Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Poinçonneur des Lilas
2. Du Jazz Dans le Ravin
3. Ce Mortel Ennui
4. Alcool
5. Ronsard 58
6. Claqueur de Doigts
7. Eau À la Bouche
8. Chanson de Prévert
9. Amours Perdues
10. Baudelaire
11. Intoxicated Man
12. Black Trombone
13. Javanaise
14. Chez Les Yé-Yé
15. Talkie-Walkie
16. Scenic Railway
17. Elaeudanla Téïtéïa
18. Pauvre Lola
19. Ces Petits Riens
20. New York U.S.A.
21. La-Bas C'Est Naturel
22. Coleur Café

Disc 2:

1. Requim Four un C...
2. Bonnie and Clyde - Brigitte Bardot, Serge Gainsbourg
3. Comic Strip - Brigitte Bardot, Serge Gainsbourg
4. Docteur Jekyll et Monsieur Hyde
5. Initials B.B.
6. Ford Mustang
7. Torrey Canyon
8. Anamour
9. Sous le Soleil Exactement
10. Elisa
11. Sucettes
12. 69 Année Érotique - Jane Birkin, Serge Gainsbourg
13. Chanson de Slogan - Jane Birkin, Serge Gainsbourg
14. Je T'Aime...Moi Non Plus - Jane Birkin, Serge Gainsbourg
15. Manon
16. Ballade de Melody Nelson - Jane Birkin, Serge Gainsbourg
17. Valse de Melody
18. Je Suis Venu Te Dire Que Je M'En Vais
19. Par Hasard et Pas Rase
20. Sensuelle et Sans Suite
21. Pamela Popo
22. S.S. In Uruguay
23. Nazi Rock
24. My Lady Héroine
25. Ami Caouette

Disc 3:

1. Sea Sex and Sun
2. Mister Iceberg
3. Good Bye Emmanuelle
4. Marilou Sous la Neige
5. Marilou Reggae
6. Des Laids des Laids
7. Aux Armes et Caetera
8. Lola Rastaquouère
9. Vieille Canaille
10. Ecce Homo
11. Negusa Nagast
12. Nostlagie Camarade
13. Love on the Beat [Version Single]
14. Sorry Angel
15. Lemon Incest - Charlotte Gainsbourg, Serge Gainsbourg
16. You're Under Arrest
17. Aux Enfants de la Chance
18. Gloomy Sunday
19. Mon Légionnaire

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #242237 in Music
• Released on: 1999-04-15
• Number of discs: 3
• Formats: Box set, Import

Customer Reviews

If you only own one French title
I'm French and as such I like Gainsbourg. No matter how provocative, edgy and anti-hero the guy was, every French person of every age loved and still loves Serge; that's what genius is all about. The guy created landmark album after landmark album from the 60's to the 90's, always reinventing himself, sometimes riding the waves of the times, sometimes preceding them. Serge was a true songwriter in the sense that his lyrics and his music perfectly fit each other. He was both a top lyricist and a top composer. Atmosphere is the key word in his art. This is especially visible in his brilliant album-concepts "l'homme a tete de choux" and "Melody Nelson". He was genre-agnostic and could come out with a Jazz, Rock, Pop, or Reggae album with equal success and without ever losing its own strong personality in the mix. Being published in France, Serge could indulge in explicit-yet-never-low-class lyrics. It also meant that his creativity was not curved by commercial considerations. For the last 50 years, French song-writing has been heavily influenced by giants such as Charles Trenet, George Brassens, or Jacques Brel. But if you only go with one, go with Serge. And if you want to sample his works through time, this combo is your best ticket. You won't be disappointed.

Je l'aime (lui non plus, peut-etre)
This was my first introduction to the work of Serge Gainsbourg. Well, not quite this actual set, to be honest - a slimmed-down, 2CD version brought out by Phonogram France, presumably as a budget-price version of the full thing. But it still covers the whole of Gainsbourg's career, from snappily poetic 50s pop to consciously sleazy 80s electro. At any rate, I've listened to most of the titles on this set, and what strikes me above all is the man's amazing capacity for reinventing himself, and remaining himself at the same time.

If you've never heard anything by him, Serge Gainsbourg isn't like anyone else. I tried to tell myself "Well, he's part Dean Martin...part Jim Morrison...part Bob Marley..." but it didn't work. There's a superficial resemblance to Jacques Brel, but Brel is much more heroic and operatic. You get the impression that, had they been born early enough to be adult during WW2, Brel might well have dashed off early on to join the Resistance, but Gainsbourg would have slouched in the bar and lit another Gitane and scowled, only to redeem himself at the last possible moment. He remains tantalisingly unpredictable and anti-heroic.

The early stuff (c.1958-60) is good, bouncy French pop music with a real gift for wordplay, sort of Jacques Prevert meets Bobby Darin. Even an at-best partial Francophone like myself can appreciate Gainsbourg's brilliant lyrics on songs like "L'Eau a la bouche" and "Black Trombone". It must be admitted that, as a constructor of songs, he wasn't on the same level as a Smokey Robinson or a Goffin/King - he never seems to have learnt the value of a good middle eight, and his pleasant baritone voice stays strictly under control. But the canny innocence of a song like "New York USA" is sort of touching - a strident jungle beat, with Serge and a girly chorus hyming how, well, tall, the buildings of New York are. (Though maybe this song becomes more touching with the hindsight available after recent events.)

In the 60s, it gets more romantic, and also more cynical. His brief fling with Brigitte Bardot yielded the wonderful "Bonnie and Clyde", later sampled and rewritten by MC Solaar for his classic "Nouveau Western" - its breakbeat rhythm still sounds weirdly modern. There's also The One Everyone Knows, the breathy, organ-powered "Je t'aime", in which he murmurs to Jane Birkin that he's coming and going between her kidneys (????). I mean, too much information, yes, but it's still a great make-out song, if you can stop yourself from giggling.

In the 70s and 80s, the music starts to take a second place to the lyrics. There's a fair amount of ironic reggae and discopop, with Serge growling his disillusion over the top, and I for one find some of it a little hard to take, although the 1987 "Lemon Incest", recorded with his then-teenage daughter Charlotte, is truly disturbing, and I think meant to be. But there's also one utterly brilliant coda to the whole thing, the 1991 remix of "Requiem pour un con", the title of which is too obscene to translate for a family site like this. A pounding, sinister, funky elegy for an incredible career, and even if it isn't meant to be about him, it's certainly a clear-eyed and sarcastically unrepentant farewell.

Do yourself a favour and plunge into le monde Gainsbourg. He's a dubious companion who you wouldn't want to turn your back on, but he's never less than entertaining. This is a splendid tribute to a true genius of popular music.

IT'S HARD TO RÉSUME GAINSBOURG BUT...
Here is a perfect start for anyone interested in GAINSBOURG'S music.This collection is an excellent overview that will give you the variety of his range.When LULU(his nickname) started recording in 1958,he was into his chansonnier trip,but his originality was all there from the beginning.He was willing to go elsewhere and quickly he included different influences like bossa nova and later on yé yé music(a sort of toned down BRITISH INVASION stuff with FRENCH overtones),disco,conceptual albums and even reggae and rap.It is that curiousity and overture to all kinds of music that makes him such an interesting figure.Ten years after his death,he has become a cult figure that new artists discover as years go by.GAINSBOURG was a complex man who didn't take himself seriously;that's a key aspect of his personnality.He was talented to be sure,no one can deny that.Like many great artists,he usually worked fast and often changed his songs just before he recorded them.Buy this and then buy HISTOIRE DE MÉLODIE NELSON and L'HOMME A LA TETE DE CHOU,his two masterful concept albums.It's clear now that LULU won't be forgotten by his fans,and to tell you the truth the guy deserves it.