Music favs

[Moonstruck]

I don't know how this has escaped from being posted.

 

[Moonstruck]

How about a little more world music

 

[Moonstruck]

This is for Capt. Jack, Sailor of Fortune, who prefers the 'Low Rider' style.

 

[User915]

Gipsy Kings - Baila Me

The Gipsy Kings are members of a minority that has been persecuted for centuries. The history of the Gypsy people is a crucial matter for Nicolas Reyes, the lead singer of the band, both as a person and as an artist. During the Spanish Civil War, Nicolas's family migrated to the picturesque town of Arles in the South of France. Arles and the surrounding area, is renowned as being the haunt of legendary artists such as Van Gogh.

Nicolas's father, Jose, became a famous singer who performed with the guitarist Manitas de Plata at Carnegie Hall and was much admired by Picasso, Jean Cocteau, Miles Davis, Salvador Dali and Charlie Chaplin.

The group was first known as "Jose Reyes And Los Reyes" and eventually, after Jose's day, simply as "Los Reyes. In the early 70's, the group began busking on the café terraces along the Côte d'Azur, and it soon became popular with the wealthy tourists holidaying in the chic seaside resort of Saint Tropez.

The group's big break came in 1978, however, when St Tropez's most famous resident, Brigitte Bardot, invited Los Reyes to perform at one of her private parties. The exuberant Gipsy musicians brought the house down at Bardot's place and after this success they went on to became flavour of the month with St Tropez's 'in crowd'. Indeed, Los Reyes would soon be inundated with bookings to play at millionaires' soirées and film stars' private receptions in Saint Tropez, Antibes, Cannes, Monaco.

In 1986, Claude Martinez, a Parisian producer who was very much in vogue at the time, saw the group performing in Arles. Impressed by the group's talent and recognising huge commercial potential in their Gipsy sound, Martinez took the group in hand and more importantly, he re-baptised the group, encouraging them to change their name from Los Reyes to the Gipsy Kings.

Nicolas says their new name was given to them by accident, "An American woman, after asking us our name and origin, exclaimed 'Oh, you are Gipsy KINGS!' Then we kept the English name."

Soon after that, the Arles Gypsies hit America. Bob Krassnow, president of the American label Elektra, was the first to discover the Gispy sound and after he had signed the group to his label, the Gipsy Kings rocketed to fame in the States almost overnight.

While the Gipsy Kings have remained successful in Europe, their popularity in the United States has reached phenomenal proportions. Indeed, the group have taken the American Billboard charts by storm, triumphing in both the World Music and Latino categories. And, following their impressive performance at Radio City Music Hall in New York in September 97, the Gipsy Kings' latest album went on to receive rave reviews in the American press.

The Gipsy Kings' popularity in North America quickly reached phenomenal proportions and they soon proved to be the most successful French group of all time in the States. Indeed, ten years after their success with the jet set in Saint Tropez, the Gipsy Kings were adopted by the Hollywood glitterati.

Over the years, the music of the Kings incorporated elements of Latin and Cuban styles, Arabic music, reggae, and jazz guitar reminiscent of the French Gypsy master Django Reinhardt.

 

[Moonstruck]

High energy for sure, Olivier. I remember when the Gypsy Kings were hot over here. Here's our queen of the Latin sound, Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine, performing live. Gloria had suffered a broken back as the result of an accident. Before that she had some great moves.

 

[User915]

Don
Thank you for La Vie En Rose.
The accordion has long been a cliché symbol of France which make think of Parisian cafés, and Edith Piaf.

La Vie en rose is probably the most famouse French chanson worldwidely representing Musette, one of Edith Piaf's most famous and beloved about finding a new love after a trying time. It's a true anthem of hope, perhaps the most romantic French song.

Guess what ? Today is Victory In Europe Day, the commemoration of the day when German troops throughout Europe finally laid down their arm. Even if Edith Piaf recorded the song in October 1946, she wrote La Vie en Rose in a pavement café on the Champs Elysées in May 1945, 72 years to the day...

Perfect symbol and timing, Don.

Olivier et Pilou

 

[Andy G]

This has been a terrific thread, thank you Don for orchestrating it all.

My own humble offering, by the late, great.

https://youtu.be/6o6zMPLcXZ8

As Oliver noted, today is the 72nd anniversary of VE Day, what is more fitting than Cohen's"The Partisan"or "The song of the French partisan".
it is an adaptation of D'Astier de la Vigerie & Anna Marly's "La complainte du partisan", originally composed in London in 1943

https://youtu.be/S34cVkL6zCE

 

[Andy G]

No stopping me know.

A beautiful voice for a a lovely song. Baez does Suzanne.

https://youtu.be/39eFrEzZmYE

 

[Andy G]

What?....more Cohen you say. Oh very well if you insist.

Dance Me to the End of Love.

https://youtu.be/NGorjBVag0I?list=RDNGorjBVag0I

 

[User915]

This one is for Don, in return for "La Vie en Rose".
"L'été indien" (Indian Summer) by Joe Dassin.

Joe Dassin was born in New York, under the protection of the Statue of Liberty. He was the son of a violinist Beatrice who worked with the best classical musicians such as Pablo Casals*.

His father, Jules Dassin, was fond of cinema. After a short stage career, Jules became Hitchcock's associate director and a film director at last then decided to move to Los Angeles, the mysterious Los Angeles of the MGM studios and the Pacific Coast beaches, untill the day when… the world turns upside down. Along with the end of the World War II and Yalta agreements the world has to put up with the consequences of the "Cold War". East and West face each other: the USA against USSR, capitalism against socialism. The Republican senator from Wisconsin Joseph McCarthy opens and leads his witch-hunt against people suspected of sympathizing communists. Jules Dassin, who has already won some fame, was also under suspicion. Soon, he is accused of "Moscow-liking". This means the end of sweet Hollywood life and the exile for the Dassin family. In the end of 1949 a transatlantic liner leaves the New York harbor heading for Europe.

Joe Dassin discovers the Old Europe at the age of 12. This is 1950 and the old continent is under total re-construction. The Marshall Plan and ECSC (European Coal and Steel Community) make front-page stories. While Jules and Bea are settling in Paris, Joe is sent to a boarding school of a famous College Rosey in Switzerland. The establishment is chic and very expensive. In spite of the exile the money doesn't seem to be a big problem to the Dassins. There Joe makes acquaintance with Karim Aga Khan and the rich European heirs.

In 1955, Joe's parents get divorced. His father Jules continues his career with a new companion, the beautiful Greek actress and singer Melina Mercouri, one of the great women figures of Greece in the 20th century, christened "the last Greek goddess" by her many fans, later appointed by first greek minister Papandreou to be his minister of culture.

Joe takes the failure of his parents' family life close to heart and decides to return to his hearth and home of America. So, he comes back to the USA where Joe gets enrolled in the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. During his stay in the States Joe became friendly with a number of top names in the music business including young 60's folk singer, Pete Seeger, who introduced him to a young man by the name of Robert Zimmerman (who would later become the legendary Bob Dylan).

While Joe is studying hard at the University, his father gains authority throughout the world and becomes the Great Jules Dassin, he won the best director award at the Cannes film festival. In 1958, he asks Joe to record some themes for his next movie - "La Loi" (The Law) starring Gina Lollobrigida. Then, in 1960, comes "Never On Sunday" (Jamais le dimanche) with its astonishing sound track and, especially, the song "Les Enfants du Piree" (The Children Of Piree) performed by Melina Mercouri.

Joe graduates from the University of Michigan and gets Doctor's degree in Anthropology. Diploma in the pocket, Joe has to decide his own future. $300 in the pocket, Joe boards a ship which takes him to Italy, he travels first class in the hold of a cargo. Joe made his concert début in 1967, by 1968 he was back at the top of the charts, soon followed by a whole string of new hit singles. By 1969 the young Franco-American star was firmly established at the forefront of the French music scene.

Released in October 1975, "L'été indien" went on to become one of the French music scene's all-time classics. This song was about love during the Indian Summer in North America, it will appeal to all who have a romantic image of autumn in America.

Pilou
___________________________________________________

*Some words about Pablo Casals since he had a special affiliation with my birthplace in the French catalan Pyrennées:

Pablo Casals went on to become the greatest cellist of the 20th century. He was born in 1876 in Catalonia, Spain. His father was a parish organist and choirmaster, which explains his musical caree.

His international career commenced playing at the Crystal Palace in London in 1899. The same year, he played for Queen Victoria at the Osborne House.

Post the Spanish war and the downfall of the Spanish Republican government, he moved from Spain and settled himself in the French Catalan town of Prades which is my birthplace.

In 1950, he resumed his career on a full-fledged note by serving as the cellist and conductor at the Prades Festival. The festival was organized in the memory of the 200th death anniversary of Johann Sebastian Bach. He continued performing at the festival - named Pablo Casals Festival - until 1966. During many years prior to 1966, my parents had the perfect opportunity to attend concerts of Pablo Casals in the church of Prades.

The Pablo Casals Festival has been held in Prades each year since 1950. World-renowned soloists gather for a series of concerts, and numerous students take part in the academy's masterclasses. It is one of the oldest festivals in existence, one of the most prestigious chamber music festivals in the world. Every year from 24 July to 13 August, almost 10,000 music lovers are attracted by the outstanding performances of the works and by the exceptional programme. They come together to listen to the many concerts given by the greatest musicians in the Abbey Saint-Michel de Cuxa and the Romanesque churches of the Conflent (Serrabone, Marcevol, Saint-Martin du Canigou).

The Pablo Casals Festival also includes conferences, meetings with artists and personalities and film screenings.

Pablo Casals's great panache at the instrument and outstanding musical abilities earned him an offer to play at the White House for President Theodore Roosevelt in January 15, 1904, also once again at the White House on November 13, 1961, upon receiving an invite from President John F. Kennedy. In 1963, he became the proud recipient of the prestigious U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Pilou.

 

[Moonstruck]

Thanks so much, Pilou. The fall is my favorite season. Especially the Indian summer when it comes. We try to get to the mountains during that time. The song is beautiful, and conjures up visions of past summer romances and a beautiful season. It really takes me back in time. Those were special times.

 

[Moonstruck]

Thanks for the kind words, Andy. To an old music lover like me it has been pleasurable see others' favorites as well as look back at mine.

Joan Baez certainly has a pure voice, but I like Leonard Cohen's version of Suzanne much better. He wrote it about a personal relationship. I think only he can capture the meaning in song.

Also, thanks for the Partisan. It is so appropriate at this time.

 

[Moonstruck]

It's hard to believe that I had to put this one up.

 

[Moonstruck]

Great Latin sound from Santana and Smooth Feat Rob Thomas.

 

[Nsail]

Time for some pipes! I love this stuff!

 

[User915]

Five times Grammy Award-winning, Donna Summer became an icon in the 1970s.

The original epic track was 17 minutes long of sexy lyrics and suggestive moans. I have listened to this song numberless times, in lovely company as it should be.

 

[Moonstruck]

Thanks, NSail. With half my family of Scottish decent by way of the Sellers/Silers clan We have a tartan, but not brave enough to wear a kilt.

Olivier, thanks for reminding us of our Queen of Disco. Donna Summer died too early at 63. Not from life style problems, but cancer. I thought this number to be appropriate. RIP, Donna.

 

[Moonstruck]

From the movie Deliverance shot in NE Georgia near the mountain cabin. No jokes please like 'I hear banjos paddle faster'.

 

[User915]

From the movie Deliverance shot in NE Georgia near the mountain cabin. No jokes please like 'I hear banjos paddle faster'.

Great music Don, “Duelling Banjos" became a worldwide hit.

Moreover before the movie came out, the number of people who visited the Chattooga was in the hundreds. Afterwards, it was in the tens of thousands. Rafting is now a $20 million industry there and tourism is the area’s number one source of revenue. These days, million-dollar vacation homes line the shores of the area’s lakes.
The Chattooga is very beautiful.

 

[User915]

Another of my favorite French singers – Francis Cabrel.
This singer/songwriter was born and grew up in a small village near Toulouse. He started learning guitar as a shy teenager and later said that he thought his guitar helped him appear more interesting to others. He is known to have been inspired by Bob Dylan and is said to know all of Dylan’s work by heart. He learned English by translating the lyrics to these and other songs. His music has a folk and sometimes country or blues feel.


Also Francis Cabrel has written and sung some very beautiful songs in Spanish like "La quiero a morir" :

 

[Moonstruck]

Here's Mason Williams playing his original composition. Classical Gas.

 

[User915]

Gilbert Bécaud was introduced to music at a very early age and started playing the piano well before attending the conservatoire of Nice at age nine.
He composed film scores on several occasions before only gradually taking an interest in songs, he also composed music for Edith Piaf, such as "Je t'ai dans la peau".

In 1964, he also performed in Moscow. When he returned to Paris he wrote the song “Natalie” and dedicated it to his lovely Russian guide. The song goes:

"The Red Square was empty, In front of me marched Nathalie
She had a beautiful name, my guide, Nathalie

She spoke in serious phrases, Of the October Revolution
Meanwhile, I was thinking, That after Lenin’s tomb
We would go to the Pushkin cafe, To drink chocolate

The Red Square was empty, I caught her by her arm, I smiled at her, She had blonde hair, my guide Nathalie

In their apartment at the university, A gang of students
Were impatiently expectant, We joked and laughed a lot
They wanted to know everything, Nathalie translated

Moscow, the plains of the Kremlin, And the Champs Elysees
We got them all mixed up, And we sang
And then they were opening Some French Champagne
And we danced

And when the flat was empty, All the friends were departed
I was left with just my guide, Nathalie

No more questions, sober phrases, Nor October Revolution
I am no longer there with her
Finished, Lenin’s tomb, The chocolate in ‘Pushkin’
It is- it was- long before

As my life seems empty to me, Still I know that one day in Paris
It is I who will serve as her guide, Nathalie".

The song became incredibly popular in France, and it is no wonder that French visitors to Moscow tried to find “Café Pushkin.” They couldn’t find it as it existed only as a poetic fantasy in Bécaud’s song. But it was the song that inspired Andrei Dellos, an artist and restaurateur with Franco-Russian roots, to create “Café Pushkin.”

On June 4, 1999, “Café Pushkin” opened in a Baroque mansion on Tverskoy Boulevard, Moscow. At the grand opening, Gilbert Bécaud performed his world-famous song “Natalie.”

I had the good fortune to be there as well, with my Russian guide Irina... We sang, opened French champagne, danced, laughed a lot... That day there was a security alert in Moscow, then, believe it or not, the Red Square was empty, like in the song... on where I couldn't miss the opportunity to take a photo.

 

[Moonstruck]

A wonderful story and video, Olivier. I had a friend who was putting together TV stations in Eastern Europe and Russia for Richard Murdock. When he was in Russia he always had a guide/interpreter with him. The one he used most was in her main career a physician. He said she was a guide because it paid better. He set up stations in Georgia, Poland, and Bulgaria. He was working on Moscow just before he died. His next assignment was going to be Manchuria. I told him that he would have to drink yak milk and live in a yurt. Sadly, he never got there.

 

[User915]

Thanks Don, yes it was good and fun to attend the Café Pushkin's grand opening with Gilbert Becaud in guest star (also with my lovely Russian guide...).
I trust your friend had a busy and non-standard professional life, working there (was it for Richard Murdoch or Rupert Murdoch ?, was it in the former USSR or after November 7th, 1989 ?) , this was an interesting story.
I have travelled across numerous countries extensively, I haven't gone to Mandchuria yet what I would like to visit. Mandchuria was the homeland of Qing Dynasty which, after conquering the Ming Dynasty in Beijing, seized control of Beijing and almost the whole country, they identified their new state as "China" ("Middle Kingdom" in local dialect).

 

[User915]

Still about Russia & physician, Dr Zhivago - Lara's Theme - also known as the Love Theme, by French composer Maurice Jarre, here performed by Superstar violinist André Rieu, the world's most successful touring musician.

The Music :
The French composer Maurice Jarre's moving and sweeping score largely lets the movie speak for itself but the memorable love theme, Lara's Theme, is a constant reference point throughout and netted its composer an Academy Award.

The Film :
Based on the Nobel Prize-winning novel by Boris Pasternak, the life of a Russian physician and poet (Doctor Zhivago) who, although married to another, falls in love with a political activist's wife and experiences hardship during the First World War and prior to, during, and after the Russian October Revolution. In the tradition of Russian novels, a multitude of characters and subplots intertwine within the film. It was the on screen chemistry between the two leading actors Omar Sharif and Julie Christie that made this film a classic.

P.S. Not long after Boris Pasternak died, the KGB came and took Lara away.

 

[Moonstruck]

Well, you've got me, Olivier. It wasn't Richard Murdock. It was Rupert Murdock. Also, it wasn't Manchuria. It was Mongolia. It was the end of the work day. I shouldn't post when I'm tired. You are right about my friend. He lead quite an interesting life with his whole career being in broadcasting. I dearly miss him for we were like brothers. I have lost too many friends lately. It's just the price of getting older.

A little side story about my friend; we were doing a project in North Georgia. I had stopped in at the Sonic Drive In Restaurant in the tiny rural town of Chickamauga. While sitting at an outside table eating a hot dog my cell phone rang. It was my friend calling from Warsaw, Poland. After the call was over I thought about the irony of the situation.

Also, the TV station in the country of Georgia was Murdock's. My friend had just sent someone I knew to be the station manager there. The whole crew was confined to the station for days by the Russians. The manager's wife never forgave my friend for his transgression.

 

[Moonstruck]

Beautiful theme music, Olivier. I don't know how any one that saw the film Doctor Zhivago could forget it. Julie Christie was absolutely stunning.

 

[User915]

Well, you've got me, Olivier. It wasn't Richard Murdock. It was Rupert Murdock. Also, it wasn't Manchuria. It was Mongolia. It was the end of the work day. I shouldn't post when I'm tired. You are right about my friend. He lead quite an interesting life with his whole career being in broadcasting. I dearly miss him for we were like brothers. I have lost too many friends lately. It's just the price of getting older.

No worry Don, in the 1990s I have known a Foreign Affairs Minister (of a North hemisphere's great country) who confused Taiwan and Thailand, (I am not kidding at all, true story).

Oh yes my friend, it is always very much sad to see a good friend leave for ever.
I trust the manager's wife was angry to your friend, things were tough there.

 

[User915]

This is for our friends Bruce and Dorsey, the happy parents of "Esmeralde" who continously shared their enthusiasm, experiences and expertise, since the beginning to the achievement of their great project. Still more to come from them, I am sure.

"Belle" is a Hymn to gypsy girl Esmeralda's beauty, from the musical show Notre Dame de Paris, after the lovely and kind-hearted heroine of Victor Hugo's tale.

Now, Bruce & Dorsey's Esmeralde, faithful to her gypsy soul and roots and the nomadic tradition, abandons her West land of birth, takes the road heading to her new home on the East coast.

"The gypsy road is so long,
The roads so long.

Everyday I see a new chance,
Maybe some road will lead to France.

I will follow till I come home,
Till I come home."
(Lyrics of the song 'Bohémienne', musical show Notre Dame de Paris.)

Bon voyage !

Olivier & Pilou.

P.S. #1 : We know of someone else of the forum who may like the song "Belle".
P.S. #2 : Victor Hugo disliked the English title of the book preferring his more accurate french title, Notre Dame de Paris. It is more, much more than about the Cathedral of Notre Dame.
It is about how the lives of some random strangers who are connected together in an intricate web of common passion, also it is about the curse of love and how it comes to consume us and destroy us, or even elevate us and beautify us. I have the feeling that this could be implicitly applied as well to our love of life at sea, perhaps ?

 

[Moonstruck]

WOW! Those gentlemen are real singers. I do love that kind of singing.

Thinking in another vein, are there any Deadheads out there?