Sacha Distel (born Sacha Alexandre; January 29, 1933 – July 22, 2004), was a French singer who had hits such as a cover version of the Academy Award winning "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" (originally recorded by B.J. Thomas), "Scoubidou" and "The Good Life". He was born in Paris.
Sacha the jazzman
Falling for Jazz[1]
Sacha Distel was one of those men who would always refuse to fit a mould. He couldn’t stand strict regulations and was very much interested in unusual encounters. This feature he got while growing up in a boarding school was undoubtedly at the root of his curiosity and taste for novelty. Thanks to his uncle Ray Ventura, his role model, Sacha Distel progressively fell for Jazz music. As a matter of fact the “Uncle Ray” was a very early adopter of this musical trend. A couple of years after the formation of the Original Dixieland Jass Band that marked the birth of the genre, Raymond Ventura was already at the head of his very own orchestra regrouping other high school kids. In the 30s he was eager to promote this kind of music and participated in the development of “swing” in France. It is when his uncle settled in Paris with his orchestra “Les Collégiens” that Sacha learned a lot about music, especially by watching the rehearsals and recordings. The teenager he was quickly gave up his piano for the more exciting and less “bourgeois” sounds of the guitar. With the settling of Henri Salvador in a nearby flat in 1947, it was sure Sacha Distel would, from now on, be more of a guitarist than a student… In charge of bringing Henri Salvador from his bed to the recording studio in Neuilly he slowly became one of his students. Being taught the basics he easily entered the French music circle. The “Noise Makers” a posh high school Parisian New Orleans Jazz band quickly managed to count the little prodigy in as one of theirs. The band became the neighborhood’s hippest orchestra for teen-parties.
First encounter with Bebop sounds[2]
The Noise Makers’ fame growing, Ray Ventura , conscious of Sacha’s involvement in the success of the band, invited him on a cold winter evening of 1948 at the Alhambra to listen to Dizzy Gillespie perform with his orchestra. An unforgettable experience for the young man: sharing with the greatest figures-to-be of the French music world (Bruno Coquatrix, Paul Misraki, André Hornez). Sacha knew on that evening that he was listening to the future of jazz. On the next morning he immediately tried to win over the Noise Makers to his new quest. This attempt marked the split of the orchestra and gave birth to two new rival bands: Guy Wormser’s New Orleans die-hards and the cool jazz and bebop aficionados led by Sacha. It is when he met Hubert Damisch, a saxophone player and cool jazz fan that Sacha founded the band that would allow him to be up with the leaders. With help from Jean Marie Ingrand (bass), Mimi Perrin (piano) and Jean Louis Viale (drums), the band won the Coliseum’s Night of Jazz “Meilleur Petit Orchestre Moderne” award (Hubert and Sacha both won prizes as musicians on the same night). The restaurant Sully d’Auteuil hired the band for Saturday afternoon shows and short after that Jean Louis Durand offered the opportunity of touring with him in Brittany…
Therefore at age 16, Distel, the young nephew of the iconic Ray Ventura, became a professional jazz guitarist. Over his career he worked alongside Dizzy Gillespie and Tony Bennett and appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in the late 1950s after establishing himself as a French crooner.
Sacha Distel had a much publicised relationship with actress Brigitte Bardot but in 1963 he married skier Francine Bréaud. During the late seventies, he had a liaison with Dionne Warwick.
In the 1960s, he composed 'La Belle Vie', a tune that made its way across the Atlantic as 'The Good Life', and most famously performed by Tony Bennett. French lyrics were added in the 1970s and it became Distel's signature tune. During the 1960s, he had his own variety show on French television.
During the 1970s, he became popular outside France, and once hosted the Miss World contest in London. In this decade, he spent more time in the UK than in France.
In August 1980, in honour of Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, Distel performed at Buckingham Palace to mark the Queen Mother's 80th birthday. The Queen Mother was said to have been impressed by Distel's moving voice and later in the night she requested "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby", a song that had been recorded by Perry Como, one of her favourite singers. It moved many members of the Royal family to laughter as the old Queen sat with amusement.
Distel remained reasonably popular in France in the 1980s and 1990s, including a new show named after his song La Belle Vie.
In 2000, Distel had a part as lawyer Billy Flynn in the London production of the musical Chicago. He did have an ambition to make a musical about the life of Maurice Chevalier, but this remained unfulfilled at the time of his death.
Sacha Distel died on July 22, 2004, aged 71, after a long illness, in Rayol-Canadel, south-east France.
His name was used in Peter Sarstedt's song "Where Do You Go To, My Lovely?" and he appeared in the "Paris" episode of the British Series Absolutely Fabulous, where he confuses Daphne Selfe with Patsy.
The video for his song Où Ça Où Ça has been shown before Morrissey's concerts in Europe and the USA on his 2007/08 Greatest Hits tour.
Sacha distel & Brigitte Bardot[3]
It all started with the recording of the soundtrack for Vadim’s “Et Dieu créa la femme”. For the making of the disc, Sacha Distel wanted the tracks composed by Paul Misraki to be enriched by Brigitte Bardot’s “storytelling” in order to fill the vinyl. If they met on rather bad terms (BB was an hour late and apparently didn’t seem troubled with that fact), they finally got along pretty well since it led to their love affair… If both artists had a booming career in the sixties, journalists and paparazzi surely had a key role in the creation of the myth. Love affairs and celebrities business have always been people magazines’ favorite, even back then… Both Sacha Distel and Brigitte Bardot’s notoriety must have benefited from this over-exposure. If one considers the friends they had (Raymond Le Sénéchal, Raoul Levy, Maurice Tézé, Christine Gouze-Rénal, Claude Deffe…) and their talent, it looks like most of the “ingredients” of success are gathered: Connections, Press and Talent. Anyway, the “Sacha Show” was the first real public performance of Brigitte Bardot and Sacha Distel singing in duo. Those TV shows that were on air 5 times a year represented the place to be for celebrities. Therefore it was obvious that Brigitte Bardot chose to participate while promoting her first album. Among BB and Sacha Distel’s duets “You are the sunshine of my life” and “I like to kiss hippies” with Serge Gainsbourg playing the guitar were the most successful.
Dixit Rémi his best fan...
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