Georges Brassens

Georges Brassens
Georges Brassens in concert at the Théâtre national populaire, September–October 1966
Background information
Born
Georges Charles Brassens

(1921-10-22)22 October 1921
Cette (now Sète), France
Died29 October 1981(1981-10-29) (aged 60)
Saint-Gély-du-Fesc, France
Genres
OccupationSinger-songwriter
InstrumentsAcoustic guitar, Piano, Organ, Banjo, Drums
Years active1951–1981
LabelUniversal Music

Georges Charles Brassens (French pronunciation: [ʒɔʁʒ(ə) ʃaʁl bʁasɛ̃s]; Occitan: [ˈbɾasens]) was a French singer-songwriter and poet.

An iconic figure in France, George Brassens is regarded as one of the most accomplished artists who has profoundly shaped French music and culture. He achieved fame through his elegant songs, characterised by harmonically complex music for voice and guitar, as well as articulate and diverse lyrics. He is considered one of France's most accomplished postwar poets. He also set to music poems by both relatively obscure poets and such well-known ones as Louis Aragon (Il n'y a pas d'amour heureux), Victor Hugo (La Légende de la Nonne, Gastibelza), Paul Verlaine, Jean Richepin, François Villon (La Ballade des Dames du Temps Jadis), and Antoine Pol (Les Passantes).

Early life

Brassens was born in Sète, a commune in the department of Hérault in Occitania, to a French father and an Italian mother from the town of Marsico Nuovo, Potenza, southern Italy.[1]

Brassens grew up in the family home in Sète with his mother Elvira Dagrosa, father Jean-Louis, half-sister Simone (daughter of Elvira and her first husband, who was killed in World War I), and paternal grandfather Jules. His mother, whom Brassens labeled "militantly for songs" (militante de la chanson), had a love for music.[2]

Career

He toured with Pierre Louki, who wrote a book of recollections entitled Avec Brassens (éditions Christian Pirot, 1999, ISBN 2-86808-129-0). After 1952, Brassens rarely left France. A few trips to Belgium and Switzerland; a month in Canada (1961, recording issued on CD in 2011) and another in North Africa were his only trips outside France – except for his concerts in Wales in 1970 and 1973 (Cardiff).[3] His concert at Cardiff's Sherman Theatre in 1973 saw Jake Thackray — a great admirer of his work – open for him.[4]

Songs

Some of his most famous songs include:

  • 'La Guerre de '14–'18', a song which satirises claims that World War One was an "ideal war" but condemns it as being "the greatest human slaughterhouse in human history". Later adopted by English comedic duo Flanders and Swann as the basis for their own satire, 'The War of 14–18', which mocks traditional English martial glory.[5]
  • "Brave Margot," about a young girl who gives a young kitten the breast, which attracts a large group of male onlookers.
  • "La Mauvaise Réputation" – "the bad reputation" – a semi-autobiographical tune with its catchy lyric: "Mais les braves gens n'aiment pas que l'on suive une autre route qu'eux" (But the good folks don't like it if you take a different road than they do.) Pierre Pascal adapted part of the lyrics to Spanish under the title "La mala reputación",[6] which was later interpreted by Paco Ibañez.
  • "Pauvre Martin," the suffering of a poor peasant.
  • "Le Gorille"
  • "Fernande" – a 'virile antiphon' about the women lonely men think about to inspire self-gratification (or to nip it in the bud). Its infamous refrain (Quand je pense à Fernande, je bande, je bande..., 'When I think about Fernande, I get hard') is still immediately recognized in France.[7]

Legacy

In 1984, the Parc Georges-Brassens was opened in Paris. In 2014, Australian-French duo Mountain Men released a live tribute album Mountain Men chante Georges Brassens.[8]

Discography

Studio albums

  • 1952: La Mauvaise Réputation
  • 1953: Le Vent (or Les Amoureux des bancs publics)
  • 1954: Les Sabots d'Hélène (or Chanson pour l'Auvergnat)
  • 1956: Je me suis fait tout petit
  • 1957: Oncle Archibald
  • 1958: Le Pornographe
  • 1960: Les Funérailles d'antan (or Le Mécréant)
  • 1961: Le Temps ne fait rien à l'affaire
  • 1962: Les Trompettes de la renommée
  • 1964: Les Copains d'abord
  • 1966: Supplique pour être enterré à la plage de Sète
  • 1969: Misogynie à part (or La Religieuse)
  • 1972: Fernande
  • 1976: Trompe la mort (or Nouvelles chansons)
  • 1979: Brassens-Moustache jouent Brassens en jazz (with Moustache and les Petits français, jazz versions of previously released songs; re-released in 1987 as Giants of Jazz Play Brassens)
  • 1982: Georges Brassens chante les chansons de sa jeunesse (cover album of old songs)

Live albums

  • 1973: Georges Brassens in Great Britain
  • 1996: Georges Brassens au TNP (recorded in 1966)
  • 2001: Georges Brassens à la Villa d'Este (recorded in 1953)
  • 2001: Bobino 64
  • 2006: Concerts de 1959 à 1976 (box set featuring concerts from 1960, 1969, 1970, 1973 and 1976)

References

  1. ^ Bernard Lonjon (20 September 2017). Brassens, les jolies fleurs et les peaux de vache [Brassens, pretty flowers and cowhides] (in French). Archipel. ISBN 978-2-8098-2298-4.
  2. ^ Mura, Gianni (13 March 2011). "Brassens, il burbero maestro di tutti i cantautori". repubblica.it. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  3. ^ Georges Brassens – La marguerite et le chrysanthème. Pierre Berruer. Les Presses de la Cité, 1981. ISBN 2-7242-1229-0
  4. ^ Allen, Jeremy. "Cult heroes: Jake Thackray was the great chansonnier who happened to be English: He was a staple of light entertainment TV shows in the late 60s, but there was a clever and despairing comedy underlying Thackray’s songwriting," The Guardian (15 September 2015).
  5. ^ Block, Marcelline; Nevin, Barry (4 February 2016). French Cinema and the Great War: Remembrance and Representation. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781442260986 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ "La mauvaise réputation & La mala reputación - Georges Brassens - Les Caves du Majestic". cavesdumajestic.canalblog.com (in French). 30 May 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  7. ^ Terence Blacker (2018). "Friday song, Georges Brassens, Fernande (1972)". Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  8. ^ "MOUNTAIN MEN - HOPE". 4 July 2014. Archived from the original on 4 July 2014.
  • Media related to Georges Brassens at Wikimedia Commons
  • (in English) Espace Brassens museum in Sète Archived 30 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  • (in French) Georges-Brassens.com
  • Georges Brassens at IMDb
  • (in English) Georges Brassens Page from the Daily Bleed's Anarchist Encyclopedia
  • (in English) Project Brassens Brassens's complete production with English and Italian translations. Toutes les chansons de Georges Brassens avec les traductions des textes en anglais et italien - Tutte le canzoni di Georges Brassens con i testi tradotti in inglese e italiano.
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