Reinhard Mey

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Reinhard Mey


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Birth_name = Reinhard Friedrich Michael Mey
Alias = Frédérik Mey (in France) Alfons Yondrascheck
Born = birth date and age|1942|12|21
Died =
Origin = Berlin, Germany
Instrument = vocals, guitar
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Occupation = musician, songwriter
Years_active = 1965–present
Label = EMI
URL = [http://www.reinhard-mey.de/ reinhard-mey.de]
Notable_instruments = Guitar

Reinhard Friedrich Michael Mey (born December 21, 1942, Berlin) is a German singer-songwriter, also known as a Liedermacher. In France he is known as "Frédérik Mey".

Mey has released 24 German albums so far through 2005, and consistently releases a new album approximately every two years; his first album was "Ich wollte wie Orpheus singen" (1967); the most recent studio album is "Bunter Hund" (2007). His biggest success was "Mein Achtel Lorbeerblatt" (1972); his most famous song is considered to be "Über den Wolken" (1974). Mey usually embarks on an extensive concert tour every two or three years, with a live album released from each tour.

Biography

Reinhard Mey was born on December 21, 1942, in Berlin, Germany, where he spent his childhood. At the age of twelve, he had his first piano lesson, and at the age of fourteen, he got his first guitar. He taught himself how to play on a trumpet. During his school years he gained stage experience by performing Skiffle music with friends. In 1965, Mey was offered the chance to perform at a Liedermacher festival at Waldeck Castle, a converted castle ruin. This led to his first recording contract. In 1961, the group Les Trois Affamés with Schobert Scholz was formed.

In 1963, Mey graduated from the French Gymnasium in Berlin, receiving the German Abitur as well as the French Baccalauréat, and thereafter began vocational training as an industrial trader at Schering AG Berlin. He broke off his university studies in economics in order to dedicate himself fully to songwriting and singing, and has been a successful performer in Germany, in France, and in the Netherlands ever since. He has written songs in German, French, and Dutch. He records his French material under the name of Frédérik Mey. In 1967, he married a French woman named Christine. Their marriage was dissolved in 1976.

Today, Mey lives in Berlin-Frohnau in his second marriage (since 1977) to Hella Hennies (born in Hannover), and the marriage has produced three children: Frederik (born 1977), Maximilian (born November 20, 1982), and Victoria-Louise (born November 19, 1985).

Lyrics and political views

Mey writes both sensitive and humorous songs, with subject matter taken mostly from his everyday life and surroundings. His themes include life on the road, his hobbies (e.g., flying), childhood memories, his family life and surroundings, and occasionally politics. Many of his songs are humorous and demonstrate Mey's extraordinary linguistic versatility. Mey's songs are characterized most by their expressiveness of language and their penetrating melodies.

Mey's politics tend to be moderate to left-leaning. He speaks out in particular for freedom and non-violence, and not only in his songs. (For example, he participated in a demonstration at the beginning of 2003 against the coming war in Iraq). Strongly influenced by the French chanson, Mey's political songs were scattered among his works at the beginning, but they have increased in quantity over time, such that there is usually at least one song on each new album that concerns itself with politics. His 2004 album, "Nanga Parbat", for example, includes "Alles OK in Guantanamo Bay", a song critical of the U.S. detention facility on the island of Cuba.

For years, Mey has been an avid vegetarian, and also has been active in the German chapter of the organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Several of his songs deal with the theme of prevention of cruelty to animals, the most famous one being "Die Würde des Schweins ist unantastbar".

Awards

*1968 Prix International de la Chanson française (the first non-French singer to receive this award)
*1983 Verdienstkreuz am Bande (Cross of Merit on ribbon)
*2001 Verdienstkreuz 1. Klasse (Cross of Merit, First class)

elected discography

German

tudio albums

*1967 - "Ich wollte wie Orpheus singen"
*1968 - "Ankomme Freitag, den 13."
*1970 - "Aus meinem Tagebuch"
*1971 - "Ich bin aus jenem Holze"
*1972 - "Mein achtel Lorbeerblatt"
*1974 - "Wie vor Jahr und Tag"
*1975 - "Ikarus"
*1977 - "Menschenjunges"
*1979 - "Keine ruhige Minute"
*1980 - "Jahreszeiten"
*1981 - "Freundliche Gesichter"
*1983 - "Die Zwölfte"
*1985 - "Hergestellt in Berlin"
*1986 - "Alleingang"
*1988 - "Balladen"
*1990 - "Farben"
*1992 - "Alles geht"
*1994 - "Immer weiter"
*1996 - "Leuchtfeuer"
*1998 - "Flaschenpost"
*2000 - "Einhandsegler"
*2002 - "Rüm Hart"
*2004 - "Nanga Parbat"
*2007 - "Bunter Hund"

Live albums

*1971 - "Reinhard Mey live"
*1974 - "20.00 Uhr"
*1978 - "Unterwegs"
*1981 - "Tournee"
*1984 - "Live '84"
*1987 - "Die grosse Tournee '86"
*1991 - "Mit Lust und Liebe"
*1995 - "Zwischen Zürich und zu Haus"
*1997 - "Lebenszeichen"
*1999 - "Lampenfieber"
*2002 - "Solo - Die Einhandsegler Tournee"
*2003 - "Klaar Kiming"
*2006 - "!ich kann"

Compilation albums

*1973 - "Alles was ich habe"
*1977 - "Starportrait"
*1982 - "Starportrait 2, Welch ein Geschenk ist ein Lied"
*1987 - "Die großen Erfolge"
*1989 - "Mein Apfelbäumchen"
*1990 - "Die Story (6-CD-Ausgabe Bertelsmann Buchclub)"
*1993 - "Ich liebe dich"
*1997 - "Du bist ein Riese ..."
*2000 - "Peter und der Wolf / Tierballaden"
*2003 - "Über den Wolken - Lieder aus 4 Jahrzehnten"

ingles

*1965 - "Geh' und fang' den Wind" (Debut single; German cover version of Donovans "Catch The Wind" under the pseudonym Rainer May)
*1966 - "Fred Kasulzke"
*1966 - "Die drei Musketiere"
*1968 - "Ich Hab' Nur Dich Gekannt"
*1970 - "Die Ballade vom Pfeifer / Ankomme, Freitag, den 13."
*1972 - "Der Mörder ist immer der Gärtner / Längst geschlossen sind die Läden"
*1973 - "Annabelle, ach Annabelle / Bevor ich mit den Wölfen heule"
*1974 - "Mann aus Alemannia / Über den Wolken"
*1981 - "Rundfunkwerbung-Blues"
*1986 - "Frohe Weihnacht"
*1990 - "Alle Soldaten woll'n nach Haus'"
*1986 - "Nein, meine Söhne geb' ich nicht"
*1992 - "Das Etikett" (Promo-Single)
*1994 - "51er Kapitän"
*1996 - "Lilienthals Traum"
*1998 - "Die 12 Weihnachtstage" (Adaptation of the British Christmas song "The Twelve Days Of Christmas")
*2000 - "Einhandsegler"
*2000 - "Ich bring' Dich durch die Nacht" (Promo-Single)

With other artists

*1986 - "Ein Loch in der Kanne" (Live with Rainhard Fendrich)
*1996 - "Liebe, Schnaps & Tod" (with Hannes Wader and Klaus Hoffmann)
*1999 - "Einfach abhau'n, einfach geh'n" (Maxi-CD, with Ina Deter)
*2003 - "Mey Wader Wecker - Das Konzert" (live with Hannes Wader and Konstantin Wecker)

DVDs

*2003 - "Klaar Kiming"

British albums

*1970 - "One Vote for tomorrow"

French albums

tudio

*1968 - "Frédérik Mey, Vol. 1"
*1972 - "Frédérik Mey, Vol. 2"
*1974 - "Frédérik Mey, Vol. 3"
*1976 - "Frédérik Mey, Vol. 4"
*1979 - "Frédérik Mey, Vol. 5"
*1982 - "Frédérik Mey, Vol. 6"
*2005 - "Frédérik Mey, Vol. 7 - douce France"

Live

*1976 - "Recital Frédérik Mey à l'Olympia"
*1979 - "Bobino"

Dutch albums

*1975 - "Als de dag van toen"
*1976 - "Er zijn dagen ..."

External links

* [http://www.reinhard-mey.de Official homepage of Reinhard Mey]
* [http://www.laut.de/wortlaut/artists/m/mey_reinhard Reinhard Mey - www.laut.de]
* [http://www.jageshwar.net/mey/ Reinhard Mey - Frederik Mey, Forum in French and German]
* [http://www.sengpielaudio.com/BeispielCd08.htm Source of many Reinhard Mey's recordings]