Barbara - "Madame" Vinyl, LP, Album, 1970 (Philips)

The first seven songs on "Madame" is a seven-song tableaux or suite with lyrics by Remo Forlani, and music by our star, Barbara.   Forlani was a writer, screenwriter, and an actor who worked with Jean-Luc Godard (Made in the U.S.A.") and worked with Chris Marker and Alain Resnais.   Barbara is an iconic French singer/songwriter whose music and singing is very dramatic, and I think unique.   There is only "one" Barbara."  

"Madame" is orchestrated and arranged by Jean-Claude Vannier, who is a visionary musician/composer who worked with Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Fontaine among many others.  His work is on the border of the avant-garde and French pop song.  In a fashion, he's the bridge between Musique Concréte and the Yé-Yé.   So, the album has three unique voices, and it's a remarkable cocktail in an album form.    Barbara is the real deal and is considered to be the new version of a chanson singer.  Perhaps due to her songwriting, as well as being an early AIDS activist in France.   For the English speaking world, another avenue to explore through this French iconic singer/writer. 

Barbara - "Volume 2 1960/1961/1962 Barbara chante Brassens et Brel"

Barbara – Volume 2 1960/1961/1962 Barbara chante Brassens et Brel

CD Compilation, Paris

Philips

You can't do wrong with songs by Georges Brassens or Jacques Brel, but when you are Barbara it becomes something extraordinary. Like Gréco, Barbara is a singing icon and worth being passionate about. As I mentioned in a previous review, Barbara is very close to someone like Scott Walker, in that she's a songwriter, but also used her talents to interpret the great songs by these masterful songwriters. One source feeds on the other, and one of the great things about art is that it doesn't come out of nowhere. If you pay attention, and follow the clues, it can lead you into a sensual world. Brassens struck me as a writer commenting on his fellow citizens and Brel, conveys the sensual world that he lived in. Barbara's job is to convey these gentlemen's passions and put it into her own world.

What I have is sort of a greatest hits package. Its great, but it makes me hungry to own the original vinyl. Therefore I put the record covers up, instead of what I have – which is boring looking.

Barbara - "L'Aigle Noir" Vinyl LP, France, 1970

Barbara – L'Aigle Noir

Vinyl LP, France, 1970

Philips

My very first introduction to the French singer Barbara was the recording of her song “L'Aigle noir.” That song got me right between the ears. It was so euro-beautiful, and the arrangement by Michel Colombier convey a sense of grandness. Listening to the whole album, it reminds me of Scott Walker. If nothing else, Scott is very much a French Chanson singer than a British/American artist. One would think that anyone really into Scott, would eventually end up with a Barbara album. L'aigle noir is a beautiful arranged album, and it seems Colombier and Barbara are acting in one body.

Barbara had a hard life that resembles Serge Gainsbourg's childhood. Both Jewish, and both in consistent danger during the Occupation. That experience had added a sense of purpose to her music and career. Even though I don't speak French, I sense a great amount of edge in her work. If for nothing else, one has to pick up the title song “L'aigle noir” because it's so perfect in the way it builds and builds.