Sunday, April 27, 2014

Bobby Goldsboro and Jeane-Claude Borelly: Shared Intros

In early '76 the French trumpeting instrumentalist Jeane-Claude Borelly scored a minor #106 hit with a single called "Dolannes Melodie" (a theme for the 1974 film Un linceul n'a pas de poches). Had to wrack my brain a bit, but I can now report that the song's opening musical motif is taken directly from Bobby Goldsboro's "Summer (The First Time)," a #21 hit in '73.

What a fascinating record "Summer" is, by the way - at once uncomfortable and arresting, with its coming of sexual age lyrics and beguiling arrangement. (Millie Jackson did an equally compelling version of it the following year.) Bobby Goldsboro is a puzzle to me, with a catalog that alternates between deep pathos and shallow bathos, sometimes even within a single song. One day I'll take the time to express this more fully.

Bobby Goldsboro - "Summer (The First Time)" (Billboard #21, entered 8/25/73)Written by Bobby Goldsboro. Produced by Bob Montgomery and Bobby Goldsboro. 45: "Summer (The First Time)"/"Childhood - 1949" (United Artists 1973). LP: Summer (The First Time) (United Artists 1973).

The B-side of "Summer," incidentally, revisits the theme of childhood - a preoccupation for both Goldsboro and the entire early '70s zeitgeist.

Jeane-Claude Borelly and His Orchestra - "Dolannes Melodie" (Billboard #106, entered 1/24/76). Written by Paul de Senneville and Olivier Toussaint. Arranged by Hervé Roy. 45: "Dolannes Melodie"/"Dolannes Melodie (Pipes of Pan Version)" (London 1975). LP: (No US album release).

The B-side is the real charmer, for my money - pan pipes, acoustic guitar, and strings, with no stolen Goldsboro motifs.

3 comments:

  1. Borelly's theme was DEFINITELY ripped from Goldsboro-just listen to both-so obvious.

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  2. Es un plagio por donde se mire. Hasta las melodias comparten muchisimas semejanzas. Supongo que Goldsboro hizo valer sus derecho s de autor. Por lo demás su versión es lejos mas bella que la de Borelly

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  3. This is the most blatant example of musical plagiarism I have ever heard. The intuitively titled "Summer (The First Time)" was written by Goldsboro in 73. Dolannes Melodie was written the following year.
    A series of musicians released versions of Dolannes Melodie in subsequent years including Richard Clayderman, all seemingly having fun with the musical misappropriation using album titles like: Summer Nights, Summer Dawns etc.
    In many previous cases of musical plagiarism, one needs to have a trained musical ear to recognise the similarities, in this instance it is quite blatant. Have a listen and be shocked!

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