''Cannabis'' is a

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

by French singer-songwriter

Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French singer-songwriter, actor, composer, and director. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provocative rel ...

, released in May 1970 through

Philips Records Philips Records is a record label founded by Netherlands, Dutch electronics company Philips and in 1999 was absorbed into Netherlands, Dutch-United States, American music corporation Universal Music Group. It was founded as Philips Phonograph ...

, accompanying the 1970 film of the same name, directed by

Pierre Koralnik Pierre Koralnik (born 22 December 1938) is a French film director and screenwriter. He directed the 1967 film ''Anna (1967 film), Anna'', which starred Anna Karina. Selected filmography * ''Anna (1967 film), Anna'' (1967) * ''Cannabis (film), Ca ...

and starring Gainsbourg,

Jane Birkin Jane Mallory Birkin ( ; 14 December 1946 – 16 July 2023) was a British and French actress, singer, and designer. She had a prolific career as an actress, mostly in French cinema. A native of London, Birkin began her career as an actress, ...

, and

Curd Jürgens Curd Gustav Andreas Gottlieb Franz Jürgens (13 December 191518 June 1982) was a German-Austrian stage and film actor. He was usually billed in English-speaking films as Curt Jurgens. He was well known for playing Ernst Udet in ''Des Teufels Gener ...

Conception

Background

After collaborating on ''Anna'', a 1967 television movie starring

Anna Karina Anna Karina (born Hanne Karin Blarke Bayer; 23 September 1940 – 14 December 2019)

, Gainsbourg and French director

decided to work on another movie which would eventually become ''Cannabis'', when three producers (Roger Duchet, Andrée Debar, and Nat Wachsberger) commissioned one, based on seeing Gainsbourg and his then-lover

starring together in the 1969 film, ''Slogan'', directed by Pierre Grimblat. All of the music for ''Cannabis'' was composed and written by Gainsbourg after the film had been shot, with help from arranger

Jean-Claude Vannier Jean-Claude Vannier (born 1943) is a French musician, composer and arranger. Vannier has composed music, written lyrics, and produced albums for many singers. Vannier is regarded as an important musician in his native country; music critic Andy ...

, with whom Gainsbourg would again collaborate the following year on ''

Histoire de Melody Nelson ''Histoire de Melody Nelson'' (; "Story of Melody Nelson") is a 1971 concept album by French singer and songwriter Serge Gainsbourg, arranged and co-written by Jean-Claude Vannier. Produced by Jean-Claude Desmarty, the album was released on March ...

''.

Recording

''Cannabis'' was recorded at Studio Davout, a recording studio in Paris, France, with producers Roger Duchet and Nat Wachselberger.

Reception

Upon its release, ''Cannabis'' was received positively. Thom Jurek of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

wrote that it was "among the most startling ..in ainsbourg'soeuvre", and also noted that the score was "one of the most sophisticated ..Gainsbourg ever conceived".

Track listing

All music composed by Serge Gainsbourg and arranged by Jean-Claude Vannier.

Release history

References

External links

*
Cannabis
' at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

{{Authority control Serge Gainsbourg albums 1970 soundtrack albums Philips Records soundtracks Film scores French-language soundtracks 1970s French-language albums