I have to say…it’s quite unnerving to write about an artist you don’t know much about, but when you search what’s out there on Bernard Chabert, there really seems to be a sea of non-information. Or maybe I’m just not looking in the right places.

Regardless, Bernard Chabert is someone I am completely fascinated by. Chabert himself also appeared to be completely under the spell of The Beatles – who wasn’t? – and their distinct sound seemed to easily melt into French pop gems, under Chabert’s masterful direction. I’m absolutely certain that if Chabert had kept up at it, he’d be right up there with Polnareff as one of the greats. Heck, I’m almost to a point of giving him that winning title anyway.

Chabert also seemed to think he was all that…take a look at the cover of his most coveted single (unfortunately not available in this post, due to the fact that I don’t have the ridiculous amount of money it would cost to acquire it):

“Those who don’t believe in Chabert, are the same people who, in seventeen hundred and some peanuts, didn’t believe in WOLFGANG A. MOZART. So there” says the cover.

Oh dear.

Don’t get me wrong: I kinda think Chabert is all that too, and quite frankly I’ll admire anyone who is willing to write *that* on a record cover.

Anyhoo, back to the three records featured on this post.

If you have my friend Satan Bélanger’s fantastic Freakout Total* comp, then you already have one of his songs: Olga Selzer (spelled Helga Selzer on the cover, but Olga on the original record). By far, this is one of his best, and one of THEE most underrated French rock tunes of the late 60s. Again, I’m always baffled as to why Chabert was not a superstar in his own right. The B-side was a cover of Hot Leg’s (ie 10CC’s) Neanderthal Man. Both these songs feature French prog band Triangle.

All these songs are just brilliant. Even that Dear Prudence sort of rip off (Dear Jean). My personal faves are L’Ascension sociale de Francis F and Il part en Californie.

Bernard Chabert – Olga Selzer
Bernard Chabert – L’homme de l’univers (Neanderthal Man)
Bernard Chabert – Easy Miss Lizzy
Bernard Chabert – Mare Serenitatis
Bernard Chabert – Tramway 7B
Bernard Chabert – Dear Jean
Bernard Chabert – Il part en Californie
Bernard Chabert – L’Ascension sociale de Francis F

* available through Mucho Gusto Records: http://www.muchogustorecords.com/

You can click on each of the three cover shots for a closer look.