Henri Salvador
Encyclopedia
Henri Salvador was a French Caribbean
singer.
, French Guiana. His father, Clovis, and his mother, Antonine Paterne, daughter of a native Indian from the Caribbean, were both from Guadeloupe
, French West Indies
. He had a brother, André, and a sister, Alice.
He began his musical career as a guitarist accompanying other singers. He had learned the guitar by imitating Django Reinhardt
's recordings, and was to work alongside him in the 1940s. Salvador recorded several songs written by Boris Vian
with Quincy Jones
as arranger. He played many years with Ray Ventura
et Ses Collégiens where he used to sing, dance and even play comedy on stage.
He also appeared in movies such as "Nous irons à Monte-Carlo (1950) ", "Nous irons à Paris" (Jean Boyer's film of 1949 with the Peters Sisters) and "Mademoiselle s'amuse" (1948).
He is known to have recorded the first French rock and roll
songs in 1956 written by Boris Vian
and Michel Legrand
Rock'n Roll Mops, Rock hoquet, Va t'faire cuire un oeuf, man and Dis-moi qu'tu m'aimes rock under the artist name of Henry Cording, (a play on words with Recording). Despite this historical aspect, he never ceased to claim that he disliked Rock and Roll
and even refused to talk about this subject later on.
In the 1960s, Salvador was the host of several popular television variety shows on French TV. In 1964 he scored a hit with Zorro est arrivé, which was inspired by The Coasters
' U.S. hit Along Came Jones
. He is also famous for his rich, catchy laugh, which is a theme in many of his humorous songs. In 1969, Henri Salvador recorded a variation of Mah Nà Mah Nà
titled Mais non, mais non (But No, But No or Of Course Not, Of Course Not), with lyrics he had written in French to Piero Umiliani
's music.
Henri Salvador and his song Dans mon île (1957) was thought to be an influence on Antônio Carlos Jobim
in formulating the Brazilian Bossa Nova
style.
Caetano Veloso
, a famous Brazilian composer and singer, made Henri Salvador famous to Brazilian audiences with the song Reconvexo, in which he says "quem não sentiu o swing de Henri Salvador?" ("who hasn't felt the swing of Henri Salvador?"). Veloso also recorded a version of Salvador's song Dans mon Île.
At age 70, Salvador was the voice-over of the crab Sebastian in the 1989 French dubbing of Disney's The Little Mermaid
. Recordings of Embrasse La (Kiss the Girl) can be found on YouTube.
Salvador discovered singers Keren Ann
and Art Mengo
.
He died of a ruptured aneurysm at his home in the early hours of 13 February 2008. He was 90 years of age. He was buried with his wife Jacqueline in the Père-Lachaise Cemetery.
released a CD featuring popular hits like Jazz Mediterrannee which continues to receive regular air play. In 2002 his album Chambre Avec Vue sold over two million copies. In 2005, Henri Salvador was awarded the Brazilian Order of Cultural Merit, which he received from the acclaimed singer and Minister of Culture, Gilberto Gil
, in the presence of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
for his influence on Brazilian culture, particularly on bossa nova
, to whose invention he contributed. That same year he came in on 52nd place in the election of Le Plus Grand Français
(The Greatest Frenchman).
He was also a commander of the French Légion d'honneur
and of the National Order of Merit. In 2007 he released "Reverence" on V2 Records which features Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso. He then went on to perform the track La Vie C'est La Vie from the album Reverence on the BBC
program Later … With Jools Holland, which aired on 4 May 2007.
Last hit single / album "Chambre avec vue" 2001
French Caribbean
The term French Caribbean varies in meaning with its usage and frame of reference. This ambiguity makes it very different from the term French West Indies, which refers to the specific, formal French possessions in the Caribbean region...
singer.
Biography
Salvador was born in CayenneCayenne
Cayenne is the capital of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Cayenne River on the Atlantic coast. The city's motto is "Ferit Aurum Industria" which means "Work brings wealth"...
, French Guiana. His father, Clovis, and his mother, Antonine Paterne, daughter of a native Indian from the Caribbean, were both from Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...
, French West Indies
French West Indies
The term French West Indies or French Antilles refers to the seven territories currently under French sovereignty in the Antilles islands of the Caribbean: the two overseas departments of Guadeloupe and Martinique, the two overseas collectivities of Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy, plus...
. He had a brother, André, and a sister, Alice.
He began his musical career as a guitarist accompanying other singers. He had learned the guitar by imitating Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture...
's recordings, and was to work alongside him in the 1940s. Salvador recorded several songs written by Boris Vian
Boris Vian
Boris Vian was a French polymath: writer, poet, musician, singer, translator, critic, actor, inventor and engineer. He is best remembered today for his novels. Those published under the pseudonym Vernon Sullivan were bizarre parodies of criminal fiction, highly controversial at the time of their...
with Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
as arranger. He played many years with Ray Ventura
Ray Ventura
Raymond Ventura was a French jazz bandleader. He played a significant role in popularizing jazz in France in the 1930s.-Career:...
et Ses Collégiens where he used to sing, dance and even play comedy on stage.
He also appeared in movies such as "Nous irons à Monte-Carlo (1950) ", "Nous irons à Paris" (Jean Boyer's film of 1949 with the Peters Sisters) and "Mademoiselle s'amuse" (1948).
He is known to have recorded the first French rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
songs in 1956 written by Boris Vian
Boris Vian
Boris Vian was a French polymath: writer, poet, musician, singer, translator, critic, actor, inventor and engineer. He is best remembered today for his novels. Those published under the pseudonym Vernon Sullivan were bizarre parodies of criminal fiction, highly controversial at the time of their...
and Michel Legrand
Michel Legrand
Michel Jean Legrand is a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and pianist...
Rock'n Roll Mops, Rock hoquet, Va t'faire cuire un oeuf, man and Dis-moi qu'tu m'aimes rock under the artist name of Henry Cording, (a play on words with Recording). Despite this historical aspect, he never ceased to claim that he disliked Rock and Roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
and even refused to talk about this subject later on.
In the 1960s, Salvador was the host of several popular television variety shows on French TV. In 1964 he scored a hit with Zorro est arrivé, which was inspired by The Coasters
The Coasters
The Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group that had a string of hits in the late 1950s. Beginning with "Searchin'" and "Young Blood", their most memorable songs were written by the songwriting and producing team of Leiber and Stoller...
' U.S. hit Along Came Jones
Along Came Jones
Along Came Jones may refer to:*Along Came Jones a 1945 western comedy*"Along Came Jones" *Along Came Jones , the first Tom Jones album, released in 1965....
. He is also famous for his rich, catchy laugh, which is a theme in many of his humorous songs. In 1969, Henri Salvador recorded a variation of Mah Nà Mah Nà
Mah Nà Mah Nà
"Mah Nà Mah Nà" is a popular song written by Piero Umiliani. It originally appeared in the Italian film Sweden: Heaven and Hell . It was a minor radio hit in the U.S...
titled Mais non, mais non (But No, But No or Of Course Not, Of Course Not), with lyrics he had written in French to Piero Umiliani
Piero Umiliani
Piero Umiliani was an Italian composer of film scores, and is most famous for his song "Mah Nà Mah Nà".-Biography:Umiliani was born in Florence, Tuscany...
's music.
Henri Salvador and his song Dans mon île (1957) was thought to be an influence on Antônio Carlos Jobim
Antônio Carlos Jobim
Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim , also known as Tom Jobim , was a Brazilian songwriter, composer, arranger, singer, and pianist/guitarist. He was a primary force behind the creation of the bossa nova style, and his songs have been performed by many singers and instrumentalists within...
in formulating the Brazilian Bossa Nova
Bossa Nova
Bossa Nova may refer to:*Bossa nova, a style of music*Bossa Nova , a dance form associated with the music*Bossa Nova , a 2000 film*Bossa Nova - album by John Pizzarelli...
style.
Caetano Veloso
Caetano Veloso
Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso , better known as Caetano Veloso, is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo which encompassed theatre, poetry and music in the 1960s,...
, a famous Brazilian composer and singer, made Henri Salvador famous to Brazilian audiences with the song Reconvexo, in which he says "quem não sentiu o swing de Henri Salvador?" ("who hasn't felt the swing of Henri Salvador?"). Veloso also recorded a version of Salvador's song Dans mon Île.
At age 70, Salvador was the voice-over of the crab Sebastian in the 1989 French dubbing of Disney's The Little Mermaid
The Little Mermaid
"The Little Mermaid" is a popular fairy tale by the Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen about a young mermaid willing to give up her life in the sea and her identity as a mermaid to gain a human soul and the love of a human prince...
. Recordings of Embrasse La (Kiss the Girl) can be found on YouTube.
Salvador discovered singers Keren Ann
Keren Ann
Keren Ann Zeidel is a singer-songwriter-composer-producer and engineer based largely in Paris, Tel Aviv and New York City. She plays guitar, piano and clarinet, engineers and writes choir and musical arrangements.-Life and career:...
and Art Mengo
Art Mengo
Michel Armengot , more commonly known as Art Mengo, is a French singer and songwriter. Though born in the French city of Toulouse, he is of Spanish descent as his parents had fled from Spanish dictator Francisco Franco....
.
He died of a ruptured aneurysm at his home in the early hours of 13 February 2008. He was 90 years of age. He was buried with his wife Jacqueline in the Père-Lachaise Cemetery.
Legacy
Henri continues to be popular today among French communities in Canada. In 2000, Virgin RecordsVirgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
released a CD featuring popular hits like Jazz Mediterrannee which continues to receive regular air play. In 2002 his album Chambre Avec Vue sold over two million copies. In 2005, Henri Salvador was awarded the Brazilian Order of Cultural Merit, which he received from the acclaimed singer and Minister of Culture, Gilberto Gil
Gilberto Gil
Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira , better known as Gilberto Gil or , is a Brazilian singer, guitarist, and songwriter, known for both his musical innovation and political commitment...
, in the presence of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva , known popularly as Lula, served as the 35th President of Brazil from 2003 to 2010.A founding member of the Workers' Party , he ran for President three times unsuccessfully, first in the 1989 election. Lula achieved victory in the 2002 election, and was inaugurated as...
for his influence on Brazilian culture, particularly on bossa nova
Bossa nova
Bossa nova is a style of Brazilian music. Bossa nova acquired a large following in the 1960s, initially consisting of young musicians and college students...
, to whose invention he contributed. That same year he came in on 52nd place in the election of Le Plus Grand Français
Le Plus Grand Français
Le Plus Grand Français de tous les temps was a France 2 show of early 2005, based on an original series of Great Britons on the BBC. The show asked the French viewers who they thought was the Greatest Frenchman or Frenchwoman...
(The Greatest Frenchman).
He was also a commander of the French Légion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
and of the National Order of Merit. In 2007 he released "Reverence" on V2 Records which features Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso. He then went on to perform the track La Vie C'est La Vie from the album Reverence on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
program Later … With Jools Holland, which aired on 4 May 2007.
Famous songs
- Maladie d' Amour (1947)
- Clopin clopant (1947)
- Une chanson douce (Le loup, la biche et le chevalier) (1950)
- Rock Hoquet (1956)
- Rock 'n Roll Mops (1956)
- Blouse du dentiste (1956)
- Bonjour sourireBonjour sourireBonjour sourire , is a French comedy film from 1956, directed by Claude Sautet, written by Jean Marsan, starring Henri Salvador and Louis de Funès. The film is known under the titles "Die tolle Residenz" , "Sourire aux lèvres" .- Cast :* Henri Salvador : himself* Louis de Funès : M...
(1956) - Dans mon île (1958)
- Une bonne paire de claques (1958)
- Faut rigoler (1960)
- Le lion est mort ce soir (1962) (The Lion Sleeps TonightThe Lion Sleeps Tonight"The Lion Sleeps Tonight", also known as "Wimoweh" and originally as "Mbube", is a song recorded by Solomon Linda and his group The Evening Birds for the South African Gallo Record Company in 1939. It was covered internationally by many 1950s pop and folk revival artists, including The Weavers,...
) - Syracuse (1962)
- Minnie petite souris (1963) (Pepino the Italian Mouse)
- Monsieur Boum Boum (1963)
- ZorroZorroZorro is a fictional character created in 1919 by New York-based pulp writer Johnston McCulley. The character has been featured in numerous books, films, television series, and other media....
est arrivé (1964) (Along Came JonesAlong Came Jones (song)"Along Came Jones" is a comedic song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and originally recorded by The Coasters, but covered by many other groups and individuals.-The song:...
) - Ma Pipe (1964)
- Le travail c'est la santé (1965)
- Juanita banana (1966)
- Mais non, mais non (1969) (Mah Nà Mah NàMah Nà Mah Nà"Mah Nà Mah Nà" is a popular song written by Piero Umiliani. It originally appeared in the Italian film Sweden: Heaven and Hell . It was a minor radio hit in the U.S...
) - Fugue en rire (1970)
- C'est pas la joie (1973)
- J'aime tes g'noux (1974) (Shame, Shame, ShameShame, Shame, Shame (Shirley & Company song)"Shame, Shame, Shame" is a 1974 hit song written by Sylvia Robinson and performed by American disco band Shirley & Company. The single hit number one on the soul singles chart for one week, and number one on the disco/dance charts for four weeks.The track was one of the first international disco...
) - Ouais (1978)
- Blues Dingue (1989)
Last hit single / album "Chambre avec vue" 2001