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CD
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BORNBAD 117CD
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Voyage, to Pierre Vassiliu, was not only the title of an album of his, but also a philosophy of life. Traveling the world nourished his work, and his career allowed him to set foot on every continent. But his most beautiful travels took place in recording studios. A traveler out of obligation in his youth (Algeria and its war), he became a traveler by taste and acquired an interest in people. Rio de Janeiro, 1968-1974: Eddie Barclay invited the trio Camara and its singer Tita Lobo to cut a record in Paris. They became the trend of the moment in St Germain des Prés; Pierre Barouh offered them to release an instrumental LP on his label Saravah, that would be recorded at Davout studio by Yves Chamberland, who in turn offered the trio to create the first French-language bossa nova album. A team of singers and writers and it included Pierre Vassiliu. 1975-1978: His first effort after the staggering success of Qui c'est celui-là? (1973), Voyage, came out in 1975, punctuated by the jolts of a train zigzagging between mainstream pop, Latin rhythms, and Herbie Hancock's Headhunters-inspired jazz-funk. 1979-1980: Another label was awaiting him: RCA. This rebirth marked the beginning of Vassiliu's African period. Pierre seemed depressed in 1979. His trips to Guadeloupe with Laura softened him and inspired many songs. 1981-1982: Pierre's former press agent Brigitte Berthelot remembers him being sickened by the trade. Despite money problems, he would create moments of celebration around him, and fantastic tours. 1983-2003: Fired by RCA, Pierre multiplied trips to Africa, and you could hear it in his new record Roulé Boulé (1983). After a single album for CBS, he was dismissed again. Then a family tragedy followed. This was the beginning of a period of very long breaks in Senegal. Of a longing for tenderness in the sun. Love was born again, Lena was born as well; the Vassilius took over a music bar in Dakar and Pierre began writing down what would become L'amour qui passe (1987). It included Vassiliu's only Afro-beat song: "Ça va ça va", with Fela's sidekick Tony Allen on drums. By the beginning of the 2000s, Pierre's recording career seemed to be at a standstill. A handful of fans from his town of Mèze allowed a final album to be funded: Pierre Précieuses (2003). Liner notes in French and English by Guido (from Acid Arab). CD version includes 24-page booklet.
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LP
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BORNBAD 117LP
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LP version. Printed inner sleeve; includes download code. Voyage, to Pierre Vassiliu, was not only the title of an album of his, but also a philosophy of life. Traveling the world nourished his work, and his career allowed him to set foot on every continent. But his most beautiful travels took place in recording studios. A traveler out of obligation in his youth (Algeria and its war), he became a traveler by taste and acquired an interest in people. Rio de Janeiro, 1968-1974: Eddie Barclay invited the trio Camara and its singer Tita Lobo to cut a record in Paris. They became the trend of the moment in St Germain des Prés; Pierre Barouh offered them to release an instrumental LP on his label Saravah, that would be recorded at Davout studio by Yves Chamberland, who in turn offered the trio to create the first French-language bossa nova album. A team of singers and writers and it included Pierre Vassiliu. 1975-1978: His first effort after the staggering success of Qui c'est celui-là? (1973), Voyage, came out in 1975, punctuated by the jolts of a train zigzagging between mainstream pop, Latin rhythms, and Herbie Hancock's Headhunters-inspired jazz-funk. 1979-1980: Another label was awaiting him: RCA. This rebirth marked the beginning of Vassiliu's African period. Pierre seemed depressed in 1979. His trips to Guadeloupe with Laura softened him and inspired many songs. 1981-1982: Pierre's former press agent Brigitte Berthelot remembers him being sickened by the trade. Despite money problems, he would create moments of celebration around him, and fantastic tours. 1983-2003: Fired by RCA, Pierre multiplied trips to Africa, and you could hear it in his new record Roulé Boulé (1983). After a single album for CBS, he was dismissed again. Then a family tragedy followed. This was the beginning of a period of very long breaks in Senegal. Of a longing for tenderness in the sun. Love was born again, Lena was born as well; the Vassilius took over a music bar in Dakar and Pierre began writing down what would become L'amour qui passe (1987). It included Vassiliu's only Afro-beat song: "Ça va ça va", with Fela's sidekick Tony Allen on drums. By the beginning of the 2000s, Pierre's recording career seemed to be at a standstill. A handful of fans from his town of Mèze allowed a final album to be funded: Pierre Précieuses (2003). Liner notes in French and English by Guido (from Acid Arab).
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CD
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BORNBAD 100CD
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Pierre Vassiliu had always been reduced. Few were the real fans, who had explored all angles and taken the measure of the man. Maybe his rhymes weren't that rich, the instrumentation not too lush, the production quite laid-back, and the timbre rather little demanding, but you could be sure the song would be pampered. Because Vassiliu continuously tried to remodel his career, from a chansonnier to a cunning singer, from tender to comical, to a beatnik poet, to an ethno-artist, to a venue manager, to a showman, to a barfly. 1961: Pierre Vassiliu, a horse rider and a war photographer, embarks with his brother Michel (lyricist) in the music business. Their department: comedy. Lucky break, it works. Georges Brassens champions him and writes a few laudatory lines on his first 45 -- Vassiliu is launched. The sassy man sets to putting sweet songs on his singles, such as "Le Manège Désenchanté" on the B-side to Ivanohé in 1965. He also participates in the French-Brazilian adventure of Les Masques, with an album that has become a cult item thirty years later. Within a few weeks, it's in the bag: three 45s are released by Barclay, along with a first LP, Amour Amitié (1970), on which he appears sensitive and very forthcoming with stories about himself. This LP has little success, just like the following singles, including Marie En Provence (1974). No success either for the second album "Attends" (1972), either. He loses Barclay's trust and now only has the right to record singles, on a quest for a hit. Three more 45s and finally comes the supreme misunderstanding: "Qui C'est Celui-Là" (1973). Millions were sold, and the label improvises an album made up of the previous 45s. A dark period follows, during which he finds himself torn between the euphoria of success and its vanity, between the love he gets and the reasons given, between Paris and Provence, between his wife and other women. Marie, too often abandoned and sick of egocentricity, leaves for good; he flees to India, gets lost, reinvents himself and releases a series of three dark, light albums. After the 1980s, that was it. During the 1990s, his music takes a South-American direction. He hardly releases anything until 2003. Pierre Vassiliu dies from Parkinson's disease in 2015. CD version includes 36-page booklet.
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BORNBAD 100LP
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LP version. Includes printed undersleeve, Pierre Vassiliu had always been reduced. Few were the real fans, who had explored all angles and taken the measure of the man. Maybe his rhymes weren't that rich, the instrumentation not too lush, the production quite laid-back, and the timbre rather little demanding, but you could be sure the song would be pampered. Because Vassiliu continuously tried to remodel his career, from a chansonnier to a cunning singer, from tender to comical, to a beatnik poet, to an ethno-artist, to a venue manager, to a showman, to a barfly. 1961: Pierre Vassiliu, a horse rider and a war photographer, embarks with his brother Michel (lyricist) in the music business. Their department: comedy. Lucky break, it works. Georges Brassens champions him and writes a few laudatory lines on his first 45 -- Vassiliu is launched. The sassy man sets to putting sweet songs on his singles, such as "Le Manège Désenchanté" on the B-side to Ivanohé in 1965. He also participates in the French-Brazilian adventure of Les Masques, with an album that has become a cult item thirty years later. Within a few weeks, it's in the bag: three 45s are released by Barclay, along with a first LP, Amour Amitié (1970), on which he appears sensitive and very forthcoming with stories about himself. This LP has little success, just like the following singles, including Marie En Provence (1974). No success either for the second album "Attends" (1972), either. He loses Barclay's trust and now only has the right to record singles, on a quest for a hit. Three more 45s and finally comes the supreme misunderstanding: "Qui C'est Celui-Là" (1973). Millions were sold, and the label improvises an album made up of the previous 45s. A dark period follows, during which he finds himself torn between the euphoria of success and its vanity, between the love he gets and the reasons given, between Paris and Provence, between his wife and other women. Marie, too often abandoned and sick of egocentricity, leaves for good; he flees to India, gets lost, reinvents himself and releases a series of three dark, light albums. After the 1980s, that was it. During the 1990s, his music takes a South-American direction. He hardly releases anything until 2003. Pierre Vassiliu dies from Parkinson's disease in 2015.
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7"
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BORNBAD 084EP
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Previously unreleased killer jazz funk soundtrack by Pierre Vassiliu (the man behind Les Masques and tons of other cool projects) for Jean-Daniel Simon's 1970 film Ils. File next to the soundtracks of Le Mariage Collectif (1971), Un homme est mort (The Outside Man) (1972), and L'homme orchestre (1970). Includes printed inner sleeve. A must-have.
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