Eddie Barclay, 84, Produced Brel and Aznavour

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The New York Sun

Eddie Barclay, a flamboyant French music producer whose stable of singers included Jacques Brel and Charles Aznavour, and who worked for years with Quincy Jones, died May 12 in Paris. He was 84.


Born in 1921 in Paris, Barclay started his production house in the 1950s and marketed artists from the U.S. company Mercury. After selling 1 1/2 million copies of The Platters’ “Only You,” Barclay’s label rose to become France’s top music production company at the time.


He was famous for wearing white and holding exclusive parties in Saint-Tropez where guests also wore white.


“After the death of Eddie Barclay, there’s no more show business, there’s only business left,” the French singer Carlos, a close friend, told RTL radio.


Barclay started his career as a jazz pianist before setting himself up as a music producer and changing his name from Edouard Ruault.


Mr. Jones, who composed and arranged two of Barclay’s albums – “Et Voila” in 1957 and “Twilight Time” in 1960 – said a close friend and mentor “has left the room, but he will never, ever leave my heart.”


Barclay hired Mr. Jones at the age of 24 to be musical director of Barclay Records, “introducing me to a life that I never dreamed of.”


Jacques Brel, the poet-singer from Belgium who died in 1978, started a long relationship with Barclay in 1962, and recorded hits such as “Le Plat Pays” (“The Flat Country”) and “Les Bigotes” (“The Holier-than-thous”) on his label.


Mr. Aznavour, who met Barclay more than 60 years ago, said he had lost a close friend.


“He came looking for me late, but he gave me the freedom to do what I wanted,” he told France Info radio. “He taught himself about music, he had music in his heart and his head.”


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