JACQUES BREL: "OLYMPIA 64"

Le 16 Octobre 1964, Brel fait, à l’Olympia, une rentrée fracassante. Après "Amsterdam", c’est un délire qui s’apaise d’autant moins que Brel ne perd pas une seconde pour déguster la frénésie des applaudissements. Avec ses enchaînements sans concession, la présence de Brel en scène est jugée “fascinante”. Après sa quatorzième et dernière chanson, huit minutes de rappels acharnés et tout à fait vains. Le lendemain, Jacques Chancel titre son article: «Jacques Brel, l’ouragan que tout Paris attendait».

“I wll die, loving” (Jacques Brel, 1966)
Brel’s second album of 1964 was also his second recorded at the Parisian concert hall, a venue that was to Europe what Carnegie Hall or the Royal Albert Hall were in their respective countries: you hadn’t made it until you’d played there. By October 16-17, Brel hadn’t just made it – as far as the French and the Belgians were concerned, he was king of the world. Unlikely though it might seem, French chanson was even starting to build a hip following in the notoriously resistant Britain and America. (Bob Dylan once described Charles Aznavour as one of the greatest performers he had ever seen).
Following close behind Brel’s 1964 studio LP Les Bonbons, Olympia 64 introduces “Amsterdam”, “Mathilde” and “Tango Funèbre”, and revives “Au Suivant”, all of which would be covered by Scott Walker. It also features “Les Bonbons”, “Les Vieux”, “Les Toros”, and “Les Bigotes” from his previous album, but the repetition simply demonstrates the difference between Brel in person and in the studio. At Olympia, he inhabits the songs, living the stories, throwing himself in from the outset, acting them out. There is no let-up in drama, satire, or passion. He dies many, many times over the course of the 48 minutes; the rest is spent in sick beds, mobile brothels, and bars. In “Les Toros”, he becomes a dying bull, staring up at his tormentors, relating it to Waterloo, Verdun, and contemporaneous wars on formerly French territories. Released as Music For The Millions in America and Britain, this album is the reason a Belgian chanson singer is still the coolest rock cult of all time (David Hutcheson in “1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die”).

Jacques Brel is born 77 years ago, on the 8th April 1929, and died of cancer on October 9th 1978. Rato Records pays a tribute to this unique singer and songwriter sharing soon some Anthologies of his greatest songs.