Liner Notes
There is
no more dedicated or professional
man-about-music, than Francis Lai. It is his
life.
I have seen him on the streets of Paris, and
along the Croisette in Cannes, but his natural
habitat is his private studio at his home on the
Rue Franklin, or in a darkened screening room,
appraising the possibilities of some new motion
picture for which he has been asked to compose
the score. There are few people one can use the
word genius about, and be on safe ground. Francis
Lai has this quality which appears constantly in
his melodies, that are at once so engaging, they
seem to have been plucked out of the air of
Paris.
There is
great deal of Paris in his modest and endearing
man. Piaf loved him, and so did Maurice
Chevalier. He is basically a piano-accordion
player, whose feet are in the gutters of
Montmartre, but whose soul is somewhere among the
stars, and whose music runs through the heart of
Paris, like a lover's tears.
These
twelve tracks are fine examples. They include his
greatest successes Love Story and A Man and a
Woman as also his music for the re-make of 'La
Ronde' entitled 'Dance of Love' and the current
Lelouch-directed 'Happy New Year' (La Bonne
Annee).
He also sings Sur notre etoile which is a
delightful megaphonic song, born of the Gatsby
era and the nostalgia for the old MGM musicals.
Francis
Lai composes with a passion that is always
touching - always tender - always a love story -
always a man and a woman, and always popular. And
always uniquely Francis Lai.
HAL
SHAPER
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