Histoire de Melody Nelson

by Serge Gainsbourg

Overview

You don't need to speak a word of French to understand Histoire de Melody Nelson -- one needs only to look at the front cover (with its nearly pornographic portrait of a half-naked nymphet clutching a rag doll) or hear the lechery virtually dripping from Serge Gainsbourg's sleazily seductive voice to realize that this is the record your mother always warned you about, a masterpiece of perversion and corruption. A concept record exploring the story of -- and Gainsbourg's lust for -- the titular teen heroine, Histoire de Melody Nelson is arguably his most coherent and perfectly realized studio album, with the lush arrangements which characterize the majority of his work often mixed here with funky rhythm lines which underscore the musky allure of the music. Perhaps best described as a dirty old bastard's attempt to make his own R&B love-man's record along the lines of a Let's Get It On (itself still two years away from release), it's by turns fascinating and repellent, hilarious and grim, but never dull -- which, in Gainsbourg's world, would be the ultimate (and quite possibly the only) sin. ~ Jason Ankeny

Product Details

Release Date:	03/08/2024
Label:	Light In The Attic Records
UPC:	0826853401104
Rank:	38868

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Serge Gainsbourg   Primary Artist,Piano,Guitar,Vocals,Lead Vocals
Jane Birkin   Primary Artist,Vocals
Jean-Luc Ponty   Violin (Electric)
Jean-Claude Vannier   Conductor,Keyboards,Orchestra Director
Vic Flick   Guitar
Brian Odgers   Bass
Dougie Wright   Drums
Roger Coulam   Keyboards

Technical Credits

Andy Votel   Liner Notes,Photo Courtesy,Archival Materials,Producer
Serge Gainsbourg   Composer,Performer
Sebastien Merlet   Archival Materials,Photo Courtesy
Jane Birkin   Performer
Jean-Claude Desmarty   Producer
Jean-Claude Vannier   Arranger,Composer,Producer,Direction,Performer
Josh Wright   Executive Producer
Kate Peterson   Assistant
Dave Cooley   Remastering
Chris Ferraro   Executive Producer
Jean Guerin   Mastering
Kiki Ajidarma   Design
Tony Frank   Photography
Jean-Yves Billet   Re-Editing
Will Tyler   Photo Courtesy,Archival Materials
Andy Beta   Liner Notes
Jean Claude Charvier   Engineer