The last Brel

Brel stopped performing as a singer 1966, finding it harder and harder to produce new songs (at least ones, he was pleased with) and to tour. Then he went on stage as the man from La Mancha (also tranlated the lyrics and was hugely acclaimed for his work both as an actor and translator), performed in some movies and directed one called 'Le Far West', which was shown in Cannes. After critics laughed it away, some without seeing it, he found other things to do, such as flying and sailing. Meanwhile his smoking made him seriously ill and he recovered only after part of his lugns was removed. After spending years on Hiva-Oa he met his partners Jouannest and Rauber with scraps of lyrics and notes and a voice that had suffered from cancer.

Jouannest and Rauber did a lot of work to help make Brel's ideas into songs and to get his voice working again - and listening to this record one can only admire the result. Of course, many things said in these had been said before in other Brel's songs, but it is still good stuff, with remarkable studio sounds. Here Brel says goodbye to his friend 'Jojo' ('six feet under you are still singing') and faces his own destiny in 'Vieillir' ('to die is nothing, but to get old...') and shows his unique talent in making songs more like plays in 'Orly' and 'Knokke-le-Zoute', a magnificent, imaginative tango, that could have been done by no one else but these three men - and performed by no one else but Brel. 'Ville s'endormait' is a beautiful song, a bit mystical as if it should have belonged to a film or a play - and throughout the album the arrangements are spectacular, giving room and support to Brel's voice at same time being hugely dramatic. After all, Brel didn't need much support, he always took his place with panache. I like to use this word with him, it reminds me of Cyrano's character, who was much like Brel. So far so, that in couple of his songs ('Jacky', 'La Fanette' - not on this record) Brel hinted at his own ugliness.

For a Brel-enthusiast this is very compelling music. Less than a year after this was made Brel died in 1978. The record was a huge success when it was released, and one can still hear, why. If music can be larger than life and still describe it - and us -honestly, Brel is it. There are better collections of Brel, but this is still definately a five star record.