Jean-Louis Murat

Biography

Jean-Louis Bergheaud (28 January 1952 – 25 May 2023), better known by the stage name Jean-Louis Murat, was a French musician.

Life

Jean-Louis Bergheaud was born in Chamalières, France to a father who was a carpenter and a non-professional musician. Further to his parents' divorce, he spent his whole youth in the isolated farm of his grandparents in Murat-le-Quaire, a village overviewing the thermal city of La Bourboule, whose name which he would later chose as his pseudonym. From his earliest days, solitary and introverted, Jean-Louis Murat showed he was gifted in music and with many instruments, which will lead him to the local wind section at the age of 7 with his father, then to the conservatory brass class where he will improve his talent for singing too.
At the same time at 15, his English teacher let him discover soul and jazz music and he met several blues artists such as John Lee Hooker, T-Bone Walker or Memphis Slim. Thanks to his English teacher, he continued studying against his father's advice. Keen on poetry as well as romantic and upheaval literature amongst others, Oscar Wilde, André Gide, D. H. Lawrence and Vladimir Nabokov, he was the first member of his family to pass the Baccalauréat. Married at the age of 17, he joined the University of Clermont-Ferrand for a short period of time; he had a son and divorced when he was 19 and left in order to travel, living by doing odd jobs in France and around Europe all by himself, in the style of Jack Kerouac. He held a couple of positions between Paris and several French tourist spots; he was ski instructor in Avoriaz and a beach attendant in Saint-Tropez, and he finally went back to his village in 1977 at the age of 23 and devoted himself to music.

Difficult beginnings

With some Clermontois' friends from Clermont-Ferrand, he created a rock band called "Clara" with him as lead singer and songwriter. He also played saxophone and guitar in the band. William Sheller noticed them and invited them to do a couple of his opening acts and then employed them as musicians for a while. The band split and thanks to Sheller, Jean-Louis Berghaud at the age of 27, in 1981 (under the name of "Murat", simply), recorded a 45 rpm record including 3 songs, called "Suicidez-vous, le peuple est mort" with Pathé Marconi EMI, with Jean-Baptiste Mondino's photo as cover of the sleeve; critiques were positive but the sales did not take off. The French radio station Europe 1 censored the song since a girl was said to commit suicide because of it. A mini eponymous album followed in 1982 including six songs, under the name of Murat and an album in 1984 called Passions Privées×Passions privées1984 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracksA1Lindberg Business3:28A2Petite beauté3:50A3Pourquoi n'as tu pas dit je t'aime3:25A4L'Étrangère3:48A5Johnny Frenchman4:18B1La Louve3:22B2Je traine et je m'ennuie2:58B3Uschi (Où es-tu passée ?)3:52B4Passions privées4:20B5Cargo de dieu2:54 garnered very low sales (2,000 copies), and after a tour with Charlélie Couture, his record label withdrew the contract. At the time he was around thirty.

Growing success

In 1985, Jean-Louis Murat did some recording with CBS but none of the discs came out, then the year after, he jumped on the opportunity to record at Virgin Records and in 1988, the 45 rpm record Si je devais manquer de toi came out. This one met with some success, allowing the singer to start being recognized at last. His success was confirmed by the sales of his new album which came out in 1989, called Cheyenne Autumn×Cheyenne Autumn1 January 1989 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Les Animaux / Paradis perdus5:252L'Ange déchu3:473Amours débutants4:154La lune est rousse sur la baie de Cabourg3:465Te garder près de moi4:176Le Venin3:327Pars3:568Le Garçon qui maudit les filles3:389Si je devais manquer de toi4:0410Déjà deux siècles... 89...2:0211Pluie d'automne2:5312Le Troupeau3:0913Cheyenne Autumn4:24. It was recorded in London and included other singles which were also successful (L'Ange Déchu; Te Garder Près de Moi).
This beginning of fame brought him to be noticed by the movie industry, so Jean-Louis Murat appeared in 1990 as an actor in a film by Jacques Doillon who offered him a role in La vengeance d’une femme with Isabelle Huppert and Béatrice Dalle.
But what made him definitely known in the eyes of a wider public is the single "Regrets" (in duet with Mylène Farmer) in 1991 (No. 3 in Top 50 and more than 300,000 copies sold), while he was turning 40. At that same time, his new studio album came out, Le Manteau de Pluie×Le Manteau de pluie1991 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Je n'ai plus que toi, animal3:022Col de la Croix-Morand4:473Cours dire aux hommes faibles4:094Le Lien défait6:015Le Mendiant à Rio4:426Sentiment nouveau3:417L'Éphémère4:148L'Infidèle3:339Le Parcours de la peine3:2610Gorge profonde4:0111Le Manteau de pluie du singe1:50. His titles Col de la Croix-Morand and Sentiment Nouveau met with a great success; Sentiment nouveau entered the top 50 position in the early 1992. Since then, his albums have regularly been into the French Top 20.
Jean-Louis Murat lived in the Auvergne, a region that frequently featured in his songwriting and musical themes. Over the course of his career, he recorded and released numerous albums including Vénus×VénusNovember 1993 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Tout est dit3:352Comme au cinéma3:273La Fin du parcours8:004Le Monde caressant2:485La momie mentalement7:096Rouge est mon sommeil4:567Le Matelot4:288Montagne7:029Par mégarde3:5410Vénus3:53 (1993) and Dolorès×Dolorès1996 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Fort Alamo4:272Dieu n’a pas trouvé mieux3:503Perce‐neige3:404Le Train bleu4:015Margot3:186Brûle‐moi3:497Le Baiser4:148Le Môme éternel4:359Saint‐Amant4:2210Aimer5:1511À quoi tu rêves3:3412Réversibilité4:20 (1996). Many of his albums were followed by concert tours, some of which resulted in live recordings such as Murat Live (1995), Live in Dolores (1966) and Muragostang (2000). Murat often worked with family members on his musical projects and tours.
In 1996, he was involved in the film Mademoiselle personne, directed by Pascal Bailly and starring Elodie Bouchez and Romain Duris. Murat composed the soundtrack and contributed to the development of the project. The film received a limited theatrical release.
In March 2013 his album Toboggan×Toboggan25 March 2013 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Il neige3:572Amour n'est pas querelle2:563Over and Over3:544Le Chat Noir2:535Belle4:376Robinson3:547Agnus Dei Babe3:208Extraordinaire Voodoo4:019Voodoo simple2:3810J'ai tué parce que je m'ennuyais3:28 came out and in October 2014, the follow-up album called Babel×Babel13 October 2014 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 20 tracks · 2 discsDisc 11Chacun vendrait des grives5:252Chant soviet3:053J’ai fréquenté la beauté2:524Blues du cygne3:055Dans la direction du Crest7:396La Chèvre alpestre3:377Qu’est‐ce qu’au fond du cœur4:448Les Ronces4:189Mujade ribe8:5610Vallée des merveilles4:19Disc 21Le jour se lève sur Chamablanc7:262Neige et pluie au Sancy3:203Col de Diane4:444Noyade au Chambon5:035Tout m’attire3:476Frelons d’Asie6:067Long John3:228Chagrin Violette3:329Camping à la ferme3:0610Passions tristes6:21 came out, recorded with Delano Orchestra band.
Interested in Buddhism, Murat got involved in the Tibetan cause.

Death

Murat died on 25 May 2023, at the age of 71.

Albums

1981: Suicidez-vous, le peuple est mort !
1982: Murat
1984: Passions privées
1989: Cheyenne autumn
1991: Murat en plein air
1991: Le Manteau de pluie
1991: Murat 82...84
1993: Vénus
1994: Face Nord
1995: Mademoiselle Personne
1995: Murat Live
1996: Dolorès
1998: Live in Dolorès
1999: Mustango
2000: Muragostang
2001: Madame Deshoulières (in collaboration with Isabelle Huppert)
2002: Le Moujik et sa femme
2003: Lilith
2004: A bird on a poire (in collaboration with Jennifer Charles, and Fred Jimenez)
2005: Moscou (Москва)
2005: 1829
2006: Taormina
2007: Charles et Léo (poems by Charles Baudelaire set to music by Léo Ferré)
2008: Tristan
2009: Le Cours ordinaire des choses
2011: Grand lièvre
2013: Toboggan
2014: Babel (in collaboration with the Delano Orchestra)
2016: Morituri
2017: Travaux sur la N89
2018: Il francese
2019: Innamorato
2020: Baby Love
2021: La Vraie Vie De Buck John

EPs

Sentiment nouveau... (1991, 5 tracks)
Au Mont Sans-Soucis (2000 5 tracks)
Polly Jean (2000 8 tracks)
L'au-delà (2002 4 tracks)
Le Cri du Papillon (2003 4 tracks)
Mashpotétisés (2004 4 tracks)
Live aux PIAS Nites (2015 5 tracks)