From America to the Champs Elysees, Joe Dassin crossed the shores of the Atlantic to achieve in France a star-studded career. From the late 60s to his death in Tahiti in 1980, he lined the tubes and colored the French variety with a hint of American folklore.
Biography:
It was in New York, November 5, 1938, that Joseph Ira Dassin was born. His father, Jules, of Russian Jewish descent, tries to make a name for himself as a comedian, while his mother Beatrice Launer, of Hungarian origin, is a violinist in a female orchestra.
Based in Los Angeles, Jules Dassin became one of Hollywood's most talented filmmakers in the 1940s, and Joe had a good childhood with two sisters, Rickie and Julie, in sunny California.
But politically engaged, the father of Joe Dassin, is listed on the blacklists of the period "McCarthy" since the end of the war. He decides to leave the United States with his family. After a few years of incessant travels around the world, and the visit of countless high schools for Joe, the Dassin family moved to Paris in 1950.
More passionate about sports, than studying, Joe still gets his degree in Grenoble, with honors "good".
Meetings with Berry Gordy and Bob Dylan
After the divorce of his parents, the young man chose, in 1956, to return to the United States where he enrolled in university, first in medicine, and finally in ethnology. Brilliant student, he gets the equivalent of a doctorate. At the same time, he has many small jobs to pay for his studies. After being a cook, scavenger, or plumber, he landed in 1958, a disc jockey job in a Detroit radio, WCX. He is working on this occasion with the creator of the label Tamla Motown, Berry Gordy. During these few years across the Atlantic, Joe Dassin also meets Pete Seeger, famous troubadour of the American folk song of the 60s, who becomes his friend, and through which he meets Robert Zimmerman, who do not call Bob Dylan again.
He slowly begins to take an interest in music and singing, and with a French friend, he performs on the terraces of bars by performing Georges Brassens. He takes the opportunity to learn the guitar.
In the early 60s, back in Europe, he continues small trades. He gets a touch of cinema from his father, then becomes a host on the radio station RTL. On this occasion, he meets a press secretary of the CBS record company who proposes to record a single.
In March 1965, then out "I change a little wind", adapted title of an American air. The sales do not exceed one thousand eight hundred copies, but this failure pushes Joe Dassin to persevere, persuaded that he can succeed.
His meeting with the songwriter Jacques Plaid, gives rise to titles that will make it enter brilliantly in the charts of the time. From 1966, with "Bip Bip", he knows his first success, and becomes overnight a star.
His warm and serious voice, his American origins, his elegance, make him a character that quickly stirs the curiosity of an audience eager for novelty. His repertoire, especially in his early days, is largely inspired by American, folk or country songs.
In 1966, Joe Dassin marries Maryse, a young woman of seven years older, who participates very closely in his debut since she plays the role of press secretary, secretary or even impresario.
Dassin the perfectionist
Learning the tricks of the trade on the job, Joe Dassin is distinguished from the outset by an acute perfectionism. He chooses to record all his records in London for a more modern and sophisticated sound, and then entrusts his work to one of the best arrangers of the moment, Johnny Arthey.
In 1967, he is the first part of the tour of Salvatore Adamo, then in 68, are linked the tubes, starting with "The Dalton".
Finally, the year 1969 marks the consecration of the Franco-American singer. In addition to a tour in Canada and Africa, his summer tour in France is happening in conditions worthy of a star. All the recitals are sold out, and the audience, mostly female, is unleashed. Gold records are multiplying, and Joe Dassin receives the Charles Cros Prize from the Académie du disque, a prize awarded to the most important French singers.
Then in September 69, he climbs on the stage of the Olympia, the ultimate sign of success.
The tubes of the 70s
The 70s are opening under excellent auspices. In 1970, the title "Champs-Elysees" beats sales records. From 70 to 75, he sails between successful tours, gold records, and luxurious TV shows. In May 1972, he acquired land in Tahiti, near the island of Bora Bora, where he could practice one of his favorite sports, deep-sea fishing. He then went there as often as possible, always surrounded by numerous friends, including singer Carlos. The latter is also the only artist, other than himself, for whom Joe Dassin will write songs.
On February 19, 1974, he returned to the Olympia stage.
His called lyricists are then called Claude Lemesle and Pierre Delanoe. It is to them that Joe Dassin asks in 1975, to write a title that could become the hit of the summer. Thus, in October, "The Indian Summer", adaptation of a success of the Italian Toto Cutugno, becomes the biggest sale of all his career. That year, Joe Dassin bought a house north of Paris, in the Seine and Oise, and apart from his private apartments, he set up a studio and set up his offices, in order to better control all aspects of his career. 1975, is also the year of his divorce.
In 1976, Joe Dassin invades the charts with "It will not change the world", then in 77, it is the title "To you" that wins the favor of the public.
Of a discreet nature on his private life, Joe Dassin is however the first magazine in 1978, the year of his marriage with Christine Delvaux, a young woman whom the singer met in Normandy two years earlier.
In the midst of a crowd of admirers and journalists, the wedding took place on January 14, 1978 in a small village in Provence, Cotignac, where Joe Dassin owns a house. Their honeymoon trip takes place in North America, interspersed with concerts and recordings. While singing in Canada, was born September 14 in Paris, his son Jonathan.
Last Olympia
In 1979, Joe Dassin went on the Olympia stage for the last time. In December, a heart warning coupled with an operation due to a stomach ulcer, weakens the singer, who cancels all his tours.
In March 1980, a second child was born, Julien. But, the couple divorced a few weeks later. In the months that follow, Joe Dassin is the victim of two heart accidents, in Paris then in Los Angeles. On July 11, he gave a last gala in Cannes, then left to rest at home in Tahiti with his sons, his mother and some friends. There, he died of a final infarction Wednesday, August 20 during a lunch in a restaurant in Papeete.
Extraordinarily popular, Joe Dassin belongs to the heritage of French song. Highly listened to and sold all over the world, his songs are still today, almost twenty years after his death, widely broadcast on the airwaves. In 1994, some young French artists (Les Objets, Katerine, Jean Louis Murat, Around Lucie) even took back his most famous titles in a compilation "The team in Jojo".
October 1998
Source biography: http://musique.rfi.fr/artiste/chanson/joe-dassin