France is the Motherland of chanson, a type of music that captivates the heart. Numerous great singers and composers sang in purring French. Few artists can sing about love so deeply that it can melt even the coldest hearts. One of them is Joe Dassin, a French nightingale who won the hearts of many women. Known as a French performer, he was born far beyond this country. Brooklyn was his first homeland. What do we know about the fate of this Brooklyn boy who became one of the most famous French singers in the world? Find out more at brooklynski.info.
From Odesa to Brooklyn
Joe Dassen was born in Brooklyn in 1938. But his family’s roots come from Odessa. His paternal grandfather came from the Russian Empire to the United States in pursuit of happiness. Mother’s family comes from Hungary. Finally, America united his parents in the Catskill Mountains. There was a summer camp for children. The play was staged by the young Julius Dassin, and Joe’s mother Beatrice, provided musical accompaniment by playing the violin.
Both parents were related to the world of art and music. Especially his mother. She played the violin from an early age. Beatrice studied at the Juilliard School of Music and was incredibly successful and talented. However, she gave up her career, getting married in 1933. Her love of music and talent was inherited by her son Joe.
Father was fascinated by the world of cinema. His acting career did not work out, but he became a successful director. He was on the set of Alfred Hitchcock. Although Beatrice left music while his father continued working, their family remained friendly. Joe was not the only child in the family. He had a younger sister Richelle, the author of many of his songs, and Julie – a supporting actress.
The family lived in Brooklyn for the first two years. In 1940 they moved to Los Angeles because of their father’s work, where they spent the next 10 years. Dassin Sr.’s career was very successful. Joe worked constantly even though his family had no financial difficulties. He did it not for the money but for experience and acquiring responsibility. He learned to do good work, collect money, and not be wasteful. Joe spent his first saved money on encyclopedias.
Joe was 11 years old when the “witch hunt” – the fight against communism – began in America. Unfortunately, his father was blacklisted and forced to leave the US.
The suspension of work with Hollywood did not affect the family’s financial situation in any way. Joe attended the best and most prestigious schools in Europe, but he also changed them very often. As his father moved often, he studied in Italy, Switzerland and France. The future singer was an excellent student, and nomadic life did not affect his academic performance.
Homecoming
In 1955, Joe’s parents separated. The reason for their divorce was not announced, although it is likely to be extremely trivial. After the breakup, his father began to be spotted with a young actress. It was a real shock to Joe. His image of the family immediately collapsed. He left Paris to cope with his emotions. Taking only three hundred francs, Joe went back to America, where he entered the medical school of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Alas, medicine did not truly captivate him. But ethnology became a real treasure for him. After graduation, Joe even lectured on this subject, as he had a strong attraction towards languages, peoples and traditions.
In the 1950s, America experienced a rock and roll boom. Elvis Presley turned everything upside down, but not Joe. He and his neighbor continued to listen to a French singer and poet, Georges Brassens. Under the influence of Brassens’ music, he starts singing to the guitar playing in the student cafe on campus. Joe did it not for the money, as singing made him only $50 a week.
To be independent of his father, who broke his heart, Dassin moonlighted as a garbage collector, a bartender, a dishwasher, a truck driver and much more. Having such a hectic schedule, he managed to perform in other cities, such as Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland.
Many of his acquaintances he knew were called up for military service, but Joe was not enlisted. He had heart murmurs and was unfit for service. Dassin did not want to serve anyway. His tenacity was focused on music.
The first failure
During his studies, his father became very popular. Career went up. In 1958, he asked his son to record some songs for his film, but they did not have much success. Moreover, some people said that he should not sing at all. Joe’s preservence and dislike of amateurism kept him going. He started taking vocal and guitar classes.
Rock and roll had taken over America, and Dassin’s style was of no interest. He moved back to Italy as a poor, ticketless passenger on a cargo ship. After returning to Europe, his father soon offered him a job in his new film. Joe earned some income working as an assistant, which he spent on buying a car. In Europe, his life got better. New job, new love. Meeting with Maryse Massiera at the party ended up with a whirlwind romance.
Joe gained fame and a decent wage by writing and publishing short stories. Feeling like the head of the family, he tried his best to live up to it. He worked a lot for various magazines and films, and only Maryse’s support stopped him from giving up the guitar forever. The idea to record Joe’s voice and take it to the CBS office belonged to Maryse. The risk was worth it. The velvet voice of the young 26-year-old guy attracted a lot of attention. Joe instantly refused to meet with company representatives, explaining that he was not interested in a career as a singer. The acting path became dearer to him. Despite working alongside famous actors, he was eventually persuaded by his wife and friends to record a disc. Later, Joe signed the contract. This was the beginning of a long thorny path.
Failed again
Joe’s songs didn’t have commercial success. The radio refused him. Nevertheless, there were two individuals who looked beyond and recognized a star within him. It was Monique Le Marcis and Lucien Leibovitz who started playing his songs on their radio stations. Despite countless failures, Joe’s tenacity and stubbornness prevented him from terminating his contract with CBS. His covers of American hits did not find their audience. Dassin even considered leaving his music career, but the new head of CBS’s French office convinced him otherwise.
Suddenly he became lucky. In 1965, his record sold 25,000 copies. His hit “Bip-Bip” became a star. Finally, everything went smoothly. Joe went on tours and gained world fame. Joe was recognized in every country and on every continent.
Success brought him not only fame but also a friend for life. The producer Jacques Plait, who had an impressive list of “protégés”, became not only Dassin’s new producer but also his faithful friend for the rest of his life.
Private Life
Joe did not feel in a rush to marry Maryse. If it were not for her persistence and ultimatum, they might never have tied the knot. The modest wedding was at the city hall with a couple of friends and relatives in 1966. After the ceremony, Joe got very drunk in a Russian restaurant. But still, he loved his wife and their family was very important to him. In interviews, he said that she made him very happy.
Joe kept his personal life a secret. Even marriage. For a long time, the press and his fans considered Maryse as a companion, not a wife. They believed that the hope of women to win his heart would increase sales of records.
But the family was above all else for him. In 1977, he and Marisa had their first child, Joshua. Unfortunately, the child died within a week. The singer experienced a real shock. A period of prolonged depression began, from which he saved himself by work. In the end, it did not save their marriage, and they divorced. In 1978, Dassin wed a girl who was 10 years younger than him.
His second wedding was arranged in style. Almost five hundred guests attended the ceremony. However, their marriage did not last even two years. Fame proved to be a difficult challenge for Christine. She was on drugs, and only the proficieny of doctors allowed her to have a baby. Joe forgave her everything while she was mercilessly jealous of him and handled the money as she wanted. Joe took custody of their two children.
The busy schedule, touring and marital turmoil had a detrimental effect on his health. In 1980, Joe fell ill right on stage. Myocardial infarction happened to him. Throughout the year, the singer experienced two more heart attacks and died at the restaurant “Chez Michel et Éliane” in Papeete. He was only 42 years old. He was buried in Hollywood next to the graves of his grandparents. Joe Dassin’s songs still top the charts even in the 21st century.