Album review

Johnny Hallyday

Like Father, Like Son

Paris 

15/09/1999 - 

Johnny Hallyday is back in the music news this month with a brand new album entitled "Sang pour sang". The French rock veteran has decided to keep things in the family on this occasion, inviting his son, David, to compose the music on the new album as well as coproduce the songs in the studio. A host of prestigious French songwriters have also been involved in Monsieur Hallyday's new project - everyone from loyal contributors Michel Mallory and Philippe Labro to Zazie, Pierre Grillet and unexpected newcomers Miossec and Vincent Ravalec. However, one of the highlights on Johnny's new album is undoubtedly the song written by legendary French authoress Françoise Sagan. This is a major event in the music world as Ms. Sagan has not exercised her songwriting talents in many long years.

Johnny, one of the biggest surprises on your new album "Sang pour sang" is the track written by Françoise Sagan.
In fact, this particular song was the starting point for the entire album. Actually, I'd already had it tucked away for the past two years. You see, I asked Françoise to write it for me a couple of years ago when I met her at a dinner party and she actually finished writing it in record time. I tried to set her lyrics to music immediately but it just didn't sound right. Then a series of other composers had a go, but I wasn't really satisfied with their music either. It was a shame. I really loved the lyrics Françoise had written but in the end I decided to drop the song because it din't seem as if anyone was going to be able to write the music for it. At that stage I decided Françoise's text probably wasn't suitable to be turned into a song.

And then when I sat down with my son, David, and started work on the new album we were meant to be producing together he said, "Hey, Don't you have a song by Françoise Sagan tucked away somewhere?" And I said, "Look, forget it! Seven of us have already given ourselves a major headache trying to write music for those lyrics and I reckon nobody will ever manage to turn Françoise's lyrics into a song. None of the music any of us wrote ever lived up to those lyrics." Anyway, my son ended up going off with Françoise's lyrics and two days later he turned up with the music he'd written for them. After that we decided that the rest of the songwriters involved in the album would have to be up to Françoise's standards. And that's why we got in touch with people like Miossec, Zazie and Labro.

Did you already know Miossec before you enlisted his help on the album?
Well, I'd listened to one of his albums.

Do you generally listen to a lot of music?
No, not really. I always have the radio on in my car and I go and see concerts a lot too. But the thing is, as I already spend so much time making music myself, I'm hardly going to spend my free time locked away listening to other people's albums. I'm a bit like my son really - I hate being locked away in the studio for hours on end. But unfortunately you do have to accept the fact that you need to go into the studio every now and then for recording purposes. However, I have to say working in the studio bores me in the same proportion as going on stage excites me. What I really love is working quickly - getting a song out in ten minutes!

Did you find it intimidating working with your son on the album?
Yes, of course I did. But I think it was intimidating for him too. We were both pretty stressed about it really. What was just as important for David - in fact, probably the most important thing for him really - was to be recognised as a composer as well as a singer. He wanted to start writing material for other people, you see, not just keep on singing his own stuff. And just imagine, the very first time he gets to sit down and write music for someone else that person is his own father! But things worked out pretty well in the end, in fact. I think we ended up establishing a sense of real complicity and a lot of love went into this album - but that's not to say there wasn't a lot of stress and worry involved too! Somehow we managed to survive the whole thing and come out the other end intact ...

You're just back from tour, aren't you? Did you perform any of the songs from your new album during the tour?
No, there wasn't really enough time between the two. I was locked away in the studio for three weeks working on the album - when normally an album would take more like two months! I'd just finished working on Laetitia Masson's film "Only You" - a film I was acting in with Sandrine Kilberlain - and as soon as that was over I went straight int the studio with David to start work on the new album. After that I was due to set off on tour on the 28th of June. So I knew the album absolutely had to be finished by the 27th as I had to rush off and get my plane at 11 in the morning to fly out and perform my first concert in Grenoble. I couldn't exactly hang around in the studio!

Do you get a lot out of working so fast?
I think that when you're in a state of urgency, with your back right up against the wall, you end up producing something more true, more authentic, than when you've got plenty of time on your hands. There are plenty of artists who spend an entire year in the studio and what they end up with can be really great, but it's not necessarily better than what you come up with when you've got a deadline and you know you've got to give the studio back at a certain time on a certain day.

Why haven't you bought your own studio - that would make life a lot easier for you, wouldn't it?
Well, I've thought about it, of course. And I did actually try recording at home once but it turned out to be absolute hell. I had all the musicians staying at my place and all the recording equipment set up in the house. When I came down for breakfast at 9 in the morning there were 40 people hanging around the living room fiddling around laying cables and things. I put up with it for a week, but then I packed everybody off back to Paris and ended up finishing the album in the studio.

Would you say that the songs on your new album all resemble you in some way?
No, not necessarily. Choosing which songs should go on an album is a bit like being an actor in a way - you have to adapt yourself to your selection rather than base your choice on who you really are. I mean if you did that you'd always end up singing the same kind of songs - and that wouldn't be much fun for anyone!

You're due to play a series of concerts at the Olympia next summer. Are you tempted to take a trip down memory lane and do a bit of a retrospective?
Well, I'm sure I'll do something along those lines. I'm planning to include songs I haven't performed live yet as well as songs I've only sung once before. I guess it'll be a bit of a "Best of" show. Actually, I'm getting fans to vote on the selection of songs for the concerts. I've sent out voting slips with a list of 60 songs and asked them to choose their favourites. In fact, the ballot papers have started coming in already.

And have there been any major surprises so far?
Well, there was one old song from the 70s - a song I'm sure you won't have heard of - and which, to be honest, I'd pretty much forgotten myself. It's called "Comme une ombre sur moi" and it's already got over 300 votes whereas "J'ai oublie de vivre" has only got 180!

Looking back over your entire career, what proportion of good times have there been to bad?
If I look back on every single concert I've ever performed I'd say the good times weigh in at 80%.

And what was the worst moment of your career?
I was sure you were going to ask me that! Well, to be honest I can't remember - I must have blanked the experience from my mind completely!

Bertrand  Dicale

Translation : Julie  Street