Enregistrement public à l’Olympia 1964

He certainly has an exciting singing style, and I can hear where Scott Walker and Leonard Cohen got some inspiration, but it's a live album... And not only that, they recorded the crowd in the most abrasive and obnoxious way possible.

Well aware of his legendary status in France. Not bowled over by the "chanson", my lack of French probably not helping with that, but certainly a pleasant enough vocal. Will almost make you want to chain smoke Gitanes if you listen to it for long enough

Had never listened before...pretty solid. Would 100% listen again. 3.5/5

This is an object lesson into how to roll an R.

😂 at the end of Tango Funebre, where he goes mental.

I'm up for some french accordian music this morning. This is very forceful, french is being sung in such a muscular way. It's both refreshing and surprising. Tango Funèbre is a standout track.

Jacques Brel is a popular chanson artist from the '60s. His style of music delivery is like a French Randy Newman or Leonard Cohen in that his grasp on the language, and his ability to paint a picture are breathtaking. Most of his music on this album starts as a whisper, and through the song lyrics and musical accompaniment, he slowly ramps up the intensity, culminating at an amazing crescendo near the end of the song. The musical accompaniment on this record has a real french bistro feel to it, with the heavy accordion work and beautiful guitar playing throughout.

Since I don't speak French, but I understand bits and pieces, I'm left with a fragmented picture of what Jacques is singing about. Given what my research and translation apps have told me, Jacques is painting beautiful artistic pictures on the stage both through his lyrics, and his acting. I wish I spoke the language so that I could experience what the audience experienced on those two nights in '64. Something of note here: both of Jacques parents died in '64 prior to this live recording, so the themes of darkness and pain are coming from a very real, very fresh place.

Another interesting fact, the album opener, Amsterdam, was covered by David Bowie.

Overall, a really great album. I wouldn't actively seek it out, but am also glad to have heard it.

Favorite songs: Amsterdam, Les Jardins Du Casino, Les Timides, Le Dernier Repas, Les Toros Avec Final

Least favorite songs: Le Plat Pays

3/5

Il est belge, mais il chante en français, donc je n'ai compris qu'une grande partie de ce qu'il a chanté. Cela sonne très bien, mais assez démodé. Je l'ai aimé, mais je ne l'ai pas adoré. 3 étoiles

Fancy!

Great singer, enjoyable I’m sure even more if you can speak French.

If I had this on vinyl and I listened to it with a cigarette and a bottle of wine, I'm sure I would be giving this at least one additional star.

Sober as I am, it felt like I was listening to French diction instruction on cassette, which is unfortunate as I think something more balanced would be far more enjoyable to listen to.

No fucking clue what he's singing about, which is a good thing as I didn't get distracted by the lyrics. Technically impressive for a live album too.

So this is not my usual style of music to start with. Then it's in a language that I don't understand. Parts of it are really pretty, and I found myself engaged at times. But other times I was sort of checking to see how many more songs there were before it was over.