Histoire De Melody Nelson Serge Gainsbourg & Brigitte Bardot

• 1Melody07:32
• 2Ballade De Melody Nelson02:00
• 3Valse De Melody01:31
• 4Ah Melody01:47
• 5L'Hôtel Particulier04:05
• 6En Melody03:26
• 7Cargo Culte07:36
• 8Melody09:25
• 9Ballade De Melody Nelson02:07
• 10Valse De Melody01:39
• 11Ah Melody01:54
• 12Melody Lit Babar01:03
• 13Melody Lit Babar01:11
• 14L'Hôtel Particulier05:10
• 15En Melody03:39
• 16Cargo Culte07:44
• Total Runtime01:01:49

Info zu Histoire De Melody Nelson

Als Serge Gainsbourg 1971 mit „Histoire de Melody Nelson“ seine erste Rock-LP aufnahm, da hatte das „enfant terrible“ der französischen Popkultur bereits die 40 überschritten. Sein provokantes Genie hatte Gainsbourg zuvor auf Chanson-, Jazz- und Pop-Platten ausgelebt.

Sein mit Abstand bestes Rockalbum nahm Gainsbourg mit dem Komponisten und Arrangeur Jean-Claude Vannier und einer Top-Riege französischer Studiomusiker auf. Ganz im Sinne des Rocks der frühen 70er ist „Melody Nelson“ ein Konzeptalbum.

Nach 30 Sekunden Intro (das die Geräusche eines Scheibenwischers imitiert) fängt Gainsbourg von einer nächtlichen Fahrt in seinem Rolls Royce zu erzählen an. Eine pikante Geschichte, typisch Gainsbourg: alter Mann überfährt mit Rolls Royce junges Mädchen (gespielt und gesungen von Jane Birkin). Schleppt es in ein billiges Motel... „Melody Nelson“ ist im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes „Adult-Pop“.

Oft hat man die LP als „cinematografisch“ beschrieben, als „surrealistisch“, „trippig“. Die abgedrehte Story untermauern dann aber wahnsinnig gut gemachte Songs, etwa die „Ballade de Melody Nelson“, neben „Bonnie & Clyde“ Gainsbourgs größter Treffer in die Pop-Kerbe.

Die Machart der damals populären Rock-LPs war Gainsbourg und Vannier ziemlich egal. Völlig konträr zum epischen Prog-Rock der frühen 70er bringt es „Melody Nelson“ auf knackige 28 Minuten Spielzeit. Auf 28 Minuten üppig orchestrierten langsamen Funks. Mit lasziv umher mäandernden Bassläufen ganz vorn im Mix. (Bassist Herbie Flowers sollte kurz darauf auf Lou Reeds „Walk On The Wild Side“ glänzen). Mit Arrangements, die auf kleinste Nuancen des Gainsbourg´schen (Sprech)-Gesangs reagieren. Auch wenn man kein Wort Französisch versteht, entfaltet sich vorm geistigen Auge das düstere, obsessive Liebes-Szenario.

Im Kritiker-Konsens gilt „Histoire de Melody Nelson“ als zeitloser Klassiker, hat 4- und 5-Sterne-Bewertungen abgeräumt, wohin das Auge reicht, zwischen Pitchfork und AllMusic, dem „Rolling Stone“ und dem Paste-Magazin herrscht da Einigkeit.

'Exzessives Meisterwerk eines Exzentrikers.' (stereoplay)

'Vernebelte, veruchte, versoffene Chansons: Die Lolita-Geschichte ,,Histoire De Melody Nelson' (1971) darf zu Recht als der exzessive Höhepunkt im Werk des Exzentrikers Serge Gainsbourg gelten.' (Audio)

Serge Gainsbourg, vocals, guitar, piano
L'Opera Comique, vocals
Jane Birkin, vocals
Jim Sullivan, guitar
Vic Flick, guitar
Jean-Luc Ponty, electric violin
Roger Coulam, keyboards
Jean-Claude Vannier, keyboards
Brian Odgers, bass
Dougie Wright, drums
Jeunesses Musicales of Paris

Engineed by Jean-Claude Charvier
Remastered by Dave Cooley

Digitally remastered.

Serge Gainsbourg
was the dirty old man of popular music; a French singer/songwriter and provocateur notorious for his voracious appetite for alcohol, cigarettes, and women, his scandalous, taboo-shattering output made him a legend in Europe but only a cult figure in America, where his lone hit "Je T'Aime...Moi Non Plus" stalled on the pop charts — fittingly enough — at number 69.

Born Lucien Ginzberg in Paris on April 2, 1928, his parents were Russian Jews who fled to France following the events of the 1917 Bolshevik uprising. After studying art and teaching, he turned to painting before working as a bar pianist on the local cabaret circuit. Soon he was tapped to join the cast of the musical Milord L'Arsoille, where he reluctantly assumed a singing role; self-conscious about his rather homely appearance, Gainsbourg initially wanted only to carve out a niche as a composer and producer, not as a performer.

Still, he made his recording debut in 1958 with the album Du Chant a la Une; while strong efforts like 1961's L'Etonnant Serge Gainsbourg and 1964's Gainsbourg Confidentiel followed, his jazz-inflected solo work performed poorly on the charts, although compositions for vocalists ranging from Petula Clark to Juliette Greco to Dionne Warwick proved much more successful. In the late '60s, he befriended the actress Brigitte Bardot, and later became her lover; with Bardot as his muse, Gainsbourg's lushly arranged music suddenly became erotic and delirious, and together, they performed a series of duets — including "Bonnie and Clyde," "Harley Davidson," and "Comic Strip" — celebrating pop culture icons.

Gainsbourg's affair with Bardot was brief, but its effects were irrevocable: after he became involved with constant companion Jane Birkin, they recorded the 1969 duet "Je T'Aime...Moi Non Plus," a song he originally penned for Bardot complete with steamy lyrics and explicit heavy breathing. Although banned in many corners of the globe, it reached the top of the charts throughout Europe, and grew in stature to become an underground classic later covered by performers ranging from Donna Summer to Ray Conniff.

Gainsbourg returned in 1971 with Histoire de Melody Nelson, a dark, complex song cycle which signalled his increasing alienation from modern culture: drugs, disease, suicide and misanthropy became thematic fixtures of his work, which grew more esoteric, inflammatory, and outrageous with each passing release. Although Gainsbourg never again reached the commercial success of his late-'60s peak, he remained an imposing and controversial figure throughout Europe, where he was both vilified and celebrated for his shocking behavior, which included burning 500 francs on a live television broadcast and recording a reggae version of the sacred "La Marseillaise."

Gainsbourg also created a furor with the single "Lemon Incest," a duet with his daughter, the actress Charlotte Gainsbourg. In addition, he posed in drag for the cover of 1984's Love on the Beat, a collection of songs about male hustlers, and made sexual advances towards Whitney Houston on a live TV broadcast. Along with his pop music oeuvre, Gainsbourg scored a number of films, and also directed and appeared in a handful of features, most notably 1976's Je T'Aime...Moi Non Plus, which starred Birkin and Andy Warhol mainstay Joe Dallesandro. He died on March 2, 1991.

Dieses Album enthält kein Booklet