Christian Gaubert, Part 1: 1975 Une Ville, Une Vie, 1977 The Little Girl Who Lives down the Lane OST

 

Three posts about this wonderful and unknown (outside his home country presumably) French ssw / film composer.

Christian Gaubert:

French composer, pianist, arranger and band leader. Collaborations include Charles Aznavour, Mireille Mathieu, Gilbert Bécaud, Johnny Hallyday, Serge Gainsbourg, Pascal Auriat, and Gérard Lenorman among others.

Note he has been releasing albums since 1969, but those earlier ones didn't seem so interesting to me. Some are LPs of presumably easy listening cover versions, eg this 1972 album.

On the other hand on the 1975 album called Une Ville... Une Vie, the songwriting is just genius. It's like my old favourites, Dromadaire, and Le Loup des Steppes by Pisani, or the wonderful Xavier Gernet. In other words, 1970s French pop songwriting (not really chanson as such) with original melodies, chords, and nice hooks. On top of that, it features guitarist Claude Engel, and Magma drummer Jannick Top, though these guys remain quite in the background, playing quite unobtrusively, no zeuhl here.

The title track gives you a clear idea of what I mean in terms of original chord changes and interesting melodies:

And the rest of the album keeps up the high level of songwriting, with very few, if any, throwaways.

For a whole different genre, the OST of the 1976 Franco-Canadian movie The Little Girl who Lives down the Lane which starred Jodie Foster has some wonderful music written for it.  We have here a mix of Francis Lai / Morricone tender orchestral themes in the standard 1970s Euro-style and melancholy patterns with some fusion passages.  The theme from the movie carries hints of Francis Lai, Nina Rota, etc. and then suddenly picks up to an uptempo 16-beat groove in the rhythm section with a flute solo:

Those once exposed in childhood to those old movies and themes will feel some intense nostalgia upon hearing those classic musical lines.

On the other hand, Mystery of the Basement, with its fusion element, again, the electric piano plus strings is so classic:

For those interested, like me, the story is a disturbing one, really typical of those long ago days, and as usual you can read about it on wikipedia.  Note the following:

The production later became the subject of controversy over reports that [13-year-old at the time] Jodie Foster had conflicts with producers over the filming and inclusion of a nude scene, but a 21-year-old body double (Foster's sister) was used. After a screening at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival, a court challenge was launched regarding distribution, and a general release followed in 1977.

I have two versions of this OST and I included both (CD and LP).  I really enjoyed it and I hope you do too. Kind of like Yuji Ohno's wonderful amalgam of tender themes with funky fusion parts, almost like his gorgeous Jimmy Dean.