Yep, that's him on the left: Jacques Prévert. You can easily see why Serge Gainsbourg liked this fellow: he's seldomly pictured without a cigarette. Prévert (1900-1977) was a poet, screenwriter, surrealist and theater-enthousiast, probably his best known poem is Les Feuilles Mortes. Set to music by Joseph Kosma in 1945, the song was translated four years later by Johnny Mercer. As Autumn Leaves, the chanson became a standard and has been covered many, many times (ranging from Juliette Gréco to Coldcut), but contrary to popular belief, Yves Montand wasn't the first to record it. Cora Vaucaire was, this Wikipedia claims.Anyways, Les Feuilles Mortes ofcourse was also the inspiration for Serge's melancholical La Chanson de Prévert. Thát song has been covered a lot too, although not as many as Autumn Leaves. On the recently re-released double-compilation Gainsbourg Chanté Par are three versions, by Spanish singer Gloria Lasso (grrreat rrrolling rrrr), by Michèle Arnaud and by the obscure Vicky Autier. Rockbands paid tribute too; Sambassadeur (also the name of a Serge song) is a wonderful Swedish band, they do one of my favourite versions of the song. The Silencers are big stars in France, but hail from the UK. Kaho Minami is an actress you might've seen in Memoirs of a Geisha, but she sings on occasion too. If you're a regular here, you must know who April March and Isabelle Aubret are. UPDATE: Thanks to Franss, two extra versions, by Claire D'Asta and Guy Béart.
EXTRA UPDATE: Thanks to numerous vistors (Dennis, Franss/Inous, Jean-Luc, Natachka), added are versions by Nana Mouskouri, Jane Birkin, Jane & Patrick Bruel, Jane/Sandrine Kiberlain/Yves Simon/Alain Souchon, Kevin Johansen:
Serge Gainsbourg - La Chanson de Prévert
Claire d'Asta - La Chanson de Prévert
Guy Béart - La Chanson de Prévert
Isabelle Aubret - La Chanson de Prévert
Gloria Lasso - La Chanson de Prévert
Vicky Autier - La Chanson de Prévert
Michèle Arnaud - La Chanson de Prévert
Sambassadeur - La Chanson de Prévert
The Silencers - La Chanson de Prévert
Kaho Minami - La Chanson de Prévert
April March- La Chanson de Prévert
EXTRA
Cora Voucaire- La Chanson de Prévert (live)
Nana Mouskouri - La Chanson de Prévert
Jane Birkin - La Chanson de Prévert
Jane Birkin & Patrick Bruel - La Chanson de Prévert
Jane Birkin, Sandrine Kiberlain, Yves Simon, Alain Souchon - La Chanson de Prévert
Kevin Johansen - La Chanson de Prévert
-
Yves Montand - Les Feuilles Mortes
Juliette Gréco - Les Feuilles Mortes
Marie France & Marc Almond - Les Feuilles Mortes/Autumn Leaves
Next up in this series (post as many Gainsbourg-covers as possible) might be Bonnie & Clyde - I found ten versions already. Must be more. But that's for later.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenexcellent idea. prévert also top-notch, where else would I such a splendid lineup? as always, LD
BeantwoordenVerwijderenmore versions from my collection:
BeantwoordenVerwijderenJane Birkin
Cora Vaucaire
Nana Mouskouri
Henri Pelissier
Pauline Julien
Jane Birkin duo with Patrick Bruel
Herbert Pagani
and
Sandrine Kiberlain, Jane Birkin, Yves Simon and Alain Souchon on the CD "Le Zénith des Enfoirés".
how 'bout sending those versions to guuzbourg(a)gmail.com ??
BeantwoordenVerwijderenNice list!
BeantwoordenVerwijderenUte Lemper does a great, dramatic version of Les Feuilles Mortes, will send it.
more versions of La Chanson de Prévert are coming up, thanks to various FS-visitors. Cora Vaucaire's version still missing...
BeantwoordenVerwijderenHi -
BeantwoordenVerwijderenHaven't posted before due to reasons of extreme laziness, but just wanted to say that this site is consistently excellent. Keep up the good work!
R
hey R, merci bien.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenCora's version is located - next week, more versions!
my favorite version is sung by Cora Vaucaire called "la dame blanche de St germain"
BeantwoordenVerwijderenWhat's the game now? Looking for other versions of "Les feuilles mortes"? "La dame blanche de St Germain" (2005 - EPM) is a live CD of Cora Vaucaire including "Les feuilles mortes" (track2) and not "La Chanson de Prévert".
BeantwoordenVerwijderenLet me know, I can help.
Nah, there's too many versions of Les Feuilles Mortes. Best leave it at these three (although I got a beautiful version by Ute Lemper as well).
BeantwoordenVerwijderenNext up: Bonnie & Clyde-cover versions. But that's for later.
But Coates, can you email me the Chanson de Prevert-covers by Henri Pelissier, Pauline Julien and Herbert Pagani?? guuzbourg(a)gmail.com (by the way: is that Coar Vaucaire-version also a cover of CdPrevert? Or the Les Feuilles Mortes-version?)
BeantwoordenVerwijderenDo you "the autumn leaves" traduction of "les feuilles mortes by Marc Almond sung in duet with Marie France?
BeantwoordenVerwijderenIt's a lustful slow. Not really a good song.
bring it on!
BeantwoordenVerwijderenHello,
BeantwoordenVerwijderenI know it's getting pretty complicated, but the live song interpreted here by Caura Vaucaire is actually La Chanson de Prévert, and not Les Feuilles Mortes!!!
I'm waiting for the cover versions of Bonnie & Clyde!!
Oops, you're right!
BeantwoordenVerwijderenHey! The titles colour fuxia with the background fuxia..i see nothing!! haha
BeantwoordenVerwijderenColourblind? Bummer.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenHere are the last covers I know:
BeantwoordenVerwijderenBernard Stéphane - Les Riff - Pauline Julien - Gricha Mouloudji - April March - Michelle Flynn - Chris Evans - Jacques Ponserme - Dominique Barret - Kaho Minami - Maurice Garrel - Patrick Péronne (piano) - Anouk Plany - Kevin Johansen. The last one should be from Argentina.
wouldn't it be possible to reupp these songs as a big archive file on something like rs?
BeantwoordenVerwijderen