Eddie Barclay

Eddie Barclay

Born: January 26, 1921
Died: May 13, 2005
in Paris, France
Édouard Ruault (26 January 1921 – 13 May 2005), better known as Eddie Barclay, was a French music producer whose singers included Jacques Brel, Dalida and Charles Aznavour. He founded record label Barclay.

Ruault, the son of a café waiter and a post office worker, was born in Paris on January 26, 1921. He spent much of his early childhood with his grandmother in Taverny (in today's Val-d'Oise). His parents bought the Café de la Poste bar in the middle of Paris while he was a child and at the age of 15 he left school to work in the café. He had not enjoyed his studies but he taught himself music and piano. He particularly liked American jazz and embraced the music of Fats Waller. He often visited the Hot Club de France to hear the quintet of Stéphane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt.

He became a pianist at "L'Étape" club in rue Godot-de-Mauroy, Paris, where his half-hour sets alternated with the young Louis de Funès, also at the start of his career. When the German occupiers of France banned jazz, he held regular social gatherings with other zazous at his home to listen to jazz records and illegal radio stations. Pierre-Louis Guérin employed him as a pianist at Guérin's first nightclub, "Le Club".

After the war, Eduard Ruault changed his name to Eddie Barclay and opened "Eddie's Club" in Paris. In 1947 he started a band which featured his wife, Nicole, on vocals under the name Eve Williams. Barclay and his wife started "Blue Star Records", using their apartment to store 78 rpm discs, with Barclay delivering them himself. Musicians on the label included Don Byas and Eddie Constantine. Barclay wrote songs with Charles Aznavour and Boris Vian, and with Vian he edited Jazz magazine.

In 1952 Alan Morrison, a visitor to Barclay's club, had invited him to visit the US to see the new recording technology that enabled the production of 45s and LPs. In 1955 Barclay agreed to manufacture and distribute Mercury Records in Europe. He took 60 masters to Pathé-Marconi's Paris factory and began promoting the new microgroove format to the French market. As well as releasing US records by the likes of Ray Charles, Dizzy Gillespie, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Duke Ellington, Barclay engaged Gerhard Lehner, a German sound engineer, to make original recordings in Avenue Hoche, Paris. After selling 1.5 million copies of the Platters' "Only You", Barclay Records rose to become the top music production company in France. His success led to his nickname as "empereur du microsillon" (king of microgroove).

His francophone discoveries included the singers Hugues Aufray, Michel Delpech, Dalida (whom he launched in 1956), Mireille Mathieu, Claude Nougaro, and Eddy Mitchell. His artistes delighted in the artistic freedom that he afforded them, and in the trust that he placed in their judgement. ...

Source: Article "Eddie Barclay" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Movies for Eddie Barclay...

Title: Archives secrètes
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: September 9, 2021
Type: TV
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Title: Vivement dimanche
Character: Self
Released: September 20, 1998
Type: TV
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Title: Zone interdite
Character: Self
Released: March 7, 1993
Type: TV
The zone interdite refers to two distinct territories established in German-occupied France during the Second World War after the signature of the Second Armistice at Compiègne.
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Title: Midi Première
Character: Self
Released: January 6, 1975
Type: TV
Midi Première is a French variety show presented by Danièle Gilbert, directed by Jacques Pierre and broadcast from January 6, 1975 until January 1, 1982 on TF1. The program was generally broadcast between 12:15 p.m. and 12:55 p.m., then giving way to the 1:00 p.m. TV news. However, the broadcast schedule could change, depending on the guests, and the setting where the recording of the program was shot. Certain performances by artists who have become cult like the one where Ringo jostles with a demonstrator in interpretation (1977), that of Dalida with the title There is always a song with the soundtrack that does not start, twice, at the right speed (1978), Claude François and his Clodettes, who, in the provinces, are unable to join "the set" in order to interpret his song, the latter being taken by the crowd of delirious fans (summer 1977) . The group Supertramp performed there with the title "Dreamer" on March 8, 1975.
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Title: Le Grand Échiquier
Character: Self
Released: January 12, 1972
Type: TV
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Title: Cadet Rousselle
Character: Self
Released: November 4, 1971
Type: TV
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Title: Samedi soir
Character: Self
Released: January 9, 1971
Type: TV
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Why Paris?
Title: Why Paris?
Released: June 24, 1964
Type: Movie
Monique, a Belgian girl, comes to Paris to learn painting and become an artist. She took courses at the Academy and found a studio in Montmartre.
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Vice Squad
Title: Vice Squad
Character: Le chef d'orchestre
Released: March 18, 1959
Type: Movie
A journalist and a police commissioner join forces to smash a white slavery network operating in the Middle East. The cabaret run by Clovis where Dalida sings is quickly spotted, as is a marriage agency run by Madame Irma, offering semblance of guarantees. Clues without proof. The journalist's fiancée agrees to play the game set up by the superintendent. The network is dismantled.