David Bowie, Judy Collins, Tom Jones, Dionne Warwick ... many have been influenced by the songs of Belgian Jacques Brel. Add to the list Micheline Van Hautem, who is preparing to summon the spirit of her late compatriot, writes Shane Gilchrist.
Those unfamiliar with the French language, Micheline Van Hautem or her muse, Jacques Brel, need not fear: the Belgian singer will offer plenty of English explanations of her subject matter during her forthcoming Dunedin Arts Festival performances.
Van Hautem describes her show, Micheline Sings Brel, as both a celebration and a séance of sorts as she evokes the spirit of her late countryman via a selection of material that ranges from love to loss to laughter and lust.
''I do help the audience'', Van Hautem explains via phone from Sydney earlier this week, the singer having started a ''down under'' tour that heads to Dunedin next week, when she will perform at the Glenroy Auditorium.
''I often start a song in English or provide an introduction, explain what the song is about, before I go into French. I might split a verse and perform the first part of the verse in French, then the second verse in English.
''I want to convey what the song is about so the audience can enjoy it.
''Of course, even though I try to present Brel's meaning, I do give it my own interpretation. Then again, the songs are so beautiful I don't really need to prop them up.''
Born in Brussels on April 8, 1929, Brel died from lung cancer in October 1978 at the age of 49. His stage career was brief: he gave up singing live in 1966 and was in semi-retirement for the last 10 years of his life.
A 2009 Guardian article described him as ''a father figure to some of our greatest, most emotionally expressive songwriters'', including Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Jarvis Cocker and Rufus Wainwright.
By the release of his fourth album in 1959, La Valse à Mille Temps, Brel was a francophone star. Songs such as La Mort (''My Death''), Ne Me Quitte Pas (''If You Go Away''), Au Suivant (''Next''), and Amsterdam influenced many.
David Bowie covered Amsterdam on the B-side of his 1973 single Sorrow and also frequently played My Death in concert. Other notable artists to have covered Brel are Tom Jones, Dionne Warwick and Judy Collins.
Likewise, Brel has had a big influence on Van Hautem, who started performing his songs in 1998, the 20th anniversary of his death.
''I always say the music of Jacques Brel has showed me the world. I have visited New York, Edinburgh, Australia, New Zealand ...''
Now based in Nice, France, where she lives with her husband and two young children, Van Hautem was born and raised in Ghent, Belgium. Her musical breakthrough came when she moved to New York more than 15 years ago and decided to perform songs primarily in French, in particular those of Brel and Edith Piaf.
Though she has roamed elsewhere, both physically and artistically (she has even done a French version of Crowded House's hit Four Seasons In One Day), Van Hautem's first love is the music of Brel. A collaboration with Brel's nephew, Bruno, resulted in the pair touring and releasing an album, L'esprit de Jacques (''In the spirit of Jacques''). For her current series of shows, Van Hautem is accompanied by Ben Hauptmann on acoustic and electric guitar.
''It's a simple arrangement that allows both musicians to roam freely, she says.
''We really feel each other.
''No version is the same when there are only two of you.
''If you have a larger band, it's more set.
''One day, I might be in a humorous mood; another day, I'll be less so.
''To the audience's ear, the melody might sound the same, but on stage there could be a lot of interpretation going on - even within the same set-list.
''I have performed Brel's songs with an orchestra, but with one musician I can more easily emphasise certain aspects of a song.
There are some songs that I have chosen because I'm an absolute fan of the melody, poetry and subject.
''With others, I attempt to convey Brel's sense of humour.
''He was also confrontational with some of his lyrics. I attempt to cover all aspects of his music.
''But I have chosen songs because they challenge me as a singer.
''Brel has written some melodies that you really want to respect, but they are not always easy.''
Lost in translation
The most famous translation of a Jacques Brel song is far from accurate.
The Belgian singer-songwriter (above) is regarded as being responsible for Seasons in the Sun, which became a worldwide hit in 1974 for Canadian singer Terry Jacks and a Christmas No1 in 1999 for Irish boy band Westlife.
Jacks' version stemmed from American singer-poet Rod McKuen's English-language adaptation of Brel's original 1961 song Le Moribond, (or ''The Dying Man'').
On his website, McKuen notes: ''For the record, Jacques wrote Le Moribond in 1962. I adapted it to Seasons In The Sun three years later. It was an international standard in both French and English thanks to recordings by The Kingston Trio, Nana Mouskouri, Bud & Travis and even Pearls Before Swine before Terry Jacks recorded it in 1974 for Poppy Family Productions.''
Whereas Brel's original delivery of Le Moribond, set to a rigid tempo, is darkly sardonic and refers to an unfaithful wife and her lover and darkly invites mourners to dance at his funeral, Jacks' more famous English rewrite drops the references to infidelity and replaces them with farewells to a child.
Still, sentimentality has an audience: Seasons in the Sun has sold more than 10 million copies.
As McKuen points out: ''He (Jacks) had a big hit with it and I've always appreciated the royalties his recording brought me. They helped pay for a new roof on my house.''
* Le Moribond is not on the set-list for Micheline Van Hautem's Dunedin show.
The show: Micheline Van Hautem performs Micheline Sings Brel, at the Glenroy Auditorium, on Monday, October 13, and Tuesday, October 14, as part of Arts Festival Dunedin.
