Henri Salvador
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Henri Salvador (July 18, 1917 - February 13 2008) was a French singer.
Biography
His father, Clovis, and his mother, Antonine Paterne, daughter of a native Indian from the Caribbean, were both from Guadeloupe, France.
Born in Cayenne, French Guiana, his musical career began as a guitarist accompanying other singers. He had learned the guitar by imitating Django Reinhardt's recordings, and was to work alongside him in the 1940s.
Salvador recorded several songs written with Boris Vian with Quincy Jones as arranger. He is known to have recorded the first French Rock'n Roll in 1956 written by Boris Vian and Michel Legrand.
In the sixties Salvador was the host of several popular television variety shows on French TV.
In 1964 he scored a hit with "Zorro est arrivé" (which was inspired by the English song "Along Came Jones"). He is also famous for his rich, catchy laugh, which is a subject in many of his humorous songs.
Henri Salvador and his song "Dans mon île" (1957) was one of the influenced in Antônio Carlos Jobim in formulating the Brazilian Bossa Nova style.
Caetano Veloso, a famous Brazilian composer and singer, made Henri Salvador famous to Brazilian audiences with the song "Reconvexo", in which he says "quem não sentiu o swing de Henri Salvador?" ('who hasn't felt the swing of Henri Salvador?')
He has a brother, André, and a sister, Alice. He became a musician and comedian. Later he discovered singers Keren Ann and Art Mengo.
Henri continues to be popular today among French communities in Canada. In 2000, Virgin Records released a CD featuring popular hits like "Jazz Mediterrannee" which continues to receive regular air play. In 2002 his album 'Chambre Avec Vue' sold over two million copies. In 2005, Henri Salvador was awarded the Brazilian Order of Cultural Merit, which he received from the acclaimed singer and Minister of Culture, Gilberto Gil, in the presence of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for his influence on Brazilian culture, particularly on bossa nova, to whose invention he contributed. He is also a commander of the French Légion d'honneur and of the National Order of Merit. In 2007 he released "Reverence" on V2 Records which features Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso. He then went on to perform the track "La Vie C'est La Vie" from the album "Reverence" on the BBC programme "Later... With Jools Holland," which aired on 4th May 2007.
Famous Songs
- Maladie d' Amour (1947)
- Clopin clopant (1947)
- Une chanson douce (Le loup, la biche et le chevalier) (1950)
- Rock Hoquet (1956)
- Rock 'n Roll Mops (1956)
- Blouse du dentiste (1956)
- Dans mon île (1958)
- Une bonne paire de claques (1958)
- Syracuse (1960)
- Faut rigoler (1960)
- Le lion est mort ce soir (1962) (The lion sleeps tonight)
- Minnie petite souris (1963)
- Monsieur Boum Boum (1963)
- Zorro est arrivé (1964) (Along Came Jones)
- Ma Pipe (1964)
- Le travail c'est la santé (1965)
- Juanita banana (1966)
- Mais non, mais non (1969) (Mahna Mahna)
- Fugue en rire (1970)
- C'est pas la joie (1973)
- J'aime tes g'noux (1974) (Shame shame shame)
- Ouais (1978)
- Blues Dingue (1989)
