Juliette Gréco was born in Montpellier to a Corsican father and a mother who became active in the Résistance. Gréco also became involved in the Résistance, and was caught but not deported because of her young age.
After the war, Gréco spent the post liberation years frequenting the Saint Germain cafes, and became a figure associated with the political and philosophical Bohemian culture of La Rive Gauche. Philosophers, poets, authors and musicians filled the night clubs and brasseries that lined the boulevard Saint-Germain, and the area became the centre of the existentialism movement associated with Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. As a regular figure at the many music and poetry venues, Greco was given songs to sing written by Sartre himself, and also became acquainted with Miles Davis and Jean Cocteau, even being given a role in Cocteau’s film Orphée in 1949.
Gréco can also be seen in Bonjour Tristesse, a 1958 film directed and produced by Otto Preminger and based on the novel of the same title by Françoise Sagan. The title is derived from a poem by Paul Éluard, "À peine défigurée" amd it means, of course, "Hello Sadness".
Here is Gréco with the French language version of the song:
An MP3 of this can be freely downloaded 'here'.
Now here's Sur Les Quais Du Vieux Paris:
An MP3 of this can be freely downloaded 'here'.
Finally, here's Sous le ciel de Paris, the melody of which should be familiar to everybody.
An MP3 of this can be freely downloaded 'here'.
Hope you enjoyed those.If you're interested in French chansons then have a look at these 100 free downloads 'here'.
À bientôt
Griff
xx Click here
