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

Ferrat was born in Vaucresson, Hauts-de-Seine, the youngest of four children from a modest family which moved to
Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
in 1935, where Ferrat studied at the Jules Ferry College. His
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
n-born father (naturalized in 1928) was forced to wear the yellow star and deported to
Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...
in 1942, where he died. In the early 1950s, he started in Parisian cabaret. After that he avoided any particular musical style, but remained faithful to himself, his friends and his public. In 1956, he set ''"Les yeux d'Elsa"'' (''"Elsa's eyes"''), a
Louis Aragon Louis Aragon (; 3 October 1897 – 24 December 1982) was a French poet who was one of the leading voices of the Surrealism, surrealist movement in France. He co-founded with André Breton and Philippe Soupault the surrealist review ''Littératur ...
poem which Ferrat loved, to music. Its rendition by popular artist André Claveau brought Ferrat some initial recognition as a songwriter. His first 45 RPM single was released in 1958, without success. It was not until 1959, with publisher Gérard Meys, who also became his close friend and associate, that his career started to flourish. He signed with
Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, record label * Decca Gold, classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, musical theater record label * Decca Studios, recording facility in West ...
and released his second single, ''"Ma Môme"'', in 1960 under the musical direction of Meys. In 1961, Ferrat married Christine Sèvres, a singer who performed some of his songs. She died in 1981 at age 50. He met Alain Goraguer, who became an arranger of his songs. His debut album, ''Deux Enfants du Soleil'', was released that year. Ferrat also wrote songs for Zizi Jeanmaire and went on the road, sharing billing with her at the Alhambra for six months. ''Nuit et Brouillard'' (''"Night and Fog"''), which followed in 1963, was awarded the Académie Charles Cros's Grand Prix du Disque and showed any topic could be put in songs. Ferrat toured again in 1965, but stopped performing on stage in 1973. In 1990, he received an award from the Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique, (SACEM) the French association of songwriters, composers and music publishers. Jean Ferrat is a graduate of the
Conservatoire national des arts et métiers The (; ; abbr. CNAM) is an AMBA-accredited French ''grande école'' and '' grand établissement''. It is a member of the '' Conférence des Grandes écoles'', which is an equivalent to the Ivy League schools in the United States, Oxbridge in th ...
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Death

Ferrat died in
Aubenas Aubenas (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the southern part of the Ardèche Departments of France, department in Southern France. It is the seat of several government offices. The mountainous and rugged countryside is popular for vacation ...
,
Ardèche Ardèche (; , ; ) is a Departments of France, department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche (river), Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.Antraigues-sur-Volane, a small village of not even 700 people in Ardeche.


Acclaim

In 2013 Ferrat's song, ''Nuit et Brouillard'', appeared in the BBC's list of 20 songs that changed the world. In 2015, a tribute album was released by Columbia Records where various artists interpreted songs by Jean Ferrat. The 15-track album titled ''Hommage à Jean Ferrat: Des airs de liberté'' contained performances by artists Marc Lavoine, Cali, Dionysos, Julien Doré, Patrick Bruel, Catherine Deneuve, Benjamin Biolay, Raphaël, Patrick Fiori, Grégoire, Sanseverino, Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine, Zebda, Natasha St Pier, Patricia Petibon & Marc Lavoine and "Ma France" sung by Jean Ferrat. The album charted in France, Belgium and Switzerland.Lescharts.com ''Hommage à Jean Ferrat: Des airs de liberté'' by Various Artists
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Discography

* 1961 : ''Deux enfants au soleil'' ("Ma Môme", "Federico Garcia Lorca", etc.) * 1962 : ''La fête aux copains'' ("Les petits bistrots", "L'homme à l'oreille coupée", etc.) * 1963 : ''Nuit et brouillard'' ("C'est beau la vie", "Nous dormirons ensemble", etc.) * 1964 : ''La Montagne'' ("Que serais-je sans toi", "Hourrah !", etc.) * 1965 : ''Potemkine'' ("C'est toujours la première fois", "On ne voit pas le temps passer", etc.) * 1966 : ''Maria'' ("Heureux celui qui meurt d'aimer", "Un enfant quitte Paris", etc.) * 1967 : ''À Santiago'' ("Cuba si", "Les Guérilleros", etc.) * 1969 : ''Ma France'' ("Au printemps de quoi rêvais-tu ?", "L'Idole à papa", etc.) * 1970 : ''Camarade'' ("Sacré Félicien", "Les Lilas", etc.) * 1971 : ''La Commune'' ("Les touristes partis", "Aimer à perdre la raison", etc.) * 1971 : ''Ferrat chante Aragon'' ("Le Malheur d'aimer", "Robert le Diable", etc.) sold more than 2,000,000 copies * 1972 : ''À moi l'Afrique'' ("Une femme honnête", "Les Saisons", etc.) * 1975 : ''La femme est l'avenir de l'homme'' ("Dans le silence de la ville", "Un air de liberté", etc.) sold 500,000 copies * 1979 : ''Les Instants volés'' ("Le Tiers chant", "Le chef de gare est amoureux", etc.) * 1980 : ''Ferrat 80'' ("L'amour est cerise", etc.) certified platinum record ** including '' Le Bilan'' * 1985 : ''Je ne suis qu'un cri'' ("La Porte à droite", "Le Chataîgnier", etc.) * 1991 : ''Dans la jungle ou dans le zoo'' ("Les Tournesols", "Nul ne guérit de son enfance", etc.) * 1995 : ''Ferrat chante Aragon Vol. 2 - Ferrat 95'' ("Complainte de Pablo Neruda", "Les feux de Paris", "Lorsque s'en vient le soir", etc.) * 2002 : ''Ferrat en scène'' ("Dingue", "Chante l'amour", Le grillon", etc.) ;Compilations * 2009: ''Best Of'' (3 CDs)


References


External links

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Fan site (archived)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrat, Jean 1930 births 2010 deaths Musicians from Hauts-de-Seine French people of Russian-Jewish descent Decca Records artists French satirists French satirical musicians French Ashkenazi Jews 20th-century French male singers Conservatoire national des arts et métiers alumni French male singer-songwriters French singer-songwriters Jewish French musicians