Johnny Hallyday RIP

[Thang-y]

A god in France ..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-42247551

[clive gash]

Zut alors!

[never/ever]

Merde.

[Rayge]

Another in my memorized list of ten famous Belgians (yes he was born in France, but his dad was Belgian, sometimes a point must be stretched) gone...
I can't say I saw his music as anything much more than sure evidence that the French did not 'get' rock & roll (any more than the British) – campaigns in the early 60s to launch him as a star in Britain fell very short – and he aged in a terrifying way, but he did contribute greatly to the gaiety of nations.
RIP

[naughty boy]

Agreed.

Having said that, I saw a televised concert just a few years ago, and (surprisingly) the show was genuinely exciting. He really delivered.

And I like the way he aged, somehow.

RIP Johnny.

[Thang-y]

Another in my memorized list of ten famous Belgians (yes he was born in France, but his dad was Belgian, sometimes a point must be stretched) gone...
I can't say I saw his music as anything much more than sure evidence that the French did not 'get' rock & roll (any more than the British) – campaigns in the early 60s to launch him as a star in Britain fell very short – and he aged in a terrifying way, but he did contribute greatly to the gaiety of nations.
RIP

Ah but he was French rock 'n' roll, singing in French, he was their own (born in Belgium of a Belgian father and French mother), he was so good looking and oh-so cooool. For the French, that is.



He had the rock of Elvis, the roll of the Twist - the Jimmy Hendrix Experience opened for him in France and he hung out with all the other rock gods. For the French, he was more than on a par with them - his music also embraced the French chanson tradition so he was so much more than 'just' rock 'n' roll. He was cool personalised, a national treasure, their golden god and he was idolised.

[Charlie O.]

the Jimi Hendrix Experience opened for him in France

Their first gig, as I recall.

And the Small Faces did some sessions backing him - something I don't think they did for anyone else that wasn't on the Immediate label.

[Thang-y]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-euro ... y-farewell

[Tactful Cactus]

the French did not 'get' rock & roll (any more than the British)

Quite a statement.

[naughty boy]

the Jimi Hendrix Experience opened for him in France

Their first gig, as I recall.

And the Small Faces did some sessions backing him - something I don't think they did for anyone else that wasn't on the Immediate label.

One album - from 1969 - on which they guested (I think three tracks).

The stuff I've heard sounds more like Vanilla Fudge than what you might expect.

[Rayge]

the French did not 'get' rock & roll (any more than the British)

Quite a statement.

An uncontroversial one in the early 1960s
I'm talking about '50s rock & roll btw, not rock in general. Like the British rockers, they imitated the style - clothes, hair, as well as music – but on the whole the substance was lacking because there were no decent producers and unlike the US there wasn't a huge pool of jazz-based session musicians to rely on.

[The Modernist]

the French did not 'get' rock & roll (any more than the British)

And yet the greatest rock n' roll record was British.

[Rayge]

the French did not 'get' rock & roll (any more than the British)

And yet the greatest rock n' roll record was British.

Bollocks.

[Thang-y]

An uncontroversial one in the early 1960s
I'm talking about '50s rock & roll btw, not rock in general. Like the British rockers, they imitated the style - clothes, hair, as well as music – but on the whole the substance was lacking because there were no decent producers and unlike the US there wasn't a huge pool of jazz-based session musicians to rely on.

Fair point







But it was still great for the French.

[Thang-y]

Totally irrelevant but a weird connection ... JH's first wife was Sylvie Vartan, whose fraternal nephew (Michael Vartan, an actor in the series Alias, Hawthorne, and The Arrangement)'s stepfather is Ian La Frenais.

That's an idea for a thread ..

[naughty boy]

the French did not 'get' rock & roll (any more than the British)

And yet the greatest rock n' roll record was British.

[Muskrat]

I have a couple of musically sophisticated, hard-core rocker fans who saw Johnny play here in Los Angeles. They agree that it was one of the best shows they've ever seen. (Can't remember why I missed either one, but the reason must have been compelling). Another was publicist when Johnny played Las Vegas on (I think) Thanksgiving Day. She had a sort time to get the word out, and wasn't very successful.

Nevertheless, the house was packed -- mostly, she says, by French people, many of whom had flown over for the occasion.

[Rayge]

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/ ... uel-macron

[Thang-y]

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/dec/09/johnny-hallyday-funeral-paris-tributes-emmanuel-macron

He's being buried in the French West Indies - his fans won't like that.

And from that link I saw their obit

Hallyday’s detractors pointed to the derivative nature of his material: he faithfully copied almost every major rock star from the 1960s on, from Buddy Holly to Elvis Presley, the Who to the Stones, Hendrix to Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi to Prince. More than a quarter of all his recordings were French adaptations of English-language songs. Even his sternest critics, though, would concede that Hallyday was one of rock’s great showmen, almost certainly the only French performer capable not just of selling out, on three successive nights, the Stade de France, but of holding its 80,000-strong crowd rapt in the palm of his hand.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/ ... y-obituary

[clive gash]

the French did not 'get' rock & roll (any more than the British)

And yet the greatest rock n' roll record was British.

Shakin’ All Over?