Marie José - Le bar de l'escadrille (1942)

The next 2 linked videos feature songs from the Second World War : one from Germany and one from France.

The French song is from 1941 and called "Le bar de l'escadrille" (At the Squadrons bar) and was singer Marie-Josés biggest hit. The German song is "Lili Marleen" - recorded by Dorit Talmadge in 1941.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0Wv3Swo49Q

"Le bar de l'escadrille" is a nostalgic song which tells the story of a closely knit group of fliers who used to come together at the squadrons bar. When war breaks out several of them die in battle. Life at the squadrons bar will never be the same again. The song seems very innocent yet in the last refrain takes quite a different turn :

"Au bar de l'escadrille
Revivront les rires, les trilles
Quand dans le ciel plus beau
D' un monde enfin nouveau
Les avions de demain
Pour le bonheur humain
Dans la paix éternelle
Feront frémir leurs ailes"

Roughly translated :

"Laughter and music will
Return to the squadron's bar
When through the beautiful skies
Of a new World
aeroplanes will roar
For the eternal peace
And happiness
Of mankind"

The lyrics for "Le bar de l'escadrille" were written by Roland Tessier - a popular presenter on German controlled Radio-Paris. In May 1941 he published a novel about his experiences in the war called "Le bar de l'escadrille". Tessier was also chief editor of the magazine Les Ondes which was linked to Radio-Paris and first published in april 1941.

This probably saved the song from being banned since its lyrics and the effect they had on audiences did not go unnoticed and made censors suspicious.

Marie-José first sang "Le bar de l'escadrille " on the night of 7 December 1941 during a gala at the Salle Pleyel in Paris. It became an instant hit. Her recording for Odeon was made on 24 March 1942 and released as B-side to "Tango Marina". From 25 October until 5 November 1942 Marie-José appeared at Bobino with Jean Lumière. Each time she sang "Le bar de l'escadrille" the audience went wild and started applauding and yelling. In the end management had to switch on the lights at the end of the song in order to prevent further escalation. Another version of "Bar" was recorded by Anne Chapelle for Polydor.

Marie-José was born in 1914 in Oran, Algeria. A very pretty young woman she initially wanted to become an actress and appeared with Tino Rossi and Viviane Romance in Naples au baiser de feu in 1937. Although she would appear in several other movies it was as singer that she was to become famous . She signed with Odeon in 1939 and recorded "Un avion tout blanc". Her career prospered during the occupation when she recorded "Le paradis perdu", "Les fleurs sont des mots d'amour" and several French versions of German songs/tangos : "Tango Marina", "Loin de toi" (Lied der Sehnsucht), "'Létoile de Rio" (Stern von Rio), "Guitare dans le soir" (Gitarren-Serenade)

After the war she continued her career with "Amor Amor" and "Besame mucho". She had always had a preference for tangos and her 1947 recording "Impossible" was an enormous succes. She was crowned France's 'Reine du tango" (Queen of the tango). She remained popular throughout the 1950s. From the 1960s onwards- with changing musical styles - her appearances became fewer... In the 1980s she occasionally appeared on Pascal Sevran's show "La chance aux chansons"....
Marie-José died in 2002 and apparently had led a very happy and fulfilling life...

The video features pictures of Marie-José from personal collection - taken from a 1942 Marie-José song album. Furthermore the video includes footage of French POW returning home.

About the record :

Odeon 281.524 / mx. Ki 9341

This record in quite used condition and produces a lot of surface noise.

Sound equipment used :
Ortophon om78 Cartridge & Stylus
Turntable : Stanton T.90
TerraTec 78RPM Phono Pre-amp

After processing, this video will also be offered in HD.
However whether this function works will depend on your Internet connection and the compatabilities of your computer.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Le
• Bar
• de
• l'escadrille
• Marie-José
• chanson
• française
• 1942
• Paris
• Odéon
• disque
• 78rpm
• Deuxième
• Guerre
• mondiale
• Second
• World
• War
• WWII
• Zweiter
• Weltkrieg
• France
• Vichy
• Pétain

[camille885]

Son plus grand succès. L'orchestration n'est pas mal non plus. Et merci beaucoup pour toutes ses photos!

[Leotaurus1975]

Merci Camille! La version d'Anne Chapelle n'est pas mal non plus (malheureusement mon disque est très usé). Les photos viennent d'un album de chansons de Marie-José de 1942 que j'ai acheté aux puces pour 1 Euro.

[camille885]

La version d'Anne Chapelle est-elle vraiment beaucoup endommagée? J'aimerais beaucoup la découvrir!

[Leotaurus1975]

Le disque est vraiment en très mauvais état. En plus c'est un disque Polydor dont la qualité pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale fut vraiment terrible... C'est dommage puisque Anne Chapelle a enrégistré très peu de disques... Sa version de "Bar" est disponible sur le cd "Les grandes dames de la chanson" de "Abeille Musique".

[Leotaurus1975]

Nila Cara y chante "M'ami je garde mes baisers" , la version française de "Wann wirst du wieder bei mir sein" de Ilse Werner (du film Wir machen Musik / Vive la musique

[seerider45]

Absolument merveilleux............j'adore cette chanson de notre regrettée reine du tango..merci mille fois pour cette vidéo exceptionnelle et ce travail de documentation epoustouflant !!!! 5 ***** car on ne peut faire plus..pourtant si je pouvais,...... je double la mise !! merci encore

[Leotaurus1975]

Merci beaucoup, la chanson est en effet superbe!

[Memale2009]

Absolument touchant : et la musique et les photos. Merci. Un document remarquable.

[tychaton08]

Vraiment très bien, merci!

[tychaton08]

Merci!

[fuzzlefluff]

Wow.

So beautiful, and her vibrato is so enchanting...

[jackiedupon]

Oh , mom Dieu !!! des souvenirs !!! Merci

[amare1cro]

I like those songs very much... The woman singer 'telling a story' through singing while the instruments follow her lightly... where can I find more of this genre?