This is a song that resembles us. Jean Sablon, the French Troubadour

When this charming singer arrived in the United States in 1937, he embodied the absolute modernity of romanticism on record and on the radio: what we call a crooner.

In partnership with the exhibition It’s a song that resembles us – Worldwide hits of French-language popular music At the Cité internationale de la langue française in Villers-Cotterêts, these chronicles look in detail at each of the stories presented there.

What is a seducer? It could be that, that velvet of a voice, but a voice that would wear a great tailor’s suit, with a silk tie and a dazzling smile. Jean Sablon’s version of the Dead leaves by Jacques Prévert and Joseph Kosma was recorded in French in São Paulo, Brazil in 1952. At the time, Jean Sablon was often in the southern hemisphere, where he was a luxury import. Listening to him on 78s or going to see him in a chic cabaret is not just listening to music, it’s a bit of a change of circumstances. You feel a bit like you’re from the old Europe of poets and luxury brands, champagne and venerable monuments.

In the United States, people often dream of a table for two in a romantic restaurant in the most beautiful city in the world. And Jean Sablon makes this dream come true with his charming smile and caressing baritone voice. The recording dates from 1939 on the occasion of the musical comedy Streets in Paris on Broadway. The singer has been spending most of his time in the United States for two years, thanks to a radio contract. He has his own show broadcast, Coast to coastin which he sings in French and English. An English with a French accent anyway. It is true that his voice is extraordinarily radiophonic, even by today’s standards.

In this episode of It’s a song that resembles usyou hear excerpts from:

Jean Sablon, The Dead Leaves, 1952

Jean Sablon, Meet Time In Paree, 1939

Jean Sablon, You who pass by without seeing me, 1936

Jean Sablon, Symphony, [1945

Mireille and Jean Sablon, Since you are going on a trip, 1935

Jean Sablon, The Dead Leaves, 1952

You can also extend this column with the book It’s a song that resembles us published by Heritage Publishing.

You can also follow the news of this column on X (ex-Twitter).