The French are useless at rock ’n’ roll. They have the look and they have the style but they don’t have the balls. What screws them is their obsession with words, with lyrics; they must say something. Ob-La–Di, Ob-La-Da and Tutti Fruiti just wouldn’t cut it for them. Consequently the French miss out on having any big worldwide rock or pop stars – Johnny Hallyday and Eddy Mitchell notwithstanding.
On the plus side France has produced some outstanding performers/songwriters where words and emotions are all. We had all the singers associated with the Existentialists like Juliette Gréco, international cabaret stars like Charles Aznavour and Sacha Distel and “popular” entertainers like Charles Trenet and Jacques Brassens. With all of them words were pre-eminent and pre-eminent among them was Jacques Brel (yes, I know he was Belgian but it was Paris where he worked and made his name).
His songs are powerful evocations not only of love but of squalid, bordello-based low-life as well. His sweat soaked performances left him exhausted and his audiences transfixed and aching by songs so good they hurt.
So where does that leave those who don’t speak French? Do they have to miss out on this unique artist? Well, not entirely. In the late sixties many of Brel’s songs were translated by ex-pat American Mort Schuman (whom the French loved) and Eric Blau. These became the definitive translations and they were largely responsible for making Brel accessible to the English-speaking world with their 1968 show Jacques Brel Is Alive And Well And Living In Paris. Ironically Schuman had been responsible for some of the blandest, poppiest pop songs of the early sixties such as A Teenager in Love and Sweets for My Sweet.
The Brel torch has been picked up and is now being carried by another ex-pat American, Hereford based Tim Brown, and his two colleagues Alison Allan and Steve Allan with their show Alive and Brel. Accompanied by Jon Weller on piano and a beautifully played flute by Esther Kay they brought us, in the intimate atmosphere of the Everyman Studio, many of the well-known songs and a few I hadn’t heard before. Some of the songs are familiar through the excellent versions by Scott Walker (to my mind the finest English speaking exponent of Brel) and Marc Almond, not to mention dozens more.
Although none of the performers had exceptional voices and some of the presentation could have been a bit more polished their commitment was total and their enthusiasm infectious. I think hard-core Brel fans would have been a bit disappointed, mainly because many of them would have been expecting the songs to be sung in the original French (although a couple were). Nevertheless, if you don’t know Brel this show provides a good introduction and if you are already a non-purist fan you will find Alive and Brel an entertaining and satisfying evening. ★★★☆☆ Michael Hasted 30th January 2016
