Henri Salvador
| Henri Salvador | |
|---|---|
Henri Salvador in 2006
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| Background information | |
| Born |
18 July 1917 Cayenne, French Guiana |
| Died | 13 February 2008 (aged 90) Paris, France |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | 1930s–2008 |
Henri Salvador (18 July 1917 – 13 February 2008) was a French Caribbean singer.
Salvador was born in Cayenne, French Guiana. His father, Clovis, and his mother, Antonine Paterne, daughter of a native Carib Indian, were both from Guadeloupe, French West Indies. Salvador had a brother, André, and a sister, Alice.
He began his musical career as a guitarist accompanying other singers. He had learned the guitar by imitating Django Reinhardt's recordings, and was to work alongside him in the 1940s. Salvador recorded several songs written by Boris Vian with Quincy Jones as arranger. He played many years with Ray Ventura et Ses Collégiens where he used to sing, dance and even play comedy on stage.
He also appeared in movies including Nous irons à Monte-Carlo (1950), Nous irons à Paris (Jean Boyer's film of 1949 with the Peters Sisters) and Mademoiselle s'amuse (1948).
He is known to have recorded the first French rock and roll songs in 1957 written by Boris Vian and Michel Legrand — "Rock'n Roll Mops", "Rock hoquet, Va t'faire cuire un oeuf, man" and "Dis-moi qu'tu m'aimes rock" — under the artist name of Henry Cording (a play on the word "Recording"). Despite this historical aspect, he never ceased to claim that he disliked rock and roll and even refused to talk about this subject later on.
In the 1960s, Salvador was the host of several popular television variety shows on French TV. In 1964, he scored a hit with "Zorro est arrivé", which was inspired by The Coasters' U.S. hit "Along Came Jones". He is also famous for his rich, catchy laugh, which is a theme in many of his humorous songs. In 1969, Henri Salvador recorded a variation of "Mah Nà Mah Nà" entitled "Mais non, mais non" ("But No, But No" or "Of Course Not, Of Course Not"), with lyrics he had written in French to Piero Umiliani's music.
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