Swing Troubadour 1937-47

Charles Trenet was born in Narbonne (in the South of France) on May 18th 1913.

At the age of seven Charles was sent to boarding school in Béziers, but he returned home just a few months later, suffering from typhoid fever. It was during his convalescence at home that the young Charles developed his artistic talents, taking up music, painting and scultping. In 1922 the Trenet family moved to Perpignan and Charles was sent to a new school, this time as a day pupil. He hated maths with a passion but passed his 'baccalauréat' with flying colours in 1927. After leaving school he set off for Berlin where he began studying art.

By 1930 Charles had returned to France, promising his mother that he would enroll at the 'Ecole des Arts Décoratifs' in Paris. Instead of continuing his studies the young man landed a job at the Joinville film studios where he worked as a props man and assistant to the director. It was during this period that Trenet assumed the pen name Jacques Brévin and began writing poetry. He also wrote a number of articles for Parisian newspapers which serialized his first novels.

Yet a fateful encounter in 1932 led to Trenet taking up a music career rather than devoting his talent to writing. Teaming up with a young pianist by the name of Johnny Hess, whom he had met in a jazz club, Trenet became part of the 'Charles and Johnny' duo. The pair went on to become a successful act with their first hits, 'Quand les beaux jours seront là' and 'Sur le Yang Tsé Kiang', which popularised the famous 'fleur bleue' style. ('Fleur bleue', basically a dynamic new song-and-dance genre directly inspired by the American musicals of the day, was a typical 30’s invention).

. At the end of the forties, TRENET went on tour in Latin America, and for the next six years he performed across the American continent in Canada, Mexico and Peru.

Trenet’s public appearances became increasingly rare in the 60’s. His fans had grown older and the new spirit of rock’n’roll invading France from across the Atlantic (and influencing the new French 'Yéyé' movement) began to knock traditional French chanson off its pedestal. In 1968 Trenet did think of organising a special concert at 'Bobino' to celebrate his 55th birthday and his 30 years in the music business, but the student uprising and general strikes in May 68 soon put paid to that idea. Trenet did return to the stage, but it was at a smaller, more obscure, venue, 'Le Don Camillo'. In 1969, however, he did make a major comeback, performing at the 'Théâtre de la Ville'.

In 1970, Trenet flew to Japan to represent France at the Universal Exhibition in Osaka. The following year he left Columbia, the record company he had been with for years, and recorded 'Fidèle' and 'Il y avait des arbres'. He also made a memorable appearance at the 'Olympia'. In 1973, Trenet, who had just celebrated his 60th birthday, recorded a new album, 'Chansons en liberté'. The twelve songs on this album were an interesting mix of old and new compositions.

Trenet made a remarkable live comeback at the age of 85, appearing at the famous Nyon Festival in Switzerland on July 25th 1998. Trenet brought the house down, performing a selection of his greatest hits ('Y'a d'la joie', 'la Mer' etc.) and the old showman soon had the 20,000-strong audience singing along at the top of their voices.

In early February 2001, Trenet was rushed to hospital yet again after suffering another stroke. Exhausted, he decided he was not able for more treatment. He died in the early hours of 19th February at the Henri-Mondor hospital in Créteil in the suburbs of Paris. The whole of France rushed to pay tribute to this artist who made a major contribution to French chanson and who was an inspiration for more than one generation of artists. Trenet's funeral service was held on 23rd February in the Madeleine church in Paris and Trenet was subsequently cremated at the Père-Lachaise cemetery. His ashes are buried in his mother's grave in his hometown of Narbonne.