Vincent Fernandel brings his father Franck Fernandel's musical work back to life with "C'est toi ma dolce vita"

From his southern origins, Vincent Fernandel has retained a hint of a garlic accent and a benevolent eloquence. Director, photographer, actor, drama teacher, writer and storyteller, the grandson of the unforgettable Don Camillo has become a music producer to resurrect the work of his father, Franck Fernandel. He has just released C'est toi ma dolce vita (1), an album of 23 remastered tracks that finally does justice to the crooner who passed away in 2011.

This album is neither a reissue of a 33-rpm record, nor a compilation?

Indeed. It's an original album featuring tracks released between 1971 and 1979, never reissued since. Encouraged by Arnaud Dumont Lhotelain, CEO of Musiques & Solutions, I spent four years centralizing the rights, tracking down the masters , and then restoring them. The result is magnificent! You'd think the songs were recorded yesterday.

Why did you only select titles from the seventies?

Because it was the golden age of French variety. At that time, every song had carefully arranged material, with real musicians playing live! There was no digital tinkering; if you couldn't sing, you couldn't sing. Unlike recordings from the 1980s, which are a bit dated, those from the previous decade have an old-fashioned charm that makes them timeless.

Listeners will notably discover the original version of L'Amour interdit , produced in 1975, seven years before the 1982 hit...

Yes. Forbidden Love was my father's biggest hit at the dawn of the 1980s: he sold 500,000 copies. This version, carried by twenty-five violins, is more melancholic, more luminous. Many people consider it better than the one that remains in people's memories. It's probably his most serious song, on a theme that obviously remains relevant today.

Who is more proud of this album: Franck's son or the producer you have become?

Both, but not for the same reasons [He smiles] . From a filial point of view, I've long wanted to bring my father's work back into the spotlight. I owe him my cultural foundation. Allowing this album to exist has allowed me to renew this link. From a producer's point of view, I've been asked: is all this profitable? I answer that as long as a cultural product doesn't exist, we can't know whether or not it will generate interest. My conviction, forged by my encounters with the public, is that this culture – which is made invisible, not to say erased by audiovisual media – still appeals to a huge number of people. I also believe that quality is a guarantee of long-term success. As Paul Morand said: "Time does not respect what is done without it."

You're never asked questions without referring to your ancestors. Isn't that a heavy burden to bear?

[He smiles] Being the son and grandson of great artists who were loved is not a cross, on the contrary! I am proud to have the same stage name as my father and grandfather and I force myself not to misuse it. I refused certain offers, like La Ferme Célébrités on TF1, because I found the concept degrading: the producers just wanted to put a "Fernandel" in their program to create a buzz. [He smiles] Not the house style!

Was your father as calm as you? Being the son of a huge star, living in his shadow, isn't necessarily easy...

In France, we like to find or invent traumas for the children of famous artists. But when it comes to Franck, it's nonsense! I say this in all sincerity: he never suffered from my grandfather's notoriety. Firstly, because he wasn't "Fernandel's son" , but Fernand Contandin's son. What made him suffer was the death of his father in 1971, at the age of 67, at a time when he was starting to tour less. Franck hoped to be able to enjoy his dad more and then... [He sighs] My father was also affected by tragic losses, like the disappearance of his niece in the early eighties. All of this had a profound effect on him. But what was said about him, "the man crushed by the shadow of the giant" , is nonsense written by people who didn't know him.

Who was Franck Fernandel?

An extremely kind man, very secretive, quite paradoxical. He lived in his inner artistic world. Since he was an insomniac, he would get up at 3 a.m. and start working on his songs. He loved his job, but he had no ego and was not career-minded. He took his successes with pleasure and his setbacks with philosophy. In the late 1980s, he turned down a three-year contract in Canada so as not to upset his family. He was a good guy!

1. Available on all platforms (Spotify, Amazon, Deezer, etc.).