“Mwhere I play, I play to play against you, I play to play against you, but you, do you want it? » Close your eyes: Brigitte Bardot’s voice tickles your ears, soft, a little cheeky. We are in 1964, when BB put a new 45 rpm on vinyl, the lyrics were signed Jean-Max Rivière. The lyricist, fine pen and wise architect of France, died on November 15, at the age of 88.
Jean-Max Rivière was a quiet figure who frequently appeared on soundtracks of the 60s and 70s, a writer we thought we knew without ever actually seeing him. To the Queen of Saint-Tropez with “messy hair”, he also offered it in 1963 La Madrague, ballads that have become legends, but also two more secret nuggets, At the end of summer Or It is funny, the little postcard he kept secret.
In 1964, he served Richard Anthony with a fine adaptation I just want to be with you from the UK’s Dusty Springfield which has just become a hit on the Channel: Now you can go was an immediate success for singer yé-yé. For Dalida, he composed incandescent texts El Cordobes, the bullfighter king and the tragic hero of the arena.
Juliette Gréco received a song in 1966 that still remains in our memory: A small fish, a small bird. As for Serge Reggiani, Jean-Max Rivière offered him one of his greatest masterpieces, Needs almost nothing, in 1968, a whispered song that hasn’t aged a bit.
France Gall, Françoise Hardy, Sylvie Vartan… Idols yé-yé
To find
Kangaroo today
Answer
Annie Cordy (Singing Machine), Françoise Hardy (Friendship, Autumn meeting), French Bile (it’s snowing, You have no rights) Sylvie Vartan (Walk to smile, One night by chance, That boy)… The list of performers resembles a pop pantheon. All, in his discography, have works signed by this pure Parisian, launched in a decade rocked by frenzied rhythms, but still in search of well-packaged words. In 2016, Jean-Max Rivière was appointed Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2016.
Its name is almost inseparable from the name of its composer, composer Gérard Bourgeois. Together, they weave an important part of the fabric of French music of the sixties. A thoughtful work, but deeply embedded in the collective memory.
