Georges Charles Brassens (, ; 22 October 1921 – 29 October 1981) was a French singer-songwriter and poet. As an iconic figure in France, he achieved fame through his elegant songs with their harmonically complex music for voice and guitar and articulate, diverse lyrics. He is considered one of France's most accomplished postwar poets. He has also set to music poems by both well-known and relatively obscure poets, including

Louis Aragon Louis Aragon (, , 3 October 1897 – 24 December 1982) was a French poet who was one of the leading voices of the surrealist movement in France. He co-founded with André Breton and Philippe Soupault the surrealist review ''Littérature''. He ...

('' Il n'y a pas d'amour heureux''),

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

(''La Légende de la Nonne'', ''Gastibelza''),

Paul Verlaine Paul-Marie Verlaine (; ; 30 March 1844 – 8 January 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement and the Decadent movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the '' fin de siècle'' in international and ...

Jean Richepin Jean Richepin (; 4 February 1849 – 12 December 1926) was a French poet, novelist and dramatist. Biography Son of an army doctor, Jean Richepin was born 4 February 1849 at Médéa, French Algeria. At school and at the École Normale Supé ...

François Villon François Villon ( Modern French: , ; – after 1463) is the best known French poet of the Late Middle Ages. He was involved in criminal behavior and had multiple encounters with law enforcement authorities. Villon wrote about some of these ...

(''La Ballade des Dames du Temps Jadis''), and

Antoine Pol Antoine Pol (23 August 1888 in Douai – 21 June 1971 in Seine-Port) was a French poet. Biography As an artillery captain, he fought in the First World War, and later worked at the Houve mines in Strasbourg in 1919. In 1945, he became pres ...

(''Les Passantes''). During World War II, he was forced by the Germans to work in a labor camp at a BMW aircraft engine plant in

Basdorf Basdorf is a village to the north of Berlin, in the German federal state of Brandenburg. Until 2003, when it merged into Wandlitz Wandlitz is a municipality in the district of Barnim, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 25 km nor ...

near Berlin in Germany (March 1943). Here Brassens met some of his future friends, such as Pierre Onténiente, whom he called ''Gibraltar'' because he was "steady as a rock." They later became close friends. After being given ten days' sick leave in France, he decided not to return to the labor camp. Brassens took refuge in a cul-de-sac called Impasse Florimont in the

14th arrondissement of Paris The 14th arrondissement of Paris ( ), officially named ''arrondissement de l'Observatoire'' (; meaning "arrondissement of the Observatory", after the Paris Observatory), is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. It is situa ...

, a popular district, where he lived for several years with its owner Jeanne Planche, a friend of his aunt. Planche lived with her husband Marcel in relative poverty: without gas, running water, or electricity. Brassens remained hidden there until the end of the war five months later, but ended up staying for 22 years. Planche was the inspiration for Brassens's song ''Jeanne''. He wrote and sang, with his guitar, more than 100 of his poems. From 1952 to 1976, he recorded 14 albums that include several popular French songs such as ''Les copains d'abord'', ''Chanson pour l'Auvergnat'', ''La mauvaise réputation'', and ''Mourir pour des idées''. Most of his texts are tinged with black humour and are often anarchist-minded. In 1967, he received the Grand Prix de Poésie of the Académie française. Apart from Paris and Sète, he lived in

Crespières Crespières () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Twin towns Along with Chavenay, Feucherolles and Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche Crespières is twinned with Rösrath, Germany. See also *Comm ...

(near Paris) and in

Lézardrieux Lézardrieux (; br, Lezardrev) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department of Brittany in northwestern France. The village is situated near the mouth of the estuary of the Trieux river - the suspension bridge ( Pont de Lézardrieux) across th ...

(Brittany).

Biography

Childhood and education

Brassens was born in Sète, a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Hérault Hérault (; oc, Erau, ) is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault River, its prefecture is Montpellier. It had a population of 1,175,623 in 2019.department of the Occitanie region, to a French father and an Italian mother from the town of

Marsico Nuovo Marsico Nuovo ( Lucano: ) is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Potenza in the Basilicata region of southern Italy. It was the seat of the bishops of Grumentum. It is an agricultural centre in the Agri river valley. History The city's ...

(in the province of Potenza, Southern Italy). Brassens grew up in the family home in Sète with his mother Elvira Dagrosa, father Jean-Louis, half-sister Simone (daughter of Elvira and her first husband, who was killed in World War I), and paternal grandfather Jules. His mother, whom Brassens labeled a "activist for songs" (''militante de la chanson''), had a love for music.

Wartime

Exile

In March 1943, Brassens was requisitioned for the STO (''

Service du travail obligatoire The ' ( en, Compulsory Work Service; STO) was the forced enlistment and deportation of hundreds of thousands of French workers to Nazi Germany to work as forced labour for the German war effort during World War II. The STO was created under law ...

'') forced labour organization in Germany. He found time to write ''Bonhomme'' and ''Pauvre Martin'', along with more than 100 other songs that were burned or altered frequently before they reached their final form (''Le Mauvais sujet repenti''). He also wrote the beginning of his first novel, ''Lalie Kakamou''. In Germany, he met some of his best friends like Pierre Onténiente, whom he nicknamed "Gibraltar", because he was "firm as a rock." Onténiente later became his right-hand man and his private secretary. A year after he arrived in Basdorf, Brassens was granted a 10-day furlough. It was obvious to him and his new friends that he wouldn't come back. In Paris, he had to find a hideout, but he knew few people. Finally, Jeanne Planche came to his aid and offered to put him up as long as necessary. Jeanne lived with her husband Marcel in a hovel at 9 impasse Florimont, with no gas, water or electricity. Brassens accepted and stayed there for 22 years. He once said on the radio: "It was nice there, and I have gained since then quite an amazing sense of discomfort." According to Pierre Onténiente: "Jeanne had a crush on Georges, and Marcel knew nothing, as he started to get drunk at eight in the morning."

Anarchist influences

Once put up at Jeanne Planche's, Georges had to stay hidden for five months, waiting for the war to come to an end. He continued writing poems and songs. He composed using as his only instrument a small piece of furniture that he called "my drum" on which he beat out the rhythm. He resumed writing the novel he started in Basdorf, and he considered a career as a novelist. The end of World War II and the freedom suddenly regained didn't change his habits much except that he got his library card back and resumed studying poetry. The end of the war meant the homecoming of the friends from Basdorf, with whom Brassens planned to create an anarchist-minded paper ''Le Cri des Gueux'' (''The villains' cry''), which stopped after the first edition due to a lack of money. At the same time, he set up the "Prehistoric Party" with Emile Miramont (a friend from Sète nicknamed "Corne d'Auroch" – the horn of an Aurochs, an ancient large bovine species) and André Larue (whom he met in Basdorf), which advocated the return to a more modest way of life, but whose chief purpose was to ridicule the other political parties. After the failure of ''Le Cri des Gueux'', Brassens joined the Anarchist Federation and wrote some virulent, black humour-tinged articles for ''Le Libertaire'', the Federation's paper. However, the extravagance of the future songwriter wasn't to everybody's taste, and he had to leave the Federation, albeit without resentment. Brassens said in an interview: "An anarchist is a man who scrupulously crosses at the zebra crossing, because he hates to argue with the agents". He also said: "I'm not very fond of the law. As Léautaud would say I could do without laws...I think most people couldn’t."

Career

His friends who heard and liked his songs urged him to go and try them out in a cabaret, café or concert hall. He was shy and had difficulty performing in front of people. At first, he wanted to sell his songs to well-known singers such as Les Frères Jacques. The owner of a cafe told him that his songs were not the type he was looking for. But at one point he met the singer

Patachou Henriette Ragon (10 June 1918 – 30 April 2015), better known as Patachou, was a French singer and actress. She was an Officier of the Légion d'honneur. Biography Early life Born in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, Henriette Ragon began her ...

in a very well-known cafe, Les Trois Baudets, and she brought him into the music scene. Several famous singers came into the music industry this way, including Jacques Brel and Léo Ferré. He later on made several appearances at the

Paris Olympia The Olympia (; commonly known as L'Olympia or in the English-speaking world as Olympia Hall) is a concert venue in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France, located at 28 Boulevard des Capucines, equally distancing Madeleine church and Opéra ...

under

Bruno Coquatrix Bruno Coquatrix (5 August 1910, Ronchin, Nord – 1 April 1979) was a French music producer, the owner and manager of the Olympia Hall in Paris from 1954 until his death in 1979. Career Coquatrix was first known as a song and music writer. He ...

' management and at the

Bobino Bobino at 20 rue de la Gaîté, in the Montparnasse area of Paris ( 14th arrondissement), France, is a music hall theatre that has seen most of the biggest names of 20th century French music perform there. During its long history it was also ...

music hall theater. He toured with

Pierre Louki Pierre Louki, born Pierre Varenne on 25 July 1920 in Brienon-sur-Armançon in Yonne, died 21 December 2006, was a French actor and singer/songwriter. Louki was the son of Georges Varenne, a teacher in the Yonne who was killed in Auschwitz. He lea ...

, who wrote a book of recollections entitled ''Avec Brassens'' (éditions Christian Pirot, 1999, ). After 1952, Brassens rarely left France. A few trips to Belgium and Switzerland; a month in Canada (1961, recording issued on CD in 2011) and another in North Africa were his only trips outside France – except for his concerts in Wales in 1970 and 1973 (Cardiff). His concert at Cardiff's

Sherman Theatre The Sherman Theatre ( cy, Theatr y Sherman) is a venue in the Cathays district of Cardiff. It was built as a twin-auditorium venue in 1973 with financial support from Cardiff University. Sherman Cymru was the name of the Sherman Theatre between 2 ...

in 1973 saw

Jake Thackray John Philip "Jake" Thackray (27 February 1938 – 24 December 2002) was an English singer-songwriter, poet, humourist and journalist. Best known in the late 1960s and early 1970s for his topical comedy songs performed on British television, his ...

— a great admirer of his work – open for him.

Songs

Georges Brassens (1964) by Erling Mandelmann - 2

Brassens accompanied himself on acoustic guitar. Most of the time the only other accompaniment came from his friend

Pierre Nicolas Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

with a

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

, and sometimes a second guitar (

Barthélémy Rosso Barthélémy Rosso, a/k/a Mimi Rosso (b. Monaco, d. 1971), was a French guitarist and arranger of jazz and classical music. Although he played occasionally with Sidney Bechet,En 1957 au Théâtre de l'Étoile photographies/ref> he is best known ...

, ). His songs often decry hypocrisy and self-righteousness in the conservative French society of the time, especially among the religious, the well-to-do, and those in law enforcement. The criticism is often indirect, focusing on the good deeds or innocence of others in contrast. His elegant use of florid language and dark humor, along with bouncy rhythms, often give a rather jocular feeling to even the grimmest lyrics. Some of his most famous songs include: * 'La Guerre de '14–'18', a song which satirises claims that

World War One World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

was an "ideal war" but condemns it as being "the greatest human slaughterhouse in human history". Later adopted by English comedic duo

Flanders and Swann Flanders and Swann were a British comedy duo. Lyricist, actor and singer Michael Flanders (1922–1975) and composer and pianist Donald Swann (1923–1994) collaborated in writing and performing comic songs. They first worked together in a scho ...

as the basis for their own satire, 'The War of 14–18', which mocks traditional English martial English glory. * "Les copains d'abord," about a boat of that name, and friendship, written for a movie ''Les copains'' (1964) directed by

Yves Robert Yves Robert (19 June 1920 – 10 May 2002) was a French actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. Life and career Robert was born in Saumur, Maine-et-Loire, France. In his teens, he went to Paris to pursue a career in acting, starting with ...

; (translated and covered by Asleep at the Wheel as "''Friendship First''" and by a Polish cover band as "''Kumple to grunt''" and included on their 2007 eponymously titled CD). * "Chanson pour l'

Auvergnat or (endonym: ) is a northern dialect of Occitan spoken in central and southern France, in particular in the former administrative region of Auvergne. Currently, research shows that there is not really a true Auvergnat dialect but rather a va ...

," lauding those who take care of the downtrodden against the pettiness of the bourgeois and the harshness of law enforcement. * " Brave Margot," about a young girl who gives a young kitten the breast, which attracts a large group of male onlookers. * "La Cane de Jeanne," for Marcel and Jeanne Planche, who befriended and sheltered him and others. * "La mauvaise réputation" – "the bad reputation" – a semi-autobiographical tune with its catchy lyric: "Mais les braves gens n'aiment pas que l'on suive une autre route qu'eux" (But the good folks don't like it if you take a different road than they do.) Pierre Pascal adapted part of the lyrics to Spanish under the title "La mala reputación", which was later interpreted by Paco Ibañez. * "Les amoureux des bancs publics" – about young lovers who kiss each other publicly and shock self-righteous people. * "

Pauvre Martin "Pauvre Martin" ("Poor Martin") is a 1953 song by the French singer Georges Brassens Georges Charles Brassens (; 22 October 1921 – 29 October 1981) was a French singer-songwriter and poet. As an iconic figure in France, he achieved fame thro ...

," the suffering of a poor peasant. * " Le Gorille" – tells, in a humorous fashion, of a gorilla with a large penis (and admired for this by ladies) who escapes his cage. Mistaking a robed judge for a woman, the beast forcefully sodomizes him. The song contrasts the wooden attitude that the judge had exhibited when sentencing a man to death by the

guillotine A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at t ...

with his cries for mercy when being assaulted by the gorilla. This song, considered pornographic, was banned for a while. The song's refrain (''Gare au gori – i – i – i – ille'', "beware the gorilla") is widely known; it was translated into English by

as ''Brother Gorilla'', by Greek singer-songwriter Christos Thivaios as Ο Γορίλλας ("The Gorilla"), by Spanish songwriter Joaquín Carbonell as "El Gorila" ("The Gorilla"), by Italian songwriter

Fabrizio De André Fabrizio Cristiano De André (; 18 February 1940 – 11 January 1999) was an Italian singer-songwriter, the most prominent ''cantautore'' of his time. His 40-year career reflects his interests in concept albums, literature, poetry, political pr ...

as "Il Gorilla" ("The Gorilla" – De André included this translation into his 1968 album "Volume III"), by the Polish cover band Zespół Reprezentacyjny as "Goryl" and by Israeli writer Dan Almagor as "הגורילה". * "Fernande" – a 'virile

antiphon An antiphon ( Greek ἀντίφωνον, ἀντί "opposite" and φωνή "voice") is a short chant in Christian ritual, sung as a refrain. The texts of antiphons are the Psalms. Their form was favored by St Ambrose and they feature prominentl ...

' about the women lonely men think about to inspire self-gratification (or to nip it in the bud). Its infamous refrain (''Quand je pense à Fernande, je bande, je bande...'', 'When I think about Fernande, I get hard') is still immediately recognized in France, and has essentially ended the use of several female first names. * " Supplique pour être enterré à la plage de Sète" , a long song (7:18) describing, in a colourful, "live" and poetic way, his wish to be buried on a particular sandy beach in his hometown, "Plage de la Corniche". * "Mourir pour des idées," describing the recurring violence over ideas and an exhortation to be left in peace (translated into Italian by Italian singer-songwriter

as "Morire per delle idee" and included in De André's 1974 album ''Canzoni'' and by the Polish cover band Zespół Reprezentacyjny as "Śmierć za idee" and included on their 2007 CD ''Kumple to grunt''). Tombe de Georges Brassens

Death

Brassens died of cancer in 1981 in Saint-Gély-du-Fesc, having suffered health problems for many years, and rests at the in Sète.

Legacy

Many artists from Japan, Israel, Russia, the United States (where there is a Georges Brassens fan club), Italy and Spain have made cover versions of Brassens's songs. His songs have been translated into 20 languages, including Esperanto. Many singers have covered Georges Brassens' lyrics in other languages, for instance Pierre de Gaillande, who translates Brassens' songs and performs them in English,

Luis Cilia Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish language, Spanish form of the originally Germanic language, Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese language, Portuguese and ...

in Portuguese, Koshiji Fubuki in Japanese,

(in Italian), Alberto Patrucco (in talian),_and_Nanni_Svampa_(in_Italian_and_Milanese),_Graeme_Allwright.html" ;"title="Nanni_Svampa.html" ;"title="talian), and Nanni Svampa">talian), and Nanni Svampa (in Italian and Milanese), Graeme Allwright">Nanni_Svampa.html" ;"title="talian), and Nanni Svampa">talian), and Nanni Svampa (in Italian and Milanese), Graeme Allwright and

(in English), Sam Alpha (in Antillean Creole, creole), Yossi Banai (in Hebrew), Arsen Dedić (in Croatian), Jiří Dědeček (in Czech), Mark Freidkin (in Russian), Loquillo (singer), Loquillo, Joaquín Sabina, Paco Ibáñez, Javier Krahe, Joaquín Carbonell and (in Spanish), Jacques Ivart (in Esperanto), Franz Josef Degenhardt and Ralf Tauchmann (in German),

Mani Matter Mani Matter (4 August 1936 in Herzogenbuchsee – 24 November 1972 in Kilchberg, Zurich, officially Hans-Peter Matter) was a popular Swiss singer-songwriter. Biography Mani Matter was born on 4 August 1936 in Herzogenbuchsee, Canton of Ber ...

in Bernese dialect, Zespół Reprezentacyjny (they released 2 CDs of Brassens' songs in Polish) and

Piotr Machalica Piotr Machalica (13 February 1955 – 14 December 2020) was a Polish theatrical and cinematic actor. Biography Machalica was born into a family of actors. His father, Henryk Machalica and his brother, were both actors. Machalica had two childr ...

(in Polish), Cornelis Vreeswijk and Thorstein Bergman (in Swedish), Tuula Amberla (in Finnish) and Miquel Pujadó i Dumingu (in Catalan). Dieter Kaiser, a Belgian-German singer who performs in public concerts with the French-German professional guitarist Stéphane Bazire under the name Stéphane & Didier has translated into German language and gathered in a brochure 19 Brassens songs. He also translated among others the poem "Il n'y a pas d'amour heureux" of the French contemporary poet Louis Aragon. Franco-Cameroonian singer Kristo Numpuby released a cover album with the original French lyrics but adapted the songs to various African rhythms. An international association of Georges Brassens fans exists and there is also a fan club in Berlin-Basdorf which organizes a Brassens festival every year in September. Brassens composed about 250 songs, of which 200 were recorded, the other 50 remaining unfinished.

Renée Claude Renée Claude (born Renée Bélanger; July 3, 1939 – May 12, 2020) was a Canadian actress and singer Denise Ménard, Suzanne Thomas and Benoît L'Herbier"Renée Claude" ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'', January 20, 2010. who was known as an inter ...

, an important Québécois singer, dedicated a tribute-album to him, ''J'ai rendez-vous avec vous'' (1993). ''Le Dîner de Cons'', 1998's top-grossing film in France, used Brassens' song ''"Le Temps Ne Fait Rien a l'Affaire"'' as its opening title music. His songs have a major influence on many French singers across several generations, including

Maxime Le Forestier Maxime Le Forestier (; born 10 February 1949 as Bruno Le Forestier) is a French singer-songwriter. Life and career Bruno Le Forestier was born on 10 February 1949 in Paris to father Robert Le Forestier and mother Genevieve (née Lili 1917–2010 ...

Renaud Renaud Pierre Manuel Séchan (), known as Renaud (), born 11 May 1952, is a French singer, songwriter and actor. His characteristically 'broken' voice makes for a very distinctive vocal style. Several of his songs are popular classics in F ...

Bénabar Bruno Nicolini (born 16 June 1969), better known by his stage name Bénabar, is a French songwriter and singer, who could be compared to Vincent Delerm and other singers from his generation. As many of them he was influenced by Georges Brassens ...

and others. In 2008, the English folk-singer

Leon Rosselson Leon Rosselson (born 22 June 1934, Harrow, Middlesex, England) is an English songwriter and writer of children's books. After his early involvement in the folk music revival in Britain, he came to prominence, singing his own satirical songs, i ...

included a tribute song to Brassens, titled " The Ghost of Georges Brassens", on his album ''

A Proper State A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes' ...

''. The song "À Brassens" ("To Brassens") from

Jean Ferrat Jean Ferrat (born Jean Tenenbaum; 26 December 1930 – 13 March 2010) was a French singer-songwriter and poet. He specialized in singing poetry, particularly that of Louis Aragon. He had a left-wing sympathy that found its way into a few songs. ...

's album '' Ferrat'' was dedicated to Brassens. In 2014, Australian-French duo Mountain Men released a live tribute album ''Mountain Men chante Georges Brassens''. " 6587 Brassens" is an asteroid discovered in 1984 and named in honour of the French poet and songwriter.

Heritage sites

Many schools, theatres, parks, public gardens, and public places are dedicated to Georges Brassens and his work, including: * L'Espace Brassens in his hometown of Sète, a museum to his life. * A park built on the site of the former Vaugirard horse market & slaughterhouses, was named '' Parc Georges-Brassens''. Brassens lived a large part of his life about hundred metres from the slaughterhouses, at 9, impasse Florimont and then at 42, rue Santos-Dumont. The park was inaugurated in 1975. * A nearby station of Tram line 3 in Paris is also named in Brassens' honour. * The ''Place du Marché'' of Brive-la-Gaillarde was renamed ''Place Georges-Brassens'' as a tribute to his well-known song ''Hécatombe'', which name-drops the market. * In the

Paris Métro The Paris Métro (french: Métro de Paris ; short for Métropolitain ) is a rapid transit system in the Paris metropolitan area, France. A symbol of the city, it is known for its density within the capital's territorial limits, uniform architec ...

station Porte des Lilas ( Line 11) there is a mural portrait of Brassens with a quote from his song "Les Lilas", written for the 1957 film '' Porte des Lilas'' by

René Clair René Clair (11 November 1898 – 15 March 1981), born René-Lucien Chomette, was a French filmmaker and writer. He first established his reputation in the 1920s as a director of silent films in which comedy was often mingled with fantasy. He wen ...

. In this film, Brassens had a supporting role, practically playing himself.

Discography

Georges Brassens (1964) by Erling Mandelmann

All of Georges Brassens' studio albums are untitled. They are referred as self-titled with a number, by the title of the first song on the album, or by the most well-known song.

Studio albums

* 1952: ''La Mauvaise Réputation'' * 1953: ''Le Vent'' (or ''Les Amoureux des bancs publics'') ** including ''

'' * 1954: ''Les Sabots d'Hélène'' (or ''Chanson pour l'Auvergnat'') * 1956: ''Je me suis fait tout petit'' * 1957: ''Oncle Archibald'' * 1958: ''Le Pornographe'' * 1960: ''Les Funérailles d'antan'' (or ''Le Mécréant'') * 1961: ''Le Temps ne fait rien à l'affaire'' * 1962: ''Les Trompettes de la renommée'' * 1964: ''Les Copains d'abord'' * 1966: ''Supplique pour être enterré à la plage de Sète'' * 1969: ''Misogynie à part'' (or ''La Religieuse'') * 1972: ''Fernande'' * 1976: ''Trompe la mort'' (or ''Nouvelles chansons'') * 1979: ''Brassens-Moustache jouent Brassens en jazz'' (with

Moustache A moustache (; en-US, mustache, ) is a strip of facial hair grown above the upper lip. Moustaches have been worn in various styles throughout history. Etymology The word "moustache" is French, and is derived from the Italian ''mustaccio'' ...

and les Petits français, jazz versions of previously released songs; re-released in 1987 as ''Giants of Jazz Play Brassens'') * 1982: ''Georges Brassens chante les chansons de sa jeunesse'' (cover album of old songs)

Live albums

* 1973: ''Georges Brassens in Great Britain'' * 1996: ''Georges Brassens au TNP'' (recorded in 1966) * 2001: ''Georges Brassens à la Villa d'Este'' (recorded in 1953) * 2001: ''Bobino 64'' * 2006: ''Concerts de 1959 à 1976'' (box set featuring concerts from 1960, 1969, 1970, 1973 and 1976)

References

External links

* *
Espace Brassens museum in Sète
*
Georges-Brassens.com
* *

from the Daily Bleed's Anarchist Encyclopedia *
Project Brassens
Brassens's complete production with English and Italian translations. Toutes les chansons de Georges Brassens avec les traductions des textes en anglais et italien - Tutte le canzoni di Georges Brassens con i testi tradotti in inglese e italiano. {{DEFAULTSORT:Brassens, Georges 1921 births 1981 deaths People from Sète French male guitarists French male singer-songwriters French singer-songwriters French people of Italian descent French anarchists French satirists 20th-century French poets Members of the French Anarchist Federation 20th-century guitarists 20th-century French male singers French World War II forced labourers Counterculture of the 1960s Counterculture of the 1970s