Serge Gainsbourg
Portrait by Jean-Franois Bauret.
Alias	Julien Grix Serge Gainsbourg The man with the head of cabbage
Name	Lucien Ginsburg
Birth	2 April 1928 Paris , France
Deaths	2 March 1991 (62 years) Paris , France
Occupations	Singer / songwriter Filmmaker Actor
Genres	French song Jazz Reggae Pop Progressive rock New Wave
Voice Type	Baritone
Instruments	Piano , guitar , bass, accordion, harmonica
Years active	1957 - 1991
Labels	Philips (Group Universal Music )
Entourage	Elisabeth Levitsky Franoise-Antoinette Pancrazzi Brigitte Bardot Jane Birkin Bamboo Boris Vian Juliette Greco Charlotte Gainsbourg Catherine Deneuve Renaud Alain Chamfort France Gall Dani Jacques Dutronc Franoise Hardy Alain Bashung

Serge Gainsbourg, born Lucien Ginsburg on 2 April 1928 at Paris and died on 2 March 1991 in Paris , is a singer-songwriter and filmmaker French.

The son of Russian Jewish immigrants ^, , he first wanted to become a painter. He became famous as an author-songwriter who landed many musical styles, as well as cinema and literature. His debut was difficult, because of his physique. All his life, Serge Gainsbourg suffered from this feeling of rejection and the image that he referred her mirror: that of a man they described as ugly. He has directed several movies and video clips and composed more than forty film scores.

Finally, he created the image of a damned poet and provocateur, but not necessarily outside the system ('I returned my jacket when I realized it was lined with mink, declare- there). The texts of his songs often play on the double meaning and show his taste for provocation, particularly controversial (Lemon Incest) or erotic (Love on the Beat). Serge Gainsbourg also likes to play with literary references as Alphonse Allais (L'Ami Caouette) Despite this he worked many times the poetic form of his texts.

Relations into relations, Gainsbourg seduce very pretty women, Brigitte Bardot in " Bamboo "Caroline von Paulus's real name, which will give her last child, Lucien "Lulu" through Jane Birkin , with whom he will her daughter Charlotte Gainsbourg.

Gainsbourg had a considerable influence on French artists like Taxi Girl , Renaud or Etienne Daho but also international artists such as Beck , Portishead and composer David Holmes.

Childhood and Youth

His father, Joseph Ginsburg, initially interested in painting, entered the Conservatory of Petrograd , then to that of Moscow to study music: he chose the piano. Then, in Crimea , he was to meet Olia Besman, an attractive mezzo-soprano who became his wife . It was in 1919 that Joseph and Olga leave Russia for Paris , fleeing war, Bolshevism and anti-Semitism, pass through Istanbul and Marseille. Joseph is a pianist and cabaret bar, conservatory Russian Olga sings. Street they live in China in the ^20th arrondissement of Paris. They have one son, Marcel, who died in infancy from illness. They will then have a daughter, Jacqueline, in 1926 , then twins , Liliane and Lucien, in 1928 , born at the maternity of the Hotel Dieu of Paris on the Ile de la Cit. Family Ginsburg obtained French nationality on 9 June 1932 .

In his childhood, saw little Lucien in Paris in the popular areas in the ^20th and the ^9th arrondissement. His father tries to teach him classical piano and out into the world of painting.

The years of war are difficult: he has to wear the yellow star ("A sheriff's star," he says later in derision, or "I was born under a lucky star ... yellow"). He will even hide for three days in a forest while the SS looking Jews. The family took refuge in the provinces, in a village in Haute-Vienne , the Little Vedeix in 1944 under the name Guimbard.

During the war , the family Ginsburg was stripped entirely of French nationality by a special commission set up by the Vichy regime , on the grounds that they are "without Jewish national interest." On one of the reports of the commission, found in 2010 , we can read about Joseph's father, Serge, "who is a pianist, named Ginsburg who travels frequently now lives in Lyon. .

The year 1948 is an important year for Lucien, who did his military service in Courbevoie , where he will be sent regularly to the hole for insubordination. It starts there's "period" ethyl; private permission, drunk wine with fellow regiment. It was also during this period that he learned to play guitar.

A click with Boris Vian

Until the age of thirty, Serge Gainsbourg lives on odd jobs. It is by turns professor of drawing, singing, watching ... But his main activity is painting. He would have liked to be a genius of painting as Francis Bacon or Fernand Leger , whose pupil he was, but in 1954 he quickly abandons the bohemian to become a crooner in the piano bar in the casinos of the coast as Le Touquet Paris Plage , where he played at Club Forest, or Deauville and Paris clubs like Madame Arthur.

It was a revelation seeing Boris Vian to I'Arsouille Milord , who writes and interprets the texts provocative, funny, cynical, far from the stars of the moment, as Dario Moreno or Annie Cordy. Later hired as a pianist atmosphere by Claude Francis , artistic director of the cabaret, Serge Gainsbourg accompany on guitar singer Michle Arnaud . In 1957, it was by chance that Michele and Francis shocked to find the compositions of Gainsbourg going home to see his paintings. The next day, Francis Claude pushes Serge on stage, died of fright, will perform its own directory (including the piercing of lilac) . Claude then present his show in Paris Inter-January 5, 1958. Michle Arnaud (and later, in 1966 , his son Dominique Walter ) is also the first performer Serge . He begins to deposit its securities to the SACEM. It will record, in 1958, the titles The Recipe of love crazy Twelve Belles in the skin, young women and old men and The Woman in the body of each other . There he made his debut, composed many songs and even a musical revue. It also runs in its frantic race for women, he seduces in large numbers, which removes it from his wife, Elizabeth Levitzky, whom he divorced in October 1957 , six years after their marriage .

He entered the studio and began his successful collaboration with Alain Goraguer already arranger Boris Vian . His first album, singing to an excerpt of which is The Puncher des Lilas, first success in 1958, stands out but is a commercial failure. It was noticed by Marcel Ayme , who says that his songs "have the hardness of a statement." His master Boris Vian , before dying in 1959 , compared to Cole Porter.

When the time of yys happens, then it is 32 years old, it is not very comfortable: he spends the first part of Brel or Greek , but the public rejects the criticism and, cruel, is fun of his large ears and prominent nose. Begins with Greco, a collaboration that lasted throughout this period "Rive Gauche", the highlight will be "Javanese" in the fall of 1962 .

It will be a few duets in 1964 with artist Philippe Clay , so it resembles a haunting .

He then meets Elek Bacsik and Michel Gaudry and asks them to make a record with him. This will Gainsbourg Confidential exudes a jazz that appealed to both archimoderne Gainsbourg, but he knows him will never achieve success. This disc is sold only 1,500 copies. His decision was taken right out of the studio: "I'll get into the food and buy a Rolls. " Yet his next album, Gainsbourg Percussions , inspired (sometimes directly - and without copyright! ^{Eurovision France Gall}

It's writing for Juliette Greco (Accordion, The Javanese) and Petula Clark (slush) he found his first success, but with Franoise Hardy ( How do you say goodbye? ) and especially France Gall that will succeed in attracting a younger audience. After its initial success gainsbourgiens ( Do not listen to the idols , Forget the girls ), France Gall won in 1965 , the Grand Prix of the Eurovision Song Contest after choosing the title Wax doll doll , written by Gainsbourg at the instigation of and Gilbert Carpentier , one of the ten proposed to him. The winning song became the international hit that goes on all the waves and even France Gall recorded in Japanese . Gainsbourg continues in the vein of success with France Gall in 1966 , thanks to Baby Pop and especially with aniseed lollipops.

He escapes the ghetto as an interpreter of the "varieties of French song" (as opposed to pop) with Who's in? Who is out?, Which will largely issuance Hi mates , giving her full entry in the "yys.

In 1967 he wrote the song Sand and the Private in support of the IDF during the Six Day War.

Late 1967 , he then saw a short but torrid love with Brigitte Bardot in which he dedicates the song Initials BB after having written a few songs iconic Harley Davidson, Bonnie and Clyde , I love you ... moi non plus , the latter recorded as a duet with her in 1967 in symphonic version was made famous a year later by Jane Birkin (the original version, first kept secret by Serge Gainsbourg at the request of Brigitte Bardot , which will come out 'in 1986 : it will also be a tube ).

On the set of the film Slogan in 1968 , he met Jane Birkin for which he will again be a songwriter. ... I love you me either and Year 69 erotic are immense success that transcend borders. They become a couple for ten years very media, the headlines, linking each shooting on film.

Anecdotally, Serge and Jane had met, without being at the death of Edith Piaf , October 10, 1963. The latter lived in the same building as Jane, then a teenager living in a French family, and had nothing while everyone congregating to watch the remains of the singer.

The 1970s: A Decade major

The 1970s were marked by the writing and composition of four key albums: Histoire de Melody Nelson in 1971, Seen from the outside (and his hit I'm here to tell you I'm ) in 1973, Rock Around The Bunker in 1975, and The Man with the head of cabbage with its sulphurous Variations sur Marilou in 1976. If, initially, the album met little commercial success (sales leveled off at 30,000 copies), they hoisted to the forefront of French music ^{Marseillaise reggae}

He grows his aura of cult artist by participating in numerous films. Unfortunately for him, he is considered a talented actor, he practically turns in films of low magnitude

The concert hall of Strasbourg where he has to happen is invested by members of an association of former paratroopers who disagree with his version of La Marseillaise, but Gainsbourg keeps its composure and took the paratroopers off guard by singing a cappella , and the clenched fist, the original version of the French anthem: the paratroopers are thus required to be brought to attention after a moment's hesitation, as evidenced by the newsreels of the event. "I put the paratroopers at it! "Does he have fun on the show" Right of reply "of Michel Polac , and indeed, the paratroopers, claiming to have been repairing, withdrew. Gainsbourg has pursued a successful tour, accompanied by Sly & Robbie and singers Bob Marley : The I Threes . A double CD, etcetera Gainsbourg together new mixes of the integral of a concert at The Palace Theatre in Paris give up what remains his best recording in public.

The 1980 "Serge Gainsbourg"

March 11, 1984, seven out of seven on TF1.

Serge Gainsbourg House 5a of the Rue de Verneuil in St. Germain des Pres in the state kept by Charlotte Gainsbourg after the death of his father.

Nightclubs, binge drinking, the night owls, the physical decrepitude ... More and more, "Serge Gainsbourg" Gainsbourg succeed with a few TV appearances more or less alcoholic. He forged his legend as a poet cursed unshaven and drunk it is sometimes admiration, sometimes disgust. In September 1980, after more than ten years together, Jane Birkin and can no longer exit. She admitted during a television broadcast made after his death: "I really liked Gainsbourg, Serge Gainsbourg, but I was afraid of." Renaud draw of the event for her song Dr Renaud, Mister Fox.

Serge meets a new muse, Bamboo , for which he can, once again, help to compose. He will sing a few songs that do not meet public favor (Made in China, 1989 ). It will however continue to write for Jane Birkin.

Gainsbourg recorded his new album reggae to Nassau in the Bahamas with the same team as the previous one. We can hear the words "Ecce Homo :

Instead of staging the birth of Serge Gainsbourg, the alternative version of this song is about the death of Gainsbourg. Entitled Ecce Homo et cetera, it was only published in 2003 on a new double CD of mixes, unreleased recordings, dub versions and Jamaican artists . According to Bamboo , this in Nassau , the fact that this piece does surface after his death was "unintentional."

His work almost full out boxed CD. It contains many titles not found as collectors snapped up with gold, but the songs written for the performers are not included, nor a number of unpublished or concerts. He then moved to New York where he recorded his last two albums, Love on the Beat and You're Under Arrest. After reggae, it rubs the hip-hop and funk. It happens several weeks in concert at the Casino de Paris.

Death and funeral

Gainsbourg off March 2 in 1991 after a fifth heart attack. He had composed a blues album before his death and had planned to leave the store in New Orleans a few days later.

Grave of Serge Gainsbourg, Olga and Joseph Ginsburg.

He is buried with her parents in the cemetery of Montparnasse ^(1st Section) in Paris where his grave is one of the most visited with those of Jean-Paul Sartre - Simone de Beauvoir and Charles Baudelaire he set to music ( Baudelaire ("The snake dance"), Album No. 4, 1962 ). The tomb bears the name of Serge Gainsbourg and his parents, Olga (1894-1985) and Joseph (1896-1971) Ginsburg.

At his funeral on 7 March 1991 , came especially from the crowd, besides his family, Catherine Deneuve , Isabelle Adjani , Franoise Hardy , a href = "% C3% Patrice_Ch A9reau" alt = "Patrice Chereau"> Patrice Chereau, Eddy Mitchell , Renaud , Johnny Hallyday , ministers Jack Lang and Catherine Tasca , and brigades of chefs and waiters in the restaurant "L'Esperance" where he spent his last days. Catherine Deneuve read the text on the tomb of the song happiness flee for fear that he escapes ^{Private life and love life}

In 1951 , Serge Gainsbourg marries Elisabeth Levitsky , aristocratic daughter of Russian emigrants, with whom he remained until 1957 .

He then met Franoise-Antoinette Pancrazzi , said Beatrice (called Princess Galitzine since his first marriage). On 7 January 1964 , he married her. Their daughter Natalie was baptized on 8 August 1964. After a second divorce, he moved to the Cit Internationale des Arts in a dorm room in February 1966. After a reconciliation with Beatrice in 1967 , they have a son in the spring of 1968 , Paul, who never really knew his father . Very jealous, Beatrice will regularly scenes Lucien, even going one day to Japan just to slap that she believed a rival.

Late 1967 , he saw a passion short, lasting only a few months with Brigitte Bardot.

In 1968 , he met British actress Jane Birkin on the set of the film Slogan. Their daughter Charlotte Gainsbourg was born on 21 July 1971 in London. They split in September 1980.

From 1981 , he lives with a young model, Bamboo , he has a son, Lucien said Lulu Gainsbourg , born January 5 1986.

In 1985 , he met a young girl of 16 years, Constance Meyer, who had written a long letter slipped under the door of his home. The same evening he invited him to dinner and three months later, they are lovers. It will maintain a relationship with Serge until his death. She later became a photographer professional, and maintain a private relationship until his disappearance. The nature of this relationship is revealed and told in an autobiography published in October 2010 by the latter .

In 1986, alongside his meeting with Constance Meyer, he met Aude Turpin, age 13 with which it will maintain a filial relationship and friendly until the death of the singer in 1991. Aude Turpin has also appeared in his film Stan The Flasher (1989) alongside Elodie Bouchez .

Memory

Loans

Good artists steal, great artists take, Picasso would have said . Gainsbourg, as Nougaro , has thus far appropriate:

• "Who sank the Titanic? Iceberg. Another Jew! " comes from Mad Magazine, in a pastiche of surf movie.
• "L'ami Caouette resumed in developing the construction already used by Alphonse Allais
• Several themes were written titles from existing themes of classical music:
  • Initials BB (on the Symphony (No. 9) of the New World, 1 ^st movement, Dvok )
  • Lemon Incest (on study No. 3 in E major, Opus 10, Frederic Chopin )
  • Jane B (on the Prelude in E minor Opus 28 No. 4, Frederic Chopin )
  • Baby Alone in Babylone (on the theme ^of the 3rd movement of ^the 3rd symphony, Brahms )
  • My Lady Heroin (on a market Persian, Albert Ketlbey )
  • Ma Lou Marilou (on the Sonata Appassionata Op 57, ^1st movement of Beethoven )
  • Marilou (on a theme of Opus 39 Pomp and Circumstance No. 1, Elgar )

• Passages from Verlaine (also mentioned) are embedded in I'm here to tell you that I'm

Places

Stencil Serge Gainsbourg in Marseille

Several cities have a street Serge Gainsbourg: Toulouse , Clermont-Ferrand , Blagnac , Saint-Cyprien , Chateaubriand ... The street Serge Gainsbourg Clermont-Ferrand is inaugurated on 7 March 2003 ^, in the presence of Jane Birkin , during the three years of existence of the Cooperative de Mai , the large music room of the city that adjoins the street.

At the Porte des Lilas , made famous by The Puncher des Lilas , a park built over the ring road is named Serge Gainsbourg Garden in July 2010 in the presence of Jane Birkin and Charlotte Gainsbourg. In recent years, a subway station could also bear his name .

In the movie The best job in the world , the school, the center of the plot called "college Serge Gainsbourg.

A biopic

The writer and artist Joann Sfar has produced a biographical film about Serge Gainsbourg, whose role is played by Eric Elmosnino. Gainsbourg, heroic life , he was released in theaters January 20, 2010 . Joann Sfar said : "It'll be a great story that begins during the Second World War and ending in the 1980s. Influences

Serge Gainsbourg strong brand in French music. He does not hesitate to mix his own compositions with varied musical influences, helping to popularize some in France:

• the reggae , with the album Aux armes etcetera ... recorded in Kingston (Jamaica), followed by Bad News Star;
• the rap with You're Under Arrest;
• the Afro-Cuban music : Couleur Caf, among others;
• The Jazz : Jazz in the ravine, album Gainsbourg Confidential;
• the classic : several of his pieces are inspired by classical themes such as Lemon Incest, Jane B, Ma Lou Marilou, Initials BB, My Lady heroine, Marilou or Baby Alone in Babylon;
• the progressive rock : soundtrack Cannabis , album Histoire de Melody Nelson.

Gainsbourg remains an important and influential presence of French music, his music will then frequently sampled and reused by French artists as well (ex: MC Solaar for New West) and international (eg, Massive Attack in Karmacoma (Portishead experience) and Jennifer Charles of Elysian Fields , who takes over lost loves, on a cover album of Gainsbourg by groups of avant-garde New York, under the aegis of jazzman John Zorn ). Mick Harvey , the Guitarist Nick Cave has recorded two albums of recovery, Intoxicated Man (1995) and Pink Elephants (1997). The album Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited was released in March 2006, includes 14 English adaptations made by Boris Bergman and interpreted including Franz Ferdinand , Portishead , Placebo , Jarvis Cocker , Kid Loco , Gonzales , Feist , Tricky ...

Serge Gainsbourg also prints its lasting mark with his lyrics. In a poetic style, he does not hesitate to produce complex rhymes ( How do you say goodbye? ). Fond of puns, he frequently relies on the dual meaning. Erotic allusions are more frequent As his career. Some of his songs mark the memories of their provocative nature, and supported the allusions to fellatio in The Pacifier , causing a commotion in the mouth of a France Gall of just 18. She says having understood the double meaning of the text that years later . Then came Jane Birkin feigning orgasm in I love you, moi non plus, worldwide hit. Gainsbourg flirts with the taboo of incest with his daughter, the frail Charlotte Gainsbourg : in the 1980s, she accompanied her father in the duo Lemon Incest , evocative title that will create an outcry. Gainsbarre reach the heights of erotic provocation with the hit Love on the Beat: true pornographic poem, told by himself in a monotone and broken. The background consists of orgasmic cries of Bamboo, recorded without the knowledge of the singer ^{Cast Women}

Serge Gainsbourg wrote for numerous performers including his daughter Charlotte Gainsbourg , Brigitte Bardot , Jane Birkin , France Gall , Juliette Greco , Isabelle Adjani , Catherine Deneuve , Vanessa Paradis , Franoise Hardy , Joel Ursull and Michle Arnaud , alone or time to a duet with them.

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