Guy Béart (whose real name is actually Guy Béhar) was born in the Egyptian capital Cairo. Shortly after his birth, however, Guy's parents began a series of moves which took them all around the Mediterranean and even as far afield as Mexico. Guy's father, a chartered accountant, was frequently being flown around the globe to set up new businesses and during his childhood, Guy moved between Egypt, Greece, France and America, before his family finally decided to settle in Lebanon. (Guy would live there between the ages of ten and seventeen). This constant travelling as a child meant that Guy ended up being acquainted with a whole range of cultures and his impressive general knowledge extended from the sciences to the arts. Needless to say, music also played an important role throughout Guy's teenage years.

Music went on to become Guy's major passion in life and in 1947 he moved to Paris to enrol at the Ecole Nationale de Musique. Guy proved to be a gifted student, displaying particular talent on string instruments such as the violin and the mandolin. Guy did not devote all his time to his musical studies, however. Far from it, the multi-talented young student also pursued a parallel career at the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (one of France's most prestigious engineering colleges). Guy proved to be as brilliant at engineering as he was at music and he soon went on to graduate with a specialist degree in crystals and concrete fissuring.

In the early 50's Guy found himself at a career crossroads - should he develop his specialist skills in the concrete sector or attempt to launch a career in the music world? Guy stood poised on the brink of these two radically different career paths when his father died in 1952. The loss of his father promptly settled Guy's career crisis. Guy decided on the responsible option, going on to work in various offices and supervise building sites in order to support his mother and his sister. But in the evenings Guy devoted himself to music, attempting to launch a professional singing career on the Left Bank cabaret circuit (La Colombe, le Port du Salut, les Trois Baudets and Le Bobino). Béart's songs, which he wrote himself, scored a major hit with cabaret audiences - and before long the talented young singer/songwriter had become the most famous 'office clerk' in Paris!

One of Guy's first big breaks came when he was spotted by the famous French cabaret diva Patachou. Impressed by the shy-looking young singer in the sober suit, Patachou asked Béart's permission to cover his song "Le Bal chez Temporel". She went on to score a major hit and Béart soon found himself inundated with requests to write songs for a host of other French music stars including Zizi Jeanmaire and the legendary Juliette Gréco (for whom Béart penned "Chandernagor" and "Qu'on est bien").

This set Béart on the road to success, but the singer's career really began to take off in earnest in 1957 when the famous artistic producer Jacques Cannetti took his career in hand. It was Cannetti, together with the famous French author/music star Boris Vian, who persuaded Béart to go into the studio and record his first album. Béart apparently took a fair amount of persuading. But Cannetti and Vian's efforts finally paid off - for in 1958 Béart's début album was awarded the prestigious Grand Prix de l'Académie du Disque Français.

Showered with praise from the critics and enjoying instant popularity with French music fans, Béart was invited to perform his first concert at the legendary Olympia music-hall in Paris. Béart suffered a severe attack of stage fright during his first concert, and his performance was interrupted by fits of nervous laughter and moments when the singer's mind appeared to go completely blank. But the audience forgave Béart for his momentary lapses, singing along with his songs (many of which had already become French chanson classics) and spurring him on with generous applause.

Béart's career reached its zenith in 1960 when he recorded his legendary hit "L'Eau vive" (written as the title track for the film of the same name). This song not only rocketed Béart to the height of his fame, it also went on to become one of the all-time classics of French chanson. Indeed, several generations of French school children have studied the lyrics of "L'Eau vive" as part of their literature course. Béart's lyrics may well have been a little naïve at times but they never failed to strike a chord with his audiences. And, like his contemporary Georges Brassens, Béart's apparently simple melodies were actually very complex pieces of composition.

Unfortunately, after the phenomenal success of "L'Eau vive", Guy Béart's career began to take a downwards turn. In the early 60's the French music scene was overtaken by the rock'n'roll craze from America, which was closely followed by the arrival of the Twist. Rock'n'roll posed a serious threat to French chanson when it first arrived on the scene, attracting an instant following of teenage music fans. Leading French chanson stars such as Gainsbourg, Bécaud and Aznavour survived the crisis - but, unfortunately, the same could not be said of Guy Béart. The singer suddenly found himself completely out of fashion and it became impossible for him to get a recording deal.

Undeterred by this crisis, Béart went on to set up his own recording label in 1963, creating APAM (Auto Production des Artistes du Micro) with Canetti's help. But Béart's former record company Philips refused to cede the copyright on his songs and the singer soon became embroiled in a long-running battle to reclaim his material. (The battle ended up going to court and Béart finally managed to reclaim his copyright - but not until 1978!)

With his singing career plunging into a downward spiral, Béart decided to branch out in a new direction, launching his own show on French television. The show, called "Bienvenue" (Welcome) proved to be a huge hit with the French public and, between 1963 and 1970, Béart invited a host of special guest stars to appear on the show. "Bienvenue" soon became the show to be seen on - and everyone from Duke Ellington to Yves Montand ended up dropping in to perform. Béart took advantage of his show's success to kickstart his own singing career - indeed, he would regularly perform his own songs on "Bienvenue".

This upturn in Béart's career coincided with a happy event in his personal life. In 1965 his partner Geneviève Galéa gave birth to a daughter, Emmanuelle. (Twenty years later Emmanuelle would follow in her father's showbiz footsteps, going on to become one of the most famous French actresses in the world).

In 1966 Béart went back into the studio to record an album of traditional French songs entitled "Vive la rose". The following year Béart zoomed from the past into the future, recording a sci-fi influenced album entitled "Guy Béart chante l'espace" (Guy Béart Sings Space). The singer managed to combine elements from these two radically different albums into a stage show in 1967. Béart's show, "Chansons d'avant-hier et d'après-demain" (Songs From Yesteryear and the Future) won great critical acclaim. Indeed, the famous French poet Louis Aragon penned a rapturous review in Les Lettres Françaises. "How else can I put it?" wrote Aragon, "Béart is charm itself. Charm and talent. When you see him standing alone on stage, this man exudes a presence which is at once complex and extraordinary (…)"

By the time Béart's TV show "Bienvenue" came to an end in 1970, however, the French public had practically forgotten the singer. And yet Béart had been in and out of the studio throughout the 60's, recording a whole series of new albums. Béart redoubled his efforts in the 70's and early 80's, recording eight (!) new albums. Combining his artistic and scientific interests, Béart drew inspiration from the most diverse themes, writing songs about everything from architecture and philosophy to love and religion. His albums during this period ranged from 'chanson' classics ("Les chansons gaies des belles années" released in 1982) to futuristic sci-fi ("Futur-Fiction Fantastique", 1977). Béart also experimented with a quasi-mystical style on his 1978 album "Les nouvelles Chansons".

In 1976 Madeleine Renaud and Jean-Louis Barrault, the famous husband-and-wife team of actors, decided to pay their own personal tribute to Béart. Renaud and Barrault went into the studio to record 31 of Béart's songs as spoken texts - their readings, which brought out the poetry of Béart's work, proved a great critical success.

In the 80's Béart fell out of favour once more, experiencing another long series of problems with French record companies. Béart still managed to put out three new albums between 1980 and 1982 ("D'apocalypses en Messies" "Le Beau miroir" and "Porte-Bonheur"). But in spite of these valiant efforts to relaunch his career, Béart was forced to retire from the French music scene for a while. Indeed, the singer went on to experience a series of major health problems which kept him grounded in his mansion in Garches (in the Paris suburbs).

In 1986 Béart came out of 'retirement', however, to attempt another comeback, recording a new album - optimistically entitled "Demain je recommence" (Tomorrow I'm Going To Start All Over Again). Then, in 1987, Béart turned his talent to writing, publishing a book about his illness entitled "L'Espérance folle" (Crazy Hope). Béart went on to perform a series of high-profile concerts at the Olympia in December 1987 and he was even awarded the prestigious Grand Prix de la Chanson Française - but none of this was enough to kickstart his ailing career! Béart still had to undergo another period in the wilderness with no sign of a recording deal on the horizon.

Béart's misfortunes continued after he sold his copyright to a new record company, which soon ended up swindling him out of huge sums of money. After this fiasco Béart decided it was time to relaunch his career on the live circuit - the only problem was the singer had a hard time finding anyone who was interested in putting on his concerts! Béart did appear at the Pau Music Festival in July 1991, and he gave another memorable performance at the Sauve Festival in 1993. On both occasions Béart's set went down extremely well with the audience, who greeted the old chanson star with great enthusiasm.

Encouraged by this success, Béart organised a concert in Garches in March 94, performing a series of songs he was preparing for a new album. Shortly after this concert Béart was awarded the prestigious Grand Prix de l'Académie Française for the outstanding achievements of his career. This award rocketed Béart back into the media spotlight and the following year he went back into the studio to record "Il est temps". This new album, which featured twelve previously unreleased tracks, was released on the Trema label in 1995. The indefatigable Béart returned to the Olympia the following year to perform a series of concerts (February 20-25 1996). These concerts proved a huge hit with audiences at the Olympia and Béart appeared to enjoy being back on stage - indeed, the old chanson star's concerts frequently lasted over three hours!

At the beginning of 99 Béart caused another major stir on the live scene when he performed a five-week run at the Bobino (21 January - 27 February). Hundreds of fans turned out to see the singer in concert and, in spite (or maybe because) of the fact that the show was based on Béart's old hits rather than brand new songs, the concerts proved to be an overwhelming success. Bobino ended up prolonging the show and Béart's record company re-released his double live album recorded at the Olympia.

In the course of his career - spanning over forty years now! - Guy Béart has proved to be a prodigious songwriter and composer, writing more than 300 songs. In spite of the fact that Béart's career has suffered a series of remarkable ups and downs, his fans have remained loyal and today the singer has achieved his rightful place in the pantheon of French chanson.

February 99