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 Robert Le Forestier and Genevieve (''née'' Lili 1917–2010), who had lived in England. He had two older sisters, Annette (born 1943) and Catherine (born 1946). His musical training started on the violin. He attended the

Lycée Condorcet The Lycée Condorcet () is a secondary school in Paris, France, located at 8, rue du Havre, in the city's 9th arrondissement. Founded in 1803, it is one of the four oldest high schools in Paris and also one of the most prestigious. Since its inc ...

, where he studied literature. In 1965, he formed a duo (''Cat et Maxime'') with his sister Catherine. Playing at cabaret venues on Paris'

Left Bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrain alongsid ...

, the pair met and formed a friendship with

Georges Moustaki Georges Moustaki (born Giuseppe Mustacchi; 3 May 1934 – 23 May 2013) was an Egyptian- French singer-songwriter of Greek-Jewish origin. He wrote about 300 songs for some of the most popular singers in France, including Édith Piaf, Dalida, Fran ...

. They were amongst the first artists to cover a number of songs by Moustaki – including ''Ma Liberté'' and ''Ma Solitude''. In 1968, Catherine joined Moustaki as a backing singer. Le Forestier began to focus on songwriting and composed ''Ballade pour un traître'' which was recorded and released by the French/Italian singer and actor,

Serge Reggiani Serge Reggiani (born Sergio Reggiani; 2 May 1922 – 23 July 2004) was an Italian-French actor and singer. He was born in Reggio Emilia, Italy, and moved to France with his parents at the age of eight. After studying acting at the Conservato ...

. Le Forestier continued as part-time singer/songwriter during his military service (beginning 1969) with a parachute regiment (the inspiration for the song ''Parachutiste''). He recorded two songs: ''Cœur de Pierre, Face de Lune'', and ''La Petite Fugue''. His military service ending September 1970, Le Forestier refocused on his musical career. He developed a folksy style which was enormously popular in the 1970s and 1980s. He and his sister spent the summer of 1971 living in the

Castro District The Castro District, commonly referred to as the Castro, is a neighborhood in Eureka Valley in San Francisco. The Castro was one of the first gay neighborhoods in the United States. Having transformed from a working-class neighborhood throug ...

of San Francisco at the invitation of his friend, Luc Alexandre. The experience, and meeting

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of th ...

, was the inspiration of a popular song, ''San Francisco''. His first album ''Mon Frère'', released in 1973, contains several pieces that have entered French folklore, including the title song ''Mon frère'', ''San Francisco'', ''Comme un arbre'' and ''Education sentimentale''. He toured extensively, both in France and abroad. In 1976, he toured in 14 cities in the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. Recently he has gained particular acclaim for his reworkings of the songs of

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 through his elegant songs with their harmonically complex music for voice and guitar and ...

In popular culture

"San Francisco", one of his best known songs, begins with the line: "C'est une maison bleue adossée à la colline" (meaning "It's a blue house with its back to the hill"). In 1971, a young Le Forestier was living in a hippie commune, called "Hunga Dunga", in a blue house situated at 3841 18th Street in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. The anthemic song was written as a fond tribute to Le Forestier's housemates and hippie friends, and the names mentioned in the song refer to real people. These include Phil Polizatto, who recalls with great affection Le Forestier's stay in the blue house, in a critically acclaimed book entitled "Hunga Dunga: Confessions of an Unapologetic Hippie". In the summer of 2011, the house was repainted from light green to its original blue, and a plaque dedicated to Le Forestier was unveiled by the French Consul, pointing to the cultural importance of the song in French popular culture.

Philanthropy

Maxime Le Forestier has participated in

Les Enfoirés Les Enfoirés (, "The Tossers" or "The Bastards") is the name given to the singers and performers in the yearly charity concert for the Restaurants du Cœur. Founded at the initiative of Coluche in 1986, a year after the Restaurants du Cœur, ...

, the annual concert to raise money for the charity Restaurants du Cœur, since 1995."Maxime Le Forestier"
(in French). ''Enfoires.com''. Retrieved 23 February 2017.

Discography

Albums

*1970: ''Maxime Le Forestier'' *1972: ''

Mon frère ''Mon frère'' is a 2019 French drama film directed and co-written by Julien Abraham, starring French rapper MHD. The plot revolves around Teddy (MHD) a young man who is accused of the murder of his violent father, when trying to protect his lit ...

'' *1973: ''Le Steak'' *1974: ''Enregistrement public'' (live) *1975: ''Saltimbanque'' *1976: ''Hymne à Sept Temps'' *1979: ''Chante Brassens'' *1980: ''Les rendez-vous manqués'' *1978: ''N° 5'' *1981: ''Dans ces histoires...'' *1983: ''Les jours meilleurs'' *1986: ''After shave'' *1988: ''Né quelque part'' *1989: ''Bataclan 1989'' (live) *1991: ''Sagesse du fou'' *1995: ''Passer ma route'' *1996: ''Chienne de route'' (live) *1996: ''12 nouvelles de Brassens (Petits bonheurs posthumes'' (2 cd) *1998: ''Le cahier'' (4 cd, live) *2000: ''L'écho des étoiles'' *2002: ''Plutôt guitare'' (2 cd, live) *2008: ''Restons amants'' *2013: ''Le cadeau'' *2014: ''Olympia 2014'' (live) *2019: ''Paraître ou ne pas être''

Selected songs

*1972: "Mon frère" *1972: "San Francisco" *1972: "Éducation sentimentale" *1972: "Parachutiste" *1972: "Comme un arbre" *1973: "Dialogue" *1973: "Entre 14 et 40 ans, février de cette année-là" *1975: "Saltimbanque" *1978: "Je veux quitter ce monde heureux" *1980: "Approximative" *1983: "Les jours meilleurs" *1983: "La salle des pas perdus" *1987: "Né quelque part" *1988: "Ambalaba" *1991: "Bille de verre" *1995: "Passer ma route" *1995: "Chienne d'idée" *2000: "L'Homme au bouquet de fleurs" *2008: "Restons amants" *2008: "Grain d'sel" *2013: "Mon frère" *2013: "Le p'tit air" ;Selected collaborations and guest appearances *1980: ''Enregistrement public au Palais des sports'' (live double album w/

Graeme Allwright Graeme Allwright (7 November 1926 – 16 February 2020) was a New Zealand-born French singer and songwriter. He became popular in the 1960s and 1970s as a French language interpreter of the songs of American and Canadian songwriters such as Leona ...

) *2009: ''Les Enfoirés 2009 - Les Enfoirés font leur cinéma'' ("Toi + moi", sung by Maurane, Le Forestier, Keim, Darmon, Zenatti, De Palmas, Foly, Leroy, Les Enfoirés)

References

External links

* (in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Le Forestier, Maxime 1949 births Living people Musicians from Paris French people of English descent French male singers Lycée Condorcet alumni