François Béranger

François Béranger was born in Amilly (Loiret) on August 28, 1937. The son of a Renault trade unionist, he grew up in a working-class, politicized environment, abandoning his studies to work in the factory, before turning to the theater and then to song. When he returned from the Algerian War in 1960, he worked as a stage manager at ORTF and wrote his first songs. Open to folk, rock and ethnic music, he recorded his first album for CBS in 1970, Une Ville (renamed Tranche de Vie on reissues), which already attracted attention with the track "Dis-moi oui". The next, Ça Doit Être Bien... (1971), was supported by the musicians of the group Mormos. In 1973, he contributed to the score of Jacques Doillon's film L'An 01. Following in the footsteps of his committed, libertarian elders, François Béranger stood out for his musical eclecticism, which saw him team up with studio musicians such as Jean-Pierre Alarcen (guitar) and Gérard Cohen (bass), credited on the covers of the albums Le Monde Bouge (1974) and L'Alternative (1975), released by the L'Escargot label founded by Gilles Vigneault. Surrounded by these musicians, the author, composer and performer gave free rein to his inspiration on songs in a variety of formats, which could be transformed into full-sided jazz, blues and rock jams. Familiar with charity concerts and popular with large audiences, Béranger scored an unexpected hit with the country-Caribbean ballad "Mamadou m'a dit", from the album Joue Pas Avec Mes Nerfs (1979). He kept up his acerbic writing over the following years, with albums such as Article Sans Suite (1980), Da Capo (1982) and Dure-Mère (1989). Diminished while battling cancer, François Béranger returned to the stage in 1998, recording his last albums for the Normandy label Futur Acoustic: Béranger (1992), Le Cactus (1997), the double En Public 98 (1999), Profiter du Temps (2002) and, as a farewell, the tribute to Félix Leclerc, 19 Chansons de Félix Chantées par Béranger (2003). On October 14, 2006, aged 66, he died of illness in Sauve (Gard).

Please enable Javascript to view this page competely.