Appreciating the
Music of Paul Mauriat in the 1960s: a Kaleidoscope of Innovation, the Beat and
Ballads
For fans of Paul
Mauriat, the maestro became known as a brand name only from the 1960s onwards.
Technically, his name appeared alongside the label ‘orchestra’ and ‘grand
orchestra’ only from around 1965. Before that, he recorded under the artiste
name ‘Les Satellites’ where the later albums – the ones I was able to spot –
featured the words ‘arrangements by Paul Mauriat’. The identification of Mauriat with a grand
orchestra was more than a mere name change. Paul Mauriat had entered the
mainstream wave of the popular music of the 1960s. I call this phase of Mauriat’s output in the
1960s ‘the innovation, the beat and the ballads’. To understand why this is so,
and what are the characteristics of the maestro’s sound, a short summary of the
popular music of the 1950s and early 1960s is necessary. [Here’s a small
suggestion to add to your appreciation: play something you like from the 1950s
while you read the next section; then Mauriat’s ‘Blooming Hits’ CD/LP for the
remainder of this article.]
The 1950s in Popular
Music
It is always hard, and very unfair to
summarize a whole decade in popular music. But if someone asked me to do so, I
would respond by pointing out the special position of singer Nat King Cole –
his career hit its peak in the 1950s and saw him trying his vocals against a
range of styles that ran from jazz piano trios, big band, lush orchestral
ballads and towards the later albums, touches of laid back country ballads.
Cole’s contemporaries who made the pop charts, such as Peggy Lee, Dean Martin,
Johnny Mathis, Rosemary Clooney, Doris Day and Vic Damone, all performed to
either swing jazz or lush ballads. Broadway musicals with their extensive use
of sweeping strings also added to variations upon swing and ballads. It seemed
most artistes followed a relatively standardised form. One of the foremost
instrumentalists at the time, the Mantovani orchestra, tracked this dominant
style in his arrangements. It is not surprising that if one wanted an orchestra
to play the 1950s down memory lane, it had to be Mantovani’s cascading sound of
violins. His violins ‘voiced’ the velvet perfections of the singers associated
with the many hit tunes of that era. One might also add the Nelson Riddle
orchestra and the early output of Frank Chacksfield’s music.
But as one can see from the snapshot
of the chart-toppers from the mid to late 1950s, below, collected off the
Internet, there was tremendous experimentation with changing tempos in music.
The new tempos seemingly took the art of dance out of ballrooms and concert
halls into the bars, open air cafes, seaside promenades and streets. Elvis
Presley, Perez Prado, Bobby Darin and the rise of ‘Motown’ and ‘Atlantic’
styles of soul music also began making their presence felt. The tempo became
more frenetic, even fused with fast and slow beats, in very unpredictable ways.
It might be said that the rise of the electric guitar and the emerging ‘twang’
in pop music added to what was to come in the 1960s.
Here’s a sample of
mid-late 1950s pop hits, read off the music fan website http://ntl.matrix.com.br/pfilho/oldies_list/top/50.htm :
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Elvis Presley
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Perez 'Prez' Prado
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The McGuire
Sisters
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Guy Mitchell
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Bobby Darin
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Elvis Presley
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Bill Haley &
His Comets
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Gogi Grant
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"Tennessee"
Ernie Ford
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Elvis Presley
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Pat Boone
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Elvis Presley
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Elvis Presley
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Danny & The
Juniors
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Four Aces
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Kay Starr
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Les Baxter
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Mitch Miller
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Dean Martin
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Pat Boone
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Johnny Horton
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Tab Hunter
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Tommy Edwards
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Sheb Wooley
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Debbie Reynolds
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1961-4 Les Satellites
One particular
fusion form was the twist and slow rock performed for young dancers featuring
massed or solo electric guitars featuring a singer, or in the case of Paul
Mauriat operating behind ‘Les Satellites’, a choir singing catchy melodies,
spiced at intervals with an organ riff, a very rhythmic saxophone interlude and
very disciplined and regular percussion. The sound of ‘Les Satellites’
attempted to catch the trendier edges of the late 1950s when it started
recording commercially between 1961 and 1964. This fact may have to be revised if
the archival records of popular music are opened up for Mr Mauriat’s earlier
music history. In any case, ‘Les Satellites’ played it safe on tracks such as
‘Chariot’ [better known as ‘I Will Follow Him’, composed by Franck Pourcel and
Mauriat], a French version of Ray Charles’ ‘Hit the Road Jack’, ‘Ballade a
Sylvie’, ‘Voila voila’ and ‘Les Amantes Sapares’. Thanks to the kind efforts of
the Paul Mauriat Club of Russia, I was able to listen to these samples
retrieved by private collectors from some very old records released only in
France. Listening for the first time to ‘Les Satellites’, one gets the
impression that these are typically vintage from those early years when the
maestro had yet to establish his definitive sound. They might send you gyrating
in your living room for a while – then you realise it was just like any number
of those experimental songs in the late 1950s pop music charts. A good gauge for
contextualizing the sound of Les Satellites is to pay attention to the
soundtrack of the 2012 French romantic comedy Populaire – which I watched by chance on a long flight, with
subtitles, of course. It was a story about a young typist from rural France who
was mentored through several missteps by her boss – and ultimately to be her
husband – to become champion of the world international typing competition in
the USA. Alongside Nat King Cole songs, Populaire
featured several slow rock and twist numbers reminiscent of ‘Les Satellites’. I
must also add one final observation about the musical context of the film Populaire, even though it is technically
outside the scope of this review. In the closing scenes, after the female
protagonist Rose Pamphyle, gets her prize and her man in embrace, the Master of
Ceremony announces in a romantic sigh : ‘America for efficiency, and France for
love!’ That ushers in what I have to say next about how Mauriat defined the
‘amour’ in French popular orchestral music.
1965-8 Listen To
Paul Mauriat … and Blooming Hits
By 1965, Paul
Mauriat had launched his first full album under his own name featuring a whole
new sound that came across as orchestral arrangements meet pop. ‘Listen to Paul
Mauriat’ was also known as ‘Paul Mauriat Album No.1’ in France and the UK. My
sample for this report comes from the Japanese remaster collection – also on
Russia’s RMG records re-release – as ‘Listen to Paul Mauriat’ featuring a
petite lady walking through a summer forest with an expression of enchantment
on her face. It is labelled as being released for the Japanese market in 1966
by PHILIPS. Tracks like ‘Mon Coeur D’attache’, ‘Le Ciel, Le Soleil et La Mer’
and ‘Attends Ou va-Ten’ took what sounded like arrangements worthy of
Tchaikovsky and Mozart in a symphony setting and paired them with rock
percussion, twang guitars and drums. Imagine sweeping string passages amidst a
fast flowing river of rock instruments. Charles Aznavour’s hit ‘La Boheme’
became transformed through a Chopinesque
piano introduction that gave way to very florid harpsichord playing that
literally evoked the song’s celebration of a Bohemian character. Then the
Italian pop hit ‘Io Che Non Vivo’, better known as the Dusty Springfield hit
‘You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me’, plays to Mauriat’s deliberately dramatic
flourish of orchestral crescendos opening and closing a Mozart-like piano solo
amidst the sea of strings in the midsections. All this while, the percussion
and harp repeat a near hypnotic pop rhythm, reminding you that you are in
Mauriat sonic territory, not a classical concert from the nineteenth century!
By the time we reach
1968’s chart topper, ‘Blooming Hits’, the main features of the Mauriat grand
orchestra style are already identifiable. The daring painted nude model on the
cover says it all: flower power, sexy curves/groovy movements, human
creativity, and a new popular fashion – the Paul Mauriat sound. As Dick Lochte
wrote in the liner notes of the LP, this is the instrumentalist playing the
‘Now Sound’ or the ‘Sound of Today’. Listen carefully to ‘L’amour est Bleu’ and
you realize that this is no ordinary pop song played instrumentally. The
neo-classical string arrangement that leads into the tune seems to me an actually
clever twist on Alessandro Marcello’s eighteenth century Oboe Concerto in D
Minor. Pick up the oboe introduction and quicken its pace and you have the
opening inspiration of ‘L’amour est Bleu’. Substitute the original Vicky
Leandros’ vocals with the harpsichord and one achieves a surreal, eternal
quality to the music that is at once ‘Baroque’ and ‘forward innovation’. ‘Love
is Blue’ as it is better known, has become a classic, if you ask me, simply
because it has been arranged according to a clever fusion formula that evokes a
pure classical idea of the romantic, married to massed trumpets, tight drumwork
and well-timed bass lines. Right in the middle, you get Mauriat’s flowery
signature with the harpsichord. ‘L’amour est Bleu/Love is Blue’ never ages. It
will forever be associated with the 1960s pop scene – but simultaneously
associated with innovation. Listen to it right after reading this review and
you’ll be surprised to rediscover its almost refreshingly evergreen mix of
movement, introspection [the harpsichord does that with a chiming effect!] and
grace. Dip into the rest of the selections and your breath is simply taken away
with ‘Penny Lane’, ‘A Kind of Hush’, ‘Mama’, ‘Inchallah’ and ‘Puppet on a
String’. The fast fluid rhythms, the nifty drum beats, the bright trumpet
blasts, and the frequent intervention of classical horn notes describe a huge
dimension to 1960s musical innovation – in the hands of Paul Mauriat. To top it
all, the album opens with a Latin flavoured arrangement of ‘Something Stupid’
that allows the strings to do all the singing, aided brilliantly by a wordless
chorus that amplifies the cosy romance that was originally kindled in the song
by Frank and Nancy Sinatra. It is no wonder BLOOMING HITS turned out to be an
exceptional instrumental best seller in the entire history of pop music.
World Top Hits
(1967) to La Reine de Saba (1968)
Two other Sixties
highlights of Mauriat’s grand orchestra for me are the 1967 LP ‘World Top Hits’
and 1968’s ‘La Reine de Saba’. WORLD TOP HITS is a prequel to BLOOMING HITS.
Look carefully over the pop chart serenades:
1. La chanson de Lara (Lara's theme) - du film
"Le Docteur Jivago"
2. Un homme et une femme - du film "Un homme
et une femme"
3. Paris en colere - du film "Paris
brule-t-il?"
4.
Merci, cherie
5.
En bandouliere
6.
Love me, please love me
7.
Celine
8.
Winchester cathedral
9.
Sunny
10.
J'attendrai ("Reach
out I'll be there")
11.
Noir c'est noir ("Black
is black")
12.
Guantanamera
13.
A taste of honey
14.
My love ("Mon
amour")
You will quickly
realize that Mauriat is literally claiming that whatever works as a vocal hit,
is also an instrumental hit, under his baton. This exciting mixture of fluid
rhythms, grandly arranged orchestral horns to simulate cinematic soundstages,
touches of rhythm and blues organ arrangements, and slices of jazz trumpet add
to the aura of hipness and joy of life in this album. Dutton Vocalion has
recently remastered the other international edition of WORLD TOP HITS under the
title MORE MAURIAT, featuring a two seater all glass helicopter cockpit on the
front. If you recall the contemporary films of the late 1960s, the helicopter
was a vision of the future that accompanied shorter skirts and the glamour of
modelling within popular fashion. MORE MAURIAT was a fashion parade for the ‘in
crowd’:
More Mauriat
The original LP PHS 600-226 (1966) STEREO
Black is Black (Hayes; Wadey; Grainger)
Sunny (Hebb)
Winchester Cathedral (Stephens)
Guantanamera (Trad)
Love Me, Please Love Me (Polnareff; Gerald)
Reach Out I'll Be There (Holland; Dozier; Holland)
Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) (Bono)
Lara's Theme (Jarre) from the film Dr Zhivago
Is Paris Burning? (Jarre) theme from the film
En Bandouliere
There are two
additional tracks in MORE MAURIAT not found in WORLD TOP HITS but the formula
is there. Any vocal hit in the charts could also be given a new dimension when
rendered instrumentally. This is a formula which Mauriat would continue
practising into the 1980s.
During the 1950s,
popular music had already witnessed the entry of Latin influences via Perez
Prado in the pop charts. This steady trickle mushroomed into an explosion of Latin-infused
pop sounds. 1968’s LA REINE DE SABA captured this for Paul Mauriat’s
discography with a big twist. You need not actually associate Latin tunes with
Latin themes, you could connect them with WORLD TOP HITS and MORE MAURIAT.
Listen to the maestro’s incredibly ‘Cappuccino-rich’ arrangement of ‘Une Homme
et Une Femme’ (Francis Lai’s A MAN AND A WOMAN) with its soaring horn and
swirling strings and you see its formula reprised in songs like ‘Maria-La-O’,
‘Lamento Borincano’, ‘Perfidia’, ‘La Rosita’ and ‘Summer Samba’.
1.
Aranjuez D’apres l'Adagio
2.
La Reine de Saba
3.
Vous les femmes
4.
Guantanamera
5.
Perdoname mi vida
6.
Pata Pata
7.
La Banda
8.
Tristeza
9.
Maria-la-o
10. Lamento Borincano
11. La Rosita
12. Summer samba
13. Perfidia
14. Granada
I thought ‘Aranjuez’
was odd – it tracked the original composition by Rodrigo too closely. Here I’d
much prefer Manuel and the Music of the Mountain’s more viola laden treatment,
but the rest of Mauriat’s LP swings the Latin way marvellously. ‘Guantanamera’
captures the lightly happy, celebratory approach that makes the tune a
must-play at Latin American weddings. Here Mauriat gets the guitarist to do the
introduction and repeats this flowing musical hook in the middle and at the
end. In between, the mid-tempo massing of the strings evokes the gyrating
motions of ladies with wide colourful skirts swaying on the stage of any
celebration. One dynamite-like standout track is Mauriat’s homage to South
African singer Miriam Makeba’s most important international hit ‘Pata Pata’.
Frankly, I’d never heard it before this version – fully evocative of a carnival
with fast paced string work spiced with nifty trumpet blasts that is guaranteed
to get you moving in rhythm even if you are in a chair! This was exactly what
Miriam intended in her original lyrics. No wonder they called the Sixties the
‘swinging decade’!
Rhythm and
Blues/Soul of Paul Mauriat (1969) and Aquarius/Prevailing Airs (1969)
Before I end this
review, there are two spectacular albums that cement Mauriat’s musical output
for the 1960s. RHYTHM AND BLUES from 1969 is a trip into Motown and Atlantic
label territory – soul and R&B from the likes of James Brown, Otis Redding,
Percy Sledge, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, the
Temptations and many others. Imagine a white Frenchman, classically trained,
experimenting with fusions of Baroque and Slow Rock attempting Soul, ‘R&B’:
you get an instrumental pastiche of 60s music quite unlike anything the maestro
has ever produced – it is certainly groovy, BUT with a lot of attitude and mind
blowing sonic possibilities! Start with ‘My Girl’ for instance: the
introductory notes sound like something at once from the inner city urban
landscape and of a little street in China, perhaps…then the strings sweep in
like a dramatic operatic diva to take up the main melody. This transforms what
was originally a male centred vocal into something more androgynous and a
fantasy trip into Loveland, punctuated with trumpets and guitars, and drums.
The Supremes’ ‘You keep me hangin’ on’ is another such surprise under Mauriat’s
baton: it opens up with a jangling movement played by guitar dueting with
percussion, then the wordless female chorus adds a whole new dimension to complementing
the string work and jaunty rhythms. What style is this? It is musical soul a la Mauriat…For those who hanker after
a more traditional soul sound, ‘Unchain my Heart’ and ‘Respect’ exhibit a more
mainstream chord. Then listen to James Brown’s signature ‘It’s a man’s, man’s
world’ and you witness Mauriat weaving Baroque oboe into hip-swaying soul all
over – transporting the listener into blissful hypnosis for several minutes.
Overall I’d say this album is UNPRECEDENTED and elevates Paul Mauriat as a pop
music master. Soul/R&B never sounded so good INSTRUMENTALLY.
1.
My girl
2.
It's a man's man's world
3.
You keep me hangin' on
4.
(What a) Wonderful world
5.
Last night
6.
Respect
7.
When a man loves a woman
8.
Unchain my heart
9.
I've been loving you too
long
10.
Love child
11.
In the midnight hour
12.
I'm gonna make you love me
Continuing with this
exotic soul-pop sound is 1969’s AQUARIUS LP, which has been retitled PREVAILING
AIRS in some national markets:
1.
La pioggia
2.
Lontano dagli occhi
3.
Un jour, un enfant
4.
Cent mille chansons
5.
Monia "Monja"
6.
Catherine
7.
Nocturne
8.
Aquarius
9.
Oh happy day
10.
Sweet charity
11.
I say a little prayer
12.
Windmills of your mind
13.
Get back
14.
Good bye
The picture on the
cover of the LP says it all: a young girl playing at colourful balloons. The
atmosphere is light hearted and the musical road ahead is filled with many
colours. Mauriat somehow weaves in happy Italian pop themes with sentimental,
meditative French chanson like ‘Un
jour, un enfant’ and ‘Catherine’; then kicks up the tempo with the
forward-sounding ‘Aquarius’ with its rock-like guitar and organ notes shading
nicely into the gospel-like ‘Oh happy day’ featuring the familiar harpsichord
playing melodies associated with the country fair and an inspired round of
choruses in Church. His chorus sings ‘Oh happy day’ to complete the effect.
Some of you might say that this is just an extension of 1969’s RHYTHM AND
BLUES. The next track ‘Sweet Charity’ confirms the soulful mood and the uptempo
‘Say a Little Prayer’ concludes the soul connection on a happy positive note. Do
watch out for the booming bass and exciting drums on ‘Say a Little Prayer’ that
transforms Aretha Franklin’s version into Mauriat’s own interpretation of the soulful
side of Burt Bacharach’s composition. The result is a playful duet between
saxophone and strings with a GROOVE that’s as memorable as a shiny, polished
marble hall. ‘Windmills of your mind’ is more sedate and takes you back to a
romantic drive around Paris at sundown with its gentle piano leads and
cascading strings. Mauriat ends the set with some truly ‘wacky’ sounds on the
unconventional pop songs ‘Get Back’ and ‘Good Bye’. Instead of horns, brass and
strings moving in dance formation, you get a good tease with bluesy harmonica,
carnival like drums and cabaret-like calls from the female chorus saying ‘Good
bye’ to the 1960s. One exits the decade with immense anticipation for what
Mauriat will do with the 1970s.
ALAN CHONG
12 April 2015
[I wish to thank
Dmitry Zhoukov of the Paul Mauriat fan club of Russia for inviting this review
in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Paul
Mauriat Grand Orchestra. This review has also been reproduced on the Russian Paul Mauriat fan site.]
