John William
Better known by his artist name John William, Ernest-Armand Huss was born on October 9, 1922 in Grand-Bassam, today in Côte d'Ivoire but then in Afrique-Occidentale Française (AOF), a general government that brought together eight French West African colonies in a single federation between 1895 and 1958. Taken from his mother when he was just a year and a half old, he was entrusted to a distant relative in Seine-et-Marne, where he grew up. After completing his schooling, at the age of 17 he became an apprentice fitter-toolmaker at the Renault factory in Boulogne-Billancourt. During the Second World War, he was arrested, imprisoned, tortured and politically deported to the Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg, before being taken in by the Swedish Red Cross at the end of the conflict. Unwilling to return to factory work, he took singing lessons and adopted the pseudonym John William. Aware of the growth and new popularity of American music, he began to perform in cabarets, becoming increasingly famous, particularly in 1952, when he won the Grand Prix d'interprétation de Deauville for his song "Je suis un nègre" (I'm a Negro). This success was confirmed in 1961, when he was awarded the Coq d'or de la chanson française for "Le voyageur sans étoile", a song for which he also received the Médaille de la Ville de Paris, and in 1966, when he won the best-selling record of the year award at Midem in Cannes for "La Chanson de Lara". He definitively established himself in the hearts of the public with his world-famous film credits, including Alamo, Lawrence of Arabia, An Island in the Sun, The Longest Day, The Great Escape, and above all Doctor Zhivago with "La Chanson de Lara". In the early 1970s, he became the lead singer on the ocean liner France, which won him a new American audience, for whom he was particularly popular. In 1990, he published his autobiography, in which he recounts in detail the ordeal of his deportation. 2005 promises to be a busy year, with a farewell tour planned in Martinique, but which he has to cancel for health reasons. Awarded the Légion d'Honneur the same year, he finally passed away in Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes) six years later, on January 8, 2011, at the age of 88. Several compilations pay tribute to him, such as Anthologie 1952-1962, released in 2015.
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Si Toi Aussi Tu M'abandonnes
Pop - Released by Parlophone (France) on 1 Jan 1973
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Double d'or : John William
French Music - Released by TMP WAGRAM on 28 Mar 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Anthologie 1952-1962 (John William)
French Music - Released by Marianne Mélodie on 9 Oct 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Toi, dans ta chapelle, Vol. 2 (Collection "Les voix d'or")
French Music - Released by Marianne Mélodie on 1 Jan 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
John William, Vol. 3 (Collection "Les voix d'or")
French Music - Released by Marianne Mélodie on 1 Jan 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Chansons de Noël (feat. Gérard Poncet et son orchestre) (Mono Version)
Christmas Music - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mississipi
French Music - Released by Jober Entertainment on 1 Jan 1958
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
John William - The Complete Collection
Gospel - Released by ISIS on 9 Sep 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
John William, vol. 8 (Mono Version)
French Music - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
John chante pour William (Mono Version)
John William, Raymond Delatour et son orchestre
French Music - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Si toi aussi tu m'abandonnes, Vol. 1 (Collection "Les voix d'or")
French Music - Released by Marianne Mélodie on 1 Jan 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Le voyageur sans étoile (Mono Version)
French Music - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
C'était le printemps / La chanson du barrage (Mono Version)
French Music - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Une île au soleil / Je ne crains rien (Mono Version)
French Music - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Loup blanc (Mono Version)
French Music - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Un certain sourire / Plus d'amour (feat. Claude Vasori et son orchestre) (Mono Version)
French Music - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Je ne t'oublierai jamais (Mono version)
Pop - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Y'avait Fanny qui chantait (Mono Version)
French Music - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Le jour le plus long (Mono Version)
French Music - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1963
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Jericho / La nuit sur la vallée (feat. Raymond Legrand et son orchestre) (Mono Version)
French Music - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo