topic Re: Charles Aznavour Dead at 94 in Community Chat

Charles Aznavour Dead at 94

golding76 — Tue, 02 Oct 2018 21:50:17 GMT

Ah, what a voice. Here he is singing "La Boheme." So many of my friends and family back in "my day" loved listening to him and swooning.

I read that he considered himself a "country singer," but said his country was France. If he had lived in the U.S., he stated that he would have lived in Nashville. Aznavour thought that country music tells the stories of our life, and Nashville was the place for the sort of music he loved and stories he wanted to tell.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmrUeGogRbI

Roy Clark sang Aznavour's song "Yesterday (When I Was Young)" Here is Clark's interpretation of Aznavour's classic. Beautiful:

.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwhCqmpO0go

Re: Charles Aznavour Dead at 97

blueroses47 — Tue, 02 Oct 2018 21:39:26 GMT

I was just thinking of him yesterday, I was listening to my music at the gym, listening to him sing "She" , one of my favorites. I was wondering if he was still alive.

I really liked him. "Yesterday when I was Young", and an interesting song "You've Got to Learn".

I had only one of his albums, so I don't know that much of his music, but I really loved that album.

Re: Charles Aznavour Dead at 97

golding76 — Tue, 02 Oct 2018 21:54:04 GMT

How very odd, bluerose, that you thought of him yesterday. His spirit reached you.

If you had told me he was already dead, I would have believed you. I, too, was surprised he was still alive.

By paying close attention to his life, I note that his family and my late husband's family must have been expelled from Turkey (the Ottoman Empire) at the same time. Charles was born in Paris in 1924, so I had originally reported his age incorrectly as 97.

Re: Charles Aznavour Dead at 94

Oznell — Tue, 02 Oct 2018 21:57:49 GMT

As soon as I saw that title line on Aznavour, @golding76, I knew you were the author. No one else has quite your knowledgeable eclecticism when it comes to cosmopolitan culture and, for that matter, pop culture.

He was a one of a kind. RIP.

Re: Charles Aznavour Dead at 94

golding76 — Tue, 02 Oct 2018 22:03:34 GMT

Thank you, oznell. Your generous thoughts are beyond kind.

I keep replaying "La Boheme" and the Roy Clark "Yesterday" and weeping. Ah, life passes by so quickly. I weep not for me but for those whom I have lost and who are fading. Hmm, come to think of it, "fading" includes me, doesn't it?

So many songs left to be sung...

Re: Charles Aznavour Dead at 94

riley1 — Tue, 02 Oct 2018 22:22:59 GMT

What a beautiful song Roy Clark is singing. Don't know who the other person is but may he RIP. Thank You @Oznell

Re: Charles Aznavour Dead at 94

Oznell — Tue, 02 Oct 2018 22:32:45 GMT

@riley1, thank you for the acknowledgement, but that was @golding76 who posted those links for us...

Re: Charles Aznavour Dead at 94

Burnsite — Tue, 02 Oct 2018 22:52:34 GMT

"Death of the Piano Player" (film, dir. Truffaut, 1960) is one of my favorite films. I caught it in reprise theatres in the 1970s.

I am glad he lived such a long and full life. What a beautiful, expressive, lived-in face he had. The camera loved that face.*

I just looked him up. He was born in France of Armenian heritage (original name: Shanoun Varenagh Aznavourian) and shortened his name but did not falsify it. He began as a writer of torch songs for the great Edith Piaf, my favorite French vocalist.

He hoped to continue singing to 100, but 94 is a great run. May he RIP.

* still from the film:

Re: Charles Aznavour Dead at 94

Coquille — Tue, 02 Oct 2018 22:53:35 GMT

Whenever I listen to Charles A., I'm taken to a special place! Recently, I've been listening to him singing, " Parce Que Tu Crois". It's from the movie, Oceans 8. You will be missed! RIP.

I feel the same when I listen to Luciano Pavarotti

There were and are many great singers, male and female but those two men to me, were a cut above all the rest.

Re: Charles Aznavour Dead at 94

golding76 — Tue, 02 Oct 2018 23:11:56 GMT

Coquille,

I can hear Piaf singing "Parce Que Tu Quoi." That tremble in Aznavour's voice... the soaring... the feeling!

Re: Charles Aznavour Dead at 94

ms traditional — Tue, 02 Oct 2018 23:13:38 GMT

Aznavour was very much connected to his Armenian heritage and its lessons. his parents escaped the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1918. living in Paris, his family with its history felt a responsibility to help the Jews in the dark years of Nazism, sheltering a number of them over the course of WWII. they also took in Armenian soldiers drafted to help the Nazis when they deserted. Aznavour himself was connected to the modern state of Armenia, active in many Armenian humanitariancauses.

the Raoul Wallenberg Medal was bestowed on Aznavour and his sister by the state of Israel to recognize the efforts of his family in helping Jews.he was made a citizen of modern Armenia and given its highest honor. a square is named after him in Yerevan and also there stands the Charles Aznavour Museum.

quite a man.

Re: Charles Aznavour Dead at 94

bonnielu — Tue, 02 Oct 2018 23:16:48 GMT

@ms traditional Yes, quite a hero. Thanks for posting this

Re: Charles Aznavour Dead at 94

Oznell — Tue, 02 Oct 2018 23:42:58 GMT

Wow, I didn't know all that exemplary history about Charles Aznavour, @ms traditional, only that he had Armenian heritage. What a legacy to be proud of.

On a more frivolous and minor trivia note, as a long-time fan of Mike Connors (of TV detective "Mannix" fame), I found out a while back that Aznavour and Mike Connors (born Krekor Ohanian, I believe) were cousins....

Re: Charles Aznavour Dead at 94

ms traditional — Tue, 02 Oct 2018 23:47:57 GMT

hi @Oznell. oh i didn't know that about Mike Connors and Charles Aznavour. very interesting!

Re: Charles Aznavour Dead at 94

riley1 — Wed, 03 Oct 2018 01:17:07 GMT

@OznellOops, sorry, @golding76 Thank You

Re: Charles Aznavour Dead at 94

golding76 — Wed, 03 Oct 2018 01:36:19 GMT

No problem, Riley. It was my pleasure to give an option of some beautiful songs.

(By the way, I've done the same thing several times myself.)

Re: Charles Aznavour Dead at 94

golding76 — Wed, 03 Oct 2018 01:53:43 GMT

oznell,

What an odd pairing for cousins -- Mike Connors and Charles Aznavour. (But I have that in my own family, too.)

That showbiz gene was there in the DNA.

Re: Charles Aznavour Dead at 94

ALRATIBA — Wed, 03 Oct 2018 02:05:03 GMT

I only have one of his CDs .... just checked - I bought it in 1999! I haven't listened to it in a while .... I'll play it tonght.

Charles Aznavour's Greatest Hits.

Re: Charles Aznavour Dead at 94

golding76 — Wed, 03 Oct 2018 02:20:21 GMT

Enjoy your album, ALRATIBA.

This link will take you to Aznavour himself singing "Yesterday (When I Was Young)."

There are some very nice personal photos mixed in the video.

https://www.google.com/search?q=charles+aznavour+singing+yesterday+when+i+was+young&oq=Charles+Aznavour+singing+yes&aqs=chrome.0.0j69i57.8303j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Re: Charles Aznavour Dead at 94

dulwich — Wed, 03 Oct 2018 04:03:43 GMT

So sad to read of his death brought back a wonderful memory.

When DH done a 'big deal' in his business in U.K. 20 years ago we celebrated went to south of France - Juan les Pins - friends met us at airport in a white Rolls Royce went to a wonderful hotel, casino, evening clothes then the midnight show was Charles Aznavour - superb.

What a great time we had listening to him sing r.i.p. Charles thank you.