THE
AZ RECORDINGS
After Petula left Vogue France she began recording material
in 1972 independently under her own production company
Progenar. In total there are 14 recordings in French - these recordings are often referred to as the AZ
Recordings and were issued between 1972 - 1984, including one stand
alone original album and various 45rpm singles. In addition to the 14 recordings, there are released alternative versions of
Blue Blanc Rouge and Thank You My Lord.
These 16 recordings were initially issued in France by Disc 'AZ, and then later included on releases in Canada on Kebec
Disc, Audiogram and on Lion-Soleil, in the UK on PRT, in France on Reader's Digest, Sanctuary / BMG and Sony and in Germany on Bear Family Records.
In addition to the 16 recordings, there are 2 English language recordings from 1973 of
Thank You My Lord and Swiss Valley which were first issued in the US
on the album Open Your Heart in 2009 on Collectors Choice.
Disc'AZ was a French label established in 1963 by Lucien Morisse, a French songwriter and the artistic producer of the popular Radio Europe 1 who was married to the singer Dalida. Composer
Paul de Senneville was a director at Disc'AZ and contributed with his
writing partner Olivier Toussaint three original songs for Petula's AZ
album; Bleu, Blanc, Rouge, Une Carte D'Amitie and Thank You My
Lord.
For some activities Disc'AZ was just known as AZ (i.e. distribution and marketing). Although Disc'Az acted as a distributor itself, marketing strategies changed over time, and the label was handled via many other distributors, including: Disques
Vogue, Discodis, Musidisc, and was then bought up by Universal in the late 1990s.
The SG prefix to Disc'AZ releases were Discodis distributed issues - the SG prefix was assigned to all the Petula single releases meaning that the likely arrangement in place was a distribution deal rather than a recording deal.
MISSING
MASTERS
It
is understood that the master tapes for 10 of the AZ recordings are
missing (Bleu, Blanc, Rogue
- purple engraved label alternate version issued as a single in
1972,
Une Carte D'Amitie, Accordons Nos
Violons, Dans La Ville, Thank You My Lord - purple
engraved label alternate version issued as single in 1973, Coup De Tete, Coup De
Foudre, Swiss Valley, Je
Voudrais Qu'il Soit Malheureux and Hasta Manana)
and
during recent discussions and email enquiries around these recordings
the subject of the lost master tapes repeatedly comes up and that due to
the amount of masters missing, these are songs that newer fans and
collectors will never get to hear. There has been an occasion where the
actual tape sources for 2 songs that are missing have been mastered from
vinyl (Swiss Valley, Je
Voudrais Qu'il Soit Malheureux) for the 2001 French Reader's Digest
release which is now also highly collectable.
THE ALBUM
The AZ album entitled
Petula (STEC 151), featuring 10 of the 14 recordings, was issued in France in December 1973. The album features 3 Clark compositions
Bleu, Blanc, Rouge (lyrics), Dans La Ville and Swiss Valley
(music). The album material comprises of original songs (mostly
contributed by Disc'AZ director Paul de Senneville) alongside French
language covers and adaptations of Petula's recordings; Wedding Song
(There Is Love), Brand New Day and I Can't Remember (How
It Was Before). For the French language recordings of Brand New
Day (Un Enfant Le Sait) and I Can't Remember (How It Was Before)
(Beau Comme Retour D'un Fils), Petula utilises the original English
backing tracks and English backing vocals can be heard lower in the mix.
This album is a fan favourite and is one of the most collectable Petula
Clark releases to have been issued.
Side
One:
Bleu, Blanc, Rogue (Al Grant, Paul de Senneville) - 2:40
Une Carte D'Amitie (Franck Thomas, Paul de Senneville, Olivier
Toussaint) - 2:25
Accordons Nos Violons (Yves Dessca, P Bresticker, M Nannini) - 2:52
Dans La Ville (Jean Loup Dabadie, P Clark) - 2:42
Thank You My Lord (Michaele, Olivier Toussaint, Paul de Senneville) - 3:10
Side Two:
Coup De Tete, Coup De Foudre (Yves Dessca, P Mac Aulay, M Greenway) - 3:43
Un Enfant Le Sait (Franck Gerarld, Albert Hammond, Mike Hazlewood) - 3:46
Beau Comme Le Retour D'Un Fils (Yves Dessca, M Louis St Louis) - 3:35
Swiss Valley (Michaele, P Clark) - 3:08
Il Est Temps (P Delanoe) - 3:15
CANADIAN RELEASE
The
album, entitled Petula Clark was later issued in 1975 in Canada
on Kebec Disc (KD-916) with Je Voudrais Qu'il Soit Malheureux (a
new Progenar recording also issued as a single in France) replacing Une Carte
D'Amitie.
Side
One:
Bleu, Blanc, Rogue (Al Grant, Paul de Senneville) - 2:43
Je Voudrais Qu'il Soit Malheureux
(Claude-Michel Schonberg, Alain Boublil) - 2:58
Accordons Nos Violons (Yves Dessca, P Bresticker, M Nannini) - 2:50
Dans La Ville (Jean Loup Dabadie, P Clark) - 2:40
Thank You My Lord (Michaele, Olivier Toussaint, Paul de Senneville ) - 3:05
Side Two:
Coup De Tete, Coup De Foudre (Yves Dessca, P Mac Aulay, M Greenway) -
3:40
Un Enfant Le Sait (Franck Gerarld, Albert Hammond, Mike Hazlewood) - 3:40
Beau Comme Le Retour D'Un Fils (Yves Dessca, M Louis St Louis) - 3:35
Swiss Valley (Michaele, P Clark) - 3:10
Il Est Temps (P Delanoe) - 3:15
FAN CLUB
PRIVATE ISSUE
In
the autumn of 1976, the fan club (under Pet Projects) issued a private
14 track cassette of the whole AZ album with 4 bonus tracks.
THE AZ SINGLES
Bleu
Blanc Rouge / Il Est Temps (Wedding Song (There Is Love) (1972) SG 423
Issued in December 1972, The pink
label release of Bleu Blanc Rouge is a 45 issue of the album
take. The master tape of this version survives. Il Est Temps,
written by Pierre Delanoe, is the album take and the master tape
survives. Also issued in Canada as a 45 in 1973 on MGM.
Bleu
Blanc Rouge / Il Est Temps (Wedding Song (There Is Love) (1972) SG 423
Issued in December 1972, the
purple engraved label (pictured above right) release of Bleu Blanc Rouge is a 45 issue
of an alternate take. The master tape of this version is missing. Il
Est Temps, written by Pierre Delanoe, is the album take and the
master tape survives.
Above: Sheet music published by Editions Tremplin and Belle Tulipe
Thank You My Lord /
Swiss Valley (1973) SG 444
Issued in June 1973, Thank You
My Lord is an alternate version to that issued on the album. The
master tape of this version is missing. Swiss Valley is the album
take - the master tape is missing although a mastered
version from a vinyl source appeared on the 2001 French Reader's Digest 3 CD box
set entitled: Petula Clark.
The cover photograph of the 45 is by Harry Langdon. Thank You My Lord and Swiss
Valley was also issued in the Lebanon in 1973 on Disc'AZ (AZ 9027).
In Canada, Thank You My Lord b/w Dans La Ville was issued in 1973 on
Kebec Disc (KD-9014).
Un Carte D'Amitie /
Dans La Ville (1973) SG 461
Issued in October 1973, Un
Carte D'Amitie and Dans La Ville are album takes issued on
45s. The master tapes for these two recordings are missing.
Above:
Sheet music published by Editions Tremplin & Belle Tulipe
Coup De Tete, Coup De
Foudre / Accordons Nos Violons (1973) SG 467
Issued in November 1973, Coup
De Tete, Coup De Foudre (a French language adaptation of the 1973
Elvis Presley song Love Me, Love The Life I Lead) and Accordons Nos Violons are album
takes issued on 45s. The master tapes for these two recordings are
missing.
Je Voudrais Qu'Il Soit
Malheureux / Hasta Manana (1975) SG 517
Issued in January 1975, Je Voudrais Qu'Il Soit Malheureux and
Hasta Manana were issued on 45s in France on Disc'AZ and in
Canada on Kebec Disc. The recordings were produced by Claude-Michel
Schonberg
and Alain Boublil. The master tapes for these two recordings are missing
although Je Voudrais Qu'Il Soit
Malheureux was mastered
from a vinyl source and first appeared on the 2001 French Reader's Digest 3 CD
box set entitled: Petula Clark.
Above: Sheet music published by Belle Tulipe
Glamoureuse / Mister
Orwell (1984) 1009
Recorded in London at Trident Studios and first Issued in France in
November 1984, Glamoureuse and Mister Orwell were produced
for record by Luc Plamondon and Jamie Lane. In Canada the two tracks
were issued on Audiogram and in the UK Glamoureuse was issued by
PRT as the B side to an English language recording of Mister Orwell.
Above: Rare test pressing of Glamoureuse and Mister Orwell
Above: A stickered version
of the single highlighting 'Mister Orwell' was also distributed
throughout France.
THE AZ RECORDINGS ON
CD
Various AZ Recordings
have been issued on the following European and Canadian CD issues:
|
|
PETULA
CLARK
(READER'S DIGEST / FRANCE 2001)
Bleu,
Blanc, Rouge (Album Take) / Il Est Temps / Thank You My Lord
(Album Take) / Swiss Valley / Un Enfant Le Sait / Beau Comme Le
Retour D'un Fils / Je Voudrais Qu'il Soit Malheureux / Glamoureuse
/ Mister Orwell |
 |
ELVIS
MADE IN FRANCE - VARIOUS ARTISTS
(BEAR FAMILY / GERMANY 2002)
Coup
De Tete, Coup De Foudre |
 |
MES
PLUS GRANDS SUCCES - PETULA CLARK
(LIONS SOLEIL / CANADA 2002)
Bleu,
Blanc, Rouge (Album Take) / Il Est Temps / Un Enfant Le Sait / Je
Voudrais Qu'il Soit Malheureux / Glamoureuse / Mister Orwell |
 |
KALEIDOSCOPE
- PETULA CLARK
(SANCTUARY BMG / FRANCE 2003)
Je
Voudrais Qu'il Soit Malheureux / Mister Orwell |
 |
UNE
BALADINE (BEST OF 3CD) - PETULA CLARK
(SONY MUSIC - BMG / FRANCE 2010)
(REISSUED AS 'LA SELECTION - BEST OF' IN 2013)
Bleu,
Blanc, Rouge (Album Take) / Je Voudrais Qu'il Soit Malheureux |
