Jean Tenenbaum, better known to French music fans as Jean Ferrat, was born on 26 December 1930 in Vaucresson, a town in the Paris suburbs. The youngest of four children, Jean was born into a modest family. His father earnt a living as a jeweller, while his mother supplemented her husband's earnings by working in a local florist's. In 1935 the Tenenbaum family moved to Versailles where young Jean would become a pupil at the Collège Jules-Ferry.

Jean's peaceful family idyll would soon be shattered, however, when the Second World War broke out and his father was deported. The family struggled to get by on Madame Tenenbaum's meagre wages but times were hard and at the age of 15 Jean left the local lycée to go out to work. Working part-time to help the family out, Jean also began studying for a chemistry exam, but neither his job nor his chemistry studies interested the young teenager that much. Jean's real passion lay elsewhere, in the world of music and theatre.

In the early 50's Jean began performing with a local theatre troupe and discovered the Paris cabaret scene. Inspired by this exciting new world, he began writing his first songs and soon got a job as a guitarist in a jazz band. By 1952 Jean had gained enough valuable musical experience to think of launching his own career and he began auditioning under his new stage name Jean Laroche. These early auditions did not prove as successful as Jean had expected. But the ambitious young teenager was not to be deterred easily. In spite of the fact that he had no immediate work prospects, Jean decided to quit his job and give up his chemistry studies in order to devote all his time and energy to music.

Jean Ferrat's first big break came in 1956 when he set Louis Aragon's poem "Les yeux d'Elsa" to music. (Ferrat was a major fan of Aragon's and in the course of his career he would set a number of the famous French poet's works to music). Ferrat's music publisher suggested that Ferrat should offer the song to André Claveau, one of the most popular French singers of the 1950's.

Claveau's performance of the song would establish Ferrat's name on the French music scene, but unfortunately this first success did not exactly bring work pouring in. Ferrat persevered however and in 1957, he signed his first proper contract with "La Colombe", a famous Paris cabaret where he made his public debut with another young up-and-coming singer Anne Sylvestre (supporting the established French star Guy Béart).

In 1958 Ferrat went into the studio to record his first single. Much to Ferrat's dismay, this first single proved to be a flop but his luck improved later that year when a young singer by the name of Christine Sèvres began performing his work. Jean Ferrat and Christine Sèvres started spending a great deal of time in each other's company and soon fell passionately in love. Three years later the couple would celebrate their wedding.

Commited protest singer

Just a year after the release of his first single, Ferrat's career started coming together. In 1959 the singer met Gérard Meys, a man who would become not only his music publisher but also a lifelong friend. Meys was to prove highly influential in helping Ferrat get his career off the ground. Indeed, it was thanks to Meys that Ferrat signed his first recording deal with the Decca label. From this point on Ferrat's career began to move at a lightning pace. In 1960 he released a second single featuring four brand new tracks, including "Ma Môme", a song which proved extremely popular on the nation's airwaves and scored Ferrat his first major hit.

Ferrat's second single also contained a song dedicated to the Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca. (Together with Aragon, Lorca's work was to prove a major influence on Jean Ferrat's career. Indeed, in the course of his career Ferrat would dedicate numerous songs to Lorca and set many of his best-known poems to music). These two very different songs represented the two distinct themes running through Ferrat's work - on the one hand a deeply romantic theme expressed through poetry and love songs, on the other a strong political commitment which resulted in songs denouncing all forms of oppression.

Ferrat's humanist perspective and his involvement in politics were not only apparent in his work, but also deeply-held beliefs guiding his own personal life. Throughout his career Ferrat remained closely attached to the French Communist Party and in spite of the fact that the singer would later denounce certain atrocities committed in the Soviet Union, his Communist beliefs would cause him various problems with the French authorities. His links with Communism would also lead to his work being censored on more than one occasion.

In 1961 Ferrat signed a second major contract, performing at the Alhambra cabaret for six months with the famous French singer and dancer Zizi Jeanmaire. 1961 would also see the release of Ferrat's debut album (a highly acclaimed work which would win him the coveted Prix de la Sacem). The following year Ferrat set off on an extensive tour, playing dates all over France. By this stage of his career Ferrat was beginning to win enormous critical acclaim (in 1962 the singer would go on to receive a whole string of prestigious awards including "Le Prix de la Société des Auteurs", "Le Grand prix de l’Académie nationale du Disque" and "Le Prix Henri Crolla" for the song "Federico Garcia Lorca"). Yet, surprisingly enough, Ferrat's work was not a commercial success. This was soon set to change, however.

The French public's interest in Ferrat dates back to the classic "Deux enfants au soleil", a song taken from Ferrat's first album. The singer's second album, released in 1962, would also prove relatively successful, but it was Ferrat's 1963 album which really rocketed him to fame. This album, entitled "Nuit et brouillard" (Black Night and Fog), evoked the painful subject of France's deportation of the Jews during the Second World War. This dark subject was hardly a matter the French authorities wished to bring up even after 20 years had passed and radio stations were "advised" not to play tracks from the album. Yet the authorities could not stop Ferrat's album from being sold in the shops and music fans were greatly affected by the singer's powerfully evocative lyrics. Not surprisingly, "Nuit et brouillard", an album entirely written by the singer himself, soon earnt Ferrat the prestigious "Prix de l’Académie Charles-Cros".

Ferrat was back at the top of the charts the following year with another immensely successful hit "La Montagne". This song, the title track of Ferrat's 1964 album, conjured up images of the magnificent countryside in the Ardèche region (where the singer had just bought a home in the village of Antraigues). This highly poetic song was to become one of Jean Ferrat's most popular classics.

1965 proved to be another extremely successful year in Ferrat's career. In January the singer headlined at the Alhambra, performing to audiences of enthusiastic fans. Later in the year Ferrat would return to the studio to begin work on the album "Potemkine". This controversial new album was destined to spark off another debate about Communism and recent events in the Soviet Union (which Ferrat explicitly criticised in his forceful lyrics). The song "Potemkine" was eventually banned from French television. Ironically, just a few months later the same song would prevent Ferrat from obtaining a visa to enter the USSR.

1965 also found Ferrat branching out in a new direction, writing the soundtrack for two films including René Allio's "La Vieille Dame indigne". In January 1966 Ferrat turned his attention to his performing career, giving a new series of concerts at the Bobino in Paris.

Ferrat's trip to Cuba

The following year Ferrat set off for Cuba, performing a dozen concerts in several different venues. But Ferrat spent most of his two and a half months in Cuba soaking up the country's culture and politics and exploring Cuba's thriving music scene. This trip was to have a profound effect on Ferrat both politically and musically speaking. After a brief trip to Mexico Ferrat returned to France, gong straight into the studio to begin work on a new album. This album, inspired by Ferrat's recent experiences in Cuba, produced two successful hit singles "Santiago" and "Guerilleros". Ferrat's stay in Cuba also had a profound effect on the singer's physical appearance, for it was shortly after his return from Cuba that he began to grow his famous moustache.

Ferrat returned to Paris in time to witness the dramatic events of May 1968. The singer was a firm supporter of the student 'revolution' and the workers' general strike. Indeed, he was frequently involved in fund-raising concerts for the strikers at the Bobino. But when Russian tanks invaded Prague, Ferrat's Communist sympathies reached breaking point and he would fire off a whole string of protest letters to the Soviet government. Meanwhile Ferrat's career continued to go from strength to strength. By the late 60's Ferrat had become a huge international star, performing enormously successful tours throughout Europe, North Africa and Canada (where Ferrat's songs were particularly popular).

Ferrat, who had been a passionate poetry fan from the earliest days of his career, often asked poets and writers to pen lyrics for his songs. One of Ferrat's most loyal song-writing collaborators was his long-standing friend, the French poet Henri Gougaud, who co-wrote many of the tracks on Ferrat's next album, released in 1969. (One of the pair's most famous joint compositions was "La Matinée", the legendary duet which Ferrat recorded with his wife Christine). The hard-hitting lyrics on Ferrat's new album sparked off a whole new controversy, and Ferrat's outspoken views would soon get him into trouble with the censors again (especially on the song "Ma France").

Ferrat sings Aragon

Following the release of his new album in 1970, Ferrat performed twelve hugely successful concerts at the Palais des Sports in Paris before setting off on another series of popular tours. The following year the singer turned his attention to poetry once more, recording an entire album of Louis Aragon's poems simply entitled "Ferrat chante Aragon" (Ferrat sings Aragon).

This legendary album was released with a minimum amount of publicity, yet it soon went on to become a phenomenal best-seller (1 million copies of "Ferrat chante Aragon" sold within a few months of the album's release and that figure has since doubled !) Later that year Ferrat would record another album which included his famous version of Aragon's classic "Aimer à perdre la raison".

By 1972 Ferrat was beginning to grow weary of his exhausting long-haul tours and he decided to call a halt to his live performances. (His wife Christine Sèvres would quit her singing career the same year). Ferrat performed a series of huge farewell concerts at the Palais des Sports (6 - 29 October 1972) followed by a last proper tour in 1973 then quit the stage to concentrate his efforts on his recording career. Yet Ferrat's recording output also began to slow down at this point, and fans could no longer rush out to buy a new album every year.

At the end of 1975 Jean Ferrat was back at the forefront of the French music scene with a new album entitled "La Femme est l'avenir de l'homme" (Woman is Man's Future). This album soon proved to be a phenomenal hit with the French public, selling 500,000 copies within a month of its release. The album's title track would go on to become an absolute classic of the Ferrat repertoire. (Indeed, together with "la Montagne", "La Femme est l'avenir de l'homme" is Ferrat's best-known work). Ferrat's phenomenally successful new album contained all of the singer's favourite themes - a protest song against the Vietnam war ("Un Air de liberté"), a new version of an Aragon poem ("Dans le silence de la ville") and lyrics written by Ferrat's poet friend Henri Gougaud ("Mon chant est un ruisseau").

Ferrat returned to the studio in 1976 to record new versions of a dozen songs from the early days of his career. Three years later the singer would release another 'retrospective' album, this time re-recording the best of his 70's hits.

Time to sit back : "Le bilan"

In the late 70's Ferrat's record label Barclay (which owned the rights to the majority of the singer's albums) was bought out by Polygram. Jean Ferrat and Gérard Meys thus decided to re-record most of the singer's old material. Between 1979 and 1980 Ferrat was hard at work in the studio re-recording 113 songs, with new arrangements by Alain Goraguer. This intensive recording session resulted in a set of 12 albums presenting a complete Jean Ferrat retrospective (released in September 1980).

Later that same year Ferrat would release a brand new album, entitled "Le bilan" (Taking Stock). This new album, on which Ferrat was responsible for all the lyrics and musical arrangements, proved to be another huge hit (sales hitting the 1 million mark just weeks after its release !) The title track of this new album was a reference to Ferrat's new political stance (the singer had recently chosen to distance himself from the Communist party). The album also contained a series of wonderful new love songs including the classic "L'amour est cerise".

1981 was a year of triumph for Jean Ferrat, for it was in this year that the singer was awarded a special diamond disc in recognition of the huge contribution he had made to French music in the course of his 30-year career.

Following the death of his wife, Christine Sèvres, in November 1981, Jean Ferrat took a break from the French music scene for several years. But four years later Ferrat would make a triumphant comeback with a new album entitled "Je ne suis qu'un cri". Renewing his links with the world of poetry, Ferrat invited Guy Thomas, a renowned poet and professor of literature to write the 14 songs on his new album. Later that year Ferrat was invited to appear on Bernard Pivot's famous television show devoted to poetry and literature.

Comeback

In 1990 the SACEM (the French association of songwriters and composers) honoured Ferrat's contribution to the French music scene, presenting him with their famous gold medal. The following year the singer was back in the media spotlight with a new album, "Dans la jungle ou dans le zoo" (an album on which he wrote all the songs himself). This new album contained all of Ferrat's time-honoured themes, voicing his comments on the bicentenary of the French Revolution ("Le Bicentenaire") and expressing his feelings on love ("Chante l'amour" and "Mon amour sauvage"). As for the famous title track "Dans la jungle ou dans le zoo" (In the jungle or in the Zoo), this evoked Ferrat's political philosophy ("the jungle" representing the world of capitalism, "the zoo" symbolising the Communist state).

Just as in 1985 Ferrat's album "Je ne suis qu'un cri" had given rise to a special television programme, so the singer's new album was the occasion of a celebratory TV programme. Almost twenty years after his last live performance, Ferrat recorded a special show, performing fifteen of his greatest hits with an orchestra of 40 musicians conducted by his loyal musical arranger Alain Goraguer.

Following the release of his Greatest Hits Retrospective (61-91), in 1991, Ferrat set to work compiling a complete retrospective of his musical versions of Aragon's poetry (which was released the following year). In 1995 Ferrat returned to the studio to record an album of 16 new poems, which proved an instant hit with the French public. (Indeed, sales soon topped the 300,000 mark, earning Ferrat a platinum disc). This phenomenal success was followed by an exceptional event, Ferrat setting off on a tour of Quebec later that year.

Invited by the Alès Festival

An even more exceptional event occurred in 1998 - Ferrat, who had not performed in France since 1972 (!) agreed to appear at a festival in Alès (in the South of France) on 8 August. The Alès festival had decided to organise a concert in Ferrat's honour that year and a 700-strong choir were invited to perform a selection of the singer's greatest hits.

Ferrat appeared on stage for the grand finale at Alès, bringing the house down with a single song at the end of the show. Despite the fact that Alès was hardly a huge mainstream festival, and Ferrat only performed one song, this ranked as a major event in the singer's recent career.

In 2001 and 2002, Jean Ferrat hit the roof several times, voicing his anger at French national media companies for keeping many talented French artists out of the media spotlights while promoting second-rate commercial ‘variete’ singers. In a letter to Michele Cotta, CEO of France 2 (France’s main national television channel), and in a few newspaper articles, he came to the defence of singer Isabelle Aubret. According to him, the fact that she is hardly ever invited onto television sets stands as emblematic of the new media strategy that favours ‘cultural diversity’ rather than original Chanson artists.

Last years

Late in 2002, the singer released "Ferrat en scène", a live recording from 1991 with arrangements by his friend Alain Goraguer. In January 2003, he was a guest on the celebrated French Sunday TV show "Vivement dimanche", where he promoted the album.

In 2009, a three-CD compilation of his hits was released to great success.

By this time, Jean Ferrat had retired from the music business and was living in Antraigues-sur-Volane, a village in the Ardèche region of France, in a house he had bought in the sixties. 

Having suffered from cancer for a number of years, the singer was hospitalised in early March in Aubenas, Ardèche. He died on Saturday 13 March 2010, at the age of 79.

On 16 March, over 5,000 people paid a final homage to the singer in his village of Antraigues, at his funeral. Before a private burial ceremony, the crowd sang along to one of his greatest successes, "La Montagne", accompanying Isabelle Aubret, who had also come to celebrate the artist’s life.

March 2010.

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