Eddie Barclay

Édouard Ruault (January 26, 1921 – May 13, 2005), known as Eddie Barclay, was a French music producer. Throughout his professional career, he worked with artists such as Jacques Brel, Dalida, and Charles Aznavour. He was the founder of the record label Barclay Records.

Biography

Ruault 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 in central Paris when he was a child, and at age 15 he left school to work in the family business. His musical training was self-taught. He enjoyed American jazz, especially the music of Fats Waller. He often visited the Hot Club de France to listen to the quintet of Stéphane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt.

He began playing piano professionally at the club "L'Étape" in Paris, where his half-hour performances alternated with those of a young Louis de Funès, also at the beginning of his career. When the Germans occupied France, they banned jazz and Ruault regularly organized gatherings of zazous at his home to listen to jazz records and illegal radio stations. Pierre-Louis Guérin hired him as a pianist for his nightclub, "Le Club".

After the war, Édouard Ruault changed his name to Eddie Barclay and opened "Eddie's Club" in Paris. In 1947 he formed a band, which included his wife, Nicole, as singer under the name Eve Williams. Barclay founded "Blue Star Records", using his apartment as a record warehouse. Among the musicians who worked with the label were Don Byas and Eddie Constantine. Barclay wrote songs with Charles Aznavour and Boris Vian; with Vian he also edited the magazine *Jazz*.

In 1952, Alan Morrison, a customer of Barclay's club, invited him to visit the United States to view the new recording technology that allowed production of 45rpm vinyl records and LPs. In 1955 Barclay reached an agreement for the manufacturing and distribution of record material in Europe with Mercury Records. He hired sixty professionals from the Pathé-Marconi factory in Paris and began promoting the new microgroove format to the French market. In addition to publishing American records by artists such as Ray Charles, Dizzy Gillespie, Sammy Davis Jr., and Duke Ellington, Barclay hired German sound engineer Gerhard Lehner to produce original recordings in Paris. After selling one and a half million copies of "Only You (And You Alone)" by the Platters, Barclay Records became the largest record company in France.

Among his discoveries were artists such as Hugues Aufray, Michel Delpech, Dalida, Mireille Mathieu, Claude Nougaro, Eddy Mitchell, Sylvie Vartan, Johnny Hallyday, Françoise Hardy, Nino Ferrer, Henri Salvador, Daniel Balavoine, and the British Vince Taylor. All the label's artists also enjoyed wide creative freedom.

Aznavour joined Barclay in 1956 and both collaborated on writing songs such as *Quand tu m'embrasses*. The Belgian poet and singer Jacques Brel was associated with Barclay from 1962 until his death in 1978. With the label, he released some of his greatest hits, such as *Le plat Pays* and *Les Bigotes*. Brel had worked with Philips Records before signing with Barclay, as had Juliette Gréco. Philips threatened legal action, but the matter was settled out of court and Barclay handed over Johnny Hallyday to Philips as part of the deal. The anarchist poet Léo Ferré was another singer-songwriter who joined Barclay Records to mutual benefit.

However, Barclay's instinct for success was not infallible. He refused to sign Bob Marley, ended his collaboration with Pierre Perret, and fired Michel Sardou four years after discovering him, telling him, "My old friend, write songs if you want, but above all don’t sing them. You have no talent."

In the early 1980s, while recovering from throat cancer diagnosed in 1979, he sold 80% of his record company to Polygram, and retired to Saint-Tropez, where he had spent 25 years building a house called Maison du Cap, Ramatuelle, ever since Brigitte Bardot had recommended buying land there in the 1950s. His white-themed parties in Saint-Tropez became major events for the French media. Barclay’s mansion was later purchased by Swedish businessman Johan Eliasch.

In March 1994, Barclay underwent quadruple bypass surgery after a heart attack. On April 29, 2005, he was admitted to Ambroise Paré Hospital in Paris, where he died on the morning of May 12.

External links

Eddie Barclay en Internet Movie Database