"Wartime conditions meant that Trenet, like many others, went from project to project with less of a chance to develop a coherent artistic path (indeed, working at all under the Nazi rule was considered quite controversial...) The first disc of this 2-CD set features a hodgepodge of recordings, including numerous Trenet songs being covered by other artists (Lucienne Boyer, etc.) as well as performances culled from films (the soundtrack to 1943's Adieu... Leonard) and even an example of a Trenet song being re-recorded with altered lyrics, as part of the Allied radio propaganda campaigns (Pierre Dac's "La Compainte Des Nazis," which was a parody of "La Romance De Paris"). Trenet was criticized for touring and giving concerts during the Occupation, but his popularity was such that he transcended these complaints, and was not seen as a collaborator; regardless, in 1945 he was able to record "Liberte," ringing in the freedom from German rule, and on the second disc of this volume, his postwar recordings show greater stability and liveliness, as he recorded extensively with bandleader Albert Lasry. Another nice offering from the Fremeaux label!"
By Joe SIXPACK - SLIPCUE.COM
By Joe SIXPACK - SLIPCUE.COM
