THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,604) Jane Birkin — “Jane B.”
“How could Gainsbourg better prove his love for Birkin than by giving her Chopin [fourth prelude from opus. 28 in E minor]? How could he better prove his love for Chopin than by giving him Birkin?” (francoishuglo (courtesy of Google Translate), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNimEUTmQy8) The song “has its charms”, as “Birkin introduces herself by way of describing some of her attributes—‘blue eyes, brown hair, pale complexion, aquiline nose, missing this morning, at four-forty’”. (D.M. Edwards, https://web.archive.org/web/20110629071208/http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/130675-jane-birkin-serge-gainsbourg-jane-birkinserge-gainsbourg/) “Arthur Greenslade deserves major credit for the opulent and moody arrangements” on the LP Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg. (Joe Tangari, https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14524-jane-birkin-et-serge-gainsbourg/)
Cameron Cook talks about the album:
By the time Serge Gainsbourg met and fell in love with the British actress Jane Birkin in 1968, he had already been the poet laureate of French song for a decade, from his early jazz- and Latin-influenced records through the yé-yé boom of the mid-’60s. In that time, Gainsbourg had positioned himself as a somber playboy, known for duets and collaborations in which his brooding demeanor came crashing up against the sensuality of his female counterparts. After writing massively successful pop singles for France Gall and Brigitte Bardot, Gainsbourg found in Birkin both the youthful innocence of the former and the full-blown sexuality of the latter. Throughout their 12-year relationship, she was able to channel his creative energy into her own unique output. Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg is a love letter read out loud by its recipient: Every note and lyric is meant to highlight a certain aspect of Birkin’s persona though Gainsbourg’s lens, from her breathless delivery of every line to her heavily accented, coquettish French. The culmination of their artistic and carnal union is “Je t’aime… moi non plus,” the slinky disco classic that was deemed so pornographic, it was banned by the BBC. For a man who made a career out of loving women, Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg is his greatest affair ever committed to vinyl.
https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-200-best-albums-of-the-1960s/?page=8
D.M. Edwards adds:
Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin can be viewed as everything from lecherous slob and naïve posh tart to the cult couple of the late 20th century. Neither of these extremes should obscure his musical experimentation and her role as muse and collaborator. While Histoire De Melody Nelson is the best album bearing either of their names, Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg is unbridled, sophisticated fun and has deservedly come to be called after its most important song, “Je T’Aime…Mon Non Plus”, a genuine pop classic and one of the best 45s ever released. . . . According to the booklet accompanying this Light in the Attic reissue, the rest of the Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg album was hastily written by Gainsbourg at the request of label bosses who felt they’d as soon be hung for a whole album as for a single. To some extent, this shows, as other tracks are not always at the level of the author of “Bonnie and Clyde” and other classics, and yet this also remains sophisticated, timeless pop music.
As to Jane Birkin, John Bush writes:
Actress, singer, and style icon Jane Birkin had a definitive influence on culture in the ’60s and beyond, starting her career with roles in art house films like Blow-Up and Wonderwall and making a musical mark with her breathy, mysterious vocals on collaborative tracks with Serge Gainsbourg [see #1,366]. Her romantic and creative partnership with Gainsbourg yielded classic lounge pop albums like 1969’s Je T’Aime… Moi Non Plus (the title track of which was banned from radio in several countries for being too sexually explicit, but still managed to top the charts in the U.K.) and 1971’s Histoire de Melody Nelson. Birkin had a long and fruitful life in both music and film well after she and Gainsbourg parted ways in 1980, touring regularly and releasing albums of her own songs . . . . Born in London . . . Birkin followed in her mother’s footsteps and began acting at the Kensington Academy in London. . . . she was offered a part in Passion Flower Hotel, a musical produced by James Bond series composer John Barry, and she married him soon after. Birkin’s first film, The Knack…and How to Get It, followed in 1965, while a role in 1966’s Blow-Up made her semi-famous. Her marriage with Barry soon broke up, however, and on a trip to France she met . . . Gainsbourg. The two eventually became romantically entwined . . . . Birkin spent much of the early ’70s working in films. She appeared in a lot of exploitation fare . . . . With help from Gainsbourg, she recorded 1975’s Lolita Go Home and 1978’s Ex Fan des Sixties, gaining hits in France, if not in England. Birkin and Gainsbourg were never married, but were together for 12 years and had daughter Charlotte Gainsbourg, who would go on to become a singer and actress in her own right. The relationship was turbulent, and completely dissolved in 1980.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jane-birkin-mn0000216846#biography
Here is another video:
Here is Arthur Rubinstein playing Chopin:
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