Aux armes et cætera
| Aux Armes et Cætera | ||||
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| Studio album by Serge Gainsbourg | ||||
| Released | March 1979 | |||
| Recorded | January 12–24, 1979 | |||
| Studio | Dynamic Sounds Studio, Kingston, Jamaica | |||
| Genre | Reggae, dub poetry | |||
| Length | 32:55 | |||
| Language | French | |||
| Label | Universal | |||
| Producer | Philippe Lerichomme, Bruno Blum | |||
| Serge Gainsbourg chronology | ||||
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| Alternative cover | ||||
Cover of Collector's Edition
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Aux Armes et cætera is the thirteenth album by Serge Gainsbourg, released in the early spring of 1979. It was recorded in Kingston, Jamaica, with some of the island's best reggae musicians as well as members of the I Threes, Bob Marley's backup chorus which includes Rita Marley. Further expanded by new mixes, dubs and Jamaican versions released in 2003 and 2015, the album is considered by many as being one of his masterpieces. The French edition of Rolling Stone magazine named this album the 50th greatest French rock album (out of 100). With the notable exceptions of Paul Simon (Mother and Child Reunion, 1969) and Peter Tosh recording a duet with Mick Jagger a few months before, it was the first time a Jewish, European singer recorded reggae in Jamaica.
With the exception of his 1969 international hit duet with Jane Birkin Je t'aime moi non plus (where Birkin's erotic voice had turned the song into a novelty success), Serge Gainsbourg was then only a cult figure having mainly met success through versions of his songs recorded by other artists including Brigitte Bardot, Juliette Gréco, Honor Blackman, Jane Birkin, France Gall, Petula Clark and others. The album sold over one million copies in 1979, turning him into a major sensation in France, Belgium and French-speaking Switzerland.
Aux armes et cætera is one of the first appearances of reggae in French music though his own Marilou Reggae, which appears here in a different arrangement with an extra verse, renamed Marilou Reggae Dub (the composition had first appeared on his 1976 album, L'Homme à tête de chou, which had been recorded in London with non-reggae musicians).
The title track is a reggae adaptation of La Marseillaise, the French national anthem. Soon after the song's first appearance on television on April 1, 1979 (a controversial appearance followed as the recording was perceived by some as an insult to the French Republic), it became a big success. Gainsbourg received death threats upon release of his cover of the French national anthem. One journalist, Michel Droit of Le Figaro criticized the song writing that Gainsbourg was feeding antisemitism by "trying to make money with the national anthem". Deeply hurt, in turn the singer published a striking reply. Other critics did not like that the original text was truncated, half of the chorus line (including the most military-oriented section of the song) being edited out.
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