Édith Piaf was a French singer best known for performing songs in the cabaret and modern chanson genres. She is widely regarded as France's greatest popular singer and one of the most celebrated performers of the 20th century.
Frankie Laine was an American singer and songwriter whose career spanned nearly 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005. Often billed as "America's Number One Song Stylist", his other nicknames include "Mr. Rhythm", "Old Leather Lungs", and "Mr. Steel Tonsils". His hits included "That's My Desire", "That Lucky Old Sun", "Mule Train", "Jezebel", "High Noon", "I Believe", "Hey Joe!", "The Kid's Last Fight", "Cool Water", "Rawhide", and "You Gave Me a Mountain".
Theophanis Lamboukas, professionally known as Théo Sarapo, was a French singer, the second husband of Édith Piaf. Formerly a hairdresser, he was 26 years old when he married the 46-year-old Piaf. He was introduced to her by Claude Figus, Piaf's secretary.
John Charles Franz was an English record producer and A&R man at the Philips label. He was one of Britain's most successful producers in the 1950s and 1960s. While his recordings encompassed several forms of mainstream popular music, his most enduring contributions were to British pop music of the mid-1960s on records by Dusty Springfield, The Walker Brothers, and the early solo recordings of Scott Walker. From 1973, he was responsible for the production of Peters & Lee recordings, which included their No. 1 chart hit "Welcome Home".
"Answer Me" is a popular song, originally titled "Mütterlein", with German lyrics by Gerhard Winkler and Fred Rauch. "Mütterlein" was published on 19 April 1952. English lyrics were written by Carl Sigman, and the song was published as "Answer Me" in New York on 13 October 1953. Contemporary recordings of the English lyric by Frankie Laine and David Whitfield both topped the UK Singles Chart in 1953.
"I Believe" is a popular song written by Ervin Drake, Irvin Abraham, Jack Mendelsohn and Al Stillman in 1953. The most popular version was recorded by Italian-American singer Frankie Laine, and spent eighteen weeks at No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart.
"The Poor People of Paris" is a US pop song that became a number-one instrumental hit in 1956. It is based on the French language song "La goualante du pauvre Jean", with music by Marguerite Monnot and words by René Rouzaud. Edith Piaf had one of her biggest hits with the original French version.
"Singing the Blues" is a popular song composed by Melvin Endsley and published in 1956. The highest-charting version was by Guy Mitchell and The first recording of the song was by Marty Robbins. It is not related to the 1920 jazz song "Singin' the Blues" recorded by Frank Trumbauer and Bix Beiderbecke in 1927.
"Les Trois Cloches" is a Swiss song written in French by Jean Villard. Edith Piaf recorded the song a cappella with the French vocal group Les Compagnons de la chanson in July 1946. The song became one of Édith Piaf's biggest hits, and when Piaf toured the US with Les Compagnons de la chanson, they introduced this song to an American audience. Tina Arena also recorded a hit version in 2000.
"A Woman in Love" is a popular song. It was written by Frank Loesser and published in 1955. It was introduced in Samuel Goldwyn's 1955 cinematic adaptation of the Broadway musical Guys and Dolls, for which Loesser contributed three new songs – including "A Woman in Love" – which had not been in the original stage production. In the film, it was sung as a duet between Marlon Brando and Jean Simmons. The cover version by Frankie Laine reached number 1 in the UK Singles Chart in 1956.
Wayne Shanklin was an American singer, songwriter and producer. His best known compositions were "Jezebel", "Chanson D'Amour ", "Primrose Lane", and "The Big Hurt".
"Some Day" is a song, with music by Rudolf Friml and words by Brian Hooker, originally published in 1925. It was included in Friml's operetta The Vagabond King, sung by Carolyn Thomson in the role of Katherine de Vaucelles.
"Milord" or "Ombre de la Rue" is a 1959 song, famously sung by Édith Piaf.
"Laura (What's He Got That I Ain't Got)" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music singer Leon Ashley. Recorded in 1967 and released on his own Ashley Records label, the song was his only No. 1 single that September. Frankie Laine and Brook Benton took cover versions to the pop and Adult Contemporary charts that year, while Claude King, Marty Robbins and Kenny Rogers charted their own versions on the country charts.
"You Gave Me a Mountain" is a song written by country singer-songwriter Marty Robbins during the 1960s. It has been recorded by many artists, including Robbins himself, but the highest-charting version of the song was by Frankie Laine in 1969. This version was included on Laine's album of the same name.
"Little Boy and the Old Man" is a song with words and music by Wayne Shanklin, first recorded by Frankie Laine and Jimmy Boyd in 1953.
"Moonlight Gambler" is a song written by Bob Hilliard and Phil Springer and performed by Frankie Laine featuring Ray Conniff and His Orchestra. It reached #3 on the U.S. pop chart and #13 on the UK Singles chart in 1957.
Edith Piaf, also known as La Vie en Rose, is a 10-inch long-playing album from Édith Piaf that was released in 1953 on the Columbia label. The web site Best Ever Albums ranks it as Piaf's best.
