He interpreted Johnny Hallyday's repertoire to perfection.
Guitarist Robin Le Mesurier, “
stage brother
” of our youth idol, died on December 22 from a long illness.
He was only 68 years old.
Before becoming the essential accomplice of the French rocker, he had notably accompanied one of the biggest international stars of pop-rock, Rod Stewart.
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Pierre-Alexandre Vertadier, President of Decibel production and producer of Johnny Hallyday's latest tours was among the first to pay tribute to him: “
Robin was an extremely discreet boy.
He was a little apart.
While being loved by all.
Never ego.
Never anger.
I think he reassured Johnny a lot.
He knew exactly what Johnny wanted to hear.
A bit like the guardian of the temple.
"
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Born March 22, 1953 in London, son of actor John Le Mesurier (
The Twenty-Fifth Hour
of Henri Verneuil in 1967), Robin developed a passion for the art of the guitar at the age of nine.
Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, John Lee Hooker instantly become his models.
At 16 he left London to go to work in New York.
He quickly became a member of the group Reign, which released a first record composed by Keith Relf and Jim McCarty.
In 1976, he made a first decisive meeting.
He became one of the main accompanists of Rod Stewart, then a rock star of world magnitude.
The collaboration of the two men will last seven years.
The other big meeting of his professional life begins in 1994. Sound engineer Chris Kimsey, who previously worked with the Rolling Stones, asks Robin Le Mesurier to play and also to arrange a Johnny album, this time- sung in the language of Shakespeare (1994). The current passes immediately, between Johnny and Robin who have in common a form of tender shyness and of course a passion for rock.
"After that, he always remained in the group as a guitarist and he is the only musician to have stayed so long with Johnny, which was not an easy thing"
, says Greg Zlap, the harmonica player of the rocker. Before adding:
“Robin was very discreet, he observed everything with calmness and this incomparable British humor. In 2009, he greeted me with great kindness in the group. I was the new kid and he was giving me advice. When my mother died in Paris, we were on tour in America and I hesitated to fly there and back to the funeral but I was afraid of being excluded from the group. I spoke to Johnny of course, but it was Robin who assured me that everything would be fine and that I had Johnny's confidence. "
The guitarist and the eternal youth idol were like brothers.
Robin Le Mesurier will be there, in front of the Church of the Madeleine, on December 2017, for the national homage paid to the one who shared, with him, the same love of sound and the stage.
All the music that Johnny and Robin loved, it was from there, it was from the blues ....
When Johnny Hallyday and Robin Le Mesurier interpreted
Hey, Joe
, together on stage