Enregistrement public à l’Olympia 1964

Jacques Brel is obviously interesting, important, and influential, and someone who I always intended to check out. That's the point of this project, to some extent, right? but I can't get a handle on whether this is a good example of his work. Doesn't totally grab me, but I'm intrigued enough to be going back to it. Feel like I don't know how to rate it yet, so playing it safe with a 3.

Really not sure what to rate this one for a few reasons:

- I think it's a cool performance by Jacques Brel but it's obviously a very lyrical album and I don't speak french
- It's live and although that's ok it doesn't really feel essential? Amsterdam does appear to be unique to this release, but I looked up Jacques Brel and he appears to have a choice of well-regarded studio albums so this is a bit baffling for his only submission on the list
- It's only 28 minutes long which is a bit of a piss take, it's not exactly a Sex Pistols album or something I think they could have added more to the LP and I wouldn't have been checking my watch

chans chans chans chans chansonnier.
As Mary Poppins might say .

There's a real spirit and captivating vibe to this album. A much more forceful sound than I had expected, mostly as a result of Jacques Brel's strong vocal delivery. Olympia 64? Mais Oui!

𝘖𝘭𝘺𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘢 64 makes it easy to understand why Jacques Brel was such a captivating performer. I really like his voice and the way he can turn even the simplest line into something intensely dramatic. He doesn't just sing his songs; he practically acts them out, moving between tenderness, anger, and theatrical excess.

Still, I suspect some of that magic is lost when experienced through a recording rather than from a seat in the audience. I can hear the passion and energy of the performance, but I don't always feel as involved as I would like.

And then there's 𝗔𝗺𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗱𝗮𝗺. The way Brel builds the song from quiet storytelling into an almost overwhelming climax is extraordinary. For those few minutes, I almost feel as if I'm sitting in the audience myself.

A good live album, but above all, a reminder that I would have loved to see Jacques Brel perform in person.

Favorite track(s): Amsterdam, Les timides, Les dernier repas

Interesting.

What’s interesting about such a stripped down, vocal-focused album is that you get a bit of cultural insight into what makes a region’s music unique. I feel like it’s harder to connect with it without the appropriate lived context though, so even if I understand the language and appreciate Jacques’ singing chops, I’m afraid I don’t have much to say about this.

Standouts: Les vieux • Tango funèbre

Jamais écouté avant.

Difficile d'être objectif avec le premier album francophone (et j'imagine l'un des rares...) de la liste. D'autant plus quand il s'agit d'un enregistrement live de celui qui est peut-être notre plus grand auteur et interprète, l'immense Jacques Brel. Il y met son époustouflante théâtrilité au service de quelques uns de ses plus beaux textes, dont bien sûr Amsterdam, dont c'est l'unique enregistrement, mais aussi des titres moins célèbres, comme les sublimes Le Dernier Repas ou Au suivant, chefs-d'œuvre de réalisme poétique et d'écriture au millimètre. Et on comprend comment et pourquoi des dizaines d'artistes, y compris anglophones, se sont réclamés de son héritage, Scott Walker et David Bowie en tête. Si la chanson francophone devait avoir un sommet, Olympia 64 n'en serait sans doute pas loin...

Top : Au suivant
Flop : Les timides

These are compelling melodies, and the emotion carries through the vocals. This takes you back in time to a movie or a painting. My initial reaction would be that it is difficult to appreciate something like this in a language I don't speak, but I can feel the sentiment through the music.

Fine I guess

It was fine but being in another language in a completely outdated music genre, I don't think I could ever point to it and pick it out from any playlist. It just sounded up the time.

chique demais. frances eh bacana de se ouvir, mesmo num entendendo nada.
eh de boa, nada demais. vozerão brabo, hein. pelo menos não eh dad rock medíocre, então tá bão

Nice and nice

😋🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🇨🇵

I've never heard Jacques Brel in the original French before now! My parents had that English-language soundtrack "Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris,” but despite hearing that endless times (including my dad singing "Amsterdam" as his audition song for musical theater, and then David Bowie covering it later on), I really don't know the originals at all.

And wow. This is perfect timing because I've gotten kind of obsessed with current music from Francophone countries lately. This album is rough and angry and sad; he has such a marvelous, expressive voice, and the accompanying piano and accordion and such work perfectly with his singing. Unfortunately my French has only recently improved to the point where I can understand some of this; here’s another incentive to work on it. But it doesn’t really matter, I’m not someone who has to understand all the lyrics (in fact sometimes I’d prefer not to and just treat the singing as part of the music).

So why did I have to spend the 60s listening to English-language covers of these songs, when Brel's original renditions were so much more interesting? I guess I should have thought to look for this, but I’ve never thought to do so. This is a fantastic record.

Some nice french music. Reminded me of Leonard Cohen at times. Probably won't be seeking it out again though.

With my middling knowledge of Spanish, it was fun to try and figure out what the songs were about. I had little success, but it was still fun.

Great voice, great instrumentation, fun to listen to. I think I'll go listen to some French cafe jazz and equally enjoy the rest of my Sunday. Thanks for the inspiration, Jacques!

⭐⭐⭐

oh god

This made for a nice change today. I don't often listen to this kind of music but I guess I should more. I speak a little French but really just enough to pick out a word or phrase here and there so the meaning is pretty still all lost on me. But sometimes that's ok and I feel like this is an album that you don't have to understand to appreciate. It's hard to categorize - is it showtunes? Crooning? Singer songwriter? Vocal jazz? Maybe a mix of all of that. Although I may not listen to this style often, I really enjoyed this one today and could see it being in a regular rotation when I'm in the mood. 4/5