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BRASSENS, Georges (1921-1981)
Two 33 rpm vinyl records, each signed « G. Brassens »
s.l. [Paris], 1979 and 1980, approx. 31.3 × 31.3 cm each.
s.l. [Paris], 1979 and 1980, approx. 31.3 × 31.3 cm each.
« For Sophie whom I kiss… »
EUR 300,-
Fact sheet
BRASSENS, Georges (1921-1981)
Two 33 rpm vinyl records, each signed « G. Brassens »
s.l. [Paris], 1979 and 1980, approx. 31.3 × 31.3 cm each.
Very good condition overall; title inner sleeve missing from the second volume.
Set of two 33 rpm vinyl records signed by Georges Brassens
In 1951, Georges Brassens performed on stage at the club Le Vieux Colombier, a landmark venue for jazz musicians and “rats de cave”, located in the Paris district of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. It was within this milieu that he met the jazz drummer François Galepides, known as Moustache, at the Vieux Colombier in Juan-les-Pins, another key jazz club of the 1950s and 1960s.
When they met again in 1976, Moustache promised to adapt and record his friend’s songs in a jazz style. To this end, he called upon Benny Vasseur, François Guin, and Jean-Gabriel Bauzil, integrating them into the group he had just formed, Les Petits Français. He further made use of the presence in Paris of five distinguished American soloists—Cat Anderson, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, Dorothy Donegan, Harry “Sweets” Edison, and Joe Newman. The arrangements were entrusted to Michel Attenoux.
On the reverse of each sleeve, Brassens wrote the following dedications:
Vol. 1: “For Sophie and Maurice / All my best wishes / G. Brassens”
Vol. 2: “For Sophie, whom I kiss / G. Brassens 1979”
Provenance: Estate of Sophie Duvernoy (1930–2025)
A discreet yet essential figure within Georges Brassens’s inner circle, Sophie Duvernoy entered his service in 1969 after having worked for the illustrator Raymond Peynet. She referred to Brassens as “the good master” (le bon maître), a nickname he himself had mischievously suggested when they first met. Born in Poland and nine years younger than the singer-songwriter, she was recruited almost by chance when Peynet moved to the South of France. At the time, Brassens was living in the Le Méridien building on Rue Émile-Dubois, alongside neighbours and friends such as Jacques Brel. Sophie subsequently accompanied Brassens when he moved to Rue Santos-Dumont, quickly becoming a stable presence within an environment shaped by the constant visits of friends and figures from the artistic world. A relationship grounded in trust and mutual understanding gradually emerged between these two reserved personalities. At the heart of this domestic space, which had become a place of artistic creation, Sophie Duvernoy assumed a central role, ensuring the conditions necessary for the work of the poet from Sète. Guardian of silence, manager of household affairs, and intermediary with the outside world, she moved in close proximity to Brassens’s creative process without ever disturbing its equilibrium. Her closeness to the artist also found expression in a limited direct participation in his work. She joined the chœur des copains alongside, among others, Claudine Caillart, Fred Mella, Joël Favreau, Pierre Nicolas, and André Tavernier, contributing backing vocals to two songs: “Tempête dans un bénitier” and “Le Roi.” Following the death of her “good master,” she lived in an apartment purchased by Brassens, who had guaranteed her lifetime use of it — a testament to the singular place she occupied both in his daily life and in the immediate orbit of his artistic creation.
