Charles Aznavour (Il faut savoir), Charles Aznavour, 1961, :21
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
This album (more of an EP, really) is actually called Charles Aznavour, but Aznavour titled a lot of albums after his own name even more so than Peter Gabriel, so this one is known by its first song title. I'm no stranger to French singer-songwriters, but I've always considered Georges Brassens to be pinnacle of French songcraft. However, this brief collection makes a case for Aznavour's high status. With his bold, slightly tremulous voice, he's a French Frank Sinatra to Brassens' Bob Dylan. Like the Chairman, Aznavour comes across as world-weary, born old, and rueful about everything, even as he emanates stylistic confidence. Favorite tracks: "Le Carillonneur," sung from the point of view of a very cynical church bell-ringer, "Voila Que Ça Recommence," a song about, uh, loving life ("a skirt passes by / And I get ready to lose my mind").
