Artist.......: Johnny Hallyday
Album........: Live @ Home
Label........: n/a
Genre........: Rock
Catnr........: n/a
Source.......: DVBS
Rip.date.....: 2012-02-18
Str.date.....: 2011-12-03
Quality......: 224kbps/48.0kHz/Joint Stereo
Url..........: http://www.johnnyhallyday.com/
track title time
1. Live @ Home 62:43
* Je suis nΘ dans la rue
* Fils de personne
* Autoportrait
* Tennessee
* Gabrielle
* Le bon vieux temps du Rock'n Roll
* L'idole des jeunes
* Joue pas le Rock'n Roll
* Oh Carole
* Ma jolie Sarah
* Toute la musique que j'aime
* Tes tendres annΘes
Runtime 62:43
Size 100.83
Release Notes:
Johnny Hallyday was France's first and only full-fledged rock star. Other French
artists may have been influenced by rock & roll, but none was as beholden to the
original sources, or as enduringly successful, as Hallyday. He was a distinctly
French phenomenon, never achieving recognition in the U.S. or U.K.; certainly,
part of the reason was that a good chunk of his repertoire consisted of
French-language covers of early American rock hits. Moreover, his appropriations
of Elvis Presley and James Dean captured the French imagination, but -- language
barrier aside -- were often too stylized and imitative to resonate with
audiences used to the genuine article. Yet even if his musical interpretations
lacked some of the punch of their sources, his sense of rock & roll style, with
all its rebellious trappings, was impeccable. His stage presence was undeniably
electric, and his life was the stuff of which tabloid reporters' dreams are
made: high-profile romances (and breakups), cocaine use, chronic tax problems, a
taste for auto racing and motorcycles, and other assorted fallouts from life in
the fast lane. In the end, though, Hallyday's appeal rested on a central
balancing act: he may have been fascinated by a foreign cultural phenomenon, but
he managed to maintain his essential Frenchness. His covers provided a way for
American rock & roll to conquer France, adapting it to fit the country's own
sensibilities without threatening its well-protected cultural autonomy. His
later move into quintessentially French balladry helped increase his
cross-generational appeal, and somewhat mirrored the career trajectory of his
hero Elvis. With a career of several decades behind him, and sales figures in
the tens of millions, the unconditionally adored Hallyday still ranks among
France's greatest cultural icons.
Hallyday was born Jean-Philippe Smet on June 15, 1943, in the Malesherbes area
of Paris. His Belgian parents split up just months after he was born, and he
went to live with an aunt, former silent film actress HΘlΦne Mar. His cousins
Desta and Menen were dancers, and he accompanied them on tour for most of his
childhood. Desta's boyfriend and eventual husband, the Oklahoma-born Lee
Halliday, became part of the act, and Jean-Philippe would later adopt a version
of his last name in tribute to his kindness. Surrounded by show business, the
youngster learned guitar and took dance lessons; by age nine, he was already
performing on-stage with his relatives, singing songs like "The Ballad of Davy
Crockett" during costume changes. He also appeared in his first film, Les
Diaboliques, in 1954. By 1957, the family had given up life on the road and
settled in Paris, where Johnny (as Lee called him) sang songs by American
country artists as well as Georges Brassens, and also acted in commercials. That
year he discovered Elvis Presley through the film Lovin' You, and immediately
decided that he wanted to be a rock & roll singer. He began performing in clubs
and cabarets, some of which kicked him out for singing the new American music.
Having adopted the name Johnny Hallyday, he caught his big break in late 1959,
when an appearance on the Paris Cocktail television show led to a record
contract with Vogue. Hallyday released his first single, "Laisse les Filles," in
early 1960. Its follow-up, "Souvenirs, Souvenirs," became his first major hit,
and when he performed at France's first rock festival at the Palais de Sport in
early 1961, he set off a near-riot that led to a ban on rock & roll shows for
several months. He switched from Vogue to Philips later that summer, and issued
the smash LP Salut Mes Copains, which kicked off the so-called "yΘ-yΘ" era of
French pop and made him a full-fledged teen idol. His tour of France that year
touched off a hysteria not unlike the furor surrounding Elvis in the States.
Toward the end of the year, Hallyday took French citizenship, appeared in the
film Les Parisiennes, and had an enormous hit with "Viens Danser le Twist," an
adaptation of Chubby Checker's "Let's Twist Again." Hallyday's success continued
to snowball over the next few years, mixing American covers (as on the LP Johnny
Hallyday Sings America's Rockin' Hits) with more traditional French pop:
"Retiens la Nuit" (penned by Charles Aznavour), "Elle Est Terrible," "Be Bop a
Lula," "Pas Cette Chanson," and two of his biggest hits, "L'Idole des Jeunes"
and "Da Dou Ron Ron." 1963 found him starring in the film D'o∙ Viens-Tu,
Johnny?, which was directed by Noel Coward and co-starred fellow pop star Sylvie
Vartan.
In 1964, Hallyday was called for military service, and much as it had for Elvis,
his acceptance of his duty helped make him more respectable in the eyes of the
mainstream public. Shortly before his induction, he completed another single,
"Le PΘnitencier," an adaptation of "House of the Rising Sun." Stationed in
Germany, he married Sylvie Vartan in April 1965, and was discharged late that
year. Initially, Hallyday found it difficult to recapture his career momentum;
the rock & roll fad had already begun to pass in France, and even Elvis had been
eclipsed by emerging stars like the Beatles and Bob Dylan. The socially
conscious single "Cheveux Longs, IdΘes Courtes" didn't quite give Hallyday the
credibility he'd hoped for. His son David (later a singer in his own right) was
born in August 1966, but not long after, a deeply depressed Hallyday attempted
suicide. After his recovery, he issued the despairing single "Noir, C'est Noir"
as a commentary on the near-tragedy. He also assembled a more R&B-influenced
touring band called the Blackbirds, headed up by British guitarist Mick Jones
(later of Foreigner) and drummer Tommy Brown; their October gig at the Olympia
in Paris featured a then-unknown opening act called the Jimi Hendrix Experience.
Hallyday covered the Hendrix version of "Hey Joe" in 1967 (the same year he
started racing cars), and dabbled in slightly heavier psychedelic rock over the
next couple of years. His title song for the 1968 film A Tout Casser (in which
he also starred) featured Jimmy Page as a session guitarist, as did the aptly
titled "Psychedelic." 1969 saw the release of Que Je T'aime, a distinctly
Cream-influenced rock record with a hit title track, as well as Je Suis NΘ Dans
la Rue, a darker and more personal record that featured contributions from the
Small Faces' Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane. In 1970, Hallyday flirted with a
flower-child image via the single "Jesus Christ (Est un Hippie)," but quickly
backed away from the posture. He continued to tour internationally and appear in
movies, including 1971's L'Aventure, C'est L'Aventure; that year he also scored
a major hit with "Oh Ma Jolie Sarah."
Despite releasing one of his better albums in Country-Folk-Rock, Hallyday's
excesses began to catch up with him in 1972: his debauchery led to a year's
separation from his wife, Sylvie Vartan. He also mounted a lavish tour dubbed
the Johnny Circus that was actually staged in a big-top tent, and transported
him between gigs in a Rolls-Royce. It was a financial disaster, mitigated
somewhat by his reconciliation with Vartan in 1973. Together they recorded a
smash duet, "J'ai un ProblΦme," that became one of the biggest hits of the
summer. On his own, Hallyday also scored with "Toute la Musique Que J'aime,"
written with his primary collaborator for much of the '70s, Michel Mallory. He
spent part of 1974 in America, recording an album of rock standards in Memphis
(Rock α Memphis) and another of country-rock in Nashville (La Terre Promise); he
also rode across Death Valley on a motorcycle, and attended Elvis' Las Vegas
revue. The following year, he and his family relocated to Los Angeles in order
to escape a massive tax debt of around 100 million francs. He continued to score
hits in France, among them 1976's "Joue Pas de Rock'n'Roll Pour Moi" and
"Gabrielle," 1977's "J'ai OubliΘ de Vivre," and 1978's "Elle M'oublie"; however,
his double-LP recording of the rock opera Hamlet was a colossal flop.
Hallyday collapsed on-stage during an August 1980 concert, and his marriage to
Vartan broke up for good by the end of the year; rumors about his private life
swirled, and one paper erroneously reported his death in early 1981. Late that
year, he married model Babeth Etienne, a union that lasted not much more than
two months. Not long afterward, he struck up a romance with actress Nathalie
Baye, who bore him a daughter, Laura, in late 1983. Meanwhile, his lyricist,
Michel Mallory, was replaced first by Pierre Billon, then Michel Berger, a
writer grounded more in traditional cabaret and pop than rock & roll. Berger was
partly responsible for 1985's "Quelque Chose de Tennessee," which became one of
Hallyday's biggest and best-known hits. Hallyday also revived his flagging movie
career in 1985 by teaming with legendary French New Wave director Jean-Luc
Godard for DΘtective; he would continue to appear regularly in films through the
early '90s. His romance with Baye ended in 1986, but that year he dominated the
charts with the Jean-Jacques Goldman-penned album Gang, one of his biggest
latter-day successes thanks to hits like "Laura," "L'Envie," "Je Te Promets,"
and a duet with Carmel, "J'oublierai Ton Nom." 1989's Cadillac featured two
songs by Hallyday's son David, who would shortly go on to his own singing
career.
Hallyday remarried again in 1990, this time to Adeline Blondiau, the daughter of
a longtime friend; this too proved short-lived, and they divorced in 1992. In
the meantime, he released a new album, 1991's ╟a Ne Change Pas un Homme, which
featured covers of everyone from new-generation French pop star Patrick Bruel to
Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams. In commemoration of Hallyday's 50th birthday in 1993,
his entire catalog was reissued on CD (with numerous compilations appearing
thereafter), and he gave a series of gala concerts in Paris. The 1994
English-language album Rough Town tanked, but 1995's Lorada was a tremendous
success, spawning hit singles in "J'la Croise Tous les Matins," "Quand le Masque
Tombe," and "Ne M'oublie Pas." In 1996, Hallyday embarked on his fifth marriage,
this time to Laeticia Boudou; he also recorded another album of rock & roll
classics in French, Destination Vegas, titled in reference to his concert at the
Aladdin in Las Vegas (for which several thousand French fans were flown in).
Hallyday was awarded a Legion d'Honneur medal by French President Jacques Chirac
in 1997, and the following year he gave spectacular concerts to close the World
Cup soccer tournament and commemorate France's first championship. In 1999,
Hallyday returned with the successful new album Sang Pour Sang, for which his
son David composed all the music (accompanied by various lyricists). Taking a
break from recording and touring, Hallyday rang in the new millennium with a
couple of acclaimed acting turns in the films L'Homme du Train and Crime Spree.
In late 2002, he released the double album └ la Vie, α la Mort, which produced
the hit singles "Marie" and "Ne Reviens Pas."