Georges Brassens

Born: 1921-10-22

Georges Charles Brassens (22 October 1921 – 29 October 1981) was a French singer-songwriter and poet. As an iconic figure in France, he achieved fame through his elegant songs with their harmonically complex music for voice and guitar and articulate, diverse lyrics. He is considered one of France's most accomplished postwar poets. He has also set to music poems by both well-known and relatively obscure poets, including Louis Aragon (Il n'y a pas d'amour heureux), Victor Hugo (La Légende de la Nonne, Gastibelza), Paul Verlaine, Jean Richepin, François Villon (La Ballade des Dames du Temps Jadis), and Antoine Pol (Les Passantes). During World War II, he was forced by the Germans to work in a labor camp at a BMW aircraft engine plant in Basdorf near Berlin in Germany (March 1943). Here Brassens met some of his future friends, such as Pierre Onténiente, whom he called Gibraltar because he was "steady as a rock." They would later become close friends. After being given ten days' sick leave in France, he decided not to return to the labor camp. Brassens took refuge in a small cul-de-sac called "Impasse Florimont," in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, a popular district, where he lived for several years with its owner, Jeanne Planche, a friend of his aunt. Planche lived with her husband Marcel in relative poverty: without gas, running water, or electricity. Brassens remained hidden there until the end of the war five months later, but ended up staying for 22 years. Planche was the inspiration for Brassens's song Jeanne. He wrote and sang, with his guitar, more than a hundred of his poems. Between 1952 and 1976, he recorded fourteen albums that include several popular French songs such as Les copains d'abord, Chanson pour l'Auvergnat, La mauvaise réputation, and Mourir pour des idées. Most of his texts are tinged with black humour and are often anarchist-minded. In 1967, he received the Grand Prix de Poésie of the Académie française. Apart from Paris and Sète, he lived in Crespières (near Paris) and in Lézardrieux (Brittany). Brassens was born in Sète, a commune in the Hérault department of the Occitanie region, to a French father and an Italian mother from the town of Marsico Nuovo (in the province of Potenza, Basilicata). ... Source: Article "Georges Brassens" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.


Placeholder

La TV des 70's : Quand Giscard était président

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2022-01-07

In May 1974, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing became President of the Republic and wanted to bring about...

Movie page

Émilie Jolie

as Le hérisson
Released: 1980-12-24

Movie page

The Gates of Paris

as the artist
Released: 1957-09-27

Juju, a drunken oaf who feels the need of being important to someone---anyone---and his friend...

Movie page

L'affaire Matzneff

as (archive footage)
Released: 2020-01-05

About the Gabriel Matzneff affair and pedophilia in French culture and society from the 1950s to...

Movie page

#Merci Brassens

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2017-02-18

Movie page

Fils de Punk

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2024-10-12

By following several groups of musicians, outsiders and artists, director JUDAT is interested in...

Movie page

Boris Vian, un cœur qui battait trop fort

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2020-03-13

Movie page

Brassens by Brassens

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2020-04-17

An intimate portrait of Georges Brassens, giant of French song.

Movie page

Effedia - Sulla mia cattiva strada

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2008-10-29

Movie page

Cavanna, jusqu'à l'ultime seconde j'écrirai

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2015-06-17

The life and career of French novelist and journalist François Cavanna, his leading role in the...

Movie page

Pourquoi t'as les cheveux blancs...

as Georges Brassens
Released: 1973-02-15

Movie page

Georges Brassens : Elle est à toi cette chanson

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2004-10-19

Movie page

Brassens est en nous

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2011-10-24

Movie page

Georges Brassens, les meilleures chansons

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2021-07-11

Movie page

Le Grand Échiquier

as Self
First aired: 1972-01-12

TV Show page

Le Grand Échiquier

as Self - Main Guest
First aired: 1972-01-12

TV Show page

Les Rendez-vous du dimanche

as Self
First aired: 1975-01-12

A talk show presented by Michel Drucker

TV Show page

Champs-Elysées

as Self (archive footage)
First aired: 1982-01-16

TV Show page

30 millions d'amis

as Self
First aired: 1976-01-06

TV Show page

Apostrophes

as Self
First aired: 1975-01-10

Apostrophes was a live, weekly, literary, prime-time, talk show on French television created and...

TV Show page

Discorama

as Self
First aired: 1959-02-04

TV Show page

Archives secrètes

as Self (archive footage)
First aired: 2021-09-09

TV Show page