Alexandre "Sacha" Distel (29 January 1933 – 22 July 2004) was a French singer, guitarist, songwriter and actor who had hits with a cover version of "

Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for the 1969 film '' Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid''. The uplifting lyrics describe somebody who overcomes his troubles and worries by realizing that "it ...

" in 1970, which reached No 10 in the UK Charts, "

Scoubidou Scoubidou (Craftlace, scoobies, lanyard, or gimp) is material used in knotting craft. It originated in France, where it became a fad in the late 1950s and has remained popular. It is named after the 1958 song of the same name by the French singe ...

", and " The Good Life". He was made Chevalier (Knight) of 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 ...

in 1997. He had also scored a hit as a songwriter when Tony Bennett recorded Sacha's song for The Good Life in 1963. It peaked at #18 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart and Top 10 on the Easy Listening chart.

Career

Distel was the son of Russian-French emigre Léonide Distel who was born in

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

(Russian Empire) and French-Jewish pianist Andrée Ventura (1902–1965), born in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

. His uncle was bandleader

Ray Ventura Raymond Ventura (16 April 1908, Paris, France – 29 March 1979, Palma de Mallorca, Spain) was a French jazz pianist and bandleader. He helped popularize jazz in France in the 1930s. His nephew was singer Sacha Distel. Career Ventura was born to ...

. After Ventura settled in Paris with his orchestra Les Collégiens, Distel gave up piano and switched to guitar. During his career, Distel worked with

Kenny Clarke Kenneth Clarke Spearman (January 9, 1914January 26, 1985), nicknamed Klook, was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. A major innovator of the bebop style of drumming, he pioneered the use of the ride cymbal to keep time rather than the hi-ha ...

Jimmy Gourley James Pasco Gourley, Jr. (June 9, 1926 – December 7, 2008) was an American jazz guitarist who spent most of his life in Paris. Gourley was born in St. Louis in 1926. He met saxophonist Lee Konitz in Chicago when both were members of the s ...

Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader. Hampton worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles M ...

Slide Hampton Locksley Wellington Hampton (April 21, 1932 – November 18, 2021) was an American jazz trombonist, composer and arranger. As his nickname implies, Hampton's main instrument was slide trombone, but he also occasionally played tuba and flugelho ...

Bobby Jaspar Bobby Jaspar (20 February 1926 – 28 February 1963) was a Belgian cool jazz and hard bop saxophonist, flautist and composer. Early life Born in Liège, Belgium, Jaspar learned to play piano and clarinet at a young age. Later, he took up ...

Barney Kessel Barney Kessel (October 17, 1923 – May 6, 2004) was an American jazz guitarist born in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Known in particular for his knowledge of chords and inversions and chord-based melodies, he was a member of many prominent jazz groups a ...

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

Pierre Michelot Pierre Michelot (3 March 1928 – 3 July 2005) was a French jazz double bass player and arranger. Early life Michelot was born in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Paris on 3 March 1928. He studied piano from 1936 until 1938. He switched to playi ...

Bernard Peiffer Bernard Peiffer (''pie-fer'') (23 October 1922 – 7 September 1976) was a French jazz pianist, composer, and teacher. His nickname was "Le Most", for his piano skills. Life Born in Épinal, France, Peiffer was raised in a musical family, wit ...

Henri Renaud Henri Renaud (20 April 1925, in Villedieu-sur-Indre, France – 17 October 2002, in Paris) was a French jazz pianist, record producer and record company executive. His styles reflected the decades when he was musically active: he played in the sw ...

Fats Sadi "Fats" Sadi Pol Lallemand (23 October 1927, Andenne, Belgium – 20 February 2009, Huy) was a Belgian jazz musician, vocalist, and composer who played vibraphone and percussion. He chose the name "Sadi" because he disliked his last name, which mea ...

Art Simmons Arthur Eugene Simmons (February 5, 1926 – April 23, 2018) was an American jazz pianist. Simmons was born in Glen White, West Virginia in February 1926. He played in a band while serving in the U.S. military in 1946, then remained in Germany af ...

Martial Solal Martial Solal (born August 23, 1927) is a French jazz pianist and composer. Biography Solal was born in Algiers, French Algeria, to Algerian Jewish parents. He was persuaded to study clarinet, saxophone, and piano by his mother, who was an opera ...

René Urtreger René Urtreger (born July 6, 1934) is a French bebop pianist. Early life Urtreger was born in Paris and began his piano studies at the age of four, studying privately first, and then at the Conservatory. He studied with an orientation toward jaz ...

, and

Barney Wilen Bernard "Barney" Jean Wilen (4 March 1937 – 25 May 1996) was a French tenor and soprano saxophonist and jazz composer. Life Wilen was born in Nice, France; his father was an American dentist turned inventor, and his mother was French. He began ...

Personal life

Distel was involved with actress Brigitte Bardot in 1958, having invited her to his birthday party in

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. The relationship ended in 1959. He married championship Olympic skier

Francine Bréaud :''This is a disambiguation page for the common name Francine.'' Francine is a female given name. The name is of French origin. The name Francine was most popular in France itself during the 1940s (Besnard & Desplanques 2003), and was well used i ...

in 1963. Distel publicly stated that he remained faithful to his wife: "Anything I want in a woman I can get at home." Distel died of cancer at the age of 71 on 22 July 2004 at his mother in law's home in Rayol-Canadel, near Saint-Tropez, France. In an interview a month after Distel's death, his widow Francine said she knew he had been unfaithful: "I knew it was going to happen and I knew it was going to pass."

Discography

* ''

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, 1957) * ''Everybody Loves the Lover'' (Philips, 1961) * ''From Paris with Love'' (RCA Victor, 1962) * ''Les Filles Moi J'Aime Ca!'' (RCA, 1963) * ''The Good Life'' (Kapp, 1969) * ''Back to Jazz'' with Slide Hampton (La Voix de Son Maitre, 1969) * ''Sacha Distel'' (Warner Bros., 1970) * ''Close to You'' (Warner Bros., 1970) * ''More and More'' (Warner Bros., 1971) * ''Love Music'' (Polydor, 1973) * ''Swing with Sacha Distel'' (Contour, 1973) * ''Love Is All'' (Pye, 1976) * ''Forever and Ever'' (Carrere, 1978) * ''From Sacha with Love'' (Mercury, 1979) * ''Amour Tout Court'' (DRG, 1982) * ''My Guitar and All That Jazz'' (Pablo, 1983) * ''Move Closer'' (Towerbell, 1985) * ''Ecoute Mes Yeux'' (Arcade Music, 1998) * ''But Beautiful'' (Mercury Records, 2003)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Distel, Sacha 1933 births 2004 deaths Musicians from Paris French people of Russian descent French people of Jewish descent French jazz guitarists French male guitarists 20th-century French Jews Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur 20th-century guitarists 20th-century French male singers French male jazz musicians