![]() ![]() There is almost too much Brel music in the world for the casual listener, but this compilation is a beautifully remastered, 40-track double disc of many of his best-known songs: Jojo, J'arrive, Le chanson de Jacky, La chanson des vieux amants, Ne me quitte pas, Amsterdam, Les bourgeois, Les Bigotes. But the essence of his appeal was his lyrics - poems is a better word - which were romantic, bitter, reflective, satirical or imagistic. The instrumentation was often simple, usually just guitar, accordion or a small band. On paper a description of his music doesn't make it sound a winner. The footage in his museum shows the labour of creativity and delivery. On stage he usually wore a three-button suit (buttoned up), white shirt and dark tie. He had tombstone teeth and full lips which would burst into a lopsided, gawky smile. He was much mourned when he died - and is buried near Gauguin on the island of Hiva Oa where, two years before, he had rented a house. He was of the troubadour tradition but also an actor (almost a dozen films to his name) and an occasional director, and a philosopher in song. He was witty and well-liked, his songs spoke to people at an emotional level. He became the pre-eminent chansonnier of his generation, filling theatres such as the Olympia, but was just as at home in smoky bars. He started singing at bars such as A la mort subite (Sudden Death), which is still there today, much as it was in his day.īut it was in France where his career took off in the late 50s and early 60s. In 2003 an excellent museum opened not far from Grand Place with slides and film footage (evocative period stuff and of him performing) which allows you to walk through his life, stand in replicas of his childhood home and apartment, watch his final concerts and follow him when he abandoned Europe and sailed around the Pacific for four years before his death.īrel was born to elderly Flemish-speaking parents (his song Les Vieux recounts their sacrifices) and his father owned a cardboard factory where he briefly worked. Then, 25 years after his death, there was a flurry of activity to reclaim him. A suburban Metro station is named for him in an area he would doubtless have dismissed as bourgeois, and a daughter started a Brel foundation. The great singer-songwriter, who made his home in Paris, called one of his daughters "France" and died outside Paris, was barely acknowledged in Brussels for many years. And Brussels has seemed a bit iffy about him. "Everyone has to come from somewhere," he would sardonically remark. This is odd because Brel (1929-78) was ambivalent about Brussels. Well, back in his hometown of Brussels, funnily enough. Jacques Brel is alive and well and living in. ![]()
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