French — All Formats  

The great first album from French pop psyce combo Le Systeme Crapoutchik – released in '69 – wonderful stuff from that great era in which the creative boundlessness of the psych era was fusing so well with catchier, more accessible pop around the world! While they employed styles that were well in use internationally in the late 60s, Le Systeme Crapoutchik still have a pretty unique vibe of their own. From spare, fairly spooky passages to hard-charging rock, always with great vocal harmonies. Includes the title track plus "La Chanson Des Amis", "L'Amour Avec Un Grande A", "Une Vie", "Premier Amour", "Chagrin D'Amour", ""C'est I'Hiver" and more.

Excellent vocal jazz from postwar Paris! The Blue Stars were a legendary combo that were led by Blossom Dearie, and which featured a host of great vocal talents that would later go onto form groups like Les Double Six or The Swingle Singers, including Mimi Perrin and Christine Legrand, as well as instrumental jazz artists like Fats Sadi and Roger Guerin, who are doing some rare vocalization here. The first 4 tracks on the set are pulled from a 1956 ep – and it features the group on the tracks "Jumpin At The Woodside", "C'est La Vie", "Broadway At Basin Street", and "Grapevine". The next 12 tracks are from the Pardon My English LP – which has the group down to a sextet, working without Dearie, in a groovy accented English vocal style that's a direct precursor of the vocalese grooving of Les Double Six. Titles on that set include "Small Talk", "Move", "Did You Close Your Eyes?", and "Promises & Lies". The last 3 tracks on the set are a bit different – featuring vocals and guitar by Henri Salvador, with backing on bass and drums. The style of Salvador's work is still similar, though – way more vocalese than the "blues" in the title would make you expect – and the tracks are lifted from a rare Fontana ep-only release that was recorded in the same year. Titles include "Don't Blame Me", "Salvador Plays The Blues", and "Stompin At The Savoy".