My morning news feed included a pointer to a radio documentary from France Culture about George Brassens and his musical origins. I was having trouble dragging myself out of bed for my morning walk, but the prospect of listening to his songs instead of my usual fare of France Inter 6/9 succeeded in pushing me over the edge. The documentary, Auprès de Brassens, runs four hours in total, but so far I’ve listed to the first 45 minutes only.
I like it a lot. Probably more interesting as the 21st hour listening to and about Brassens than it would be as the 1st hour, but if you already know this giant of 20th century french music, it’s worth a listen.
Here’s the blurb from https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/les-series-musicales/aupres-de-brassens:
«Derrière la pipe et la moustache d’une icône de la chanson se cache un homme paradoxal qui dit bien des choses de la France d’hier et d’aujourd’hui. À l’occasion du centenaire de la naissance de Georges Brassens, cette série musicale vient célébrer le génie, la poésie et la pensée libre en chanson.»
«Par Victor Macé de Lépinay, producteur du Rayon BD sur France Culture, il est aussi un passionné de chansons et de Brassens en particulier, avec lequel il chemine depuis une vingtaine d’années.»
I definitely plan to listen to the whole series this week.