Hands down, this is my favorite thing this month. Probably my favorite thing all year. I have been trying hard to find some Jacques Brel records proper, but to no avail. And every trip I take ends up in about $50 of records. Anyway, this double album was $3.00. It was owned by one Jerry Powell who proved that French chansons could be popular in Pasadena.
Jacques Brel, the Belgium born French singer, was perhaps one of the greatest performers of the last century. A terrific song writer and singer, his songs had a theatrical approach to them. His songs were dark and gritty. His stage style brought out every inch (or cm) of emotion in each tune.
Jacques Brel is Alive and Living In Paris was an off-Broadway revue of Brel’s music. It was born when writer Eric Blau’s wife, Elly Stone, turned him on the Brel. Upon hearing his music, Blau became obsessed. He started translating Brel’s work and together with Mort Shuman, put together the musical which debuted at The Village Gate Theater in 1968.
Featuring some of Brel’s best work, performed by Stone, Shuman Shawn Elliott, and Alice Whitefield, the show ran for four years. International versions were also quite successful and revivals still go on today. A movie version featuring Stone and Shuman along with an appearance by Brel came out in 1975 to mostly negative reviews.
The translation of Brel is no easy task. It is a balancing act trying to keep rhyme and rhythm scheme together with the content and ideas of Brel. Rod McKuen was one of the leading transcribers of Brel’s work. Blau and Shuman’s work is considered among the best of the translations, keeping all these elements in play. Also, it should be noted that this was one of David Bowie’s favorite albums.
The album is quite good. The writers and performers did a great job keeping Brel’s spirit within the works. I would say, though, I enjoy listening to the English versions to get the theme/story of the songs and then watching Brel sing them in French on Youtube. They kind of go together. That is my only real criticism of this album. Obviously, you don’t get the visual you get from Brel.
For samples, I wanted to go in many directions but ultimately decided on the following. First, we have “The Port of Amsterdam”, which is one of my favorite songs of his before I listened to this album (although I still feel Liesbeth List’s version is better). Next, we have “Jacky” in which the singer laments about returning to his childhood. Finally, we have “Matilda” which became my new favorite off this album. I like t because you never truly know how the singer feels about the return of his former love. I put the live versions of all on this post so you can see Brel’s emotions on these pieces of works.
Ah, this post suffered from falling on a Saturday and is probably much shorter than I originally planned. Oh well. Satisfactory.