Produced By Gainsbourg

Message Bookmarked
Bookmark Removed
Just finished rereading Sylvie Simmons' excellent Serge bio and was left curious as to what a lot of his production for other artists must sound like. I'm familiar with most of the Jane Birkin stuff but what about his writing/production work for folks like Jacques Dutronc, Isabelle Adjani, Vanessa Paradis -- what's worth seeking out and probably paying too much for?

Jay Vee (Manon_70), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 00:07 (eighteen years ago) link

I don't know specifically what Gainsbourg produced for Dutronc but his first 2 albums and parts of the third are definitely worth seeking out if you like the '60s pop Gainsbourg stuff with Bardot. And if you want something a little more bubblegummy the stuff he did with France Gall is great. The big question I had after reading that Gainsbourg bio was what are his films and commercials like? I'd love to see the stuff he acted in and directed.

walter kranz (walterkranz), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 00:54 (eighteen years ago) link

I saw him acting in "Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye" but his voice was dubbed - if I recall, it was kind of high-pitched and had a Scottish accent. I might be wrong, but it was a bit of an eyebrow-raiser, whatever it was.

Pangolino 2, Wednesday, 22 June 2005 00:59 (eighteen years ago) link

I really love Catherine Deneuve's 'Souviens-toi de m'oublier'

tokyo nursery school: afternoon session (rosemary), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 01:18 (eighteen years ago) link

I think Je T'Aime... is somewhat tedious, but the sets and soundtrack are great. I have a crappy dubbed-in-English version of Cannabis . It seems to go nowhere in circles, but Serge and mainly-naked Jane look fab throughout. Also has a superb sndtrk. The longform video for Melody Nelson and Anna are both excellent.

Need to find La Horse next.

As far as music: I should've been clearer and mentioned I was curious about his lesser known (outside France) production stuff. I love the France Gall songs and the things he did with Bardot/Anna Karina/Nico/etc., but I'm really curious about things like - Rosemary OTM - the Catherine Deneuve album he produced in the late 80's. What can it possibly sound like?

Jay Vee (Manon_70), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 01:20 (eighteen years ago) link

The first couple of times I read that I thought you were saying that he produced a Catherine Deneuve album titled "Rosemary OTM"!

walter kranz (walterkranz), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 01:23 (eighteen years ago) link

have you heard the song he did with Jordy called "Dur dur d'être bébé"?

The Amazing Jaxon! (jaxon), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 01:50 (eighteen years ago) link

That "It's so hard to be a baby" song? You're kidding right? Gainsbourg wrote that!?

walter kranz (walterkranz), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 01:52 (eighteen years ago) link

most totally, broski!

The Amazing Jaxon! (jaxon), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 01:53 (eighteen years ago) link

you know gainsbourg was known for singing sexually provacative songs and he liked em young? how much dirtier can you get than a little 5yr old talking about how hard he is

The Amazing Jaxon! (jaxon), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 01:55 (eighteen years ago) link

The Deneuve album was a bit too 80s for me at first, but it really grew on me.

tokyo nursery school: afternoon session (rosemary), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 02:01 (eighteen years ago) link

I can send you mp3s of it if you'd like, Jay Vee.

tokyo nursery school: afternoon session (rosemary), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 02:02 (eighteen years ago) link

Thanks! But I'm still in the Stone Age and on dial-up, so downloading them would take forever. If you want to do a CD-R trade for something email me.

Jay Vee (Manon_70), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 02:29 (eighteen years ago) link

The big question I had after reading that Gainsbourg bio was what are his films and commercials like?

I thought the same thing after reading it ... in particular, somebody should compile a box set of his soundtrack work.

MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 02:42 (eighteen years ago) link

There's the great Cinema De Serge Gainsbourg box set out there. Can't recommend it enough if you're a Serge fan. Especially for the superb 2nd disc.

Jay Vee (Manon_70), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 02:45 (eighteen years ago) link

I didn't know about that box set, thanks!

MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 02:48 (eighteen years ago) link

I almost ordered that boxed set from Dustygroove a while back. I already have the Cannibis soundtrack, so would it still be worthwhile for me to pick up the whole box?

walter kranz (walterkranz), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 02:49 (eighteen years ago) link

You're welcome! Here's Le Link.

Jay Vee (Manon_70), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 02:49 (eighteen years ago) link

(xpost) It helps if you're a fan of *all* Gainsbourg's musical periods, all the way up to the gated-drum-machine end. It's mainly instrumental, but the vocal tracks are plenty and they all shine pretty much. Some of the Cannabis music appears on here but there's much more from that period (my favorite. The Vannier Years) in the box that hasn't been released in any other format. It's truly worth the $60. I play the entire thing straight through whenever I throw it on.

Jay Vee (Manon_70), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 02:56 (eighteen years ago) link

I was a very tempted to buy that box set when I saw it at Other Music, but another nice ILXer bought it and let me copy it.

Sure, I can make you a CDR!

tokyo nursery school: afternoon session (rosemary), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 11:43 (eighteen years ago) link

L'Enfant Assassin des Mouches by Jean-Claude Vannier, recently reissued on CD - he did the arrangements for Melody Nelson and it is an instrumental album but (a) there's a text/story by Gainsbourg and (b) it's bonkers.

Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 11:45 (eighteen years ago) link

Sure, I can make you a CDR!

Rosemary, are you talking to me? Or Walter? Or both of us? :)

I like "gated drum Gainsbourg" ... the "Love on the Beat" album is a favourite of mine!

MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 14:11 (eighteen years ago) link

I love
L'Enfant Assassin des Mouches
. Someone had Vannier's solo pop album up on Ebay last week.

Jay Vee (Manon_70), Wednesday, 22 June 2005 14:20 (eighteen years ago) link

one year passes...
RANIMER!

How is the rest of Alain Chamfort's Poses album? Serge wrote three songs, of which I know only the gorgeous "Manureva". Worth getting?

Jay Vee's Return (Manon_69), Sunday, 9 July 2006 17:32 (seventeen years ago) link

eight years pass...

Any thoughts on the Adjani album? Saw it cheap the other day and didn't know whether or not to take a punt on it.

cgi bubka (NickB), Tuesday, 24 March 2015 12:47 (nine years ago) link

oh I love that Adjani Album. Especially "Ohio". and of course "Pull Marine".
Gainsbourg wrote some lyrics for 3 of Chamfort's albums. My favourite might be "Amour année zéro" (especially the song "chasseur d'ivoire"). "Manureva" is fantastic.

AlXTC from Paris, Tuesday, 24 March 2015 13:09 (nine years ago) link

btw Gainsbourg NEVER wrote of had anything to do with Jordy's "dur dur d'être un bébé" !!

AlXTC from Paris, Tuesday, 24 March 2015 13:10 (nine years ago) link

regarding Adjani's album, of course of you have to :
- like her
- like singers who can't sing
- like Gainsbourg's 80s touch
if you check all these, you're good to go !

AlXTC from Paris, Tuesday, 24 March 2015 13:11 (nine years ago) link

ha, i'll bear that in mind. thanks!

cgi bubka (NickB), Tuesday, 24 March 2015 13:17 (nine years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7MwHGHWgLk

AlXTC from Paris, Tuesday, 24 March 2015 13:20 (nine years ago) link

i think there's a compilation out there with some of his stuff for other people (incl Catherine Deneuve, Françoise Hardy and obviously Bardot)

licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Tuesday, 24 March 2015 16:20 (nine years ago) link

Pull Marine always brings back a heavy load of childhood sadness

licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Tuesday, 24 March 2015 16:24 (nine years ago) link

ah ouai ? this song in particular ?
for me it's just a (great) reminder, among many others, of the Top 50 days.
Madeleine de Proust.

AlXTC from Paris, Tuesday, 24 March 2015 16:44 (nine years ago) link

yeah i find the chord progression very sad and probably did even more as a child so now it's just a mix of rememberance and sadness. I have to say that I'm less tolerant now to Adjani's vocal "limitations"

licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Tuesday, 24 March 2015 16:47 (nine years ago) link

Quite like this one too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fqnkj-c8lPM

licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Tuesday, 24 March 2015 16:51 (nine years ago) link

yeah, it's definitely a sad song. with a very cold/depressing production. I love her voice (more than many of his other actresses/singers). In the highs it's borderline insane !

AlXTC from Paris, Tuesday, 24 March 2015 16:56 (nine years ago) link

songs he made for others... BOOM !

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_des_chansons_de_Serge_Gainsbourg

AlXTC from Paris, Tuesday, 24 March 2015 17:01 (nine years ago) link

pretty cool
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OefMhv71MP8

AlXTC from Paris, Tuesday, 24 March 2015 17:08 (nine years ago) link

sorry not related to Gainsbourg but I just discovered this Dutronc/Adjani tv moment and it's pretty fun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgZ0xSuw5g4

AlXTC from Paris, Tuesday, 24 March 2015 17:18 (nine years ago) link

this one is Gainsbourg and Dutronc singing about old women !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaRUUx7oe74

These two were legendary. So many stories about them hanging around in Paris at night (even asking police vans to take them home cos they were too drunk... and then drinking some more with the police on the way !).

AlXTC from Paris, Tuesday, 24 March 2015 17:29 (nine years ago) link

I was looking everywhere last trip to Paris for a copy of Dutronc's "Guerre et pets" ( written by Gainsbourg). No luck.

Am currently reading Verlan's fantastic bio of Gainsbourg and the amount of writing he did for others (i'm still in the early 60s) is pretty jawdropping.

Acid Hose (Capitaine Jay Vee), Tuesday, 24 March 2015 20:47 (nine years ago) link

Oh yeah the Chamfort "Poses" album is fun. Sort of middle-aged-New Wave haha

Acid Hose (Capitaine Jay Vee), Tuesday, 24 March 2015 20:48 (nine years ago) link

Jay Vee, are you reading it in French or the translation?

tokyo rosemary, Tuesday, 24 March 2015 21:04 (nine years ago) link

It's pretty great being a Gainsbourg fan, you'll never run out of stuff to listen to/records to look for.

I like this Luxembourg Eurovision entry with some ingenue giving it GUSTO and what sounds like Serge himself counting down:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8EKhUwVgQk

Leonard Pine, Tuesday, 24 March 2015 21:11 (nine years ago) link

(Xpost) In French. I don't think it's been translated yet but could be mistaken.

Acid Hose (Capitaine Jay Vee), Tuesday, 24 March 2015 21:28 (nine years ago) link

I have two editions in French but as my French skills are sooo not good enough, I bought the English translation last year.

tokyo rosemary, Wednesday, 25 March 2015 00:06 (nine years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnd5tZMXUq4

I love this so much. Gainsbourg's "performances" are amazing, and I have never seen Dutronc resemble his son Thomas so much.

tokyo rosemary, Wednesday, 25 March 2015 03:23 (nine years ago) link

Ahan the tourism salesmen trying to sell their speech to Dutronc... Love the laid back and non professional showbiz attitude. Good times!

AlXTC from Paris, Wednesday, 25 March 2015 07:18 (nine years ago) link

ha, thank you, that was great: two drunk misbehaving schoolboys/ rogues; lol the "singing"; my french just good enough to catch some of the hostile-polite digs from the blonde woman host and back; classic.

drash, Wednesday, 25 March 2015 07:43 (nine years ago) link

Ah it's Danielle Gilbert : not hostile at all. She was always super nice (and a bit stupid) ! But it was certainly difficult to handle these guys on live Tv !

AlXTC from Paris, Wednesday, 25 March 2015 07:49 (nine years ago) link

very polite and not outwardly hostile, but she delivered some subtle digs (and got some back), e.g.

"you’ve got your cigarette & your cigar..."

"it’s his birthday"

"and he’s celebrating it, joyously"

"anyway we’re so happy that jacques is here—"

"oh that can be seen"

"you’ve got your glass, everything you need"

drash, Wednesday, 25 March 2015 08:18 (nine years ago) link

wow such a shame Dutronc turned into such a boring loser after the 60s

Back on topic - I would recommend Alain Bashung's bleak 1982 album co-written with Gainsbourg - 'Play Blessures'

licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Wednesday, 25 March 2015 09:58 (nine years ago) link

well, alcohol got the best of the best...
and apparently, Dutronc was always very shy/autist (which Françoise couldn't stand anymore... after 20+ years !).

regarding Eurovision, it still baffles me that Boomerang was rejected as a contender for France (especially when you see what we select nowadays...) !
the Gainsbourg version :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWWt9C0_rSo

AlXTC from Paris, Wednesday, 25 March 2015 10:16 (nine years ago) link

oh yeah ? I don't know, I don't see these remarks as hostile at all.
I think everybody just knew and loved them.
But clearly it was very difficult for tv hosts to deal with them sometimes. especially gainsbourg (the whitney houston "I want to fuck you" moment, the burning of a 500 francs bill, etc).

AlXTC from Paris, Wednesday, 25 March 2015 10:22 (nine years ago) link

because of this thread I've been listening (and watching !) to a lot of old stuffs from the guys and I discovered the full take for "Je suis venu te dire que je m'en vais" (it's on the integral. available on spotify). It only has a bit more instrumental and Jane B's sobbing but the gem is at the end of the take when you hear Jane saying "ah je peux pas faire plus que ça, hein!" (well I can't do much more than this !"). so cute !

AlXTC from Paris, Wednesday, 25 March 2015 10:27 (nine years ago) link

Love Boomerang, love what I've heard from Play Blessures.

tokyo rosemary, Wednesday, 25 March 2015 13:42 (nine years ago) link

I had no idea Boomerang was a Eurovision reject, it's one of my favourite songs. And that clip with Gainsbourg and Dutronc being drunk and half-asleep on television is gold.

Leonard Pine, Wednesday, 25 March 2015 17:48 (nine years ago) link


You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.