Rating:
Genre:
Vocal Music
Release Date: 04/24/2001
Here's an index of mid-20th century popular French music, laid out in recordings made between 1926 and 1947. Gaps in the fabric are perhaps inevitable; the absence of
Yvette Guilbert, for example, is regrettable. The earliest examples feature sultry
Mistinguett (born Jeanne-Marie Bourgeois) whose date of birth is estimated as early as 1873; her campy boyfriend
Maurice Chevalier; and
Josephine Baker, an African-American who shed her identity as a
vaudeville blackface buffoon to become the hottest stage sensation in all of Europe.
Chevalier's open disdain for
Baker was apparently fueled by his own Continental blend of ignorant racism and professional resentment as the elegant, lithe, and lovely
Baker quickly eclipsed the aging
Mistinguett. Two selections by
Django Reinhardt and
Stéphane Grappelli with the
Quintet of the Hot Club of France sustain the accuracy of this compilation, as the
Hot Club's brand of guitar-driven
jazz was a mainstay of Parisian entertainment from 1934 until after the Second World War. This compilation is useful for those who wish to brush up on
French pop vocalists, as
Lucienne Boyer,
Yvonne Printemps,
Lys Gauty (born
Alice Gautier),
Suzy Solidor (
Suzanne Rocher),
Jean Sablon,
Maryse Damia,
Fréhel (born
Marguerite Boulc'h, professionally known as "La Periwinkle') and
Tino Rossi (bellowing the dreaded
"Vieni, Vieni") demonstrate all the standard aspects of the genre.
Charles Trenet's unforgettably giddy masterpiece
"Boum!" would resurface years later when it was used as a weird leitmotif in
Jaco van Dormael's fascinating film
Toto Le Héros (1991).
Edith Piaf is roundly remembered here with no less than three tracks, the best of which is the hauntingly beautiful
"Les Trois Cloches," performed in the company of
Les Compagnons de la Chanson.
~arwulf arwulf, All Music Guide
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