Ne Me Quitte Pas [Original recording remastered, Import]

Jacques Brel | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 5, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered, Import
• Label: Barclay
• ASIN: B0000AKOLJ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #94,487 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #51 in Music > World Music > Europe > Continental Europe > Belgium

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 Brel Treasures among 11 songs total including "Les Prenoms de Paris", November 2, 2005

By 

J.S. "Jim111" (California, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Ne Me Quitte Pas (Audio CD)

This CD contains 11 songs total, of which 5 are among the very best chansons ever written by singer/songwriter Jacques Brel.

If you are using Jacques Brel songs to help you study French as I do, you might want to pick up a book of all his original French lyrics, such as "L'Oeuvre Integrale" (ISBN: 2221088492) or "Tout Brel" (ISBN: 2264033711). In addition, buy the Infiniment 2-CD set published by DRG Records (ASIN: B0002PUHGU) to get wonderful (but abridged) translations into English of 40 Brel songs created by Amazon.com reviewer Thelma F. Blitz.

A terrific French-English dictionary to use in studying Brel's chansons is the "Collins Robert French Unabridged Dictionary, 7th Edition" (ISBN: 0060748931). This French/English, English/French dictionary is the best one I have ever used over the past 30 years, it's truly magnificent.

"Ne me quitte pas" (Don't Leave Me) is Brel's most famous torch song, in which he uses exquisite imagery to press his suit with a girl who has already left him, descending in the end into abject desperation as he struggles to maintain a link, any link at all, with the object of his love. Frank Sinatra was moved to sing an English version of this song ("If you go away"), which unfortunately doesn't do justice to the stunning poetry of the French original. This is my favorite song of the entire Jacques Brel repertoire because of the power and the haunting beauty of the lyrics, Brel's impassioned voice and the evocative music!

"Marieke" is a nostalgic song about a first love that played out on the beaches of Belgium one summer in his teen years. It alternates charmingly between Flemish and French, the two national languages of Belgium.

"Les Prenoms de Paris" (The First Names of Paris) is a terrific, light-hearted song about being young and in love in Paris. It is rarely included in Brel's other albums, so its presence here makes just one more good reason to buy this CD.

"Quand On N'a Que L'amour" (When We Have Only Love) is Brel's quintessential theme song (circa 1960) for idealistic young lovers who believe that love conquers all, in stark contrast to Brel's later more jaded songs, ranging from "Le Prochain Amour" (also on this CD) in 1961 to "La Chanson des Vieux Amants" (Song of the Old Lovers, not on this CD) in 1967. "Quand On N'a Que L'amour" strikes a similar tone of optimism as another Brel song, "Au Printemps", which is also not included in this collection.

"Le Prochain Amour" (The Next Lover) is Brel's world-wisened and world-weary evaluation of love: "...it's good to be in love... I know just the same that the next love will be my next defeat..."

Other highly recommended Jacques Brel CDs you can find on Amazon.com include:

Title (ASIN#) No. of Songs

Quand On N'a Que L'amour (B00000IYC9) 49 songs with 32 pages of photos and essay on Brel's life and songs (3-CD set)
Infiniment (B0002PUHGU) 40 songs with wonderful English translations (2-CD set)
Olympia '61 and '64 (B000BJ7D96) 30 songs with great English translations (2-CD set)
Volume 1 - Grand Jacques (B00000DXQY) 15 songs including "Sur La Place"
Les Flamandes (B000006UOA) 21 songs
Les Bonbons (B0000AKOLD) 14 songs
Ballades Et Mots D'amour (B00003Q56T) 30 songs
Vol. 1-Special Edition (ASIN: B000042OFF) 16 songs
Master Series: Jacques Brel (B0000046O5) 16 songs (same songs as on Vol. 1-Special Edition, but at half the price)
Grand Jacques Integrale 172 Titres (B000025BD8) 172 songs (10-CD set)

What's even more fabulous than the CDs, however, is the 3 volume DVD set released in 2003: Jacques Brel: Comme quand on etait beau. (ASIN: B0000AQJPR). The set includes 7.5 hours of live and staged performances as well as interviews and home video footage. Everything that the heart of a Jacques Brel fan desires to capture the essence of this very theatrical artist in a way that an audio-only recording can not.

Also of tremendous interest: the VHS video "Jacques Brel" (ASIN: B0001P1XG4), a video biography on the life and music of Jacques Brel. Full length documentary features extensive live footage and interviews with Brel himself as well as his daughter and associates. It is also available on DVD, but only from Films Media Group.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Songs are overproduced, July 18, 2008

By 

Jane W. Elioseff (Houston, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ne Me Quitte Pas (Audio CD)

I've been wild about Jacques Brell since the 1970s, when a friend gave me an LP recording of the New York production of "Jacques Brell Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris." A single piano supported the singers. Voices and emotion came straight through -- nothing ersatz added. This recording of Jacques Brell was a long way from that kind of immediacy. Brell seemed bored, and the orchestra behind him offered a blur of sound that had no intrinsic interest for me.

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, April 7, 2010

By 

Kenneth E. Piontek (Western Oregon) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ne Me Quitte Pas (Audio CD)

If you like Jacques Brel, you'll like this recording. Most of his most popular recordings from sentimental to fast tongue twisters!If your looking for just one CD of Jacques, this is it!