Henri Salvador

Henri Salvador
Henri Salvador in 2006
Background information
Origin	France
Occupations	Singer
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1930s–2008

Henri Salvador (18 July 1917 – 13 February 2008) was a French Caribbean singer.

Biography

Salvador was born in Cayenne, French Guiana. His father, Clovis, and his mother, Antonine Paterne, daughter of a native Indian from the Caribbean, were both from Guadeloupe, French West Indies. He had a brother, André, and a sister, Alice.

He began his musical career 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 by Boris Vian with Quincy Jones as arranger. He played many years with Ray Ventura et Ses Collégiens where he used to sing, dance and even play comedy on stage.

He also appeared in movies such as "Nous irons à Monte-Carlo (1950) ", "Nous irons à Paris" (Jean Boyer's film of 1949 with the Peters Sisters) and "Mademoiselle s'amuse" (1948).

He is known to have recorded the first French rock and roll songs in 1957 written by Boris Vian and Michel Legrand "Rock'n Roll Mops", "Rock hoquet, Va t'faire cuire un oeuf, man" and "Dis-moi qu'tu m'aimes rock" under the artist name of Henry Cording (a play on the word "Recording"). Despite this historical aspect, he never ceased to claim that he disliked Rock and Roll and even refused to talk about this subject later on.

In the 1960s, 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 Coasters' U.S. hit "Along Came Jones". He is also famous for his rich, catchy laugh, which is a theme in many of his humorous songs. In 1969, Henri Salvador recorded a variation of "Mah Nà Mah Nà" entitled "Mais non, mais non" ("But No, But No" or "Of Course Not, Of Course Not"), with lyrics he had written in French to Piero Umiliani's music.

Henri Salvador and his song "Dans mon île" (1957) was thought to be an influence on 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?"). Veloso also recorded a version of Salvador's song Dans mon Île.

At age 70, Salvador was the voice-over of the crab Sebastian in the 1989 French dubbing of Disney's The Little Mermaid. Recordings of "Embrasse La" ("Kiss the Girl") can be found on YouTube.

Salvador discovered singers Keren Ann and Art Mengo.

He died of a ruptured aneurysm at his home in the early hours of 13 February 2008. He was 90 years of age. He was buried with his wife Jacqueline in the Père-Lachaise Cemetery.

He was known as a supporter of Paris Saint-Germain F.C. He obtained four seats for lifetime in the Parc des Princes.

Legacy

Henri Salvador continues to be popular today among French communities in Canada. In 2000, Virgin Records released a CD featuring popular hits such as "Jazz Mediterrannee", which continues to receive regular air play. In 2002 his album Chambre Avec Vue sold over two million copies. In 2005, 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. That same year he took 52nd place in the election of Le Plus Grand Français (The Greatest Frenchman).

He was also a commander of the French Légion d'honneur and of the National Order of Merit. In 2007 he released Reverence on V2 Records, featuring Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso. He then went on to perform the track "La Vie C'est La Vie" from that album on the BBC program Later … With Jools Holland, which aired on 4 May 2007.

Famous songs

• "Clopin clopant" (1950)
• "Maladie d'Amour" (1950)
• "L'abeille et le papillon" (1954)
• "Je vous'aime" (1955)
• "Blouse du dentiste" (1956)
• "Bonjour sourire" (1956)
• "Le loup, la biche et le chevalier (une chanson douce)" (1957)
• "Rock 'n Roll Mops" (1957)
• "Rock Hoquet" (1957)
• "Dans mon île" (1958)
• "Une bonne paire de claques" (1958)
• "Faut rigoler" (1960)
• "Le lion est mort ce soir" (1962) ("The Lion Sleeps Tonight")
• "Syracuse" (1962)
• "Minnie petite souris (1963) ("Pepino the Italian Mouse")
• "Monsieur Boum Boum (1963)
• "Ma Pipe" (1964)
• "Zorro est arrivé" (1964) ("Along Came Jones")
• "Le travail c'est la santé" (1965)
• "Juanita banana" (1966)
• "Mais non, mais non" (1969) (Mah Nà Mah Nà)
• "Fugue en rire" (1970)
• "C'est pas la joie" (1973)
• "J'aime tes g'nous" (1974) ("Shame, Shame, Shame")
• "Ouais" (1978)
• "Blues Dingue" (1989)

Last hit single / album Chambre avec vue 2001

External links

• Henri Salvador – Obituary

Preceded by -M-

Victoires de la Musique Male group or artist of the year 2001

Succeeded by Gérald de Palmas