Customer Reviews

Ses Plus Belle Chansons: Best Of

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This compilation does not contain all Petula's big French hits, but it is the strongest available single-CD collection of its kind. The important tracks not included here can be found on another great compilation, C'est Ma Chanson. Only eight tracks appear on both.

Although Petula recorded many French songs, most of the tracks here are translated versions of British or American songs, so you don't have to understand French to enjoy the music. I don't know any French at all. The songs include Downtown, I know a place, You'd better come home, Round every corner, My love, A sign of the times, This is my song, Romeo, Please please me, Needles and pins, Nobody I know, Well respected man, No go showboat, She's a fool, Can't get over the bossa nova, along with some French songs. Ya ya twist, one of Petula's French number ones, is adapted from a Lee Dorsey song.

Two French songs worth a special mention are Chariot and O O Sheriff.

Chariot began life as an instrumental written by Paul Mauriat. With lyrics added, it became a million-selling French number one single for the young and beautiful Petula. Versions in German and Italian were big hits in those countries. I do not know if they were translated from the French or not. English lyrics were written, but they were definitely not translated from the French. A completely different song set to the same tune resulted, called I will follow him. It was a number one hit for Petula in Singapore, but failed to chart for her in Britain and America. Remember, this was a year or two before Downtown. Little Peggy March covered the song and had an American number one.

O O Sheriff is a salacious song, the like of which Petula has never recorded in English. A translation of this and some other French songs can be found on Petula's official website, but briefly the song is about a sheriff who doesn't seem sure what to do with a woman but by the end of the song he's obviously learned what is required.

To sum up, this collection contains a few obvious translations and some intersting French songs, but it is also contains some songs of British or American origin recorded by Petula only in French, like Please please me. This is a truly brilliant compilation which you can use to convince your friends that songs don't have to be sung in English to be enjoyed.

Ses Plus Belles Chansons: Best of Petula Clark
This is a very enjoyable cd by the legendary PETULA CLARK.
They are her greatest hit's all sung in french.Some of the songs
are downtown,don't sleep in the subway,my love,her version of the
beatles please,please,me,The searchers needles,and pins,plus
many other favorites.A must for collectors.
PAUL.