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Language available : english
Was Brigitte Bardot a "good" singer, in the conventional sense? No. Was the material she sang in the 1960s especially deep or brilliant? No. But is this 19-track compilation of the cream of her 1963-1970 recordings a fun listen? Yes indeed. Although not the owner of conventional high-level vocal skills, Bardot invested her frivolous songs with a contagious sense of playful fun, and a refusal to take the music or herself too seriously. Certainly some of the tunes -- and their breathy delivery -- capitalize on her iconic sex kitten persona. But the guileless joy she projects is reminiscent of some of the early work by France Gall (one of the finest '60s French pop singers), though Bardot's voice is less girlish and more adult in tone. Like the better French pop of the 1960s, the tracks on this disc -- an "extremely selective compilation," the liner notes state, of a '60s discography that strung together "fine pearls and cheap imitations, scintillating gems and tawdry kitsch" -- have a likable giddiness that borrows from early-'60s girl group and twist rock & roll on the earlier sides, and bears a slight psychedelic influence on some of the later ones. It's a pretty versatile bunch, though, also venturing on occasion into melodic sentimental Continental ballads and (less successfully) theatrical chanson and vaudevillian territory. Some of the standouts, naturally, are found in the seven Serge Gainsbourg compositions, including the eerie Eastern-influenced "Contact" (arguably her most interesting recording), and "Harley Davidson," but also the famous Bardot-Gainsbourg vocal duets "Comic Strip," "Bonnie and Clyde," and "Je T'Aime...Moi Non Plus." (The last of these, unreleased at the time it was recorded in 1968 due to nervousness over its sexually explicit nature, of course became a big international hit when Gainsbourg re-recorded it using Jane Birkin as his duet partner.) The numerous tracks to which composers Jean-Max Rivière and Gérard Bourgeois contributed, however, have their share of highlights too, even if they lack the strange edge of Gainsbourg's songs. [DRG's U.S. reissue of The Best of Bardot omits one track, "Je Reviendrai Toujours Vers Toi," from the version released in Europe, though no one seems to have told annotator Christophe Conte, who makes special mention of it.]
© Richie Unterberger /TiVo
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Claude Bolling, Music Director & Conductor, AssociatedPerformer - Serge Gainsbourg, ComposerLyricist - CLAUDE DEJACQUES, Producer - Brigitte Bardot, MainArtist
℗ 1963 Mercury Music Group
Gerard Bourgeois, Composer - Claude Bolling, Music Director & Conductor, AssociatedPerformer - Jean-Max Rivière, Author - CLAUDE DEJACQUES, Producer - Brigitte Bardot, MainArtist
℗ 1963 Mercury Music Group
Gerard Bourgeois, Composer - Jean-Max Rivière, Author - CLAUDE DEJACQUES, Producer - Brigitte Bardot, MainArtist - Alain Goraguer, Music Director & Conductor, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1964 Mercury Music Group
Claude Bolling, Composer, Music Director & Conductor, AssociatedPerformer - Jean-Max Rivière, Author - CLAUDE DEJACQUES, Producer - Brigitte Bardot, MainArtist
℗ 1963 Mercury Music Group
Gerard Bourgeois, Translator - Jean-Max Rivière, Translator - CLAUDE DEJACQUES, Producer - D Barratt, ComposerLyricist - Brigitte Bardot, MainArtist - Alain Goraguer, Music Director & Conductor, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1964 Mercury Music Group
Jean-Michel Rivat, Author - Brigitte Bardot, MainArtist - Alain Goraguer, Music Director & Conductor, AssociatedPerformer - Jean Francis Fumiere, Composer
℗ 1964 Mercury Music Group
Carlos Lyra, ComposerLyricist - Brigitte Bardot, MainArtist - Alain Goraguer, Music Director & Conductor, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1964 Mercury Music Group
Serge Gainsbourg, Composer, Author, MainArtist - Brigitte Bardot, MainArtist - David Whitaker, Recording Arranger, Music Director & Conductor, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1968 Mercury Music Group
Gerard Bourgeois, Composer - Gloria Lasso, Composer - Jean-Max Rivière, Author - CLAUDE DEJACQUES, Producer - Brigitte Bardot, MainArtist - Alain Goraguer, Music Director & Conductor, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1964 Mercury Music Group
Serge Gainsbourg, Composer, Author, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Michel Colombier, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - CLAUDE DEJACQUES, Producer - Brigitte Bardot, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1968 Mercury Music Group
Serge Gainsbourg, ComposerLyricist - CLAUDE DEJACQUES, Producer - Brigitte Bardot, MainArtist - Alain Goraguer, Music Director & Conductor, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1966 Mercury Music Group
Gerard Bourgeois, Producer - G. Bourgeois, Composer - Jean-Max Rivière, Author, Producer - Brigitte Bardot, MainArtist
℗ 1966 Rivière-Bourgeois
Serge Gainsbourg, ComposerLyricist - Michel Colombier, Recording Arranger, Music Director & Conductor, AssociatedPerformer - Brigitte Bardot, MainArtist
℗ 1967 Mercury Music Group
Gerard Bourgeois, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Jean-Max Rivière, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Brigitte Bardot, MainArtist
℗ 1966 Rivière-Bourgeois
Serge Gainsbourg, ComposerLyricist - Michel Colombier, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Brigitte Bardot, MainArtist
℗ 1967 Mercury Music Group
Paul Piot, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Gerard Bourgeois, ComposerLyricist - Jean-Max Rivière, ComposerLyricist - Brigitte Bardot, MainArtist
℗ 1968 Mercury Music Group
Gerard Bourgeois, ComposerLyricist - Jean-Max Rivière, ComposerLyricist - Brigitte Bardot, MainArtist
℗ 1968 Mercury Music Group
Jean Schmitt, Author - Brigitte Bardot, MainArtist - Jean Fredenucci, Composer
℗ 1970 Mercury Music Group
Carlos Imperial, Composer, Author - Pierre Cour, Translator - Brigitte Bardot, MainArtist
℗ 1970 Mercury Music Group
Serge Gainsbourg, FeaturedArtist, ComposerLyricist - Michel Colombier, Music Director & Conductor, AssociatedPerformer - CLAUDE DEJACQUES, Producer - Brigitte Bardot, MainArtist
℗ 1968 Mercury Music Group
Albumbeschreibung
Was Brigitte Bardot a "good" singer, in the conventional sense? No. Was the material she sang in the 1960s especially deep or brilliant? No. But is this 19-track compilation of the cream of her 1963-1970 recordings a fun listen? Yes indeed. Although not the owner of conventional high-level vocal skills, Bardot invested her frivolous songs with a contagious sense of playful fun, and a refusal to take the music or herself too seriously. Certainly some of the tunes -- and their breathy delivery -- capitalize on her iconic sex kitten persona. But the guileless joy she projects is reminiscent of some of the early work by France Gall (one of the finest '60s French pop singers), though Bardot's voice is less girlish and more adult in tone. Like the better French pop of the 1960s, the tracks on this disc -- an "extremely selective compilation," the liner notes state, of a '60s discography that strung together "fine pearls and cheap imitations, scintillating gems and tawdry kitsch" -- have a likable giddiness that borrows from early-'60s girl group and twist rock & roll on the earlier sides, and bears a slight psychedelic influence on some of the later ones. It's a pretty versatile bunch, though, also venturing on occasion into melodic sentimental Continental ballads and (less successfully) theatrical chanson and vaudevillian territory. Some of the standouts, naturally, are found in the seven Serge Gainsbourg compositions, including the eerie Eastern-influenced "Contact" (arguably her most interesting recording), and "Harley Davidson," but also the famous Bardot-Gainsbourg vocal duets "Comic Strip," "Bonnie and Clyde," and "Je T'Aime...Moi Non Plus." (The last of these, unreleased at the time it was recorded in 1968 due to nervousness over its sexually explicit nature, of course became a big international hit when Gainsbourg re-recorded it using Jane Birkin as his duet partner.) The numerous tracks to which composers Jean-Max Rivière and Gérard Bourgeois contributed, however, have their share of highlights too, even if they lack the strange edge of Gainsbourg's songs. [DRG's U.S. reissue of The Best of Bardot omits one track, "Je Reviendrai Toujours Vers Toi," from the version released in Europe, though no one seems to have told annotator Christophe Conte, who makes special mention of it.]
© Richie Unterberger /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 20 track(s)
- Total length: 00:48:39
- Main artists: Brigitte Bardot
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Universal Music Division Mercury Records
- Genre: Wereldmuziek Europa Franse chansons
© 2004 Mercury Music Group This Compilation ℗ 2004 Mercury Music Group
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