No Regrets - Carolyn Burke [131]
Finally, I want to thank the impassioned Piaf fans who buoyed my spirits with their encouragement and insights, often accompanied by a meal or a glass of wine. I wish that they had been with me at a recent musical evening in Ménilmontant where the crowd joined in while songwriter Allain Leprest, accordionist Jean Corti, and singer Francis Lalanne performed songs by Piaf and Brel along with their own compositions: they would have been moved, as I was, to see la chanson française alive and well in the same Paris neighborhoods where Edith’s remarkable life began.
NOTES
The bulk of Piaf’s personal papers and correspondence is held in private collections, with one important exception: the unpublished correspondence between the star and her mentor, Jacques Bourgeat, at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Other Piaf materials in archives or private collections are denoted by the name of the archive or collection. All quotations from letters are referenced in the endnotes by date, and where needed, place; “no date” is indicated by “n.d.”; “no page number” by “n.p.” All translations from the French are my own except for works in the bibliography for which the only listing is the English translation.
To minimize repetition, references to works cited more than once have been kept brief. When more than one work by an author has been cited, the short title as well as the author’s name is given; when only one work by an author has been cited, the author’s name is given. Published works are listed in full in the bibliography.
Archives and private collections are abbreviated as follows:
AMORC Rosicrucian Archives
BMD Bibliothèque Marguerite Durand
HVA Hugues Vassal Archives
MBA Mazillier/Berrot Archives
Frequently used names are abbreviated as follows:
EP Edith Piaf
JB Jacques Bourgeat
JC Jean Cocteau
MC Marcel Cerdan
RA Raymond Asso
PRELUDE
1 “Edith Piaf knocked”: Joni Mitchell quoted in “Joni Mitchell Gets Angry, Hugs It Out,” New York, Sept. 26, 2007. Piaf and Billie Holiday were major influences on Mitchell’s career as a songwriter and performer.
2 “complete vocal abandon”: Martha Wainwright quoted in Louise Cohen, “Martha Wainwright: ‘Edith Piaf became the ghost behind all that I sang,’ ” Times Online, Oct. 30, 2009.
CHAPTER ONE • 1915–1925
1 “the capital of”: Maurice Chevalier, The Man in the Straw Hat, p. 8.
2 “My mother nearly”: EP quoted in Pierre Duclos and Georges Martin, Piaf, p. 63.
3 “She didn’t know”: Contet quoted in ibid., p. 64.
4 “On the 19th of December”: EP birth certificate, quoted in ibid., pp. 62–63.
5 Just before the start: Emma Saîd Ben Mohamed, aka Aîcha, born on December 10, 1876, was the child of Saîd Ben Mohamed of Mogador, Morocco, and Marguerite Bracco of Paris.
6 “I’ve always thought”: EP, Au bal de la chance, p. 82.
7 “miniature nation”: Clément Lépidis, Des Dimanches à Belleville, p. 24.
8 “I got used to”: EP quoted in Emmanuelle Eyles, “Grâce aux prières des ‘filles’ de Bernay, Piaf a retrouvé la vue,” Historia 601, p. 8.
9 “I always thought”: EP television interview with Henri Spade and Jacqueline Joubert, La Joie de vivre d’Edith Piaf, April 3, 1954, http://www.ina.fr/video/100013647/edith-piaf-1-accordeoniste.fr.html, INA archive.
10 “Saint Thérèse performed”: “Edith, Thérèse et le photographe,” L’Eveil normand, March 18, 1999, p. 18.
11 “The day I regained”: EP quoted in Duclos and Martin, p. 69.
12 “Edith’s eyes”: Madame Taillère, quoted in ibid., p. 70.
13 “She was engaging”: Madame Taillère quoted in Eyles, p. 7.
14 “She was a good student”: Madame Laperruque quoted in Jean-Dominique Brierre, Edith Piaf, p. 14.
15 “the girl whose grandmother”: Lyliane Carpantier quoted in Duclos and Martin, p. 73.
16 “Sing, little one”: Marcel Delamare quoted in “Bernay va dédier une rue à Edith Piaf,” Paris-Normandie, Jan. 30/31,