She looks good in her 80s and continues her tour of churches and cathedrals, singing her (religious) gospel and performing the (secular) hits that have made her famous for almost sixty years. She is accompanied by a pianist and around ten singers. The opportunity to return, in twenty points – so many good reasons to love her – to the extraordinary career of the last French diva.
1) Nicoletta was born in Savoie, in a more than modest environment. Which is a nice change from the unkempt, greasy-haired bourgeois kids of Saint-Germain-des-Prés.
2) Difficult childhood, with father having abandoned his mother, intellectually very deprived, shall we say. She will therefore be raised by her grandmother. Others would have made a big deal out of it; Nicoletta prefers to talk about it in song. It will be We have Bluebecause too proud to whine. It's good. Especially in these tearful times.
3) Having ended up meeting her unworthy father, she symbolically kills the father. But not in the Freudian sauce with a touch of Deleuze in the broth: “ I filled this gap with an indestructible faith in God the Father. Faith has allowed me to face many trials throughout my life. » Spit on your parents? Not his type, unlike today's literary parricide.
4) She counted François de Roubaix, an immense composer of film scores, among her friends. For him she sings For whom, whygeneric of Last known address by José Giovanni (1970) et Jeffthat of the eponymous film by Jean Herman (1969).
5) She always shows an innate class in the choice of her songs. His first 45, released in 1966? A resumption of The Man on the Motorcycleimmortalized by Édith Piaf. First attempt, masterstroke. Her youthful voice stands up well in comparison with that of the Môme. Aya Nakamura, hide!
6) The rest is up to date. Musicadapted fromAngelica by Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann. Then, the same year, the absolute masterpiece, with Music by Hubert Giraud and words by Pierre Delanoë: The Sun is dead. All of this, once it becomes The Sun Diedwill be taken over by Tom Jones and Ray Charles. Excuse me a little.
7) The latter assures that Nicoletta is “ the only white woman with the voice of a black singer “. And the two go partying in Harlem, a beautiful evening in 1967 during which Uncle Ray performs for him The Motherby Charles Aznavour, an artist he reveres more than anything.
8) The rest is just enchantment: My life is a merry-go-roundwho says better? Nobody, and especially not Christine (Christian, Chris, Cricri d'amour?) and her Queens.
9) What song is more sensual than The closed shuttersa hymn to lazing under the duvet in the company of the opposite sex? Jean-Claude Brialy, even if not keen on the latter, made it the theme song of his eponymous film. That’s saying something.
10) When she takes over Jeff by Jacques Brel, she is not far from equaling the maestro. Who can display so many? Person.
11) Under the title The organs of yesteryearshe takes the A Whiter Shade of Pale de Procolus Harum sans himself ridiculer. Another exploit.
12) Sainte Blandine protects Paris from the Huns, but not against Anne Hidalgo. A few decades in advance, Nicoletta anticipates the museumification of the City of Lights with Where have you been, my Saint-Germain-des-Prés? « We illuminate you, we concertize you. But your heart, if it beats, no longer beats on the right side. » We couldn't say it better.
13) It's not given to everyone to have been friends with Jimi Hendrix. “ I met him in London in 1969. We became very friends and each time he visited Paris, I took him to dinner at Les Halles with his musicians. We ate at five in the morning, rue Jean-Jacques-Rousseau, in a small bistro frequented by apprentice butchers from the old markets whose white coats were still full of blood. This scene always fascinated Jimi. It was in this restaurant that I introduced him to the onion soup he loved so much. »
14) Wonder Thread ? A sound killer. Between intro on acoustic guitar, drums in the background announcing percussion, choirs and brass to come: it almost feels like we're in Rio.
15) Nicoletta begins the 80s in style, singing Dark thoughts in duet with Bernard Lavilliers. Two voices and two strong heads. Afterwards, we may prefer the McFly and Carlito duo.
16) In 1986, she launched into musical comedy. It will be Quasimodowhose libretto was composed by his great friend William Sheller. Or a few notches above the disaster Notre-Dame-de-Paris future. She plays Esmeralda. All in beauty.
17) Jean-François Kahn, founder of Thursday Event then Mariannebut also a fine connoisseur of French song, says about him: “ It's not just a voice. It is also a color, a vibration. »
18) She has been leading her career for decades. Peaceful, humble and without squealing against a world supposed to be unjust, necessarily unjust. Hoshi, to name just one, could benefit from this.
19) Even rapper JoeyStarr is a big fan: “ When she sings We have Blueit’s quirky, it’s swinging! »…
20) Only she could have saved, at least a little, the Olympic Games ceremony by interpreting The Hymn to Love in place of the very overrated Céline Dion.
To find out more: Soul Sister (Le Cherche midi), memoirs which are a model of the genre.
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