Singer/songwriter Jacques Brel fashioned an extensive body of literate, introspective, and dramatically staged material that earned him an enthusiastic and loyal audience throughout France. That following gradually reached beyond national borders, establishing him as a significant inspiration for writers and interpreters in English such as Leonard Cohen and David Bowie; meanwhile, numerous artists ranging from the Kingston Trio to Frank Sinatra committed translated versions of his compositions to disc.
Brel entered the world in Brussels, Belgium, on April 8, 1929, as the child of Romain Brel, initially employed by an import-export concern and later elevated to co-director of a firm that produced cardboard cartons, together with Elisabeth (Lambertine) Brel. He first took up the guitar upon turning fifteen. Following his departure from school, he accepted a position at his father’s factory in August 1947. Throughout those years his fascination with music deepened: he began appearing before audiences as part of a church youth ensemble and commenced composing original pieces. Local radio afforded him an initial broadcast opportunity in 1952; the following February, Philips Records placed him under contract and issued his debut single, “La Foire”/“Il Y A,” in March. Modest sales of that record generated regional professional engagements, prompting an eventual relocation to Paris, where club performances steadily expanded his reputation. His debut at the storied Olympia Theater occurred in July 1954, after which he embarked on his first nationwide French tour; by year’s end Philips had released his inaugural album, the nine-track, 10-inch LP Jacques Brel et Ses Chansons. Continued road work culminated in a commercial breakthrough during 1956 when the EP containing “Quand On N’A Pas Que l’Amour” (subsequently rendered in English as “If We Only Have Love”) climbed to number three on the French charts. The ensuing studio albums appeared as Jacques Brel 2 (1957), Jacques Brel 3 (1958), and Jacques Brel 4 (1959).
Columbia Records supplied an American introduction via the 1960 compilation American Début, drawn from earlier Philips masters. In France, Brel transferred to the newly established Barclay label in March 1962; his first Barclay outing was the live set A l’Olympia 1962, succeeded by his initial studio album in four years, Jacques Brel Accompagne Pas François Rauber et Son Orchestra. Having previously concentrated on French-speaking markets, he now commanded worldwide attention and devoted much of each year to international touring. Carnegie Hall in New York hosted his American stage debut in February 1963. American poet and singer Rod McKuen began crafting English lyrics for Brel’s songs, and the Kingston Trio recorded McKuen’s adaptation “Seasons in the Sun” of the piece originally titled “Le Moribond.” That same year France saw the release of Jacques Brel 6 alongside the live album Olympia 64.
Reprise Records licensed Barclay material for the 1965 American collection titled Jacques Brel, and Brel revisited Carnegie Hall on December 4. Damita Jo placed McKuen’s rendering “If You Go Away” of the Brel song “Ne Me Quitte Pas” on the charts in 1966. The wistful number, alternating buoyant and melancholic verses over a sweeping melody, evolved into a pop standard interpreted by scores of vocalists including Tom Jones, Frank Sinatra, and Neil Diamond. Also that year, Judy Collins included an English-language treatment of Brel’s “La Colombe” (“The Dove”) on her album In My Life (Joan Baez later covered the identical song on her 1967 release Joan), while Glenn Yarbrough sang “The Women” (“Les Biches”) on The Lonely Things. Philips countered with its own American anthology, The Poetic World of Jacques Brel.
Brel declared his retirement from live performance in 1966 after a final Paris residency at the Olympia that autumn, yet six months of contracted international dates remained. These engagements carried him back to the United States, where Reprise issued the Barclay-derived compilation Encore and Vanguard offered Le Formidable Jacques Brel. His concluding concert took place on May 16, 1967. He nevertheless sustained other artistic pursuits: recording continued with the appropriately titled Jacques Brel ’67 (his last new studio album for a decade); he made his screen debut that year in the non-musical drama Les Risques du Metièr, initiating a sequence of nine additional films through 1973, several incorporating his music; and he entered the legitimate theater by translating and starring in a French production of the American musical Man of la Mancha, which premiered in Brussels on October 4, 1968, transferred to Paris for a run from December until June 1969, and yielded a cast album.
Concurrently, an off-Broadway revue titled Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris—its name alluding to rumors surrounding his withdrawal from touring—opened at the Village Gate in Greenwich Village on January 22, 1968, and amplified his visibility without requiring his personal appearance. Songwriter Mort Shuman and playwright Eric Blau rendered Brel’s lyrics with greater fidelity than McKuen, preserving the pathos and wit of his narrative-driven material; the production ultimately amassed nearly 2,000 performances, ranking among the longest-running off-Broadway attractions ever. Columbia Records documented the complete evening as a double-LP original-cast box set. Subsequent revivals occurred on Broadway in 1972 and 1981, off-Broadway in 2006, and on screen in 1975, the latter featuring Brel in a cameo. The revue’s triumph heightened Brel’s recognition throughout English-speaking territories. In Britain, expatriate American Scott Walker’s recording of “Jackie” (also known as “La Chanson de Jacky”) from the show entered the charts in the month preceding the New York premiere and reached the Top 40. (Marc Almond’s later version, drawn from his tribute album Jacques, attained the British Top 20 in 1991.) “Jackie” appeared on Walker’s debut solo effort, Scott, which also contained Brel’s “Mathilde,” “Amsterdam,” and “My Death” (“La Mort”); Walker continued featuring Brel material on Scott 2 (1968) and Scott 3 (1969). Additional British admirers encompassed David Bowie, who issued “Amsterdam” as a 1973 B-side and regularly performed “My Death” onstage, and the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, whose 1973 album took its title from Brel’s “Next” (“Au Suivant”). Across the Atlantic, Judy Collins recorded “Marieke” for Whales & Nightingales in 1970; Frank Sinatra placed “I’m Not Afraid,” McKuen’s lyric for “Fils De,” on a 1971 B-side; Dionne Warwick achieved a chart entry with “If We Only Have Love” in 1972; and Terry Jacks closed 1973 with a revival of “Seasons in the Sun” that reached number one in both the United States and the United Kingdom, followed by a charting rendition of “If You Go Away.”
Brel persisted in French cinema, writing and directing Franz in 1972 and delivering a memorable final lead performance opposite the impassive Lino Ventura in Edouard Molinaro’s 1973 black comedy L’Emmerdeur (distributed in America as A Pain in the A–), later remade in 1981 as Buddy Buddy with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. Having acquired a yacht, he departed in July 1974 on what was planned as a circumnavigation; however, a lung-cancer diagnosis in the Canary Islands in October prompted surgery in Brussels to excise part of his left lung. Upon recovery he resumed his voyage, arriving at the Marquesas Islands in November 1975 and electing to remain. He returned to France in July 1977 to record the album Brel, released that November; the LP achieved extraordinary sales, reportedly moving 650,000 copies on its first day and ultimately surpassing two million units. A cancer recurrence brought him back to France for treatment in July 1978, yet he succumbed three months later at age 49.
Within France, Brel’s stature as one of the twentieth century’s foremost singers and songwriters remains unchallenged. In English-speaking regions, linguistic barriers and his allegiance to traditional pop and cabaret—rather than the rock that dominated the latter half of the century—have somewhat circumscribed his reach. Still, the personal, somber, and mature themes of his writing align with the movement toward candor and depth in popular song that commenced with Bob Dylan and even foreshadowed it. In this respect Brel functions as a French elder counterpart to Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and the confessional singer/songwriters who succeeded them. Simultaneously, his compositions, frequently rendered in softened English translations (particularly McKuen’s adaptations), have carried his influence across stylistic boundaries. Beyond the interpreters already cited, the roster of artists who have recorded Brel’s songs constitutes an exceptionally diverse array of rock, pop, jazz, and country performers: Karen Akers, Shirley Bassey, Acker Bilk, Ray Bryant, Glen Campbell, Ray Conniff, John Denver, Dion, Celine Dion, the Fortunes, Robyn Hitchcock, Shirley Horn, Julio Iglesias, Jack Jones, Cyndi Lauper, Brenda Lee, Ute Lemper, Vera Lynn, Al Martino, Paul Mauriat, Helen Merrill, Ronnie Milsap, Nana Mouskouri, Olivia Newton-John, Freda Payne, Pearls Before Swine, Mitch Ryder, the Seekers, Dusty Springfield, Bobby Vinton, Andy Williams, and Nancy Wilson.
