A great interview with Gilles Verlant, the author of "Gainsbourg" (TamTam Books) by DJ Pangburn for the website Death and Taxes.
Read it here: http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/196820/serge-gainsbourg-biographer-whitney-should-have-said-yes/
Showing posts with label Gilles Verlant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gilles Verlant. Show all posts
Saturday, 6 April 2013
Tuesday, 11 December 2012
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| Serge Gainsbourg’s place in French music was thoroughly investigated by Gilles Verlant, whose biography of the singer is now available in an English translation. (Photo: Les Francofolies de Montréal) Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/music/Juan+Rodriguez+Serge+Gainsbourg+genius+lost/7677345/story.html |
By Juan Rodriguez, special to The Gazette
He was loaded with anti-charisma — his first words to Whitney Houston on a TV show were “I want to f--- you” — yet he was a perverse charmer. “Women adore misogynists,” he claimed; one of his preferred pickup lines was “Mind if I sit down, you little tart?” French president François Mitterrand characterized him as “our Baudelaire, our Apollinaire,” but his various musical periods also qualified him as the Picasso of pop. (He stole liberally from Chopin.)
Apart from the admirable but hardly complete A Fistful of Gitanes, by Sylvie Simmons (author of the recent excellent Leonard Cohen biography I’m Your Man), there’s not much in English on the great iconoclast of French pop. Now comes the English translation of Serge Gainsbourg by Gilles Verlant (under the title Gainsbourg: The Biography, from Tam Tam Books), the French journalist who spent more time interviewing Gainsbourg than any other.
The depth of his investigation into the agent provocateur’s place in French music is abundant throughout this hefty 575-page tome, originally published in 2000. Without indulging into too much armchair psychology, we come away with plenty of raison d’être for the man who was forced to wear a yellow Jewish star as an adolescent during the Nazi occupation. He boomeranged the anti-Semitism of those times with perverse irony on the 1975 album Rock Around the Bunker.
He was born Lucien Ginsburg to parents who fled the Russian Revolution and anti-Semitism; his father, Joseph, was a classical pianist who played nightclub gigs to get by; his mother, Olia, was a mezzo-soprano.
The household was cultured (attuned to André Breton, Man Ray et al), something overlooked in Gainsbourg’s penchant for scandal. At the beginning of his career, he suffered from stage fright and was discouraged because of his apparent “ugliness.” He was hardly in the league of Jacques Brel, Charles Aznavour, Georges Brassens or Yves Montand as a romantic hero, yet his power to shock — in either a disquieting sense or with inimitable irreverence (setting La Marseillaise to a stoned reggae beat) — set him apart, and was somehow more profound than his more genteel contemporaries. When some suggested that his biggest international hit, Je t’aime ... moi non plus, was simply a tape of Gainsbourg and Birkin engaged in sex, he quipped: “Thank goodness it wasn’t, otherwise I hope it would have been a long-player.”
Despite being littered with typos, the book is a page-turner. Although translator Paul Knobloch has drawn some heat for supposedly taking liberties, his adaptation of Gainsbourg’s lyrics is pure genius; most of the translations rhyme — an extraordinarily difficult creative act.
Alongside Simmons’s tome on Cohen, The One: The Life and Music of James Brown by R.J. Smith, and Gustav Mahler by Jens Malte Fischer, this is among the very best musical biographies I’ve read this year.
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/music/Juan+Rodriguez+Serge+Gainsbourg+genius+lost/7677345/story.html
Thursday, 27 September 2012
Monday, 3 September 2012
Tuesday, 31 July 2012
EVENTS
DATE: 7/30/2012 | BY JANE BROWN
A Gainsbourg Evening at ARTBOOK @ Paper Chase
On a warm Tuesday evening at the ARTBOOK @ Paper Chaseshowroom in Hollywood, the Paris-based biographer Gilles Verlantwaxed poetic about the life and times of the legendary French chanteur, actor and director Serge Gainsbourg. Joining Verlant wereTamTam Books publisher Tosh Berman and translator Paul Knobloch. Tuesday's event was a celebration of Verlant's newly translated Gainsbourg biography. The panel kept the standing-room-only crowd riveted with stories and anecdotes about the late, great pop icon—the French Cole Porter.
In putting together this biography, Verlant spent hundreds of hours interviewing Gainsbourg himself, as well as his relatives, and, of course, his many lovers—including Jane Birkin and Brigitte Bardot.
Translator Paul Knobloch with publisher Tosh Berman and author Gilles Verlant.
Aperture’s Leslie Martin with Ice Plant’s Mike Slack.
Jane Brown and Maripol.
Mikie Shioya and Japanese journalist Kiichiro Yanashita.
Paris Photo organizers Jean-Christophe Harel and Julien Frydman.
Marc Jacobs' Jennifer Baker and Randy Shelp.
Gilles Verlant with Tracey Quiqley and Fawn Hall.
Leslie Rubinoff and Libby Kauper.
Friday, 20 July 2012
Gilles Verlant on Serge Gainsbourg
Tuesday, July 24, 2012, 7:00 P.M., Tosca Cafe, 242 Columbus Avenue San Francisco, CA 94133
City Lights in conjunction with Litquake's Epicenter Reading Series present
An evening of discussion, music and video
Gilles Verlant in conversation with Tosh Berman
at Tosca Cafe, 242 Columbus Avenue San Francisco, CA 94133
21 and over, please
celebrating the release of
Gainsbourg: The Biography
by Gilles Verlant
translated by Paul Knobloch
When Serge Gainsbourg died in 1991, France went into mourning: François Mitterand himself proclaimed him "our Baudelaire, our Apollinaire." Gainsbourg redefined French pop, from his beginnings as cynical chansonnier and mambo-influenced jazz artist to the ironic "yé-yé" beat and lush orchestration of his 1960s work to his launching of French reggae in the 1970s to the electric funk and disco of his last albums. But mourned as much as his music was Gainsbourg the man: the self-proclaimed ugly lover of such beauties as Brigitte Bardot and Jane Birkin, the iconic provocateur whose heavy-breathing "Je t'aime moi non plus" was banned from airwaves throughout Europe and whose reggae version of the “Marseillais” earned him death threats from the right, and the dirty-old-boy wordsmith who could slip double-entendres about oral sex into the lyrics of a teenybopper ditty and make a crude sexual proposition to Whitney Houston on live television.
Gilles Verlant's biography of Gainsbourg is the best and most authoritative in any language. Drawing from numerous interviews and their own friendship, Verlant provides a fascinating look at the inner workings of 1950s–1990s French pop culture and the conflicted and driven songwriter, actor, director and author that emerged from it: the young boy wearing a yellow star during the German Occupation; the young art student trying to woo Tolstoy's granddaughter; the musical collaborator of Petula Clark, Juliette Greco and Sly and Robbie; the seasoned composer of the Lolita of pop albums, Histoire de Melody Nelson; the cultural icon who transformed scandal and song into a new form of delirium.
Gilles Verlant is a journalist, editor, and a TV / radio personality in France for the past 30 years, specializing in rock music and the french chanson. From 1980 to 1990, Verlant interviewed Serge Gainsbourg and had full access to his archives. He has written the most complete biography on Gainsbourg, who revolutionized French pop music in the second half of the 20th Century. Twenty years after his death, Serge Gainsbourg remains the very essence of scandal, sexual intrigue, and music brilliance.
Tosh Berman is the publisher of Tam Tam Books.
Visit: Tam Tam Books
Books related to this event:
| Gainsbourg The Biography 2012 Edition Gilles Verlant's biography of Gainsbourg is the best and most authoritative in any language. Drawing from numerous interviews and their own friendship, Verlant provides a fascinating look at the inner workings of 1950s–1990s French pop culture and... |
Wednesday, 18 July 2012
Just a quick note to say thank you for all of you who came to the event on July 17, 2012 for "Gainsbourg." The author Gilles Verlant, the translator Paul Knobloch, and the publisher Tosh Berman (me) all had a great time and we sold out on the books.
Merci to everyone!
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| Tosh Berman, Gilles Verlant, and Paul Knobloch |
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| TamTam Books' publisher Tosh Berman |
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| Tosh Berman and author of "Gainsbourg" Gilles Verlant |
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| Gainsbourg...sort of there |
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| Book cover by Tom Recchion |
Monday, 9 July 2012
ARTBOOK @ Paper Chase, Book Soup and Tam Tam Booksinvite you to the launch party for Gainsbourg: The Biography.
Join us for a tribute to Serge Gainsbourg, the French singer, songwriter, poet, composer, artist, actor and the country’s most beloved pop export since Edith Piaf. The evening will feature Gainsbourg videos and music, and a discussion with the Biography author, Gilles Verlant, in conversation with translator, Paul Knobloch and Tam Tam publisher, Tosh Berman.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
7:00 pm
7:00 pm
RSVP@dapinc.com
FREE but RSVP required and will be accepted until venue capacity is reached
ARTBOOK | Paper Chase
7174 Sunset Boulevard
(corner of Sunset and Formosa)
Hollywood, California
(corner of Sunset and Formosa)
Hollywood, California
(323) 969-8985
Serge Gainsbourg redefined French pop, from his beginnings as cynical chansonnier and mambo-influenced jazz artist to the ironic “yé-yé” beat and lush orchestration of his 1960s work to his launching of French reggae in the 1970s to the electric funk and disco of his last albums. He was the self-proclaimed ugly lover of such beauties as Brigitte Bardot and Jane Birkin, the iconic provocateur whose heavy-breathing “Je t’aime moi non plus” was banned from airwaves throughout Europe and whose reggae version of the “Marseillais” earned him death threats from the right.
Gilles Verlant’s biography of Gainsbourg is the best and most authoritative in any language. Drawing from numerous interviews and their own friendship, Verlant provides a fascinating look at the inner workings of 1950s–1990s French pop culture and the conflicted and driven songwriter, actor, director and author that emerged from it: the young boy wearing a yellow star during the German Occupation; the young art student trying to woo Tolstoy’s granddaughter; the musical collaborator of Petula Clark, Juliette Greco and Sly and Robbie; the seasoned composer of the Lolitaof pop albums, Histoire de Melody Nelson; the cultural icon who transformed scandal and song into a new form of delirium.
Special thanks to the evening's bookseller, Book Soup.
Dear Gang,
I was very recently interviewed by Kristian Goddard for his uber-cool blog. For those who want to read it - look here: http://www.kristiangoddard.net/Kristian_Goddard_Blog.htm
I was very recently interviewed by Kristian Goddard for his uber-cool blog. For those who want to read it - look here: http://www.kristiangoddard.net/Kristian_Goddard_Blog.htm
Tuesday, 22 May 2012
When Serge Gainsbourg died in 1991, France went into mourning: François Mitterand himself proclaimed him “our Baudelaire, our Apollinaire.”
Gainsbourg redefined French pop, from his beginnings as cynical chansonnier and mambo-influenced jazz artist to the ironic “yé-yé” beat and lush orchestration of his 1960s work to his launching of French reggae in the 1970s to the electric funk and disco of his last albums. But mourned as much as his music was Gainsbourg the man: the self-proclaimed ugly lover of such beauties as Brigitte Bardot and Jane Birkin, the iconic provocateur whose heavy-breathing “Je t’aime moi non plus” was banned from airwaves throughout Europe and whose reggae version of the “Marseillais” earned him death threats from the right, and the dirty-old-boy wordsmith who could slip double-entendres about oral sex into the lyrics of a teenybopper ditty and make a crude sexual proposition to Whitney Houston on live television.
Gilles Verlant’s biography of Gainsbourg is the best and most authoritative in any language. Drawing from numerous interviews and their own friendship, Verlant provides a fascinating look at the inner workings of 1950s–1990s French pop culture and the conflicted and driven songwriter, actor, director and author that emerged from it: the young boy wearing a yellow star during the German Occupation; the young art student trying to woo Tolstoy’s granddaughter; the musical collaborator of Petula Clark, Juliette Greco and Sly and Robbie; the seasoned composer of the Lolita of pop albums, Histoire de Melody Nelson; the cultural icon who transformed scandal and song into a new form of delirium.
Release date: July 31, 2012
$24.95
ISBN: 9780966234671
Translated from the French by Paul Knobloch
Tuesday, 1 May 2012
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| The cover of Gainsbourg by Gilles Verlant |
And without a doubt it is the best (and maybe only) book in English that covers the French pop music world in such wonderful detail. More then half of the book is oral history of Gainsbourg and French pop/film world. Verlant is very much part of that world, and his access to the French pop stars, Serge's family, and various people around the music world at that time is pretty amazing. Also in this book you get some of Gainsbourg's brilliant lyrics wonderfully translated by Paul Knobloch.
Sunday, 22 April 2012
Gainsbourg: The Biography
By Gilles Verlant. Translated by Paul Knobloch.
GAINSBOURG: THE BIOGRAPHY
TAMTAM BOOKS
LIST PRICE: U.S. $24.95
CANADIAN: CDN $24.95
ISBN: 9780966234671 | TRADE
Pbk, 8.5 x 5.5 in. / 400 pgs.
PUB DATE: 6/30/2012
CANADIAN: CDN $24.95
ISBN: 9780966234671 | TRADE
Pbk, 8.5 x 5.5 in. / 400 pgs.
PUB DATE: 6/30/2012
When Serge Gainsbourg died in 1991, France went into mourning: François Mitterand himself proclaimed him “our Baudelaire, our Apollinaire.” Gainsbourg redefined French pop, from his beginnings as cynical chansonnier and mambo-influenced jazz artist to the ironic “yé-yé” beat and lush orchestration of his 1960s work to his launching of French reggae in the 1970s to the electric funk and disco of his last albums. But mourned as much as his music was Gainsbourg the man: the self-proclaimed ugly lover of such beauties as Brigitte Bardot and Jane Birkin, the iconic provocateur whose heavy-breathing “Je t’aime moi non plus” was banned from airwaves throughout Europe and whose reggae version of the “Marseillais” earned him death threats from the right, and the dirty-old-boy wordsmith who could slip double-entendres about oral sex into the lyrics of a teenybopper ditty and make a crude sexual proposition to Whitney Houston on live television.
Gilles Verlant’s biography of Gainsbourg is the best and most authoritative in any language. Drawing from numerous interviews and their own friendship, Verlant provides a fascinating look at the inner workings of 1950s–1990s French pop culture and the conflicted and driven songwriter, actor, director and author that emerged from it: the young boy wearing a yellow star during the German Occupation; the young art student trying to woo Tolstoy’s granddaughter; the musical collaborator of Petula Clark, Juliette Greco and Sly and Robbie; the seasoned composer of the Lolita of pop albums, Histoire de Melody Nelson; the cultural icon who transformed scandal and song into a new form of delirium.
Tuesday, 14 February 2012
http://www.americanethnography.com/article.php?id=124
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
Down below is a review by Boris Vian on an upcoming singer/songwriter Serge Gainsbourg. This is from Gilles Verlant's biography "Gainsbourg." Coming out on TamTam Books this Spring. The translation down below is by Paul Knobloch, who also translated into English Vian's "To Hell With The Ugly," "Autumn in Peking," and "The Dead All Have The Same Skin." All titles published by TamTam Books.
What we have here is one great artist appreciating another - and its really beautiful.
DU CHANT A LA UNE: SERGE GAINSBOURG
Come along, all you readers or listeners, those of you ready to rail against all those phony songs and fake artists. Empty your pockets and run to the record shops, and demand that the owner give you a copy of the new Philips B 76447 B… This isn’t any payola: I don’t work for Philips any longer, and even if I did I’d be telling you the same thing.
It’s the first 33 rpm from a witty individual named Gainsbourg, Serge, born in Paris on April 2, 1928. As for me, I’m hoping it won’t be his last. As for you, well, you’re the ones who can make sure it’s not his last. An album is costly to make, and it’s also costly to launch a new artist, especially when the owners of the record shops, drowning in a sea of mediocre product and paralyzed by rising sales tax, no longer have the time to listen to what the record companies send them.
So what will you hear on this disc?
First of all – honoring those who are often forgotten – you’ll hear Gainsbourg’s back-up players, thick as thieves and swinging together under the direction of Alain Goraguer, who provides the orchestration for the nine cuts on the album. Technically speaking, each one easily ranks a 17 to 19 on a scale of 20, in spite of a piano sometimes poorly tuned. But that’s not the fault of Goraguer: in a recording session, a piano should be tuned to a vibraphone.
You’ll hear, tucked away in the middle of one side of the album, a song sure to disturb you: “Ce mortel ennui qui me vient… quand je suis près de toi…”15
You’ll hear three absolute technical triumphs (phrasing, style, cadence, etc.): “Le poinçonneur des Lilas,” somber, feverish, and lovely, has also been done by Les Frères Jacques, who are quite admirable. But listen to the real author do it. It’s the prototype of powerful popular song that’s missing among artists like Yves Montand. “Douze belles dans la peau” is also of superb quality. Michèle Arnaud sings it rather well, I believe. Jean-Claude Pascal also gives it a go: an homage to his good taste. “La femme des uns sous le corps des autres,” with its South American rhythms, is also both a bitter and exuberant success.
By the way, if some numbskull wants to accuse Gainsbourg of pessimism, I’ll permit myself to ask this same halfwit if he really loves pleonasm that much, and if, by chance, he really listened to the tune…
You’ll hear “Ronasrd 58,” not as imaginative, but still a worthwhile jazz number that’s not some dated piece like the ones we currently hear in France that try to evoke the spirit of jazz from 1935 (which would be just fine if it were 1935).
You’ll hear “La recette de l’amour fou” and you’ll remember, since I’m going to tell you, that Gainsbourg regrets but one thing, which is not having been able to know the director of the Ecole universelle of surrealism, André Breton.
You’ll also find “L’alcool,” “Du jazz dans le ravin,” and “Le Charleston des déménageurs de piano.” This last tune is a great illustration of just what the piano can do, and it’s simply delicious for those who play or those who simply like to listen. Still, from time to time, we should consider those who actually do the work of moving…
And after having heard all that, the phonies among you will tell me that Gainsbourg has a weak singing voice. And while it might be a bit muted or too nasal, remember that he’s not singing opera. You want opera? Go buy some Xavier Depraz. Gainsbourg might remind you, now and then, of Phillipe Clay. Yes, because their voices have a similar timbre. And so what? Gainsbourg also has that tense and biting quality you find with Clay.
You’ll also probably tell me that this young lad is a bit skeptical, that it is wrong to see everything in such dark terms, that there’s nothing “constructive” in his work… (sure… fine… if that’s what you say).
To which I would respond that a skeptic who writes words and music like this, well, you had better give him a second listen before just grouping him in with the other blasé artists of the nouvelle vague… It’s still much more interesting than some idiotic enthusiast eager to attack whatever displeases him…
And after all, this is 1958. We’re capable of coming up with something better than images of baroque pavilions with bluish-green cats staring down at us from the rooftops.
Still, there’s something missing on this album. One song, perhaps Gainsbourg’s best: a little love ditty about a cannonball and a wooden peg-leg searching for a home.
It’s a piece called “Friedland.”
Gainsbourg’s already recorded it.
But alas, it’s not part of this album. You’ll have to go to Milord l’Arsouille to hear Gainsbourg sing it.
They must have taken it off the disc in order not to displease the good king Charles XI.
Nevertheless, if I am not mistaken, might not Freidland become the Usurper?
Boris Vian
15 “This black apathy that grips me… whenever we’re together…” (T.N.)
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