Friday, October 3, 2008

Les 5 Gentlemen - Plus Grands Succés (1965-68)

This highly talented band from Marseille is definitely my favourite french group. They released five E.P.'s on the Riviera label and one as "Les Ambitieux" on Columbia. They also tried to get a foot on the british market and released one 45 under the moniker "Darwin's Theory" but "Daytime" (which was "Dis-Nous Dylan" with english lyrics) didn't make any impact there. This cool sixteen-track compilation (Belle Amie 0100 / 2000) contains their best work from 1965-68. From my personnal view "LSD 25", "Si Tu Reviens Chez Moi" and "Twiggy" are absolutely essential for every psych/freakbeat connoisseur.

Tracklist:
- Cara-Lin
- Hosanna
- Dis-Moi
- Je Te Veux
- Prie!
- Lsd 25
- Dis-Nous Dylan
- Si Tu Reviens Chez Moi
- Cette Fille-La
- Trop Tard
- Ces Mots
- Oum Tse Oum Papa
- Olivier
- Longue, Longue Nuit D'Amor
- Twiggy
- Mets Du Sucre Dans Ton Café

Personnel:
Claude Olmos (lead gtr, back vcls)
Francois "La Canard" Paoli (gtr, tambourine, back vcls)
Jean Fredenucci (vcls, bs)
Guy Matteoni (keybd's, vcls)
Michel Donat (drms)


Band origin:
Marseille (France)

Discographie:
45's:
1. Cosa Mi Vieni A Dire/Quel Che Ho Fatto
   (Pathé AQ 1323) 1965
2. Daytime/Hosanna (Major Minor MM 50) 1966

[1. italian release]
[2. as Darwin's Theory]

E.P.'s:
1. Danse, Danse Encore/Ces Mots/Dis-Moi/C'est Pas Vrai
   (Columbia ESRF 1662) 1965
2. Cara-Lin/Trop Tard/Oublie-Moi/Cette Fille-La
   (Riviera 231142) 1966
3. Dis-Nous Dylan/Hosanna/Si Tu Reviens Chez Moi/Prie!
   (Riviera 231181) 1966
4. Qu'as-Tu Katioucha/LSD 25/Je Te Veux/Olivier
   (Riviera 231212) 1967
5. Oum Tse Oum Papa/Anna/Longue, Longue Nuit D'amor/
   1.000.000 D'annees Avant Jesus Christ
   (Riviera 231265) 1967
6. Twiggy/Mets Du Sucre Dans Ton Café/Cinema Muet/
   La Fabrique De Savon (Riviera 231321) 1968

[1. as Les Ambitieux]

Get it here (Artwork included / vinyl rip)

Listen to Si Tu Reviens Chez Moi

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

nice sixties French music.I only discover this group when magic issued the complete recordings 2 years ago.I bought the cd to a mail shop in Germany,Wolfgang Voelkel great specialist of 60's and this group was one of his favourite.

Buffalo Billycan said...

Yes jeanbernard, this CD compilation with nearly ALL their material is still available. I would recommend this to everybody. Wolfgang Völkel is also responsible for Break-A-Way Records that recently released "The Jagged Edge/Off-Set", in my opinion the garage find of the year! Here's his website:
http://www.w-voelkel.de/

frumious bandersnatch said...

Probably the best 60s french band : "LSD 25" is an absolute killer ! their whole output is, as you said, highly recommended.
Thanks a lot !!!

Anonymous said...

Many thankx. Great french record.

Anonymous said...

Thankx for this. Rantastic.