The success of the actor during the last two decades of his career had ended up leaving in the shade refrains and verses which had their hour of glory.
It is thus frequent that new generations, unconditional of his films, ignore that between 1945 and 1970, he triumphed on the stages of the whole world.
Thirty years, to the day, after the death of Yves Montand, a 12-CD box set pays tribute to the singer.
It brings together for the first time, 298 songs recorded between 1945 and 1989.
Read alsoCarole Amiel: "Montand's songs are timeless"
At the beginning of the summer, Carole Amiel, his last companion, mother of Valentin, their son, launched the idea of taking advantage of the centenary of his birth and the three decades of his departure to pay him a consistent discographic tribute.
Universal having given the green light, Xavier Perrot, responsible for the catalog of legendary artists, started a marathon to achieve the singer's first full length.
Read also Yves Montand under the skies of Marseille
He started by bringing together original tapes that were urgently reworked. Some having completely disappeared, the sound engineers found themselves obliged to work from 45 rpm coming from Montand's personal collection, kept by Carole Amiel. This is how we saved from oblivion some refrains that are part of our heritage, and others less known, even unknown. In this inventory worthy of Prévert - with whom Montand worked a lot, appear
Luna Park
,
In the plains of the Far West
,
Three little notes of music
,
C'est si bon
, as well as
Dead leaves.
that Montand performed on stage for four years with almost general indifference.
Convinced that this was a success, he insisted on keeping these verses in his repertoire, sometimes against the advice of those around him.
It ended up paying off, in every sense of the word.
Read also The Eye of INA: Yves Montand, centenary of the king of the troubadours who dreamed of being president
From 1945 to 1960, resolutely attentive to the air of his time, he never hesitated to take up verses from his colleagues, signed by Henri Salvador, Guy Béart, Paul Misraki, Léo Ferré, Pierre Dudan and Claude Nougaro, to whom he predicted a great career after having spotted
Jazz and java
. Finally, he pays affectionate homage to Edith Piaf, his first
"great love"
, with a personal version of
La goualante du Pauvre Jean
.
English versions of
À bicyclette, Clémentine
are also present. They appeared on vinyl records dating from the early 1960s, during a series of concerts in the United States, particularly in New York and Los Angeles. He then also paid tribute, in his own way, to Hollywood and Duke Ellington through songs also present in this box.
Among the rarities, we discover a text by Jorge Semprun as well as an unpublished version of
Les Berceaux,
which dates from 1962. At the time, for lack of space on a 33 rpm, it had been discarded and placed in a drawer where she slept for almost 60 years. Finally, we learn that Montand was the first to record
Bella Ciao
. Italian origins and political ideas oblige, he was lulled by this traditional song which, as an adult, he made a worldwide success long before the generation of today seizes it. It is precisely to this that Xavier Perrot wants to address. In the coming months, these 298 songs will be placed on a platform to be available for streaming. So that its dead leaves will neverfly away in the cold night of oblivion.
