By the way, in the latest Tarantino flick you will hear April March version of Laisse tomber les filles Quote
birdanddizzy Posted June 16, 2007 Report Posted June 16, 2007 I tend to agree. Take a look at Gainsbourg with Jane Birkin. OH, MY!... Last day she said on TV that if had known that his dress was so transparent, she would have put no briefs... Quote
tonym Posted June 17, 2007 Report Posted June 17, 2007 That is one hell of an album. One of the best of 2006 IMO. I've been hearing good things about it and wanted to hear it. If you enjoy the French duo Air, then you'll love it anyway! They provide the music whilst the songwriters Jarvis Cocker and Neil Hannon (Pulp and The Divine Comedy respectively) do the lyrics. If you listen carefully you'll be able to tell which man wrote which song. Ms. Gainsbourg provides the gorgeous voice and the phwoar factor. Quote
BFrank Posted June 18, 2007 Report Posted June 18, 2007 Actually, I don't care for "Air" much, but I figured that they would be fine as a backup band. Quote
Bluesnik Posted June 20, 2007 Report Posted June 20, 2007 ah, ms. gainsbourg. finally a thread about one of my cult heroes. well, maybe hero's a bit exaggerated, but i like the guy a lot. and wholesale, his whole career and evolution. i like him at the begginning and i like him as an old man. musically it's got to be his first years and up to the mid seventies. after that he went a bit stale, but his magic and charme remained untouched for the rest of his days. like Sacha Distel he started as a jazz musician playing all the seedy Parisian clubs but soon was revamped into a nascent pop career under the direction of Alain Goraguer. so it's fifties pop with jazz orchestral arrangements and later in the 60s real pop and later on rock. but it's not so much the music per se what counts as the character and personality he gave to everything he touched. like with so many of his peers, it's more the man than his music. see Sinatra, for instance. i have Nº2, Nº4, The Ballad of Melody Nelson and my absolute favourite of his albums: Percussions, a mid fifties session with creole, african and antillean percussion and chanting, where he sings over hypnotic percussion lines and with a backing group of girls doing the choruses. it's basically percussion, guitar and the chorus, plus a clarinet or wind instrument here and there. and it's magic. i couldn't live without this album. it has an absolutely infectious joie de vivre, it always gets me in a high mood and puts a big smile on my face. this is where the classic Coleur cafĂ© comes from and it also features what for me has got to be the sexiest song ever, Pauvre Lola. give it a listen! the whole album has a tropical undertone that perfectly fits his libertine lyrics. and its mood always reminds of that tropical scene on Night of the Iguana where Ava Gardner voluptuously dances on the beach, maracas in hand and flirting with two Mexican boys under the onlook of a bunch of stoic iguanas. maybe it can also remind a bit of Robert Mitchum's calypso album, though that's more British Caribbean. Nº2 is more jazz pop with great songs and a very French mood and Nº4 more early sixties pop, the onset of what's called yehyeh in France. a bit like Francoise Hardy. it's very very 60s. but early 60s, innocent 60s. Ballad of Melody Nelson, despite its cult status i don't find so great. there's one song in it (sung with la Birkin, or BB? now i don't remember) i would take to a desert island (it's like the template for some of the French noveau chanson of the 2000s), but the rest is a rumbly barrage of fuzzy guitars, overvolumed bass and a bit of directionless noodling. i guess it's more about the lolitaesque lyrics. but ask any pop musician around 30 and they absolutely love it. some Gainsbourg albums were briefly reissued by Uni in France around '99, but they can't be found anymore. maybe online. then there are the Japanese versions, which are more or less always in print. at the moment there's a big batch available, although more from the 70s/80s. and with SG one has to be careful, there are so many compilations it's easy to mistake one for a careeer album. for instance, there's one reissued at mid price in Britain now called Initiales SG, which at first sight looks like a 60s album (and i think it is), but which could as well easily be a comp. you always have to check. I jnow the man’s not precisely popular in prude America, but i urge you to explore him. he's no different from the average American male. and his provocation and axcentricity were just the way he was. not the calculated rebeliousness and hellraising of today's prefabricated teen idols, who run off crying to mami at the first turn of events. Quote
Bluesnik Posted June 20, 2007 Report Posted June 20, 2007 ufff, that was long. i think you can guess that i like him. and many typos too, but i don't like editing closed posts. one thing: to really enjoy Gainsbourg one has to understand his lyrics, or at least partially. they're very humoresque and ironic. how could such an ugly man be so sucessful with women? must have been his charme, sure. and something else: there's a Gainsbourg soundtrack on Jazz et cinema vol.3, Jazz in Paris. it shows more his jazz leanings, a side of him i'd be willing to deeper explore. maybe with Brownie's tips. Quote
Man with the Golden Arm Posted June 20, 2007 Report Posted June 20, 2007 (edited) one of the best friggin' songs of all time! CRAZY! edit: my link is gone "Crazy Horse Swing" it was. Edited January 31, 2008 by Man with the Golden Arm Quote
Noj Posted June 20, 2007 Report Posted June 20, 2007 I love the bass lines on Melody Nelson. One of my favorite hip hop tunes samples "En Melody," and really cleverly uses the lyrics Willy Wonka sings in the original Chocolate Factory movie. "Is it raining, is it snowing, is a hurricane a-blowing..." It's by the Jewish rappers Blood Of Abraham. I've recently picked up the Jane Birkin album, Cannabis OST, and a compilation called something like "An Introduction With Champagne To..." Gems to be found on all of them. I'm a fan. Quote
Man with the Golden Arm Posted January 31, 2008 Report Posted January 31, 2008 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZDFqpv1T78 "Crazy Horse Swing" Quote
Noj Posted January 31, 2008 Report Posted January 31, 2008 I remember that tune from a certain blindfold test. It's been on iPod ever since! Quote
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