Pink Elephants

Last updated

Pink Elephants
MickHarvey PinkElephants.jpg
Studio album by
Released27 October 1997
Genre Rock
Length46:45
Label Mute [1]
Producer Mick Harvey with Victor Van Vugt and Tony Cohen
Mick Harvey chronology
Intoxicated Man
(1995)
Pink Elephants
(1997)
One Man's Treasure
(2005)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Entertainment Weekly B [3]

Pink Elephants is Mick Harvey's second album of Serge Gainsbourg covers, released in 1997. [4] [5]

Contents

Critical reception

Entertainment Weekly wrote that "Harvey’s English versions of Gainsbourg songs maintain the latter’s lounge-lizard perversions, hilarious existential angst, and theatrical grandeur." [3] Trouser Press called "I Love You...Nor Do I", the Anita Lane and Nick Cave duet, "erotic" and "the album’s centerpiece." [6]

Track listing

All tracks composed by Serge Gainsbourg, except where indicated.

  1. "Pink Elephants" (Mick Harvey, Bertrand Burgalat) – 2:35
  2. "Requiem. . ." (Gainsbourg, Michel Colombier) (translation: Larry Norman, Pierre Gottfried Imhof, & Harvey) – 2:35
  3. "The Javanaise" (translation: Harvey) – 2:30
  4. "Black Seaweed" (translation: Norman, Imhof, & Harvey) – 2:21
  5. "Comic Strip" (translation: Bill Soly) – 2:42
  6. "The Ticket Puncher" (translation: Harvey & Alain Chamberlain) – 2:50
  7. "Non Affair" (translation: Norman, Imhof, & Harvey) – 2:30
  8. "Scenic Railway" (translation: by Norman, Imhof, & Harvey) – 2:52
  9. "To All the Lucky Kids" (translation: Norman, Imhof, & Harvey) – 3:53
  10. "Anthracite" (translation: Norman, Imhof, & Harvey) – 2:20
  11. "Manon" (translation: Norman, Imhof, & Harvey) – 2:20
  12. "I Love You...Nor Do I" (Harvey) – 4:38
  13. "The Ballad of Melody Nelson" (Gainsbourg, Jean-Claude Vannier) (translation: Sarah Owen & Harvey) – 1:56
  14. "Torrey Canyon" (translation: Owen & Harvey) – 3:12
  15. "Who Is 'In' Who Is 'Out'" (translation: Harvey & Chamberlain) – 3:14
  16. "Hotel Specific" (Gainsbourg, Jean-Claude Vannier) (translation: Harvey, Katy Beale, & Chamberlain) – 3:42

Personnel

Technical

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serge Gainsbourg</span> French musician and actor (1928–1991)

Serge Gainsbourg was a French musician, singer-songwriter, actor, author and filmmaker. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provocative and scandalous releases which caused uproar in France, dividing public opinion. His artistic output ranged from his early work in jazz, chanson, and yé-yé to later efforts in rock, zouk, funk, reggae, and electronica. Gainsbourg's varied musical style and individuality make him difficult to categorise, although his legacy has been firmly established and he is often regarded as one of the world's most influential popular musicians.

<i>Nocturama</i> (album) 2003 studio album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Nocturama is the twelfth studio album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on February 3, 2003 on Mute and ANTI-. Produced by Nick Launay, the album is the last to feature founding member Blixa Bargeld who departed from the band shortly after the album's release.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anita Lane</span> Australian singer-songwriter (1960–2021)

Anita Louise Lane was an Australian singer-songwriter who was briefly a member of the Bad Seeds with Nick Cave and Mick Harvey and collaborated with both bandmates. Lane released two solo albums, Dirty Pearl (1993) and Sex O'Clock (2001).

<i>My Rides Here</i> 2002 studio album by Warren Zevon

My Ride's Here is the eleventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Warren Zevon. The album was released on May 7, 2002, by Artemis Records. Zevon described it as "a meditation on death"; it was released several months before Zevon was diagnosed with terminal mesothelioma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mick Harvey</span> Musical artist

Michael John Harvey is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, arranger and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist, he is best known for his long-term collaborations with Nick Cave, with whom he formed The Boys Next Door, The Birthday Party and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

<i>B-Sides & Rarities</i> (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds album) 2005 compilation album by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

B-Sides & Rarities is a 3CD compilation by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released in March 2005. It features over 20 years of the band's B-sides and previously unreleased tracks. It is also the first recording to include all members of the Bad Seeds, past and present up to the time of its release: current members Mick Harvey, Blixa Bargeld, Thomas Wydler, Martyn P. Casey, Conway Savage, Jim Sclavunos, and Warren Ellis, and former members Barry Adamson, Hugo Race, Kid Congo Powers, Roland Wolf, and James Johnston. A second volume, B-Sides & Rarities Part II, was released in October 2021.

<i>Histoire de Melody Nelson</i> 1971 studio album by Serge Gainsbourg

Histoire de Melody Nelson is a 1971 concept album by French songwriter Serge Gainsbourg. Produced by Jean-Claude Desmarty, the album was released on March 24, 1971 through Philips Records. Its narrative follows an illicit romance which develops between the middle-aged narrator and 15-year-old girl Melody Nelson.

<i>Intoxicated Man</i> 1995 studio album by Mick Harvey

Intoxicated Man is the first of four albums by Mick Harvey, presenting the songs of Serge Gainsbourg, sung in English. It is followed by Pink Elephants, Delirium Tremens, and Intoxicated Women.

<i>The Abattoir Blues Tour</i> 2007 live album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

The Abattoir Blues Tour is the second live album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 29 January 2007. The deluxe release includes two audio CDs and two DVDs.

<i>Dry Cleaning Ray</i> 1997 EP by No-Man

Dry Cleaning Ray is a mini-album released by British Art rock band No-Man. It was intended to be a companion release to Wild Opera album, compiling reinterpretations and original songs stemming from the Wild Opera sessions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lemon Incest</span> 1985 single by Serge and Charlotte Gainsbourg

"Lemon Incest" is a single recorded by French father and daughter Serge and Charlotte Gainsbourg. It was recorded in 1984 and released as a single from Serge's 1985 album Love on the Beat and on Charlotte's 1986 debut album Charlotte For Ever, marking her musical debut.

<i>Aux armes et cætera</i> (album) 1979 studio album by Serge Gainsbourg

Aux Armes et cætera is the thirteenth studio album by Serge Gainsbourg, released in the early spring of 1979. It was recorded in Kingston, Jamaica, with some of the island's best reggae musicians at the time as well as members of the I Threes, Bob Marley's backup chorus which includes Rita Marley. Further expanded by new mixes, dubs and Jamaican versions released in 2003 and 2015, the album is considered by many as being one of his masterpieces. The French edition of Rolling Stone magazine named this album the 50th greatest French rock album. The recording marked the first time a white singer had recorded a full reggae-influenced album in Jamaica, following previous single-song recordings from Paul Simon and Peter Tosh and Mick Jagger. By 1991, it sold 650,00 copies in France.

"Bonnie and Clyde" is a French-language song written by Serge Gainsbourg, and performed by Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot. The song tells the story of the outlaw couple Bonnie and Clyde. It is based on an English language poem written by Bonnie Parker herself a few weeks before she and Clyde Barrow were shot, entitled "The Trail's End". It was released on two albums in 1968: Gainsbourg's album Initials B.B., and Gainsbourg and Bardot's album Bonnie and Clyde.

Breakfast on the Morning Tram is an album by American jazz singer Stacey Kent that was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2009. It was her first album for Blue Note Records. The album features four songs with lyrics written by novelist Kazuo Ishiguro.

<i>Two of Diamonds</i> (album) 2007 studio album by Mick Harvey

Two of Diamonds is the fourth solo studio album by Australian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey, released on 23 April 2007 on Mute Records. The album contains both original compositions and covers and was recorded by Harvey over the course of three months in Grace Lane Studio, and later in Atlantis Sound Recording Studios, both in his native Melbourne and The Instrument Studio in London, England.

<i>Gainsbourg Live</i> 1986 live album by Serge Gainsbourg

Gainsbourg Live is the second live album by Serge Gainsbourg, released in 1986, featuring an autumn 1985 concert at the Casino de Paris.

<i>Manage the Damage</i> 1999 studio album by Jimmy Somerville

Manage the Damage is the 1999 third solo album by pop singer Jimmy Somerville.

Intoxicated Women is a studio album by Australian musician Mick Harvey. It was released in January 2017 under Mute Records. It was volume 4 of Harvey's Serge Gainsbourg interpretations/translations.

<i>Delirium Tremens</i> (Mick Harvey album) 2016 studio album by Mick Harvey

Delirium Tremens is the third of four albums by Mick Harvey, presenting the songs of Serge Gainsbourg, sung in English. It was preceded by Intoxicated Man in 1995 and Pink Elephants in 1997, and followed by Intoxicated Women in 2017.

The discography of French singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg consists of 16 studio albums, 4 live albums, 1 compilation album, 80 singles and EPS, and several soundtrack albums.

References

  1. Schurr, Maria (11 July 2014). "Mick Harvey: Intoxicated Man / Pink Elephants, PopMatters".
  2. "Pink Elephants - Mick Harvey | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" via www.allmusic.com.
  3. 1 2 "Pink Elephants". EW.com.
  4. "Mick Harvey Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
  5. Kaufman, Gil. "Bad Seeds' Mick Harvey And The Pink Elephants". MTV News.
  6. "Mick Harvey". Trouser Press. Retrieved 6 January 2022.