PAUL MAURIAT – ANTHOLOGIE ORCHESTRALE 1957-1962 – A 2CD Collection
curated by Serge Elhaik, 2015
And…REFLECTIONS – a
Japanese triple Disc retrospective collection from 1994-8.
Imagine
rock and roll, samba and ‘bubble gum’ pop from the early 60s treated Mauriat
style!? Incredible! I came across this exquisite collection of early Mauriat
gems on eBay early this year (2016) and thought it deserved a separate review
as an annexe to my review of Paul Mauriat’s musical output in the 1960s.
To
appreciate this review sample these tracks on YouTube as you read this:
Laisse Tomber les
Filles (‘Leave the Girls Alone’) by a French
singer named France Gall (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWRCJhsz5t4) recorded
in 1964
Tous les garçons et
les filles (‘Happy are the boys
and girls who go together’ – a loose translation) by another French singer Françoise Hardy, recorded in 1962
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aLoezucIzk)
And
from Mauriat’s 1960 LP TU VIENS DANSER featuring a leggy dancer dressed in
cabaret attire on the cover, try these via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9naweGDbyw:
Si je pouvais ne plus t'aimer
Tete de Bois
Les Marrons Chauds
And my all-time favourite from this anthology – Amor Amor Amor – found on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S63fc5DUMO8.
The pop sounds of 1960-9 in France had imbibed the waves
coming out from the US and Britain of the likes of the Beatles, Paul Anka,
Cliff Richard, Connie Francis, and Dionne Warwick amongst others. Paul Mauriat
was not immune to these trends and clearly tried his hand at arranging to meet
the needs of the young audiences of the time who wanted groove and party music.
Mauriat’s early album TU VIENS DANSER released on Bel
Air Records (France) is remastered for CD for the first time. Although the
original was not recorded in stereo, the remastering has been better than
expected. Listen to this through a vintage amplifier like a Marantz, Sansui or
Luxman from the 60s or 70s, and you’ll be overwhelmingly surprised how
gloriously rich these recordings were – even in mono. Of course, the
remastering process has tuned the recordings to the point where one does not
feel the jarring distinctions between mono and stereo sounds. The last 8-9
tracks of each disc are definitely recorded in stereo in the original and their
quality is helpfully retained in the CD versions.
TU VIENS DANSER brings back the youthful exuberance
and dance rhythms of the era. Even for those of us who were born way after TU
VIENS DANSER was released, this is music that fits the soundtrack of any happier
time. When you listen to the Beatles and feel inspired to dig the other
artistes of their time, put on Mauriat’s interpretations of 1957-63. The tracks
sampled above demonstrate how expertly Mauriat both captured and advanced the
‘hipness’ of the pop music of that era. Make sure you give yourself the space
to move around while you listen! This is not music to sit by, and recline and
fall asleep…it evokes far too many, many happy rhythms. The familiar favourites
like Garde Moi La Dernière Danse (Save the Last Dance for Me) and Les Marrons Chauds (One Way Ticket), Amor Amor Amor, Ay-Ay-Ay, Love in Portofino,
along with the classic French ballad Milord
will be sure to get you up and about. It is no wonder that Mauriat once
recorded under the chic name ‘Eduardo Ruo et ses Cha Cha Boys’!
What was it about the energy and movement of 1960s pop
that makes it so memorable? Mauriat captures it here magically, along with
collaborations with Raymond Lefevre on a few tracks like Perpetual Percussion. I’ll let his music do the rest of the
‘talking’ instead of my words. And be sure to put on these discs as a prelude
to the gems that the maestro were rolling out album after album from 1965-6
onwards. Enjoy!
Another compilation that ‘critically’ collects some of
Mauriat’s best works and some not-so-famous, but artistically brilliant,
arrangements is the Japanese PHILIPS compilation titled REFLECTIONS issued by
Nippon Phonogram in 1994, released for sale in 1996 and re-released with a
different cover in 1997-8. Disc One contains some tracks that some Mauriat fans
might be surprised at. ‘Love is Blue’, ‘Penelope’, ‘Toccata’, ‘El Bimbo’, ‘La
Reine de Saba’ and ‘La Chanson pour Anna’ are all selected from the maestro’s
own 1988 reinterpretations of his
hits in the French release RETROSPECTIVE, featuring the Eiffel Tower in an
iconic rear view mirror frame. That seems to be precisely the intention of the
compilers. Mauriat’s rediscovery of a new bass heavy sound has been set
alongside some of his late 60s arrangements of European pop hits such as ‘Le
Dernier Valse’ and ‘Un Tout Petit Pantin’ and ‘L’Orage’, and the unforgettable
‘Le Ciel, Le Soleil et La Mer’. What you hear in this set is Mauriat the
popular music genius with the ‘ear’ for arrangements to capture the latest and
trendiest sound in instrumental form. The remastering is five star quality and
on a good vintage amplifier, you can hear the maestro ‘speaking musically’ to
his audience across time.
His arrangements capture the beat of the song’s era,
and simultaneously communicate its meaning in forward sounding arrangements
spiced with clean bass lines and the ever enchanting harpsichord and trumpet
combinations. Another huge draw for this collection is of course the massive
number of selections from his 1970-4 catalogue featuring pop standards of the
likes of ‘Yesterday Once More’, ‘Emannuelle’, ‘The Way we Were’, ‘A Flower’s
All You Need’, ‘We Shall Dance’, and ‘You Are the Sunshine of my Life’. Mauriat
captures so memorably the signatures of Demis Roussos, the Carpenters, Stevie
Wonder and Barbra Streisand. And even more European pop composers – including
Salvatore Adamo, Serge Gainsbourg, J. Revaux and Francis Lai – have been
celebrated in this set in the Mauriat way. Pop music captured instrumentally is
often the best way to rekindle one’s childhood memories – and there is no
better way than to remember each tune melodically, and inserting only words or
pictures that one chooses for that listening ‘moment’! Maestro Mauriat is at
his peak in REFLECTIONS and the true connoisseur of pop instrumentals cannot put
this set aside and claim that this is just another ‘greatest hits’ compilation.
Enjoy this set too – if you haven’t chanced upon it already!
ALAN CHONG
December
2016
