Albums Classiques – Spécial Français A talk on Édith Piaf’s Récital 1961 & Serge Gainsbourg’s Histoire De Melody Nelson

In a new edition of our Classic Albums series, a Spécial Français, we take a deep dive into two LPs that neatly bracket the 1960s and illustrate the diversity of French popular music in this most tumultuous of decades.
Édith Piaf’s Recital 1961 was a live recording made at the Paris Olympia the previous December that captured the essence of the singer’s legend. The album was bare and unadorned yet also calculating, from the unsettling cover image to the choice of repertoire that included the signature song of her late career, Non, je ne regrette rien.
Serge Gainsbourg, pop genius, Svengali, and provocateur, spent the best part of the 1960s writing hits for others, nurturing the talents of yé-yé singers like France Gall and film stars like Brigitte Bardot. His first foray into the concept album, 1971’s Histoire De Melody Nelson was almost overlooked in its day but is latterly revered by a generation of music lovers and artists for its unique combination of orchestral pop and funk with Serge’s unmistakeable spoken-word lyrics.
More than half a century on, what do these two LPs tell us about their legendary artists and their place in popular culture – both in France and globally – then and now?