This crumb is made in the size of a 7in record cover
High Res version available on Flickr
References and Further info
Whose Way? 13 Of The Best ‘My Way’ Covers - Charles Waring (uDiscover Music, 30th December 2025)
The story of My Way - Ray Connolly (Daily Mail, 6th September 2019)
Once upon a song | The story of ‘Comme d’habitude’, whichbecame the international hit ‘My Way’ -
Chanson – (What the France, 11th June 2020)
Who actually wrote the classic hit ‘My Way’? - Gaia Neiman (Far
Out, 5th February 2026)
“My Way” Arena – (BBC, 1979)
In February 1967, while on holiday in the Hôtel Canada in
Megève, composer Jacques Revaux realised that he was overdue to write four
songs commissioned by producer Norbert Saada. He wrote the four songs in one
morning. One of these songs as called “For Me” and had English lyrics.
“At the time, some French composers, me included, sent their
music to their sub-publisher in London, who had a team of authors who wrote and
recorded the lyrics onto demos that we then offered to artists in France,” - Jacques
Revaux
Revaux’s publisher was Nouvelles Éditions Barclay, managed
by Gilbert Marouani.
“For Me” was presented to French singers Michel Sardou,
Mireille Mathieu, Hugues Aufray and Claude François, who refused it. Hervé
Vilard recorded a version of it as a B-side, but Revaux didn’t like it, because
he thought the song was a bad fit for Vilard.
On 27th August 1967 Revaux visited Claude
François again at Dannemois, proposing a rework on the song for him. Claude accepted,
with one condition – change the underlying theme to a couple in a strained
relationship. After his initial refusal, Claude had went through a break up
with singer France Gall, and (days before Revaux’s meeting) had written some
lyrics about the experience on a napkin or tablecloth in the Cloche d'Or restaurant.
With assistance from Gilles Thibaut, Revaux and François rewrote
the song, becoming ‘Comme d’habitude’. In November 1967 ‘Comme d’habitude’ was
the first single released by Claude’s new record label, Flèche. It was a hit,
reaching number on in France, selling 350,000 copies in a few months.
The first attempt to translate into English was done by David
Bowie. In 1968, music publisher David Platz heard ‘Comme d’habitude’ and asked Bowie
to write an English translation. His version, titled "Even a Fool Learns
to Love", was recorded as a demo in February 1968 … and was rejected. But
this work later became the starting point for the song ‘Life on Mars?’ on his
1971 album Hunky Dory.
Revaux’s publisher was also France’s sub-publisher for
Spanka Music, Paul Anka’s publishing company.
While ‘Comme d’habitude’ was topping the charts, Gilbert and
Paul were together in the Plaza Athénée, Paris, when Gilbert asked to turn on
the TV to see his artist, Claude François, sing one of his songs - ‘Comme
d’habitude.’ Paul realized that he had heard this song before on the radio, and
asked Gilbert if he could have an option on the song for six months. In June
1968, Paul asked for a further six months. During those months he had finished his
version of the lyrics and had the idea of pitching the song to Don Costa, Frank
Sinatra’s producer.
On 30th December 1968, Frank recorded “My Way” … and the rest is history.
Comments
Post a Comment