Eileen - These Boots Are Made for Walkin' IN FRENCH, How does that GRAB YOU?

Happy Birthday to EILEEN, the lady in the sunglasses.

    We turn from the sad death of Maurane…to look ahead in celebrating the birthday of Eileen Goldsen-Chamussy. Simply called EILEEN in France, she had hits well before the simply named MAURANE did. Ms. Goldsen is probably best remembered as “the French Nancy Sinatra,” which is a bit hard to do when you’re actually born in America. 

     As previously mentioned on the blog, Eileen was born in New York, the daughter of a music publisher. She taught French in Los Angeles and came to Paris in the early 60's. She seemed to specialize in doing French cover versions of American folk tunes and pop hits. While some vocalists routinely did their own phonetic versions for the French, Italian and German markets (notably Lesley Gore and Petula Clark) others didn't bother. 

      When Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots are Made for Walkin'" stomped all over the charts, it was blonde Eileen who offered up the French take. And very well, merci. In fact, record companies being what they are (greedy), it was thought: why not have Eileen actually cover Nancy Sinatra in English, too? Why not siphon off some of the bucks by having Eileen's version of a Nancy hit, in English, available in the stores? "How Does that Grab You, Darlin'?" 

       Back in the day, it was very common in England and in Europe for a quick cover version to battle the original, and since the cover version was from homegrown talent, available for in-store promotions and TV appearances, it often worked out very well. It also helped if the cover-singer could compete. Eileen technically was a better singer than Nancy Sinatra, but you still have to give the edge to Nancy when it comes to attitude. Nancy's slightly flat and desultory style made her put-downs even more sexy. (Or to quote a Jim Carroll song line, "The more she denies 'em, the more they demand her.") 

        Eileen still runs her "French Fried" music company in France, and is clearly enjoying the good life. Born May 16th, 1941...Joyeux Anniversaire.

BOOTS in FRENCH - listen or download - no egocentric Passwords, no sleazy requests for Paypal donations

HOW DOES THAT GRAB YOU DARLIN' - you listen or download without being sent to a click here and get spyware trick-link