Hugues Aufray

The music of French folk troubadour Hugues Aufray existed in stark opposition towards the prevailing yé-yé sound that dominated pop charts in the middle-’60s. A disciple of Bob Dylan who frequently modified his hero’s tunes into French, Aufray however proved a favorite favorite whose personal compositions, especially “Santiano” and “Celine,” quickly came into the mainstream vernacular. Created August 18, 1929, in the Parisian suburb of Neuilly sur Seine, Hughes spent a lot of his adolescence inside a Dominican college in the south of France following the German profession forced his family members to flee their house. Pursuing his parents’ divorce, he relocated along with his dad to Madrid, time for Paris in 1948 to review in the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. To create ends fulfill, Aufray sang within the roads for spare switch, eventually leaving college a year later on to satisfy his military responsibility by portion a stint in the Alps as an associate of the hill infantry. Aufray spent a lot of the 1950s performing in Parisian pubs and cabarets, creating a crowd-pleasing repertoire dominated by Latin American folk music and Georges Brassens compositions. Just in 1959 do he start to receive better notoriety after earning an area amateur competition sponsored by radio place European countries n°1. The publicity helped Aufray property a record cope with the Barclay label, and by year’s end he released his debut one, “Y’avait Fanny Qui Chantait.” The record quickly captured the interest of Maurice Chevalier, who asked him to go to the U.S. and perform within the “NY au Bal” all-star display. Aufray remained in NEW YORK for many weeks, and after a short go back to Paris he once again journeyed stateside, befriending folk superstars Peter, Paul & Mary and a increasing singer/songwriter called Bob Dylan. When Hughes once again went house to Paris, he transported many Dylan compositions in his suitcase, also implementing the so-called “skiffle” design well-liked by learners on both edges from the Atlantic. With 1961’s “Santiano,” Hughes have scored his first strike, introducing today’s folk regular that continues to be a favorite of successive years of schoolchildren. 2 yrs afterwards he got into the annual Eurovision Melody Competition, representing Luxembourg with “Dès Que le Printemps Revient,” and opened up for rock and roll superstar Johnny Hallyday on the famed Olympia. Finally, in 1965 he understood a longtime objective with Aufray Chante Dylan, a assortment of Dylan addresses that vaulted him to brand-new fame throughout a lot of traditional western European countries. The 1966 strike “Celine” demonstrated another popular preferred, however in 1970 he abruptly transformed program, abandoning the populist anthems and character hymns of earlier efforts to create Avec Amour, a deeply personal collection of like tracks focused on his wife Helene. Industrial and essential reactions had been profoundly combined, and Aufray spent another year in comparative seclusion, maintaining his plantation in the Ardeche. He finally resurfaced in 1973 headlining the Paris cabaret Tête de l’Art, accompanied by some gigs dubbed “Espace Vert” shown in the Théâtre de la Renaissance. Aufray spent the rest of the 10 years making brief results towards the limelight accompanied by very long exercises at his nation house. He briefly surfaced in 1976 using the recording Aquarium, accompanied by a short single tour, and 2 yrs later on shipped the two-disc arranged Transatlantic, which he backed using a three-month stint on the Paris cabaret Don Camillo. But 1980’s Hugues and 1982’s Caravane transferred without attendant live performances, in support of in 1983 do Aufray go back to the stage, playing the Olympia and a brief African tour. Petit Homme made an appearance two years afterwards, but right now both radio as well as the press transformed a deaf hearing to Aufray’s music. He even so retained a devoted cult pursuing and in 1991 celebrated his 30th wedding anniversary as a documenting artist with some sold-out dates on the Olympia (afterwards yielding the 1993 live LP Path 91). With 1995’s Aufray Trans Dylan, he came back towards the music that was the foundation of his preliminary motivation, and in 1999, at age 70, released Chacun Sa Mer, an LP inspired by Celtic and Latin customs. With 2005’s Hugues Aufray Chante Félix Leclerc, Aufray celebrated another seminal impact, crediting the Quebecois star with shaping his very own decision to create and sing in French.