Charls Trenet passes away

France has lost its Fou chantant (Singing Jester)

Paris 

20/02/2001 - 

Charles Trenet would have been 88 on 18 May. He died last night in a hospital in the Paris suburbs as a result of a stroke. In an announcement to the press, his family and friends said he had "returned to the stars in the heavens"*. This jovial performer, who built his career on his good humour and sang his way through the century with skilfully composed songs full of innocence, has become a French national monument. He will be remembered as a poet whose words are timeless. He was a romantic, but never a fool.

Shortly before his last performance at the Pleyel in November 1999, Charles Trenet stated in the press : "Anyone who comes to my performance will be excused from attending my funeral". An example, not of cynicism, but of the humour of a man whose love for life and the stage was stronger than his fear of death.

Charles Trenet was born in 1913, just before World War I, in Narbonne, in the south of France. The son of a solicitor, he was very close to his mother and a brilliant student. His artistic leanings brought him to Paris at the early age of 17 where he worked at odd jobs in the cinema, discovered jazz, wrote a lot of poetry and some novels, and met the young pianist Johnny Hess. Together they formed the Charles et Johnny duo. They were influenced by the lively and light-hearted style of American musicals, Gershwin’s swing and, of course, jazz. Trenet's first hits (Quand les beaux jours seront là, Sur le Yang Tse Kiang), his first Pathé records and his first shows followed. During his military service in 1936, he began to write some of his well-known lyrics, future classics such as Y'a d'la joie which was put together by Maurice Chevalier on the spur of the moment at the Casino in Paris. The producer Raoul Breton put Trenet on stage at the ABC. On the eve of World War II, Trenet, the cool cat of swing, became the idol of the young generation.

A string of successful hits followed : Je chante (1937), la Route enchantée (1938), Boum (1938), Mam'zelle Clio (1939). With his polished writing, lively melodies and solid arrangements, Trenet proved himself to be a talented composer-songwriter with an amazing skill and playfulness with words, as in his spectacular swinging Débit de l'eau débit de lait. After the war his fame reached as far as Hollywood and Broadway where his la Mer created a sensation, the English version Beyond the Sea spreading worldwide.
From the 1950s onwards, Trenet’s concert appearances multiplied : Théâtre de l'Etoile in 1951 and 1960, the Olympia in 1954, 1955, 1956 and the Alhambra in 1958. A star of the stage, his recordings became rare, but some wonderful songs materialized such as le Jardin extraordinaire in 1957. The May 68 all-out strikes and protests in Paris meant he had to celebrate his 30 years in the business at the Don Camillo, a tiny Parisian cabaret, rather than at the more prestigious Bobino as had been planned. In 1971, he made one last hit, Fidèle, before saying his farewells in 1975. His mother's death, four years later, was a catastrophic blow to Trenet, who from then on withdrew into semi-retirement.

A great fan of Trenet's, Jacques Higelin put all his enthusiasm into presenting Trenent with a comeback worthy of his talent at the large Printemps de Bourges venue in 1987. At the age of 75, Charles Trenet became a star again, overnight. He was courted and celebrated by the whole of France. He suddenly found himself very much in fashion. His concerts in Paris (Châtelet 1988, Palais des Congrès 1989 and 1993, Pleyel 1999) were not just concerts, but events. The special performance he gave at the Opéra Bastille in 1994 was flooded with the crème de la crème of the literati led by president François Mitterrand himself. Festivals, tours and three albums, written entirely by himself, followed (Mon cœur s'envole in 1992, Fais ta vie in 1995 and les Poètes descendent dans la rue in 1999). Charles Trenet was on top form, commanding respect with his optimism and joyful nature, defying and making fun of his age, all to the great delight of the public and producers.

The last years have brought Charles Trenet to the height of glory, assuring him his rightful place in the French national heritage, denied him by the Académie française who rejected him on two occasions in 1983. He has been decorated with prestigious titles and prizes (Commandeur de la Légion d'Honneur (Commander of the Legion of Honour), Grand prix national des Arts et Lettres (National prize for literature)), he is a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts (the Art Academy), and he is also held in high esteem by his peers. From Georges Brassens, a big fan from very the beginning, to Ludwig Von 88, and their very alternative version of Boum in 1994, covers of his songs exist in their hundreds. One of the best known in France, and very symbolic of the Mitterrand years, was the cover of Douce France in 1986 by the Franco-Algerian group Carte de Séjour (Work Permit), led by Rachid Taha. More recently, one of the most touching tributes to Charles Trenet was the show Y'a d'la joie ! put on by Jérôme Savary in 1996 and based around Trenet's popular, funny and touching lyrics.
Despite his extreme tiredness over the last few months and his difficulty in walking, Charles Trenet, has never stopped smiling. The poster for his last show showed him with angelic wings and a somewhat ethereal air. This clownish dreamer with blue, bright eyes was a spirited, convivial, down-to-earth man. He made his last public appearance at the first of Charles Aznavour's concerts in Paris on 25 October 2000.

He leaves us with his rich and joyful world of rhythmic melodic compositions, creative wordplay and lyrics which will remain forever etched in our memories: "Longtemps, longtemps, longtemps/Après que les poètes ont disparu/Leurs chansons courent encore/Dans les rues." ("A long long long time/ after the poets have gone/ their songs will still run through the streets").

Catherine Pouplain
English Text : Michele Brady

*Source AFP