Francis Cabrel (born 23 November 1953 in Agen, France) is a French singer-songwriter and guitarist. Inspired heavily by Bob Dylan, he has released a number of albums falling mostly within the realm of folk, with occasional forays into blues or country. Several of his songs, such as "L'encre de tes yeux" and "Petite Marie" have become enduring favourites in French music. Others, such as "C'était l'hiver", about the suicide of a young girl, have since been covered by other artists such as Canadian Isabelle Boulay. November 23 is the 327th day of the year (328th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 38 days remaining. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... For the Agen meteorite of 1814, see Meteorite falls. ... The term singer-songwriter refers to performers who both write and sing their own material. ... A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. ... Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, author, musician, and poet who has been a major figure in popular music for five decades. ... Folk music, in the original sense of the term, is music by and for the common people. ... Shahrukh is a bona vocal and instrumental form of music based on the use of the blue notes and a repetitive pattern that typically follows a twelve-bar structure. ... This article includes a list of works cited but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... In popular music, a cover version, or simply cover, is a new rendition (performance or recording) of a previously recorded song. ... Isabelle Boulay (born 6 July 1972 in Sainte-Félicité, Quebec) is a francophone Canadian pop singer. ...

Biography

Cabrel was born into a modest family, with a working father and a mother who was a cashier. He has a sister, Martine, and a brother, Philippe. His paternal grandfather, Prospero Cabrel, had immigrated to Gascogne from Italy in the 1920s with his wife and six children. Cabrel's mother, Denise Nin, was born in Gascogne to an Italian family. Her family immigrated from Frioul, the same region of Italy, where Prospero had moved from. The family's original surname, Cabrelli, was abandoned in the 1700s. Gascony (Gascogne in French) is a region in southwest France. ...

A shy teenager, Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" inspired him to pick up a guitar and start writing his own songs. At 16, enthralled by music, he started to sing the songs of Neil Young, Leonard Cohen and Dylan. He also learned English by translating the lyrics. He would later tell that his guitar enabled him to appear more interesting to others. Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, author, musician, and poet who has been a major figure in popular music for five decades. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Parts of the guitar. ... Neil Percival Young OM (born November 12, 1945, Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist and film director who grew up during his teen years in Winnipeg, Manitoba. ... Leonard Norman Cohen, CC (born September 21, 1934 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian poet, novelist, and singer-songwriter. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

Expelled from secondary school in Agen for a lack of discipline, he went to work in a shoe shop while playing gigs with a group named "Ray Frank and Jazzmen", which later became known as "les Gaulois" because every member of the band had a moustache. Indeed, at that time, Cabrel's appearance was that of a hippie, with long hair and a moustache. This article has been illustrated as part of WikiProject Illustrated Wikipedia. ... Singer at contemporary Russian Rainbow gathering Hippie, usually spelled hippy in the United Kingdom, refers to a subgroup of the 1960s and early 1970s counterculture that began in the United States, becoming an established social group by 1965 before declining during the mid-1970s. ...

In 1974 he took part in a song contest organised by Sud Radio and performed in front of a panel of judges, which included Daniel and Richard Seff. With his own song "Petite Marie", dedicated to his wife Mariette, he won the contest and was signed to a record deal by CBS. CBS is one of the largest radio and television networks in the United States. ...

In 1977, during CBS' "New French Song" campaign, his first record "Ma ville" was released. However, he quickly realized that CBS, having tampered with the accent of his singing voice on "Petite Marie", had thus interfered with the expression of his true personality. That version of the song is disavowed by Cabrel today.

At the Paris Olympia he opened for Dave for one month. He also won the "prix du Public" at the Festival de Spa in Belgium in 1978. The Olympias entrance and billboard Paris Olympia is a music hall at 28, Blvd. ... Dave is the stage name of Wouter Otto Levenbach, a Francophone singer from the Netherlands who had a string of number one hits in France in the 1970s. ...

Although he writes predominantly for himself, he has written for other artists, in particular Rose Laurens ("Quand tu pars", 1986). Cabrel is involved in the politics of Astaffort commune in Lot-et-Garonne and was elected its councillor in March 1989. See also: 1985 in music, other events of 1986, 1987 in music, 1980s in music and the list of years in music // January 23 - The first induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis... Lot-et-Garonne is a département in the southwest of France named after the Lot and Garonne rivers. ...

Cabrel has also been an active organizer and participant in concerts for charity, including repeat appearances in Les_Enfoirés. Les Enfoirés (in French, The Dumbass), is the name of a band performing for the benefit of charity Les Restaurants du Coeur. ...

Trivia

• Cabrel is an avid Dylan fan, and knows Dylan's entire recorded works by heart.
• Cabrel has around fifty guitars which he has collected (not counting his own performance guitars which he has had made by luthiers).

An engravers impression of Antonio Stradivari examining an instrument. ...

Discography

Studio albums

• Francis Cabrel (also known as Les Murs De Poussière) (1977, CBS)
• Les chemins de traverse (1979, CBS)
• Fragile (1980, CBS)
• Carte Postale (1981, CBS)
• Quelqu'un de l'intérieur (1983, CBS)
• Photos de voyages (1985, CBS)
• Sarbacane (1989, CBS)
• Samedi soir sur la terre (1994, Columbia)
• Hors-saison (1999, Columbia)
• Les beaux dégâts (2004, Columbia)

Live albums

• Cabrel Public (1984, CBS)
• D'une ombre à l'Autre (1991, Columbia)
• Double tour (Électrique & acoustique) (2000, Columbia)
• La tournée des bodegas (2005, Columbia)

Compilations

• Cabrel 77-87 (1987, CBS)

External links

• Official Francis Cabrel website(French)
• Biography of Francis Cabrel, from Radio France Internationale