INTÉGRALE CHARLES TRENET Vol. 14

“NARBONNE MON AMIE”

THE COMPLETE CHARLES TRENET (1957-1961)

COLLECTION DANIEL NEVERS

DIRECTION PASCAL HALBEHER ET VINCENT LISITA

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“He made such an impression on me that it prevented me from writing for years. I was singing nothing but Trenet.”

            Georges BRASSENS

THE COMPLETE CHARLES TRENET - 14
« NARBONNE MON AMIE » (1957-1961)

This volume is dedicated to Élisabeth Duncker.

Born in Rotterdam in 1934, Élisabeth Duncker founded the “Club des Amis de Charles Trenet” in Paris (1955-1968), which by 1957 had already begun publishing its monthly bulletin. Remembrance of Charles Trenet owes much to Élisabeth, and particularly this volume, because she kindly let us borrow several tapes recorded as early as 1956 by her friend from Lille, Jean Séraphin.

Towards the end of the fifties, Trenet sang some fantastic alternative versions of his songs on radio and television. The programme “Sérénade” aired on 21 December 1960 was an exceptional show: it brought together Trenet, Gilbert Bécaud, Luis Mariano and Henri Salvador, and ended with Trenet interviewing Maria Callas... no doubt with some skilful editing. Since many private radio stations did not keep archives of their broadcasts, the above recordings—sometimes of less than average quality despite the exceptional work of Christophe Hénault, who restored them—are today particularly precious.

In the studios, at the request of his artistic director Jean-Paul Guiter, Trenet, accompanied by Guy Luypaerts and his orchestra, continued to record new versions of older hits, with twelve songs in stereo (May 1960) and then four songs in mono versions made in December that same year. Like Daniel Nevers we might well wonder “Why the devil would he do that, twenty years later, to things that were so remarkably successful the first time?” At the beginning of 1961, they recorded four new songs: Les Voix du ciel, Orphée, La plus belle Nuit, and Narbonne mon amie.

Trenet often adapted arrangements that people offered to him. While he had no problem with Wal-Berg, Claude Bolling, Caravelli or Guy Luypaerts (he made 88 recordings with the latter) there were several difficult sessions in the fifties that became legends (the ones for Une Noix, L’Âme des poètes, Coin de rue and Paule sur mes épaules). Michel Legrand, Roger Pouly or Philippe Delettrez were witnesses to Charles’s lack of honesty... and concluded that he hated the record-industry. Yet despite the disagreements, everyone recognised that Trenet was a genius.

Established singers and newcomers took an interest in Trenet’s songs. Joséphine Baker mixed En Avril à Paris with April In Paris in a veiled reference to her first home, while Yves Montand, who began his career as “the Trenet from Marseille”, would record Près de toi mon amour and Source bleue. Jean-Louis Guérin made only one record, and chose Qu’est devenue la Madelon? As for Corinne Marchand, she recorded Mourir au Printemps three years before Trenet made his own recording of it. And with her own Orphée, Katia Valère opted for one of Trenet’s most recent creations. And finally, what could be a better pairing than the Djinns with Les Voix du ciel ?

On the instrumental side there were several unexpected readings: Armand Migiani did a daring version of Je chante; harmonica player Toots Thielemans chose Les Enfants s’ennuient le dimanche; Hubert Clavecin (Gérard Gustin) made Nuit d’hiver, which married the harpsichord with instruments that were more contemporary; keyboardist Michel Ramos (aka Patricia Lamour) paid a new tribute to Trenet with À Ciel ouvert played on the organ; and in 1960, jazz pianist Jack Diéval invited Charles as a guest on his radio show “Jazz aux Champs-Élysées” before going on to record J’ai ta main.

Hiroshi Ashino, an eminent Japanese specialist of the French “chanson” genre, recorded the songs Music-hall de Paris (Moi j’aime le Music-hall), La jolie Sardane and La Mer. On the other side of the Atlantic, Nancy Wilson’s version of I Wish You Love provides the missing link between the version by Keely Smith (1956) and the Sinatra-Basie recording dated 1964. And finally, the version of Monsieur Trenet by René-Louis Lafforgue is without doubt the first tribute to Charles Trenet in song-form.

English adaptation by Martin Davies
from the French text of Pascal Halbeher et Vincent Lisita

© 2024 FRÉMEAUX & ASSOCIÉS

 DISQUE / DISC 1

Paroles & musique par Charles Trenet, sauf indication contraire / Words & music by Charles Trenet, except otherwise stated

CHARLES TRENET - orch. dir. Pierre SPIERS

20/11/57, Radio-Luxembourg, émission radio «Sérénade» avec Simone Valère

1. LES CHANSONS DE LA NUIT (bande magnétique [BM], enr. Jean Séraphin / coll. Élisabeth Duncker)            02’16

CHARLES TRENET - acc. Freddy LIENHART (piano) puis orch. dir. Pierre SPIERS

Ca. janv. 1958, Théâtre Alhambra-Maurice Chevalier, prob. émission radio

2. LE JARDIN EXTRAORDINAIRE      (BM, enr. Max Schneider / coll. Henri Chenut)        05’04

CHARLES TRENET - orch. dir. Pierre SPIERS

01/10/58, Radio-Luxembourg, émission radio «Sérénade» avec Mylène Demongeot

3. LA MAISON DU POÈTE           (BM, enr. J. Séraphin / coll. É. Duncker)      01’23

4. FLEUR BLEUE   (BM, enr. J. Séraphin / coll. É. Duncker)      01’42

PATRICIA LAMOUR (MICHEL RAMOS) et son orgue, de Charles Trenet à René-Louis Lafforgue

1958

5. À CIEL OUVERT            (7 TLA 665 / EP La voix de son maître 7 EMF 121 S)        02’29

ARMAND MIGIANI Play a Song of Paris

1958

6. JE CHANTE        (46107 A M8 / LP Polydor 46107 LPHM)    02’15

(C. Trenet - C. Trenet & P. Misraki)

TOOTS THIELEMANS The Soul Of Toots Thielemans et le trio Ray BRYANT

T. THIELEMANS (hca.) ; T. BRYANT (b.) ; O. JACKSON (dm.) ; R. BRYANT (p.)

oct.-nov. 1959

7. LES ENFANTS S’ENNUIENT LE DIMANCHE        (HMG143 / LP Signature SM6006)  04’51

(C. Trenet - C. Trenet & A. Cadou)

CHARLES TRENET - acc. Piano Freddy LIENHART et musiciens non identifiés

1959, BR, émission télévision non identifiée

8. DU, DU GEHST AN MIR VORBEI / VOUS QUI PASSEZ SANS ME VOIR

            (BM, enr. Max Schneider / coll. Henri Chenut)        03’37

(A. Bennefeld / C. Trenet - J. Hess & P. Misraki)

CHARLES TRENET - orch. dir. Pierre SPIERS

1960, Radio-Luxembourg, émission radio «Sérénade» avec Juliette Gréco

9. RIEN NE PEUT CHANGER MA JOIE           (BM, enr. J. Séraphin / coll. É. Duncker)      01’58

CHARLES TRENET - orch. prob. dir. Pierre SPIERS

13/03/60, RTF, émission télévision «Sport Dimanche»

10. CLOCHES, SONNEZ ! (BM, enr. J. Séraphin / coll. É. Duncker)      02’32

11. MÉNILMONTANT       (BM, enr. J. Séraphin / coll. É. Duncker)      02’41

12. ROME     (BM, enr. J. Séraphin / coll. É. Duncker)      01’58

CHARLES TRENET - orch. dir. Pierre SPIERS

mai 1960, Radio-Luxembourg, émission radio «Sérénade» avec Claude Bessy

13. LORELEI           (BM, enr. M. Schneider / coll. É. Duncker)  02’01

CHARLES TRENET ET CLAUDE BESSY - orch. dir. Pierre SPIERS

mai 1960, Radio-Luxembourg, émission radio «Sérénade» avec Claude Bessy

14. SACRÉ FARCEUR       (BM, enr. M. Schneider / coll. É. Duncker)  01’44

NANCY WILSON Something Wonderful - orch. dir. Billy MAY

1960

15. I WISH YOU LOVE      (ST1-1440 / LP Capitol records ST-1440)     02’03

(A. Beach - C. Trenet)

CHARLES TRENET Je re chante ! Mes anciennes chansons en stéréo ! - orch. dir. Guy LUYPAERTS

05, 10 et 17/05/1960

16. JE CHANTE      (YLX 1060 / LP Columbia SCXF101)          02’28

(C. Trenet - C. Trenet & P. Misraki)

17. VERLAINE        (YLX 1060 / LP Columbia SCXF101)         02’45

(P. Verlaine - C. Trenet & S. Luino)

18. LE GRAND CAFÉ        (YLX 1060 / LP Columbia SCXF101)         01’41

19. PIGEON VOLE  (YLX 1060 / LP Columbia SCXF101)         03’38

(C. Trenet - C. Trenet & P. Misraki)

20. LA BIGUINE À BANGO          (YLX 1060 / LP Columbia SCXF101)         02’09

(C. Trenet & R. Breton - C. Trenet)

21. BOUM     (YLX 1060 / LP Columbia SCXF101)          02’30

22. FLEUR BLEUE (YLX 1061 / LP Columbia SCXF101)         02’35

23. RETOUR À PARIS       (YLX 1061 / LP Columbia SCXF101)         02’59

(C. Trenet - C. Trenet & A. Lasry)

24. AH, DIS, AH, DIS, AH, DIS, AH, BONJOUR            (YLX 1061 / LP Columbia SCXF101)         02’35

25. LA CIGALE ET LA FOURMI (YLX 1061 / LP Columbia SCXF101)         02’11

(J. de La Fontaine - C. Trenet & L. Chauliac)

26. IL PLEUT DANS MA CHAMBRE     (YLX 1061 / LP Columbia SCXF101)         02’28

27. Y A D’LA JOIE !            (YLX 1061 / LP Columbia SCXF101)         02’06

(C. Trenet & R. Breton - C. Trenet & M. Emer)

HIROSHI ASHINO – Chante Paris - orch. dir. Daiji HAMANAKA et son ensemble musette

Ca. oct. 1960

28. MUSIC-HALL DE PARIS (MOI, J’AIME LE MUSIC-HALL)     (JO-31 / LP Toshiba Records JPO-1017)   02’56

(T. Satsuma - C. Trenet)

HIROSHI ASHINO - Chante Paris - orch. Toshiba, dir. Tadahiko NAGASU

Ca. oct. 1960

29. LA JOLIE SARDANE  (JO-32 / LP Toshiba Records JPO-1017)      02’31

(T. Satsuma - C. Trenet)

HIROSHI ASHINO - orch. dir. Franck POURCEL

Ca. déc. 1960

30. LA MER  (7S-199 / EP Toshiba Records JP-5047)        03’12

(T. Satsuma / C. Trenet - C. Trenet & A. Lasry)

DISQUE / DISC 2

Paroles & musique par Charles Trenet, sauf indication contraire / Words & music by Charles Trenet, except otherwise stated

CHARLES TRENET

26/11/60, RTF, émission télévision «Rendez-vous avec»

1. PATRONAGES    (BM, enr. M. Schneider / coll. H. Chenut)    00’58

CHARLES TRENET- orch. dir. Guy LUYPAERTS

21/12/60

2. LE SOLEIL A DES RAYONS DE PLUIE        (7TCL1446 / EP Columbia ESRF 1304 M)  02’49

(C. Trenet - C. Trenet & L. Chauliac)

3. C’EST BON          (7TCL1446 / EP Columbia ESRF 1304 M)  02’08

4. L’HÉRITAGE INFERNAL        (7TCL1447 / EP Columbia ESRF 1304 M)  02’23

5. LA ROMANCE DE PARIS        (7TCL1447 / EP Columbia ESRF 1304 M)  02’56

YVES MONTAND - orch. dir. Hubert ROSTAING - acc. piano Bob CASTELLA

1960

6. SOURCE BLEUE (AA 372.792 1F / SP Philips succès B 372.792 F)   02’34

7. PRÈS DE TOI MON AMOUR   (AA 372.792 2F / SP Philips succès B 372.792 F)   03’00

(C. Trenet - C. Trenet & G. Luypaerts)

CHARLES TRENET - orch. dir. Pierre SPIERS

21/12/60, Radio-Luxembourg, émission radio «Sérénade» avec [Maria Callas], Gilbert Bécaud, Luis Mariano et Henri Salvador

8. BONSOIR JOLIE CALLAS      (BM, enr. M. Schneider, coll. É. Duncker)    01’14

(C. Trenet - C. Trenet & L. Chauliac)

9. QUAND VOUS ENTENDREZ MARIA          (BM, enr. M. Schneider, coll. É. Duncker)    01’10

CHARLES TRENET, GILBERT BÉCAUD, LUIS MARIANO ET HENRI SALVADOR - orch. dir. Pierre SPIERS

21/12/60, Radio-Luxembourg, émission radio «Sérénade» avec [Maria Callas], Gilbert Bécaud, Luis Mariano et Henri Salvador

10. EN ATTENDANT MA BELLE (BM, enr. M. Schneider, coll. É. Duncker)    01’36

11. ELLE CHANTE / Y A D’LA JOIE !    (BM, enr. M. Schneider, coll. É. Duncker)    00’58

(C. Trenet - C. Trenet & P. Misraki) / (C. Trenet & R. Breton - C. Trenet & M. Emer)

12. MARIA CALLAS (FRÈRE JACQUES)        (BM, enr. M. Schneider, coll. É. Duncker)    01’00

(C. Trenet - J.-P. Rameau)

CHARLES TRENET ET MARIA CALLAS - acc. piano Pierre SPIERS

21/12/60, Radio-Luxembourg, émission radio «Sérénade» avec [Maria Callas], Gilbert Bécaud, Luis Mariano et Henri Salvador

13. INTERVIEW DE MARIA CALLAS PAR CHARLES TRENET   (BM, enr. M. Schneider, coll. É. Duncker)         04’09

CHARLES TRENET - acc. piano Freddy LIENHART

31/12/60, RSR, émission radio «Y a d’la joie !, gala de variétés»

14. BONSOIR JOLIE GENÈVE   (BM, enr. M. Schneider / coll. H. Chenut)    00’21

(C. Trenet - C. Trenet & L. Chauliac)

JACK DIÉVAL et le J.A.C.E. All-Stars - Pour danser avec ELLE

1960

15. J’AI TA MAIN    (MIC 152/ EP Prestige 6026) 02’18

(C. Trenet & R. Breton - C. Trenet)

HUBERT CLAVECIN et ses rythmes - Phonograph party

1960

16. NUIT D’HIVER (7 CPI 772/ LP Bel Air 321 017)       02’12

CHARLES TRENET - orch. dir. Pierre SPIERS

Ca. janv. 1961, RTF, émissions télévision «Chansons et confidences»

17. MA RIVIÈRE     (BM, enr. J. Séraphin, coll. É. Duncker)       03’20

18. QUAND UN FACTEUR S’ENVOLE (BM, enr. J. Séraphin, coll. É. Duncker)       01’31

19. NARBONNE MON AMIE        (BM, enr. J. Séraphin, coll. É. Duncker)       02’26

20. VOUS OUBLIEZ VOTRE CHEVAL  (BM, enr. J. Séraphin, coll. É. Duncker)       02’35

(C. Trenet - C. Trenet & Arcady)

21. LA FOLLE COMPLAINTE    (BM, enr. J. Séraphin, coll. É. Duncker)       03’11

JEAN-LOUIS GUÉRIN - orch. dir. Claude GUILHOT

1961

22. QU’EST DEVENUE LA MADELON ?          (B11 / EP A.R.A. Record AR45023) 02’39

CORINNE MARCHAND - orch. dir. François RAUBER

1961

23. MOURIR AU PRINTEMPS    (AA 432.842 2E / EP Philips 482.842 BE)   03’53

(A. Salvet - C. Trenet)

CHARLES TRENET- orch. dir. Guy LUYPAERTS

27/01/61 et 21/02/61*

24. LES VOIX DU CIEL     (7TCL1469 / EP Columbia ESRF 1308)       02’56

25. ORPHÉE (7TCL1469 / EP Columbia ESRF 1308)       02’57

26. LA PLUS BELLE NUIT           (7TCL1470 / EP Columbia ESRF 1308)       03’40

27. NARBONNE MON AMIE*      (7TCL1470 / EP Columbia ESRF 1308)       02’45

CHARLES TRENET - orch. dir. Pierre SPIERS

15/02/61, Radio-Luxembourg, émission radio «Sérénade» avec Edwige Feuillère

28. LES RELATIONS MONDAINES       (BM, enr. Jean Séraphin, coll. Élisabeth Duncker)   01’46

LES DJINNS - Grand orchestre de Paris, dir. Paul BONNEAU

1961

29. LES VOIX DU CIEL     (7 ETD 473 / EP Ducretet Thomson 460 V 502)      02’42

KATIA VALÈRE - orch. dir. Jacques LOUSSIER

1961

30. ORPHÉE (10D61M540 / SP DECCA 70761)   03’21

JOSÉPHINE BAKER - Quatre chansons de Paris - orch. dir. Jean CLAUDRIC

1961

31. EN AVRIL À PARIS / APRIL IN PARIS        (9R61M282 / EP RCA 76.491)          03’25

(C. Trenet - C. Trenet & W. Eiger) / (Y. Harburg - V. Duke)

RENÉ-LOUIS LAFFORGUE - orch. dir. Jean BAÏTZOUROFF

1961

32. MONSIEUR TRENET (7ECT2427 / EP Pathé EG560)         03’10

(R.-L. Lafforgue - R.-L. Lafforgue)