Léo Ferré

Léo Ferré is recognized as one of the greatest songwriters, composers and performers of French chanson. Born in Monaco on August 24, 1916, he discovered classical music and singing in his youth, which he spent at a boarding school in Italy, and then poetry, which played a major role in his work. Settling in Paris in 1935 to study law and political science, he was mobilized during the war and began writing songs, including "La Chanson du scaphandrier", covered by Henri Salvador. After performing under the name Forlane, he spent three months at the cabaret Le Boeuf sur le Toit, where he met Jean-Roger Caussimon, with whom he wrote "Monsieur William" (1950), but was slow to make a name for himself, despite numerous appearances at Les Trois Mailletz, L'Écluse and Milord l'Arsouille, and compositions and lyrics for Édith Piaf, Renée Lebas and Yves Montand. In 1954, Le Chant du Monde, the label he had been under contract with for seven years, released his first album, including "La Vie d'artiste" and "L'Île Saint-Louis". However, Léo Ferré had already signed with Odéon, where "Paris canaille", "Le Pont Mirabeau " and "Le Piano du pauvre" appeared. Ferré's oratorio La Chanson du mal-aimé, based on verses by Apollinaire, and La Symphonie interrompue, premiered at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo. Now a fixture at the Olympia in 1955, he is as much the singer of the poets Aragon, Baudelaire, Verlaine and Rimbaud as the author of such acclaimed songs as "Paname" and "Jolie môme", since his move to Barclay in 1960. The author of anarchist verses such as "Merde à Vauban", "Ni Dieu ni maître" and "Thank You Satan" was also able to compose melodies that appealed to a wide audience, who came to applaud him at Bobino, the Alhambra, the A.B.C. and the Mutualité. As the 1968 revolt rumbled on, the most committed of singers set his poem "Poètes, vos papiers!" to music and, after the events of the spring, returned with the album L'Été 68, best known for the hit "C'est extra" and a tribute to his female chimpanzee Pépée. 1970 saw him record in New York with John McLaughlin ("Le Chien") and collaborate with the progressive rock band Zoo for the albums Amour Anarchie, then La Solitude (1971), with its title track adopted by radio stations, as well as the melancholy "Avec le temps", initially rejected by Barclay, from whom he parted company after the album L'Espoir (1974). After three albums for CBS, including the symphonic Léo Ferré Muet... Dirige (1975), followed by a second album in Italian, Ferré performed at the Printemps de Bourges festival in 1982, releasing the triple album Ludwig - L'Imaginaire - Le Bateau Ivre, followed by L'Opéra du Pauvre (1983), a concert at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées (1984) and Les Loubards (1985). He remained at the Théâtre Dejazet for six weeks in 1986 and recorded his last three albums for the EPM label, the last of which was devoted to Rimbaud, Une Saison en Enfer (1991). Stricken by illness, he died in Castellina in Chianti, Italy, on July 14, 1993, aged 76. His son, Matthieu Ferré, is in charge of his legacy through the publishing house and label La Mémoire et la Mer.