Charles Trenet part 2

At the start of World War II, Trenet was called up. He was in barracks at Salon-de-Provence until he was demobilized in June 1940, when he moved back to Paris. There he performed at the Folies Bergère or at the Gaîté Parisienne (two famous cabarets) in front of a public often consisting of German officers and soldiers. He refused to socialise with the German officers who made up almost all of his audiences, but when Paris newspapers reported he was a Jew and the son of a rabbi, he produced four generations of his parish records to prove he had no Jewish blood. Later, his agent was said to carry Trenet's birth certificate when negotiating contracts.

The Épuration Légale ("legal purge"), the wave of official trials that followed the Liberation of France and the fall of the Vichy Regime, examined whether Trenet was guilty of collaboration but the inquiry resulted in a mere reprimand without any further consequences.

l. to r.: Charles Aznavour, Georges El Assidi, Charles Trenet

Some of his greatest hits arrived at this period. In 1940 he gave us the tender Près De Toi Mon Amour. The lighthearted and comic songs of the earlier period were giving way to more mature material.

In 1941, Verlaine saw Trenet moving in a new direction: he dressed Paul Verlaine's (Arthur Rimbaud's lover) most famous poem, Chanson d'automne with a great jazzy melody:

1942 was a great year for Trenet. Que Reste-T-Il De Nos Amours ? is his second most famous song: it is a wistful recollection of time gone by, quite in the vein of Stardust and Yesterday, When I Was Young. Here's Trenet's sensitive rendition:

As with many of his greatest songs, his was not the first recording of the song: before he released it himself, he gave the song to Lucienne Boyer:

A great contemporary version is the one by Stacey Kent in 2000:

This song was also given English lyrics and a new title, I Wish You Love. It has had several remarkable versions. From 1960, here's a singer that I'm fond of, Nancy Wilson:

Another one of my favorites, Nat King Cole gave us a great version:

Barbra Streisand covered the song spectacularly in 1966:

I could go on and on, from Frank Sinatra to Marlene Dietrich and from Chet Baker to Rod Stewart, but let's just play one more version: talented Rachael Yamagata covered the song in 2005:

Back to Trenet and 1942: La Romance de Paris was another big hit.

This version by Zaz featuring Thomas Dutronc came out in 2014:

In 1943 he wrote Douce France, a slyly patriotic song in the midst of the Nazi occupation, which was originally given to his protegé Roland Gerbeau:

He himself recorded it later:

WWII ended and France was liberated. La Mer came to be. We've heard a number of versions yesterday - here's one that we haven't: Jazzwoman Dee Dee Bridgewater's from 2005.

After the end of the war, he moved to the United States. Legend has it he was detained in Ellis Island for 26 days because he was gay. He eventually reached the mainland, where he lived for a few years and where he quickly became a success. After a few triumphant concerts at the Bagdad in New York, Trenet became a big hit and was approached by Hollywood. He met the likes of Louis Armstrong and began a long-lasting friendship with Charlie Chaplin.

He thoroughly enjoyed himself there. One of the songs that he wrote about it was Grand'maman, C'est New-York (Grandmother, It's New York):

On 14 September 1951, Trenet returned to Paris and made a comeback at the Théâtre de l'Étoile. He incorporated ten new songs into his act, including De La Fenêtre D'en Haut and La Folle Complainte. The latter's title was a wordplay: La Folle originally means madwoman, but it is also commonly used to describe flamboyant gay men (remember La Cage Aux Folles?). So, the title can be also taken to mean The Gay Man's Lament. With lyrics such as "An angel is hidden in the closet where he takes me to bed" (Un ange s'est caché dans le placard aux fioles où l'on me tient couché) or "I did not know how to smile to those who attracted me, I was alone in the streets without saying yes or no" (Je n'ai pas su sourire a tel ou tel attrait. J'étais seul sur les routes sans dire ni oui ni non.), it was one of his most personal songs.

Another great song of his from this period was L'Âme Des Poètes. Here he is, singing live, much later in life:

Here is a cover version by the fabulous Juliette Gréco:

In 1957, he released Le Jardin Extraordinaire. The song was inspired by a walk in a park in Stockholm, Sweden. Trenet thought he saw the statues moving. Here he is on a TV performance 10 years later:

In 1963, Trenet spent 28 days in prison in Aix-en-Provence. He was charged with corrupting the morals of four young men under the age of 21 (they were 19). His chauffeur, who, as it was later discovered, had unsuccessfully attempted to blackmail him, claimed that Trenet was using him as a pimp. The charges were eventually dropped, but the affair brought to public light the fact that Trenet was gay. He was never particularly public about it and spoke of it rarely, although, when he did, it was with wit: when he was once asked by a reporter how come there are so many men's bicycles parked outside his house, he said: "well, I can't buy them all motorcycles!". In his authorized biography of Maurice Chevalier, author David Bret claims that Chevalier and Mistinguett were the ones who first "snitched" Trenet to the police for consorting with under age boys (the age of consent was 21), around 1940. Trenet never learned of their action.

People spoke cruelly of him, but he survived the scandal: his fans' love was bigger than the moral outrage. In his song Rien Ne Peut Changer Ma Joie (1959-1960) he prophesizes his ordeal, but his response is full of optimism and defiance:

Mais quand, hélas, des gens aigris

font la grimace, des petits yeux gris

en m'demandant d'leur expliquer

pourquoi j'suis gai

je leur dit que rien ne peut changer ma joie

depuis que ton coeur m'a dit, chéri, je t'aime

rien ne peut changer ma joie

Depuis qu'ton coeur est tout à moi

But when, alas, embittered people

wince, small gray eyes

demand of me to explain why I'm gay

I tell them that nothing can change my joy

since your heart told me, darling, I love you

nothing can change my joy, since your heart is all mine.

Unfortunately this song is not found on youTube, so, moving on...

Trenet never officially retired. In his 80s, he could still fill the huge concert hall of the Palais des Congrés in Paris. He outlived virtually all his contemporaries - Piaf, Brel, Ferré and Montand - to become a national monument, the most successful and best-loved chanteur of the age. In 1995, he brought out a CD, Fais Ta Vie, with 12 new songs on it. Here's the title track:

On 21 May 1999, he returned to the forefront of the music scene with his brand new album, Les Poètes Descendent Dans La Rue. Nearly 60 years later after writing La Mer, Trenet released fourteen new tracks. Following the success of the album, Trenet returned to the live circuit. His concerts proved a huge success, fans in the audience breaking into rapturous applause. Here's an excerpt of Les Poètes Descendent Dans La Rue:

In April 2000, old age began to catch up with Trenet, and he was rushed to hospital after suffering a stroke. The singer was forced to spend several weeks in the hospital while recovering, but by the autumn of that year, he was well enough to attend the dress rehearsal of Charles Aznavour's show at the Palais des Congrès on 25 October. This was his final public appearance.

In November 2000, the Narbonne house in which Trenet was born – which had become 13 Avenue Charles Trenet – was turned into a small museum. Visitors were able to view souvenirs from Trenet's childhood and family life (especially those belonging to his mother, who had spent most of her life in the house), as well as original drafts of the songs which had made his career.

Trenet died two months later on 19 February 2001. He was survived by his long-time partner Georges El Assidi (see photo) who took it upon himself to keep Trenet's legacy alive.