preview

Aznavour Research Paper

Decent Essays
Open Document

Chahnour Varenagh Aznavourian born 22 May 1924, Paris, France. This singer-songwriter has carried the torch for the French chanson tradition for over six decades and he is one of popular music’s last great stylists. He also established a film career as a leading character actor. Aznavour’s parents came from Armenia after the Turkish genocide. Aznavour has stated: ‘I am Armenian. Everybody figures out that I am a Frenchman because I sing in French, I act like a Frenchman and I have all the symptoms of a Frenchman.’ His father had a restaurant but Aznavour was preoccupied with music. In age 15 , he wrote a one-man show, and soon after adopted the stage name Aznavour. In 1942 he formed a performing and songwriting with Pierre Roche and the duo had success in Canada between 1948 and 1950. Aznavour’s first hit was the drinking song ‘J’ai Bu’, recorded by Charles Ulmer. In 1950, Aznavour became a solo …show more content…

Although small (5 feet 3 inches), slight and with battered, world-weary features, he is nonetheless an imposing concert performer, acting his songs with the ability of a leading mime artist. Aznavour starred in the 1975 Royal Command Performance, and was parodied by UK comedy troupe the Goodies as Charles Aznovoice. He rarely records anything other than his own songs and his inventive compositions have included ‘You’ve Let Yourself Go’, in which his woman is overweight and argumentative, ‘What Makes A Man’ about a transvestite, ‘Pretty Shitty Days’ about an English word that amused him, and the account of a disastrous wedding anniversary in ‘Happy Anniversary’. His range encompasses novelty tunes, pastiches, ballads, bittersweet love songs, and narrative and character sketches. He has been quoted as saying, ‘Songs mature inside of me and then take their life on paper. A song may take me five minutes to write but it also takes 40 years of

Get Access