the essential
It is one of the most iconic songs in the French repertoire, and that of Edith Piaf. “Je ne regrette rien”, released in 1960, was composed by Charles Dumont. The songwriter, born in Cahors, died during the night from Sunday to Monday at his home, following a long illness, at the age of 95, in Paris.
Born in Cahors, land composedr Charles Dumont East considered a monument of French song. He composed for Dalida the titles “Flamenco Guitar”, “Mon coeur” and “Gitane”. He signs the titles “The owner” for Juliette Gréco« The Guerillo” for Luis Mariano or encore « The wall” for Gloria Lasso. This song will be covered by Barbra Streisand who made it a hit under the title “I've Been Here”. Charles Dumont will also compose the music for the films of director Jacques Tati.
But it is his meeting with Edith Piaf which marks a real turning point in the career of Charles Dumont. After having suffered refusals for a long time, iHe will sign thirty years of pieces for La Môme: from “Mon Dieu” to “Les Amants”. To the point of declaring to AFP in 2015, “My mother gave birth to me but Édith Piaf gave birth to me“. He reconverta as a “crooner” in the late 1960s. In 1973, with his album “A woman“, he won the Académie Charles-Cros prize. Ihe makes his last appearance on stage ahe theater of the Eiffel Tower in 2019.
DDM- archives MARC SALVET
Rosie's testimony: “Her parents livedient Boulevard Émile Zola, they were bakers”
Josie, 78, is a family friend of Charles Dumont. Saddened by the disappearance of the artist, eshe agreed to tell her first story encounter with Charles Dumont. Elle dates back to the early 1970s. « JI liked her a lot because first of all I really liked Édith Piaf. Charles Dumont was in the office of the Association of amis by Edith Piaf of which I was a member. In this context, I had him sent a letter. He invited me to a recital he was giving at the Capitol of Toulouse. It was the first times that I saw him. My mother accompanied me, mbut I didn't have room for her. In the Capitol Hall, I met his dad, his mom and his eldest son. Il they had left some placess. At the end ofu recital, we went ensemble congratulate him. We sympathized with his parents and his brother Frédéric. I was then invited by the family to Cahors. His parents livedient encore Boulevard Émile Zola, they were bakers. It went like that. My last meeting with him was in 2005. He came to marry his son in Cahors and he gave a show on this occasion. It is also when of a concert in the Lot that he had hinted to the assistance that he will bet buried close to home them. But I don’t know any more.”
In 2019, Charles Dumont, visiting Cahors on the occasion of the concert to mark the 900th anniversary of the cathedral, gave us an interview. “I was born in Cahors and then I left for Toulouse. In my childhood memories there is La Dépêche, I remember hearing my mother tell me: I am going to La Dépêche. I have an emotional link with the newspaper . I had an aunt who stayed in Cahors. She was a wonderful lady. I spent months and weeks in Cahors. a class of girls (laughs).”
Emmanuel Dunand
He could be buried in Lavercantière, near his mother…
Reached by telephone, the mayor of Lavercantière, Gilles Vilard does not yet know if the artist will be buried there. “ His mother was born in the village and is buried there. At the cemetery, jFrom time to time I came across Charles Dumont who came to pay his respects at the family tomb. He told me that he found the place calm and soothing. »
His first meeting with Charles Dumont, the mayor remembers it parindeed. “It was at the end of a concert he gave in Vayrac in 1991. JI introduced myself to him. I informed him that the town had purchased his mother's birth center. He signed an album for me.”
