Jacques Dutronc

Jacques Dutronc
Dutronc singing in Lorient, France in January 2010
Background information
Origin	Paris, France
Genres	French pop, French rock, Chanson, Ye-ye, Garage rock, Psychedelic rock

Jacques Dutronc (born 28 April 1943 in Paris; French pronunciation: [ʒak dytʁɔ̃]) is a French singer, songwriter, guitarist, composer, and actor. He has been married to singer Françoise Hardy since 30 March 1981 and the two have a son (jazz guitarist Thomas Dutronc, born 1973). He also has been a longtime songwriting collaborator with Jacques Lanzmann. Some of Dutronc best known hits include "Il Est Cinq Heures, Paris S'éveille" (a chanson tune akin to "Waterloo Sunset" by The Kinks that All Music Guide has called "his finest hour"),^[1] "Le Responsable",^[2] and "Les Cactus".

Dutronc played guitar in the rock group El Toro et les Cyclones. He wrote successful songs for Françoise Hardy in the 1960s before moving on to pursue a successful solo career. His music incorporated traditional French pop and French rock as well as styles such as psychedelic rock and garage rock. He later branched out into film acting, starting in 1973.^[3] He earned a Cesar for Best Actor for the leading role in Van Gogh, which was directed by Maurice Pialat.^[4] According to the All Music Guide, Dutronc is "one of the most popular performers in the French-speaking world",^[3] although he "remains little known in English speaking territories" aside from a cult following in the U.K.^[5]

Career history

Early history

Between 1963 and 1964, Dutronc played guitar for the group "El Toro et les Cyclones" with Hadi Kalafate. During this time he also appeared at Le Golf Drouot in Paris as backing guitarist for stars including Eddy Mitchell. After performing his obligatory military service, he landed a job as assistant at Vogue Records to Artistic Director Jacques Wolfsohn. In this capacity, he arranged songs for several lesser known artists such as Zou Zou and Cleo. At Vogue Records, he teamed with writer Jacques Lanzmann, then director at Lui magazine, to create songs for up-and-coming artists. One of their first commissions was for the pop singer Benjamin, however, after his first EP failed to perform, Vogue Records unceremoniously booted him from their roster. After hearing one of the demos that Dutronc had produced, Wolfsohn declared that Jacques should perform the record for release. This single, "Et moi, et moi, et moi" was released in 1966, and its popularity turned Dutronc into a star.

With Lanzmann writing lyrics and Dutronc producing the music, the two created several significant songs. Songs such as "Et moi, et moi, et moi", "Les Playboys", and "Les cactus", are still frequently played. Other songs include "Mini, mini, mini", "Le responsable", "J'ai un tigre dans ma guitare", and "L'opportuniste".

Dutronc's songs combine American and British musical influences with French lyrical themes. Many of his early songs feature a British garage sound comparable to that of Ray Davies of The Kinks. Dutronc's "La fille du père Noël" and David Bowie's "Jean Genie" share a riff likely derived from the Yardbirds' accelerated version of Bo Diddley's "I'm a Man" (the Belgian singer Arno Hintjens recorded a medley of the Dutronc and Bowie songs ("Jean Baltazaarr") with the American singer Beverly Jo Scott that highlight these similarities). However, Dutronc is distinctive for his mocking attitude toward late 1960s French youth culture. Dutronc's biggest hit was "Il est cinq heures, Paris s'eveille", with the classical flute player Roger Bourdin performing an essential part. In this song, Dutronc paints an evocative portrait of the French capital in the early morning hours.

In 1973, "Et moi, et moi, et moi" was adapted with English lyrics. "Alright Alright Alright" and became a UK No. 3 hit for the group Mungo Jerry.

Also in 1973, Dutronc began a second career as an actor in the film Antoine et Sébastien, directed by Jean-Marie Périer. In the following years, Dutronc devoted most of his energies toward his acting career. He has appeared in films directed by Andrzej Zulawski, Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Lelouch and Maurice Pialat.

In retrospect to Dutronc's early career, critic Mark Deming of the All Music Guide has remarked:

Dutronc's early hits were rough but clever exercises in European garage rock, with Dutronc and his band laying out a simple, tough vamp as he sneered his witty, pointed lyrics about a life lived amidst the chaos of the '60s with all the sweet venom he could muster... like Dutronc's role models Bob Dylan and Ray Davies, he could write melodies strong enough to work even without their excellent lyrics, and his band had more than enough energy to make them fly (and the imagination to move with the musical times as psychedelia and hard rock entered the picture at the end of the decade).^[5]

Later history and current activities

Dutronc returned to music in recent years, and also has enjoyed a resurgence of popular interest in his music. Since the early Dutronc songs had a classic late-sixties freakbeat backing (provided by session musicians), his songs were played in the hip retro clubs of the UK and US in the late 1990s, a practice which continues to this day. He is celebrated in the 1997 Cornershop song "Brimful of Asha" with the line: "Jacques Dutronc and the Bolan Boogie/The Heavy Hitters and the Chichi music."

Dutronc earned a Cesar for Best Actor for the leading role in Van Gogh, which was directed by Maurice Pialat. Critic Christopher Null of the AMC Network praised Dutronc's performance, commenting that:

"Though lacking key features (like the shock of red hair and the chopped-up ear), Dutronc oddly resembles Van Gogh in many ways. But more importantly, he manages to embody the obvious manic depression from Van Gogh's later years, all exuding from his scraggly face, sunken eyes, and bony frame... the searing Dutronc is the real reason to sit through the film".^[4]

Dutronc currently lives in the town of Monticello on the Mediterranean island of Corsica.

Selected discography

• Jacques Dutronc (Vogue, 1966)
• Guerre et Pets (Gaumont Musique WEA, 1980)
• Dutronc au casino (Columbia, 1992)
• Madame L'Existence (Columbia, 2003)

Selected filmography

• Antoine et Sébastien (Jean-Marie Périer, 1973)
• L'important c'est d'aimer (Andrzej Żuławski, 1974)
• Le bon et les méchants (Claude Lelouch, 1975)
• Us Two (Claude Lelouch, 1979)
• Sauve qui peut (la vie) (Jean-Luc Godard, 1979)
• Return to the Beloved (1979)
• Malevil (1981)
• Tricheurs (Barbet Schroeder, 1983)
• Mes nuits sont plus belles que vos jours (Andrzej Żuławski, 1989)
• Van Gogh (Maurice Pialat, 1991) (also music)
• Place Vendôme (Nicole Garcia, 1998)
• Merci pour le chocolat (Claude Chabrol, 2000)

See also

• French pop
• French rock
• Ye-ye
• Jacques Lanzmann

Further reading

• Jacques Dutronc, by Michel Leydier ISBN 2-290-30077-2

References

1. ^ Kik, Quint. "Jacques Dutronc (Il Est Cinq Heures, Paris S'Éveille)". All Music Guide. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r808175. Retrieved 14 September 2011. 
2. ^ Bush, John. "Dutronc". All Music Guide. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r562331. Retrieved 14 September 2011. 
3. ^ ^{a b} German, Yuri. "Jacques Dutronc". All Music Guide. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p204824/biography. Retrieved 14 September 2011. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Null, Christopher (29 December 2006). "Van Gogh". AMC Network. http://www.filmcritic.com/reviews/1991/van-gogh/. Retrieved 14 September 2011. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Deming, Mark. "Et Moi et Moi et Moi: Jacques Dutronc 1966-69". All Music Guide. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r1575301. Retrieved 14 September 2011. 

External links

• The official website of Jacques Dutronc
• French Wikipedia article
• The original dandy: Jacques Dutronc
• rfimusique.com entry
• Jacques Dutronc at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Dutronc, Jacques
Alternative names
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Date of birth	28 April 1943
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death