|
Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZAZNAVOUR, Charles(b Chahnour Varenagh Azavourian [there are variants], 22 May 1924, Paris; d 30 September/1 October 2018 in southeastern France) Singer, songwriter, actor. The family had fled the Turkish massacre of Armenians in 1915; mother an actress, father a musician; they operated a restaurant but remained poor. He had his first audition at age nine: landed the part of a Caucasian soldier in a play. The restaurant closed following the German occupation of Paris; he began acting on tour. His voice at the time was such that 'I became the best newspaper-caller on the Boulevards'. He was teamed with actor Pierre Roche by a nervous announcer, who introduced them as a double act; they began writing songs during a nine-year partnership. First hit 'J'ai Bu' ('I Have Drunk') performed by George Ulmer, followed by a flood of songs recorded by Mistinguette, Maurice Chevalier, Edith Piaf, etc. He went to the USA '48 without a visa; 'We owed our entry permit to the Judge's love of Finian's Rainbow' (which Aznavour had translated into French). He appeared at Cafe Society NYC, toured 40 weeks in Canada; he subsequently toured North America several times. He went solo '50, encouraged by Piaf and others to interpret his own songs; he resumed acting, which had brought little work because 'I was too small, too ugly'. He had been in Paif's entourage for years, but never her lover, he insisted: 'That's what saved us.' He suddenly hit the big time in the mid-1950s, and became one of the most famous and best-loved French entertainers of all time, his warmth and angst in onstage performance called the epitome of French romance. He long refused film offers, but a small part in La Tête Contre les Murs '58 won a Crystal award from the French film academy; then perhaps his best-known part in François Truffaut's Shoot The Piano Player '60 (a part Truffaut said he had written for Aznavour), followed by Passage du Rhine '61, Cloportes '65, Candy '68, The Adventurers, The Games, Un Beau Monstre all c.'70, And Then There Were None '75, Sky Riders '76, eventually about 60 movies altogether. His 'Venice Blue' was translated/adapted by Gene Lees, but he sang and recorded in French, English, German, Spanish, Italian, Armenian and several dialicts. His single 'La Mama' '63 was no. 1 for twelve weeks in France; the Matt Monro cover went top 40 in the UK; his own first UK hit was 'The Old Fashioned Way' '73, then a no. 1 UK with 'She' '75, written for TV series The Seven Faces Of Woman. Among other songs: 'Yesterday When I Was Young', 'All Those Pretty Girls', 'Le Temps'. He said he had written 1,000 songs altogether. Hia many hit albums were most originally on the French Barclay label. Autobiographies were Aznavour par Aznavour '70, Yesterday When I Was Young '79, full of good stories. |