Claude Benzaquen (born 19 July 1938), known during his music career as Frankie Jordan, is a French former

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

singer, later a

dentist A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry (the diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the mouth, oral cavity and other aspects of the craniofaci ...

. Born in

Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

, he moved as a child with his family to

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. He developed a love for

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

music, and began playing piano in clubs in the style of Fats Domino, while studying to become a dentist. In 1960, he was discovered by

Daniel Filipacchi Daniel Filipacchi (born 12 January 1928) is the Chairman Emeritus of Hachette Filipacchi Médias and a French collector of surrealist art. Career Filipacchi wrote and worked as a photographer for ''Paris Match'' from its founding in 1949 by J ...

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

, and recorded his first single, "Tu parles trop", a version of " You Talk Too Much". Arranged by

Eddie Vartan Edmond Vartan (10 August 1937 – 19 June 2001) was a French musician, bandleader, arranger, and record producer of Armenian descent. Life and career Vartan was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, and moved to France with his parents and younger sister ...

, it was one of the first successful

records recorded in the

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

. He followed it up with "Dieu merci elle m'aime aussi", a version of

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

' song "

Hallelujah I Love Her So "Hallelujah I Love Her So" is a single by American musician Ray Charles. The rhythm and blues song was written and released by Charles in 1956 on the Atlantic label, and in 1957 it was included on his self-titled debut LP, also released on Atl ...

". In February 1961 he appeared with

Johnny Hallyday Jean-Philippe Léo Smet (; 15 June 1943 – 5 December 2017), better known by his stage name Johnny Hallyday, was a French rock and roll and pop singer and actor, credited for having brought rock and roll to France. During a career spanning 57 ...

and Les Chaussettes Noires at the first international rock and roll festival held in Paris, at the

Palais des Sports Palais des Sports (French: Palace of Sports) is a generic name of comprehensive indoors sports venue, mostly in the French-speaking world, including: ; France: *Palais des Sports de Beaulieu, Nantes * Palais des sports Ghani-Yalouz, Besançon * Pal ...

, which also featured Little Tony,

Emile Ford Michael Emile Telford Miller (16 October 1937 – 11 April 2016), known professionally as Emile Ford, was a musician and singer born in Saint Lucia, British Windward Islands. He was popular in the United Kingdom in the late 1950s and early ...

, and

Bobby Rydell Robert Louis Ridarelli (April 26, 1942 – April 5, 2022), known by the stage name Bobby Rydell, was an American singer and actor who mainly performed rock and roll and traditional pop music. In the early 1960s he was considered a teen idol. His ...

. He continued to record successfully through 1961, and released "Panne d'essence", a version of

Floyd Robinson Floyd Andrew Robinson (born May 9, 1936) is a former outfielder in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Sox (1960–1966), Cincinnati Reds (1967), and the Oakland Athletics and Boston Red Sox (1968). He batted left-handed and threw right ...

's "Out of Gas". Originally intended as a duet with

Gillian Hills Gillian Hills (born 5 June 1944) is an English actress and singer. She first came to notice as a teenager in the 1960s in the British films '' Beat Girl'' (1960) and ''Blowup'' (1966). She also spent a number of years living in France, where sh ...

, it was eventually recorded by Jordan with Eddie Vartan's sister Sylvie and became his biggest hit as well as launching Sylvie Vartan's career. Jordan also released a self-titled LP in 1961. "Claude Benzaquen, dit Frankie Jordan", ''Larousse''
Retrieved 23 September 2019 Christophe de Dinechin, "Frankie Jordan", ''Association Arts Sciences Pensees'', 8 September 2017
Retrieved 23 September 2019"Le chanteur Claude Benzaquen dit Frankie Jordan", ''Centerblog.net''
Retrieved 23 September 2019 Frankie Jordan credits, ''Discogs.com''
Retrieved 23 September 2019 Throughout his relatively short career as a

pop singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, Jordan maintained his studies, and in 1962 graduated with a dentistry qualification. He gave his last concert in 1963, before giving up his musical career. Since then, he has practised as a dentist in Paris. In 1996, he was awarded the position of Chevalier in the

Légion d’honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

, and in 2005 became an Officer in the

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is ...

References

1938 births Living people Knights of the Legion of Honour French male singers French pop singers {{France-singer-stub