A couple of years ago I picked this box set at the Paris airport, and it's one of my most played sets in my office. Serge Gainsbourg's "Mister Melody" is 98 tracks by various artists who worked with Gainsbourg. All songs are by Serge, and the artists who are invovled are Nico, Dominique Walter, Dalida, Isabelle Aubret, France Gall, Serge Reggiani, Valerie Lagrange, Juliette Greco, Nana Mouskouri, Brigitte Bardot, Petula Clark, Michele Arnaud, Les Freres Jacques, Helene Martin, Mireille Darc, Jane Birkin, Catherine Deneuve, Anna Karina, and lots of others! It's a great collection of great songs and all in four disks.
My favorite online store (and they have a real location in Chicago) Dusty Grove is selling the package for only $34.99! Their website address is http://www.dustygroove.com
Buy it! I swear to anyone that this is a great package with great music. A must for someone who is putting their toes for the first time in the bath water that is Gainsbourg. Also a lot of hard-to-find recordings are in this package. A strong TamTam Books' recommendation.
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3 comments:
Tosh...hope this finds you well. Dennis suggested that I recommend a Terry Reid record...well that's been harder than I suspected it would be. Why? His voice and phrasing remains the same but his arranging changes dependent on the band. Dramatically at times.
So I sez...start at the beginning with "Bang, Bang You're Terry Reid"...a Mickie Most production. Caveat: most folks like the second album best "Terry Reid" (also a Most production)...but Reid really is an acquired taste. A bit of a shouter in the Marriot vein...but also capable of a tenderness that Marriot rarely evidenced.
Also his original band was really into the "loud-soft-loud" power trio thing that can be annoying depending on your mood. This is really evident when you listen to his live shows from the 1969 Fillmore West shows on the Bill Graham Archives site.
I tend to listen to the ballads off of these first two albums (it is on ballads that Reid's phrasing is impecable in my book)...but that may say more about me than the music. As does the fact that my favorite of his records is the later "River" with David Lindley...I thought this would be a bit too Laurel Canyon for you.
Better yet...If you can, just find the song "Without Expression" online and decide if further inquiry is warranted (I love his cover of "Season of the Witch" and "Bang, Bang" as well). Sorry to take up comment room here at the wonder of wonders...but I said I'd do it and now I have.
Best to you Tosh and pleasant holidays,
Mark
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