The quintessential Frenchman, Serge Gainsbourg is mainly known in English speaking countries for his 1969 hit 'Je t'aime...Moi non plus'. Written for his lover, Brigitte Bardot, but subsequently recorded with his then paramour, the English actress Jane Birkin, the song's orgasmic panting and deep breathing caused consternation – and ensured that Gainsbourg's name would be forever remembered as the writer of that 'dirty song'.
But, as author Sylvie Simmons points out, there was far more to Serge Gainsbourg than just one novelty sex song. An accomplished singer and songwriter, Gainsbourg was able to write music ranging from Eurovision entries – back in the days when the Eurovision actually meant something – to reggae, yé-yé to chansons, song-cycles to scatology. He found beauty in perversity and sex in everything.
Born Lucien Ginsburg to Russian-Jewish parents in Paris in 1928, Gainsbourg's childhood was marked by the yellow star of the Nazi Occupation during the Second World War, an experience he revisited on his 1975 album, 'Rock Around the Bunker'. Working as a bar-pianist, he started to write his own songs and signed his first record contract at the age of thirty.
His initial records of jazz-influenced French chansons were virtually ignored – then he won the Eurovision Song Contest with a song he wrote for the 16-year-old France Gall. In the wake of this success he began to write for a variety of pop singers including the legendary actress Brigitte Bardot. This relationship led to several duets on her television programme, 'Le Bardot Show', and the remarkable 1968 album, 'Bonnie and Clyde'.
In the wake of their break-up, he plunged into a busy schedule of music and acting, which included a starring role in a film for which the love interest was a young English girl named Jane Birkin. A child of the swinging sixties, Birkin (who had formerly been married to Bond composer John Barry) and Gainsbourg fell in love and were together until 1980, having one child, the actress Charlotte Gainsbourg. The following year he began a relationship with the 21-year old model Caroline Von Paulus, known as Bambou, with whom he had a second child, Lucien. Despite his reputation as a womaniser, he remained with Bambou until his death.
Following the scandal that surrounded 'Je T'aime', Gainsbourg released one of his most enduring and brilliant records. 'Histoire de Melody Nelson' was a concept album about a doomed love affair between a middle aged Frenchman and the eponymous English schoolgirl who dies tragically in an air accident.
Despite suffering a heart attack at the age of 45, Gainsbourg continued his unrelenting schedule, writing music, directing, drinking hard and rarely seen without the (now forbidden) Gitane cigarette in hand. A noted provocateur, he was a frequent – and unpredictable – guest on variety shows, once burning a 500-franc note on live television, another time, drunkenly telling fellow guest Whitney Houston that he wanted to f**k her.
The decadent lifestyle finally caught up with Gainsbourg on 2 March 1991. Just a month shy of his 63rd birthday, he suffered a cardiac arrest in his sleep. Despite having loved and been loved by many beautiful women, he died alone in his Saint-Germain house.
A complex and fascinating character, Gainsbourg is a biographers dream and Sylvie Simmons' 'A Fistful of Gitanes' is a welcome introduction to a man who has been ill-served in the English media in the past. The language barrier has meant that his many erudite and witty songs have been ignored, a fact which infuriates Jane Birkin, who is one of the main contributors to the book. Her input gives further insight into this shy man who craved and courted publicity, yet could be reduced to tears by an unsympathetic news story.
Evidently still very much in love with the man who, when she left him, had her body moulded in bronze so that he could keep her effigy in their house, Birkin speaks candidly and openly about their years together – and apart. Well written, apart from several irritating interjections by the author, 'A Fistful of Gitanes' nevertheless feels more like an introduction to Gainsbourg than the definitive biography. You may do better to get your hands on the albums 'Bonnie and Clyde' or 'Histoire de Melody Nelson', a packet of evil-smelling Gitanes and sit down with Serge for an evening.
Caroline Hennessy
'Serge Gainsbourg: A Fistful of Gitanes' by Sylvie Simmons is published by Helter Skelter, £12.99 stg.
