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(Henri Salvador - rumored to have introduced France to Rock n' Roll, but later denied it)

Okay, I promise - next week we're going back to the 60s 70s and 80s. But here we are, Sunday night - everything bordering on mellow. So why not pay a little visit to the art of Chanson Francaise and one of its most well-known practitioners Henri Salvador?

Henri Salvador, a native of French Guyana started out as a nightclub guitarist accompanying other artists in Paris in the early 1930s. In the late 1940's he turned to singing and established a major reputation for himself in France. He was hugely popular all through the 1950's and 60s. It was said he had introduced France to American Rock n' Roll (recording under the pseudonym Henry Cording) and later disavowed any knowledge of diving into a musical form he really couldn't stand.

Nonetheless, Salvador enjoyed a long career, surfacing in later life to do voiceovers on film before his death in 2008.

Ciel de Paris is from 1953, during his early period, recording for Polydor in France with the orchestra led by Jo Boyer.

The record is a little worn - no doubt it provided background music to a lot of romantic evenings.

Just guessing . . .