Posts tagged w/ French music

French Music - The American Woman Who Conquered Paris

Posted by Chanda
May
11
2009

I mentioned Carole Fredericks in a recent article on one of my very favorite French singers, Jean-Jacques Goldman, and I am inspired to tell all of you more about her for a few reasons.  First of all, because she was a very popular singer throughout the French-speaking world in the 90’s as part of the trio Fredericks-Goldman-Jones.  Secondly, because she is the epitome of what good French-American relations should be all about - what we have in common and our mutual interests in culture, namely music.  And last, but not least, I find it absolutely wonderful that her family has chosen to tell her story and share her legacy by promoting French language education and Francophone culture in the United States and Canada by developing lesson plans, workbooks and other materials in collaboration with French teachers and foreign language associations so that young people can discover what good French-American relations should be all about.
Carole Denise Fredericks was born in Springfield, Massachusetts on June 5, 1952.  She sang in church and participated in her school choir.  Upon graduating from high school, she was determined to make a career out of singing the blues.  She moved to San Francisco to work with her brother, blues singer Taj Mahal, with whom she recorded three albums.  However, she never really found great success in the United States.  On the weekends in San Francisco, she would sing with a trio called La Belle Helène at a French bistro.  The French couple who owned the bistro encouraged Carole to pursue her dream in France.  And that’s exactly what she did at the age of 27, even though she didn’t know a single word of French.
In Paris, her talent, courage and determination brought her from singing background vocals for such stars as Johnny Hallyday, Patricia Kaas, Elton John, Céline Dion and others to becoming a very successful and much loved star throughout France and Africa as part of the trio Fredericks-Goldman-Jones.  She creatively brought her American roots and her beloved gospel, R&B, jazz and blues to French music.  For ten years, she performed alongside Jean-Jacques Goldman and Michael Jones in front of sold-out crowds all over Europe, Africa and Asia.  She also released two solo albums during this time, entitled Springfield in English and Couleurs et parfums in French.
Sadly, in the very midst of her hard-fought success, she suffered a heart attack at the age of 49 while in Senegal, a French-speaking country she had come to know as her own.  Carole Fredericks was buried in Montmartre Cemetery in Paris and continues to be a music icon in the Francophone world.
Here is a video of her popular song Qu’est-ce qui t’amene:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLxswen9CgQ

It’s interesting to read some of the comments, especially those in French as it shows just how much Carole was loved throughout the world, and makes it even more shocking that she still remains fairly unknown in her mother country, the United States of America.
One viewer writes:  “Je reste infiniment fan.  C’est triste qu’elle nous aie quitté si tôt.” (I continue to be a fan.  It is sad that she left us so early.)  Another viewer writes: “J’adore cette chanson une voix formidable trop belle.” (I love this song.  …such a sensational, beautiful voice.)  

You can find out more about Carole and her music career at www.cdfmusiclegacy.com or you can read about her in French at www.carolefredericks.net.  You can get more information on the Carole Fredericks Foundation, which was established in her honor, at www.carolefredericksfoundation.org.

Finally, here’s another video of Carole, this time singing in English.  Her voice gives me goosebumps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIgvlX21Gao

 
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French Music - Jean Jacques Goldman

Posted by Chanda
Apr
15
2009

Okay, so I’ve written many posts on my favorite French musicians and singers and repeatedly mentioned how much I believe music is one of the best and most interesting ways to learn a foreign language.  When I was finally able to understand the lyrics written by Jean Jacques Goldman, I really felt like all the ups and downs of learning a foreign language were for a reason.  A good French friend of mine introduced me to Goldman’s moving lyrics.  Because of his singing and especially his songwriting, Goldman is extremely popular among French speakers and according to Wikipedia, Goldman was the second highest grossing French pop singer in 2003, just behind Johnny Hallyday.

Jean Jacques Goldman was born in Paris, France on October 11, 1951 to a Polish father and a German mother.  At the age of 11, his parents had him learn how to play the violin and then, the piano.  As an adolescent, he was very shy.  At the age of 14, he became completely enthralled with music.  One of his earliest idols was Aretha Franklin.  He then began learning how to play guitar.  One of the first groups he formed with his school friends sang gospel at the local church.  Although he was completely into his music, he spent plenty of time studying and holds two degrees, one from the École de Hautes Études Commerciales de Lille (Lille Higher School of Business) and another in sociology.  After studying, he basically backpacked his way with a friend through Sweden, Turkey, Canada, the USA and Mexico.  He recorded an English language album in 1975 with the group Taï Phong which was somewhat successful, but Jean Jacques did not feel ready to tour with the group and so, Michael Jones came along to replace him.  The two became lifelong friends (Jean Jacques even named his son after him.)  Although reluctant at first, Jean Jacques began to go it solo with French songs and an Anglo-Saxon style upon signing a contract for five albums with Epic Records.  Inspired by the music of the 70’s, he attained the number 1 spot for the first time on the French charts on May 9, 1981.  He had many ups and downs as his career started off with this ‘Goldman Style’.  But, lasting success finally arrived with the single Quand la musique est bonne.  Many of his songs have a social awareness aspect to them and Goldman’s optimism is particularly appealing.  Comme toi evokes his personal link to the collective Jewish memory, Je te donne is about respecting differences and Rouge is about the end of communism, but not the end of the ideals which many believe to be noble.

Jean Jacques has always known well how to surround himself with great people to make beautiful music and create excellent shows including Jones, Bernard Schmidt and Carole Fredericks. In all, Goldman has released twenty-four albums including five as part of the very successful trio he formed in the middle of his solo career Fredericks / Goldman / Jones.  He has written and composed entire albums for Johnny Hallyday, Celine Dion and others.

Because I was so motivated by them as a French learner, I would like to share some of the lyrics that have touched me most with all of you (although it is difficult to do artistic justice when translating the lyrics, I have provided loose English translations since many of you are beginning French learners):

“Aujourd’hui, on n’a plus le droit, ni d’avoir faim, ni d’avoir froid…” (”Today, we don’t have the right anymore neither to be hungry nor to be cold…”) - Les Restos du Coeur

“Il y a une question dans ‘je t’aime’ qui demande “et m’aimes-tu, toi?’…” (”There’s a question in ‘I love you’ which asks ‘and do you love me?’”) - Sache que je

“Mais n’être plus rien après tant, c’est pas juste…“ (But, not to be anything anymore after so long is not fair…”) - Quand tu danses  

“Y aura des jardins, d’l'amour et du pain…des chansons, du vin, on manquera de rien…“ (There will be gardens, love and bread…songs, wine, no one will be in need of anything…”) - Rouge

“Je suis d’un pays d’un horizon d’une frontière…qui sonne guerre, qui sonne éternel hiver… Je suis d’une région d’une langue d’une histoire…qui sonne loin qui sonne bataille et mémoire” (I’m from a country with a horizon, a border…that sounds like war, that sounds like an eternel winter…I’m from a region, a language, a history…that sounds far away, that sounds like a battle and memory”) - Une fille de l’Est

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXQO7r8qoJ0

Jean Jacques Goldman’s official website can be found at www.jjgoldman.net.

 
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French Music - Hélène Ségara

Posted by Chanda
Mar
9
2009

Hélène Ségara was born on February 26, 1971, on French soil to an Italian father and an Armenian mother.

Growing up on the French Riviera, Hélène suffered the divorce of her parents and her beloved grandfather’s death.  After winning a local music contest at age 11, she left her family and studies at the age of 14 to become a singer.  She performed in piano bars on the southern coast and at age 18, she gave birth to her first son.  Her first single, which was released in 1993, was not successful.  Three years later, she moved to Paris with her son and her career began to take off with her debut album Coeur de verre and her famous duet with Andrea Bocelli Vivo per lei.  She played Esmeralda in the Notre Dame de Paris musical alongside Garou, although she was not originally chosen for the role and only received it after the first choice withdrew.  In fact, she was not the female singer who recorded the Notre Dame album.  Fortunately, she recovered from a cyst found on her vocal chords by 2000 and was able to release a second album entitled Au nom d’une femme.  She became a French favorite on the music scene, winning several awards including a World Music Award for the best-selling French album.
In 2003, she released a third album Humaine and married her drummer, Mathieu Lecat, with whom she had two children.  Her album Quand l’éternité…hit the stores in 2006, but did not sell as well as the other three.  It is more rock than the other three and was largely written by Hélène.  The themes include absence, death and hope and are most likely a reflection of her trying life.  Over the years, Hélène has been active with several charities and has participated in various charity concerts.  Her album Mon pays, c’est la terre came out in 2008 and is a compilation of international remakes.
It is interesting to note that she released a Spanish-language album in 2002 entitled Hélène.
Although not very up-to-date, you can go to her official website where you can listen to clips of all of her albums.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hskBRwFWq7c

 
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French Music - The Biggest Rock Star You’ve Never Heard Of

Posted by Chanda
Dec
10
2008

Quite possibly the highest-paid French singer (8.75 million euros in 2006 according to Figaro), Johnny Hallyday was born Jean Philippe Léo Smet in Paris on June 15, 1943, to Hugette and Léon Smet.  As a small child, he lived for four years in Great Britain with his paternal aunt, a dancer and silent film actress.  Years later, his cousin Desta met an American artist by the name of Lemoine (Lee) Ketcham and they performed all over Europe under the stage name Les Hallyday.  Johnny traveled with them for a time, then went to boarding school in Germany and learned to play violin and took guitar, dance, voice and drama lessons.  At the age of nine, he began performing on stage.

On March 14, 1960, he released his first single “Laissez les filles” after being discovered by Jacques Wolfsohm, the artistic director for Vogue records.  Later that year, he went on his first tour as the opening act for singer Sacha Distel.  His first album Hello Johnny was also released in 1961. 

He is considered by some to be the French equivalent of Elvis Presley, perhaps because Elvis was one of his idols as a young boy and as he started his rock and roll career.  In February 1962, he performed for Jackie Kennedy and he was introduced to the United States public when he went on tour throughout the country that year after releasing the album recorded in Nashville entitled Johnny Sings American Rocking Hits.  He appeared on the Ed Sullivan show alongside American singing star Connie Francis on July 1st.   Despite these early successes in America and the fact that he owns a home in LA and spends a great deal of time in the US, he remains rather unknown outside his native country. 

In France, he attracts huge crowds as he is considered to be a top stage performer (most recently, 500,000 for his 2000 performance 100% Johnny: Live à la Tour d’Eiffel which also attracted 9.5 million television viewers), but he is also widely known for his high-profile romances and love affairs having married and divorced several times. 

Some Johnny facts:
500 songs recorded
400 tours
45 albums (18 of them platinum)
100 million records sold
15 million people have attended his concerts
28 movies 

At the age of 64, Johnny Hallyday retired from the stage in 2007. 

His official website is:  http://www.johnnyhallyday.com/ 

And here’s a video of the song he released in 2008 entitled Si mon coeur.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs0veZ2Z9XU

 
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French Music - Francis Cabrel

Posted by Chanda
Oct
23
2008

As I’ve mentioned before, I love French music.  So, in this article I will present another of my favorite French singers - Francis Cabrel.  This singer/songwriter was born on November 23, 1953 in Agen, France and grew up in a small village near Toulouse.  He started learning guitar as a shy teenager and later said that he thought his guitar helped him appear more interesting to others.  He is known to have been inspired by Bob Dylan and is said to know all of Dylan’s work by heart.  He learned English by translating the lyrics to these and other songs.  His music has a folk and sometimes country or blues feel.  I particularly like him because he has written about Spanish-related topics like bullfighting and has written and sung some very beautiful songs in Spanish like La corrida and La quiero a morir.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrRau-wRiZQ

 Some of his most famous songs among French-speaking people are Petite Marie, which was dedicated to his wife Mariette, and L’encre de tes yeux.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VW7VqGn_Nhg

  

The song he wrote about a young girl’s suicide called C’était l’hiver has been widely successful and also recorded by other singers such as Canada’s Isabelle Boulay.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOqzoPVlsjA

 

Cabrel’s first album Les murs de poussière was recorded in 1977.  He is currently on tour as he released his most recent album Des roses et des orties this year.  I find that it fits right in with his repertoire as all of his songs in general are really in touch with nature and humanity and his native Southwest France.

You can read more about him in French and listen to clips of all of his songs at his official website by clicking here.

Finally, here is my very favorite by Cabrel:
Un samedi soir sur la terre
The sound quality of this video isn’t particularly great, but you can read the lyrics in the video. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0HQ8EPNcCI

 
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