Another Heart: Ace Collects 1960s Sylvie Vartan In English

BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COM

With more than fifty albums to her credit between 1962 and the present day, Sylvie Vartan remains one of music's great survivors. One of France's most popular yé-yé girls, Vartan became one of RCA Victor's most prolific recording artists, said to be second in worldwide sales to only Elvis Presley. The Bulgarian-born French singer-actress is, of course, best known for her recordings in the French language, but she also recorded a number of sides in English. Ace's late-2016 compilation En Anglais...Et En Americain brings together virtually all of her 1960s-era English recordings from New York, Nashville, and London - 25 tracks in all, including previously unreleased songs.

Though Sylvie was hyped on such programs as The Ed Sullivan Show, Shindig and Hullabaloo, she never gained as big a following in the U.S. (her home since the 1970s) as in France, Japan, Italy, Canada, South America, and elsewhere on the map. Still, this is no reflection on the quality of the American recordings she made for RCA between 1963 and 1965 with illustrious names like Chet Atkins, Jimmy Wisner and Garry Sherman. All have the stylish swing of Vartan's yé-yé pop/rock singles, but expand her sound into country, R&B and soul territory.

Vartan's tough, expressive voice made her an ideal match for girl-group-styled material such as "One More Day," this collection's opening track. The 1965 B-side was penned by writers including Sylvie's then-fiancée, the French superstar Johnny Hallyday, and her brother/manager Eddie Vartan, and showcases Vartan's hip style. (Garry Sherman's arrangement also finds room for some surprisingly dirty electric guitar.) Like many of the early international rock-and-rollers, Sylvie cut her teeth on translated versions of American hits; one of her 1962 French hits was a rendition of Burt Bacharach, Mack David and Luther Dixon's Shirelles smash "Baby, It's You." This new collection premieres her English version of the song recorded at the same time, and though her English was a bit more halting than it would subsequently become, her abundant style and zest were already in place on the faithful cover.

Three songs here come from the pen of Paul Anka, an RCA artist who took a keen interest in Sylvie's sound. The uptempo "(I'm Watching) Every Little Move You Make" was recorded in both English and French, but it was actually the (accented) English version that was a big success in France. Anka supplied another pair of songs for Sylvie for her Nashville sessions in fall 1963 with Chet Atkins and his Nashville Sound A-team including Jerry Kennedy, Floyd Cramer, Boots Randolph, and the ubiquitous harmony purveyors of the Anita Kerr Singers. "U.S.A." is a lively tune in Anka's early rock-and-roll mode, and "I Wish You Well" is equal parts twang and bounce (with the horns sounding like a subdued version of the Tijuana Brass)! Jerry Kennedy and Margie Singleton (wife of Shelby) supplied the rockabilly rouser "Love Has Laid His Hands on Me" as well as the prototypical three-hanky country ballad "Since You Don't Care" for Sylvie, and Merle Kilgore co-wrote the sweet ballad "He Understands Me" with Singleton.

Following her sojourn to Music City and based on the success of Sylvie À Nashville, the French album culled from the sessions, RCA dispatched Vartan to America once more in November 1964 - this time to New York, with producer Joe Rene and arrangers Garry Sherman and Jimmy "Wiz" Wisner. (These tracks would form the basis of the 1965 Gift Wrapped from Paris album from RCA's U.S. division.) Sylvie had grown into a comfortable, somewhat lighter vocal style that was a perfect match for the New York session pros' brand of uptown soul. Wisner lived up to his nickname with strong arrangements for selections like the R&B-tinged "Gonna Cry" (featuring Ellie Greenwich on backing vocals), the moody "I Made My Choice," a cover of Chris Andrews' beat special "I Heard Somebody Say" (previously recorded in the U.K. by Jackie Trent) and a finger-snapping treatment of Feldman/Gottehrer/Goldstein's Angels hit, "My Boyfriend's Back" ideal for Sylvie's cool image. Her cover of The Hollywood Argyles' novelty "Alley-Oop," however solid, couldn't help but be outclassed by the surrounding material. Garry Sherman arranged fewer cuts than Wisner, but his chart for "I Can't Make Him Look at Me" helps make the track an undisputed highlight. Another song from the Feldman/Gottehrer/Goldstein team, it casts Sylvie in a Jackie DeShannon/"Needles and Pins" mode.

Sylvie's next major English-language recordings circa late 1965 were made in London, not America, and reflect the big British sound of the time. The potent folk-rock of "Thinking About You" was written for her by Tommy Brown, and the classy pop-soul ballad "Another Heart" by Gilles Thibault (co-composer of the original chanson that became "My Way") and future Foreigner founder Mick Jones. Guitarist Jones and drummer Brown had met as members of Nero and the Gladiators, and were drafted into Sylvie's band where in addition to performing, they supplied her with numerous fine songs. This pair of tunes was issued on a single in the U.K. timed to Sylvie's Royal Command Performance for the Queen in November 1965. Brown and Jones also penned the driving "Run for the Sun," from late 1967 but not issued until 1995.

Seven previously unreleased tracks premiere here including the dramatic "Whirlpool," a Marijohn Wilkin song produced by Atkins in Nashville; Sylvie's performance was inspired by Wanda Jackson's version of the song. "Stupid Cupid" is a sassy, growling reinvention arranged by Garry Sherman of Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield's hit for the sweet-voiced Connie Francis. Alternate takes of "Gonna Cry" and "I Made My Choice" from the Joe Rene/Jimmy Wisner sessions make for both fascinating and enjoyable listens. Vic Anesini at Sony's Battery Studios has superbly mixed the previously unreleased material.

This exemplary collection doesn't feature all of Sylvie's 1960s English recordings; the accompanying 24-page booklet's comprehensive and beautifully detailed liner notes by Alec Palao (drawing on a fresh interview with Sylvie) mention a couple of songs dropped for stylistic reasons, including a novelty duet with the single-named Carlos. Palao has sequenced the set out of chronological order; it indeed makes for a wonderful listening experience even if a chronological approach might have more clearly delineated Sylvie's journey from Paris to Nashville to New York to London. En Anglais...Et En Americain, sparklingly remastered by Nick Robbins, is a welcome introduction to the music of Sylvie Vartan for English-speaking listeners who might be unfamiliar with her remarkable French oeuvre. C'est magnifique!

Sylvie Vartan, En Anglais...Et En Americain (Ace CDCHD 1489, 2016) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)