Search - Georges Moustaki :: Talents of the Century

1969 to 1984

ALAIN ROBERT | ST-HUBERT,QUÉBEC | 06/18/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"MOUSTAKI is the FRENCH equivalent of the zen philosophy.This budget price cd is perfect because it gives a sort of adequate portrait of the singer and the writer composer.I think that most of his fans can agree that it is a good introduction to his world.Two songs are live recordings;LES AMIS DE GEORGES is a tender tribute to BRASSENS that MOUSTAKI knew well;MA LIBERTÉ and MA SOLITUDE were first recorded by REGGIANI;LE TEMPS DE VIVRE represents the singer's préoccupation with his way of live, that is a definition of his idealism of peace and love.After a hard day of work,MOUSTAKI represents a good alternative before going to sleep.His voice is low and there is nothing about this guy that will stress you.If you like this cd,there is a excellent 4 cds box set overview of his career,the title is BALLADES EN BALLADE."

Mesdames et Messieurs: Georges Moustaki!

Themis-Athena | from somewhere between California and Germany | 09/11/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Avec ma gueule de meteque, de Juif errant, de patre grec" -- "with my mongrel's face, [the face] of a wandering Jew, a Greek shepherd," Georges Moustaki introduces himself in his autobiographical song "Le Meteque," which in 1969 once and for all cemented his place in the world of the French singers and songwriters; although at that time, Moustaki hardly needed an introduction any longer, having already written songs for virtually every star populating the eclectic firmament of the world of Paris's chanconniers, from Georges Brassens to Juliette Greco, Yves Montand and the little sparrow with the big voice herself, Edith Piaf (including the words to one of her most famous chancons, "Milord").



Moustaki was born in the Egyptian port city of Alexandria, the son of Greek parents and, exposed to virtually every Mediterranean language and dialect at home and in school (his father spoke five languages, his mother six, and his classmates in the French school were, among others, of Arab, Italian, Greek, Turkish, Armenian and Maltese origin), he was a true cosmopolitan already at a very young age. At the age of seventeen, the self-declared "citoyen de la langue francaise" (citizen of the French language) moved to Paris, where he soon joined a circle of aspiring actors, painters and writers. Not long thereafter, a mutual friend introduced him to Georges Brassens, and he began to appear in local nightclubs. Yet, for a long time Moustaki had more success writing for others than when singing his own songs; and even "Le Meteque" was unanimously rejected when he first presented the song to record producers. Then, one night, came his appearance at a television show. And the very next morning, the record presses started rolling; to the tune of 5000 copies per day.



Ever since then, with his dark, velvety voice Moustaki has sung his songs of love and tenderness, of nature's vanishing beauty and innocence, of the suffering of the "little people" for the designs of the high and mighty, of friends loved and lost, and of little girls growing into beautiful women. Always a bit melancholy, often with a light twinkle in his eye, his melodies flow like the river which he describes in "La Carte du Tendre," that river of love and its journey from an enchanting, tender source and the happiness of taking off together through the storms of infidelity, lovers' quarrels, jealousy and the boredom of routine, until it finally comes to rest in the vast garden of "the promised land of forgiving and forgetting." Many of Moustaki's songs also reflect his roots in "that pool where black-eyed children play, with its three continents and centuries of history; its prophets and Gods" and where you find "a beautiful summer that's not afraid of fall," as he describes the Mediterranean in one of his best-known songs ("En Mediterranee").



"Master Series" is the international edition of the French cycle "Les Talents du Siecle," a set of "best of" compilations of some of the country's greatest singers and songwriters. While not anywhere near complete ("En Mediterranee" is not the only song sadly missing), it is a very good introduction to Moustaki's music, featuring 16 of his greatest successes; among them "Ma Solitude" and "Ma Liberte," both originally written for actor/singer/comedian Serge Reggiani and celebrating, respectively, that faithful companion that is loneliness, and the joys of freedom and adventure which are, nevertheless, easily discarded for "the prison of love and its beautiful jailoress" ("Ma Liberte," here rendered in a live recording). "Le Temps de Vivre," the first track of the collection, is a song underscoring one of the themes to which Moustaki returns again and again, reminding the listener to take the time to *really* live life, "sans projets et sans habitudes" -- "without plans and without routines." "Le Facteur," which tells the heartrending story of a postman whose death, at the innocent age of seventeen, also brings about the end of the singer's romantic correspondence, was the first of several songs recalling Moustaki's friend Manos Hadjidakis. "Les Amis [de Georges]" celebrates the circle of friends assembled around trendsetter Georges Brassens; friends of Georges Moustaki as well; easily recognizable all, looking "as if from the same family" with their hair grown long before that became the fashion; reuniting in famed Saint-Germain-des-Pres, the intellectuals' hub on Paris's Rive Gauche (the neighborhoods on the left bank of the Seine); unhurried, "never losing life in order to gain it;" and their head in the stars, discussing the works of the great poets and writers Paul Verlaine, Victor Hugo and Francois Villon. "Joseph" is a tender ode to that modest but brave biblical man who, of all the daughters of Galilee, had to take Mary to be his wife, thus subjecting himself to secrecy and exile solely because of the "strange ideas" of the child born to his wife, instead of being able to lead the simple, happy life he might otherwise have been looking forward to. And "Il Est Trop Tard," the collection's last track, takes up the theme of the opening "Le Temps de Vivre," melancholically deploring the lost chance lying in a life not fully lived; wasted between plans, promises and empty talk.



His trademark waving hair and full beard long grown snow white, Georges Moustaki continues to write, perform his songs and travel the world, reportedly rarely staying in the same country longer than a month and instantly at home wherever his travels take him; whether in Latin America, Europe or Asia. Somehow his chancons have escaped mass marketing in North America, which in a way is probably even a good thing. Anybody who, however, has once been exposed to the gentle charm of Moustaki's voice and the deceptively simple melodies of his songs, often accompanied by little more than his own guitar, will not be able to easily forget that experience; and will want to build a larger collection of his music. This record is a very good first stepping stone.



Also recommended:

Ballades en Balade: Racines et Errances

Jardins Secrets et Terres Promises

Sagesses et chemins de fortune

Voyages et Rencontres"