Fan Club Gilbert Becaud

Nobody French here?

I recently "discovered" this French singer/composer and am just crazy about some of his songs. I saw his 2-DVD (the Blue Concert and the Red Concert) in the Paris Olympia in 1988. He is the best entertainer that I know of, by far!!! and he was 59 years old, at that time. Imagine that this singer had appeared in a record 30 times at the Olympia! His nickname is "Mr. 100,000 volts" as he electrified his audience with his performances. I call him "Mr. Energizer".

A few of his songs were put into English (not translated since the lyrics are completely different), and he redid the music to go with the English lyrics. The ones I like are:

What Now My Love (Et maintenant in French) - Elvis
Let It Be Me (Je t'appartiens) - Kenny Rogers
September Morn (C'est en septembre) - Neil Diamond

And some songs for the movie "The Jazz Singer", like "Love On The Rocks", etc., together with Neil Diamond.

I hope someone will talk with me about Becaud. Any fans here?

Gilbert Bécaud
c/o Gilbert Coullier Organisation
31 place St-Ferdinand
F-75017 Paris
France

Hello Bram, that's a weird coincidence that you were asking about him, I just posted a question yesterday asking who wrote Let It Be Me, I had no idea it was him, and YES I'LL JOIN HIS FAN CLUB, lol...

And when I have more time I'd love to talk about how great those lyrics are...

But there are so many great song writers...balm in gilead sort of...

Gee, thanks, Walter, for the address. But I am afraid I was not clear enough, it is about a website for a forum for his fans.

I did find a German fan site, but it was mostly to write in a guestbook rather than a forum site. Becaud spoke, I think, 5 or 6 languages as he also composed music for other singers in those countries, so he has fan sites in different languages.

And Shunammite, it was not Becaud who wrote the English lyrics, he composed the music only. You can probably find who wrote the lyrics by searching on a lyrics site.

I know for September Morn, he did work on both the lyrics and redid the music he composed with Neil Diamond, for the simple reason that the song was described as "lyrics and music" by Neil Diamond and Gilbert Becaud.

Bram, do you have any idea who wrote the English lyrics then? I can't find out...

The music is a wonderful enhancement but it was the lyrics that grabbed me...of course maybe they wouldn't have, without the music, lol.

It's that idea that unless you are the ONLY one "loved" you are LONELY.

And I think that is how people feel....that love has that exclusive quality...communal love...maybe in old age......but not before...till then it's just a one to one correspondence.

Don't ever leave me lonely, tell me you'll love me only...let it be me...

I think the song writers let the heart do the talking, it never makes good sense to the head, but the heart knows what we are really like.

According to online lyrics-websites, the lyrics are by Mann Curtis.

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:yvtxlfwe5cqu

Thanks very much, I couldn't find out much about him but I'll keep looking.

http://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/book.asp?ppn=bkhl311679&bookmark=0&person_info=Mann+Curtis&who=basic&mnuid=Y17U3PB194GZ4V6S042147NS4MPBRM861L53SM86&ReqPage=2#selections

Apparently he translated the French words by this other guy, Pierre Delano.

I will SO be buying that music book, I play piano if I have the music...a hack but still it's more intimate than just listening to someone else.

Shunammite

The English lyrics are completely different from the French ones. If you would like, I can translate them into English for you. It is the same with "What Now My Love" and "September Morn". The music for English lyrics is also much softer. I would suspect that nobody can sing with as much energy and passion like Becaud those songs. And he plays the piano, and HOW he plays!!

I was thinking to find the piano music sheets also, but after seeing him play, I gave up! Just to let you know, he broke a piano in one of those concerts at Olympia at the beginning of his 40-year career ... and the audience broke 500 seats (out of 2,500), in the newly renovated concert hall.

I know there are many good song writers and music composers and singers, but I find Becaud is extraordinary in that he is also an excellent performer on the stage. He just does not sing and play piano, he is a real showman - he is called the best showman of France.

If you know that I am a total fan of Elvis, and I find Becaud this extraordinary on stage, I have said it all!!!

By the way, although the lyrics are in the names of his lyrics writers, he has a hand and a say in all the songs, according to them (I read from their books on his biography).

I would like very much and you intrigue me with his performances...I studied French in college, got a D my last course, but I still remember a lot, just watched Claudine Claudet in French (with subtitles) but really I can understand a lot if I can look at the words...French or English...the spoken just goes so fast.

Please translate and put it here or email me, [email protected]

Do you know Leon Russell? Another extremely flamboyant songwriter/pianist, I love him very much, saw him twice this past year, he's from the sixties but still performing, and in small venues too. Two of the Beatles and two of the Stones were "session" musicians on his first self-titled cd.

Here are the English lyrics, for comparison purposes. I need to check some words in the dictionary first (for the translation to come).

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Prairie/7454/gilbert.html

This site has some info, click on the various links. Since you read French, that will make things easier.

http://www.coversproject.com/artist/Gilbert+B%25C3%25A9caud

Actually, if you make a search, there are a lot of sites that talk about him.

This is the 2-DVD I mentioned:

http://www.archambault.ca/store/product.asp?sku=001577357&type=2

I watch it very often. It is one thing to hear his "live" CD's, but a complete different experience to see him on stage. He "lives" his songs.

I just note that the DVD ad mentions only 20 songs. Actually, there are 40 songs (or rather 39, since the last song is the same on both DVD's).

It is really a gold mine!

There are some more DVD's sold here in Europe, but just playing in "zone 2", I fear :wink:

Don't I know, Walter, don't I know!

I had asked about the Zone 2 in a topic in Electronics ("DVD Zones"), for those of you who are interested. :wink:

Oh, Shunammite, I forgot to answer you in my enthusiasm for Becaud. No, I don't know Leon Ferrel at all, I am going to check about him.

Here is a nice English link about Becaud for you:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_B%E9caud

Here is my translation of "Je t'appartiens" (I Belong To You) - lyrics Pierre Delanoe, music Gilbert Becaud. Please feel free to make any changes.

I Belong To You

Like the clay
The fragile insect
The docile slave
I belong to you
Of my whole being
You are the only master
I have to submit myself
I belong to you
If you condemn
I offer my soul
To the center of the flames
I can't help it
With the sorrows
The love and the hate
Flowing in my veins
I belong to you
What can I do
To satisfy you
Patron of the earth
On my path
Like the angels
To sing your praises
But I'm not an angel
You know it well
I'm only a man
Nothing but a poor man
Who loves you like
Like a buddy
Often I think
That in your immense
Palace of silence
One must feel nice
I belong to you.

Hope you like it.

Oh my god, those are awesome...you French must realize we are not ready for the depth of your vision...

Thank you very much...almost you persuade me to get the dvd...but I wonder does it have English subtitles? Because I don't think I would get much without them...

Let it be me, it's weak in comparison but deep enough to me, don't ever leave me lonely tell me you love me only, that little bit was enough to help me see how it is, human "love"...so exclusive...and if you can't meet that terribly stringent requirement, it becomes HATE...

Thank you again for the translation.

cool everly brothers let it be me