Nicoletta

Guestpost! Sky on Nicoletta:

France’s biggest-selling hit of 1971 was the dull folk-pop earworm Mamy Blue, sung by Nicole Grisoni alias Nicoletta. Despite the huge success, the beguiling brunette had already recorded a row of considerably more impressive tunes, among them the solemn Il est mort de soleil which made Ray Charles call her his „soul sister“, and her sublime technicolor version of Jacques Brel’s wistful Quand on n’a que l’amour – a mighty, but never exalted voice, and one of the finest grand-screen arrangements in the history of French song.

Quite hard-to-find is Nicoletta’s first collaboration with French composer genius Francois de Roubaix: her admirable vocal version of an equally striking soundtrack piece from Jean Herman’s rough, seldom-seen thriller Jeff. During the shooting in 1969, Alain Delon fell in love with blonde co-star Mireille Darc – an affair to remember, though surely not as breathtaking as Nicoletta’s chanson.


Nicoletta - Quand on n’a que l’amour
Jacques Brel - Quand on n’a que l’amour
Francois de Roubaix - Le Canal Gelé
Nicoletta - Jeff