Serge Gainsbourg was a French musician, singer, composer, actor, filmmaker and author. He wrote contributions to popular music spanning four decades (1950s to the 1980s), covering diverse styles, including jazz, pop, rock, afrobeat, reggae, funk and rap. His compositions pilfered from Dvořák, Chopin, Beethoven, and Olatunji, among others, without making much of a secret of it. An example opens this mix: a few early bars of Dvořák’s New World Symphony reveals the motif that inspired the Gainsbourg song that follows it.
This mix will probably be surprising in its stylistic scope to the listener untouched by the SG legacy. I assure those people, there is a lot more to be discovered if your curiosity is piqued!
Quite simply, it’s impossible to do him justice in a mix in the space of under 70 minutes, but what the hell, here goes…
CREDITS
(duplicated discogs credits means the tracks were both from the same release)
Dvorak, Symphony No. 9, Adagio – Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra
https://www.discogs.com/Serge-Gainsbourg-Initials-BB/master/359969
https://www.discogs.com/Gainsbourg-LHomme-%C3%80-T%C3%AAte-De-Chou/master/9609
https://www.discogs.com/Serge-Gainsbourg-Bande-Originale-Du-Film-Le-Pacha/master/193524
https://www.discogs.com/Serge-Gainsbourg-Gainsbourg-Percussions/master/5144
https://www.discogs.com/Serge-Gainsbourg-Gainsbourg-Percussions/master/5144
https://www.discogs.com/Gainsbourg-Aux-Armes-Et-C%C3%A6tera/master/4955
https://www.discogs.com/France-Gall-1968/master/198447
https://www.discogs.com/Fran%C3%A7oise-Hardy-Comment-Te-Dire-Adieu/master/2108203
https://www.discogs.com/Serge-Gainsbourg-N4/master/5174
https://www.discogs.com/Serge-Gainsbourg-N4/master/5174
https://www.discogs.com/Gainsbourg-Love-On-The-Beat/master/9737
https://www.discogs.com/Serge-Gainsbourg-Youre-Under-Arrest/master/10201
https://www.discogs.com/Gainsbourg-Aux-Armes-Et-C%C3%A6tera/master/4955
https://www.discogs.com/Serge-Gainsbourg-Bonnie-And-Clyde/master/205164
https://www.discogs.com/Jane-Birkin-and-Serge-Gainsbourg-Je-TAime-Beautiful-Love/master/9511
https://www.discogs.com/Jane-Birkin-Di-Doo-Dah/master/44394
https://www.discogs.com/Gainsbourg-LHomme-%C3%80-T%C3%AAte-De-Chou/master/9609
https://www.discogs.com/Serge-Gainsbourg-Gainsbourg-Percussions/master/5144
https://www.discogs.com/Serge-Gainsbourg-Gainsbourg-Percussions/master/5144
https://www.discogs.com/Serge-Gainsbourg-Histoire-De-Melody-Nelson/master/9382
https://www.discogs.com/Serge-Gainsbourg-Histoire-De-Melody-Nelson/master/9382