La chanson de Jacky

Jacques Brel - Au Suivant
Jacques Brel - Ne Me Quitte Pas
Jacques Brel - Marieke
Jacques Brel - Les Bergers
Jacques Brel - Mathilde
Jacques Brel - Rosa

Jacques Romain Georges Brel was born in Brussels, Belgium and started learning guitar aged 15. He left school early and went to work at his father's cardboard box factory. Songwriting was his escape. In 1953 his first composition was released on 78 by Phillips with some success, and soon after he relocated to Paris. In 1954 'Jacques Brel et Ses Chansons' aka 'Jacques Brel 1', Brel's first album, was released in the very French format of a 25cm record. During the rest of the decade Brel released three more LPs (Jacques Brel 2,3 & 4) and toured Europe, North Africa and Canada to growing popularity.

Early in the sixties Brel changed record label to Barclay and continued a regular flow of releases including two live albums, both recorded at the Olympia in Paris. In 1968 Brel released 'Jacques Brel 10' aka 'J'Arrive' and, having already retired from touring, decided to focus on being a movie actor -- although he soon released a cast recording of the musical he was starring in and directing (The Man of La Mancha) and a children's album (Peter and the Wolf/The Story of Babar). Around the same time an American musical based on Brel's songs entitled 'Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris' was triumphing on Off-Broadway stages.

In 1972 Brel released an album of rerecorded versions of his own songs and then, having already learned to fly little planes, he learned to sail big boats. He set off on a round the world sailing trip, finally settling in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia. A heavy smoker, he intermittently returned to Europe for lung cancer treatment and to record one final album. During 1978, in Paris, he submitted to the disease and his body is buried on the island of Hiva-Oa, in the South Pacific, only a few metres from painter Paul Gaugin.

All of today's tunes were recorded in the first half of the sixties or just prior. Brel's songs have been translated and covered by many artists. 'Au Suivant' became 'Next' and gave itself to the title of a Sensational Alex Harvey Band album. Scott Walker, a noted Brel devotee, also recorded 'Next' and 'Mathilde' and many more. 'Ne Me Quitte Pas' is perhaps the most widely recorded Brel composition. It's been covered in French by Nina Simone and Marianne Faithful, German by Marlene Dietrich and when translated into English by Rod McKuen, becoming 'If You Go Away', versions appeared by Tom Jones, Frank Sinatra, Neil Diamond, Dusty Springfield, Ray Charles, Eartha Kitt, Marc Almond and Cyndi Lauper.

Musically these songs range from slow piano ballad to raucous cabaret and some contain distinctly Franco sounding instruments. Although my grasp of the French language stops at simple pleasantries, the emotion and quality transcends.

Jacques Brel's gravesite