It is completely unbearable to write and think about him in the past tense.
Does not fit into the framework.
And to be honest, the "French Elvis" that clung to him from the first years on stage is also complete nonsense.
Journalists prefer to call the interview with Holliday an eight-thousander ascent.
They are probably right.
He is a movie star, and a violent (to the extreme) rocker, and a pilot (navigator, the devil can't figure it out) rally "Paris - Dakar", Knight of the Legion of Honor, great chansonnier of the republic, the first and most furious performer of rock and roll in French , the idol of the youth, the idol of the elderly, the ever-touring director and actor of the circus tent.
Women who know him well claim that he could be the perfect girlfriend, and Holliday's house is full of bears, hearts and other sweet nonsense.
Men, hearing this, grimace, twist their fingers at their temples, but are silent.
Deep down, many want to become and be like this Johnny.
But for this you need ...
In 1957, at the age of 14, he already tried to perform at the Astor cabaret in Montmartre, imitating Elvis.
He did not have any particular success, expressed in contracts, but made an indelible impression on the public with his furious fury, performing Party from Presley's new film Loving you.
Someone noticed him.
That was enough.
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Holliday's first solo album will be released in 1961.
And on the screen, he flashed much earlier, in 1954, in Les Diaboliques by Henri-Georges Clouzot (the tape is the standard of the European psychological thriller).
And yes, he is not even in the credits, his role is one of the students of a private school, but what is the beginning!
After the release of the film, Johnny decided that he would die but become a film actor.
Who is he?
Why did it happen in our life?
Jean-Philippe Leo Smeet (and this is our Johnny Holliday) was born in Paris on June 15, 1943.
His parents, Juguette-Eugenie Claire and Léon Smeet, parted, and the future pride of France was brought up by his aunt Hélène Mar, his father's elder sister.
It was life on stage from start to finish.
Helen's daughters traveled all over Europe with their own dance show, and Johnny raced with them, driven by all the winds, changing homes and schools, friends (although where did they come from) and affections.
This can hardly be called a normal childhood.
Johnny's father was replaced by the husband of one of Helen Mar's daughters, American Lee Ketchm.
He also suggested changing the too patriarchal Jean-Philippe into Johnny and taking the family brand - Halliday (Les Halliday's - that was the name of the show and dance trio of Helene Mar's daughters) as a surname.
Johnny trusted Lee, they became great friends on the endless road, whiling away days and nights in cheap hotels, unassuming cafes.
And rock and roll was still raging in the world.
It was still possible to jump into the last carriage of the southern rock.
Who would have thought that his initial history would be so fleeting.
One day in December 1959, Holliday, under an unknown coincidence and the mediation of heaven, appeared in Pierre Mandelson's Paris Coctail radio broadcast.
There he was happily introduced to Gilles and Jean (Gilbert Jeunet and Roger-Jean Seti), the most popular songwriters, and they, in turn, introduced him to Jacques Wolfson, who was the art director of the Vogue record company.
And at the snap of God's fingers in February 1960, Johnny signed his first contract (the papers for him were signed by Helen and Lee, the star was only sixteen).
Then quite amazing things began.
On the air of one of the Europe I programs, radio presenter Lucien Maurice, with some special delight, smashed a couple of records of the young talent on the table, adding: “My dears!
I assure you!
Today is the first and last time you hear Johnny Holliday!
This shame will not happen again! "
They did that with Elvis.
Several states at once.
Walter Fields was especially fond of hitting records.
And what did Elvis do?
He recorded a gorgeous Christmas album, which was half rock and ballads and half sacred chants.
And the fans said: "Yes !!!"
And the snobs shut up.
What did Johnny do?
He rejoiced at the similarity of fate with an idol and at the next concert he tore up the hall, singing more than was allowed, falling to his knees, shaking the microphone, yelling and reducing the stalls to a state of animal horror.
That's right.
And the gallery squealed with delight and was hysterical.
By the way, on February 24, 1961, the Palais des Sports in Paris shook the first all-French rock and roll festival.
Johnny was the last to speak sensibly.
The next morning, the headlines in the mainstream newspapers were somewhat varied: “Rock and Roll Fury!
Blood spilled!
Five policemen were wounded, 85 people were arrested.
Very soon his name appeared on the posters of Olympia - an undoubted success, but also an extreme degree of danger: one step and an abyss.
Holliday was helped by Charles Aznavour.
It was he who worked on the program and "softly commented" on the general style, and it was he who convinced the newspaper people to abandon the cretinous myth of Johnny's American descent, including childhood on the mysterious ranch of a mysterious father, allegedly engaged in breeding purebred horses.
Triumph at Olimpia decided everything.
From September 20 to October 9, there was a full house and crowds of enthusiastic fans.
Holliday found himself.
Now he wanted to see the roots of southern rock.
He had to come to where it all began.
In 1962, he flies to Nashville to meet with Shelby Singleton, Elvis Presley's music director.
And he records the album Johnny Hallyday sings America's rockin 'hits.
I love this record.
For sincerity and childish frankness.
For Johnny was not afraid to make his Hound Dog, his I Got A Woman.
Not literally imitating, remaining yourself.
So what's going on?
Mass hysteria - this is how the press describes what is happening at his concerts.
He performs to his fans all over the country, as well as Jackie Kennedy and Charles de Gaulle.
Tours the United States and manages to film with Catherine Deneuve in Les Parisiennes.
Often his speeches end in skirmishes and fights between his supporters and his opponents.
It is ambiguous.
Perhaps for myself too.
And he always has time for everything.
Famous and happy.
Married to Sylvia Vartan!
When I first saw her photograph, I disappeared, like so many others.
Forever and ever.
Or almost forever.
Imagine what happened to Johnny.
And his turquoise piercing gaze did not help him.
In 1964, he was drafted into the army - the 43rd Infantry Regiment, stationed in the German Offenburg.
Holliday is a national hero, a decent guy who remembers his homeland, a citizen worthy of emulation.
The wedding with Sylvia in April 1965 is another confirmation of this.
Johnny's army is not a burden.
He can rehearse, he has good relations with colleagues, he does not ask himself and does not turn up his nose - why not Elvis of 1958-1960?
Johnny is not Elvis, although he adores him.
Johnny goes his own way.
And yet there are similarities in everything, even though at times they are sad.
Rock, or rather show business, demands its own payment for rhythm and life without stopping.
And this fee is not money.
Holliday is prone to depression.
Psychotropic drugs and drugs, a brewing divorce (they will converge and diverge with Sylvia), the loss of dubious, casual friends, hellish work to the point of weariness, cinematography, like a conveyor belt (not always successful), and the decision to die.
It is fortunate that during his treatment after a suicide attempt, he rethought the meaning of gifts that were simple in terms of deafening success, but unchanged from the foundation of the world - love, children, home, the work of a lifetime.
He has to sing.
He was sent to Earth for this.
One day, Holliday will share the Olympia stage with Jimi Hendrix.
In those concerts, songs from his new unhappy album Generation perdue will be played.
And yet, against the background of the rockers of the South, he is a lucky and dandy of Destiny.
Although he allows himself at times too much.
At the beginning of 1968, Holliday went on tour to the United States, especially for this occasion, translating into French the song Loving you by Elvis, turned into La vie a t'aimer.
At this time, Elvis is at a crossroads, facing a difficult choice "to be or die, sinking into darkness."
They seem to sense each other with an elusive rock flair.
Not being friends at all.
Perhaps it is Holliday's desperate resistance, his stubborn unwillingness to give up the hits of his youth, even though recording a lot of new albums, that helps Presley make the decision to be.
And go to sessions at American Sound.
In 1974, after attending one of Presley's concerts in Las Vegas, Holliday said: “What an incredible power!
How can he do all this over and over again, for so many years in a row, sharpening his skills more and more abruptly! "
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But in the same 1974, some music observers pointed to "the fading potential of the King of Rock and Roll, finally slipping into a potpourri of rural songs ..."
Everything and always depends on the look at the subject.
Is not it?..
Hearing the performance of Johnny Holliday's Reviens donc chez nous (Bring It On Home To Me by Sam Cook, a thing I adored since childhood), I fell in love with French, struck by both the voice and passion of a handsome man with a guitar and a motorcycle.
He's not cinematic at all.
And very lively.
And you will choose your favorite disc from his discography yourself.
Bonsoir ...
The author's point of view may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.