Julien Clerc, (4 October 1947), born as
Paul Alain Leclerc, is a French singer and songwriter.
Born in Paris, Clerc grew up listening to classical music in his father Paul Alain Clerc's home, while his mother Evelyn Merlot introduced him to the music of such singers as
Georges Brassens and
Edith Piaf.
He began to learn the piano at six, and by 13, started to play by ear everything he heard on the radio.
During his secondary school and university days, he met Maurice Vallet and Etienne Roda-Gil, two of his main songwriters, and began to compose his first songs.
He changed his name to Julien Clerc upon signing a contract with Pathé Marconi, releasing his first album in May 1968.
Though sometimes dismissed in his native land as little more than a "chanteur de charme" -- in other words, "a ladies' singer" --
Julien Clerc in fact enjoyed one of the most successful and longest-lived careers in contemporary French pop, shaping the nouvelle chanson aesthetic across a span of decades that began in the shadow of the student rebellions of 1968 and continued well into the following century. Born
Paul-Alain LeClerc in Paris on October 4, 1947, he was the product of a wealthy bourgeois family.
Following his parents' divorce he was sent to live with his father, a high-ranking UNESCO official, and began studying piano at the age of six. During adolescence
Clerc's love of music reached a fever pitch, and he regularly transcribed his favorite songs from the radio.
In time he began writing his own original material, often collaborating with friend Maurice Vallet; under his professional name, Momo, Vallet would continue writing with
Clerc for years to follow.
However, the singer would not meet his most notable collaborator until 1968, while a student at the Sorbonne. Instead of studying,
Clerc spent the majority of his time in area cafés, and while in his favorite haunt, L'Ecritoire, he met
Etienne Roda-Gil, the son of Spanish Republicans who had recently returned to Paris after spending almost a decade abroad in opposition to the conflict in Algeria.
Clerc asked
Roda-Gil to add lyrics to one of his original melodies -- the result was "La Cavalerie," a sardonic protest song that soon earned
Clerc a seven-year recording contract with the Pathé-Marconi label.
Upon its May 1968 release, "La Cavalerie" made
Clerc an overnight superstar, topping the French pop charts and emerging as one of the anthems of the concurrent student rebellions, thanks in large part to its oft-quoted lyric "I'll abolish boredom." The follow-up, "Ivanovitch," also reached number one and so impressed French superstar
Gilbert Bécaud that he invited
Clerc to open for his upcoming show at Paris' famed Olympia. The singer's third single, 1969's "Yann et les Dauphins," was his third consecutive chart-topper, and his self-titled debut LP was also a success, winning the prestigious Prix du Disque de l'Académie Charles Cros and earning critical favor for combining
Clerc's
Beatles-inspired pop ingenuity and neo-symphonic arrangements with
Roda-Gil and Momo's often surreal and reliably complex lyrics.
Clerc was then invited to star in the French production of the hit Broadway musical Hair, initially refusing the offer but ultimately accepting. Premiering at Paris' Théatre de la Porte Saint Martin on May 31, 1969, the production was a runaway success, as was
Clerc's next single, the chart-topping "La Californie," released in July. He also made headlines for going public about his burgeoning relationship with French pop ingénue
France Gall.
Clerc remained with Hair until February of 1970, when he resigned to resume his recording career; his sophomore LP,
Des Jours Entiers à T'Aimer followed three months later, and that December he headlined the Olympia for the first time.
A vacation to Argentina inspired the tango-like rhythms of his next single, 1971's "Le Couer Volcan," followed in succession by the
Roda-Gil-penned "Ce N'Est Rien" and "Niagara."
Clerc abruptly shifted gears with 1973's
Julien, recorded in London with arranger
Bill Shepherd, replacing his longtime collaborator
Jean-Claude Petit. He returned to Paris in time to begin rehearsals for a new run at the Olympia, with the highlights documented on his 1974 live LP, Julien Clerc avec Vous. Still dismissed in some quarters as little more than a teen idol,
Clerc yearned for a more mature image, and in 1975 -- despondent over the end of his romance with
Gall -- he reteamed with Momo for the bleak, elegiac
No. 7, his most critically acclaimed effort to date. Soon after he agreed to a starring role in the film D'Amour et d'Eau Fraîche, and while on the set entered into a relationship with co-star Miou-Miou that would continue for five years. For his next album, 1976's
A Mon Âge et à l'Heure Qu'il Est, he enlisted material from songwriters beyond
Roda-Gil and Momo, working for the first time with
Maxime Le Forestier and
Jean-Loup Dabadie.
Side A
A1. Black Out (Faire L’amour Ici) (3:28)
A2. Le Cœur Trop Grand Pour Moi (3:53)
A3. Je Suis Mal (3:33)
A4. À Mon Age Et À L’heure Qu’il Est (4:03)
A5. Aujourd’hui Rien N’est Normal (3:57)
Side B
B1. Les Jours De Joie (4:09)
B2. Amis (3:05)
B3. À La Fin Je Pleure (4:14)
B4. Romina (2:36)
B5. J’aime Ton Corp s (4:20)
Companies, etc.
- Arranged By, Bass, Chorus – Christian Padovan (tracks: A1, A3, B1, B3, B4)
- Arranged By, Guitar, Chorus – Gérard Kawczynski (tracks: A1, A3, B1, B3, B4)
- Arranged By, Piano – Michel Bernholc (tracks: A2, A4, A5, B2)
- Chorus – Bernard Louis, Thierry Vincent
- Design Concept – Jacques Combet
- Drums – André Sitbon
- Engineer – Christian Orsini, Eric Migliaccio, Jean-Pierre Janiaud, Patrice Blanc-Francard, Patrick Foulon
- Guitar – Jacky Tricoire
- Lyrics By – Jean-Loup Dabadie (tracks: A1,A2, B3), Maurice Vallet (tracks: B4), Maxime Le Forestier (tracks: A4,B2), Étienne Roda-Gil (tracks: A1,A5,B1)
- Music By – Julien Clerc
- Percussion – Marc Chantereau
- Photography By – Jeanloup Sieff, Thierry Vincent, Tony Frank
- Piano – Gérard Bikialo
- Producer – Thierry Vincent
- Synthesizer – Georges Rodi
Side A
A1. Black Out (Faire L’amour Ici) (3:28)
A2. Le Cœur Trop Grand Pour Moi (3:53)
A3. Je Suis Mal (3:33)
A4. À Mon Age Et À L’heure Qu’il Est (4:03)
A5. Aujourd’hui Rien N’est Normal (3:57)
Side B
B1. Les Jours De Joie (4:09)
B2. Amis (3:05)
B3. À La Fin Je Pleure (4:14)
B4. Romina (2:36)
B5. J’aime Ton Corps (4:20)
Notes
Release: 1976
Genre: Fransatlig, Chanson
Format: LP
Label: EMI Records
Catalog# 5C 062-14363
Prijs: €4,99
Vinyl: lichte gebruikerssporen
Cover: Goed
