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ROBERT LELIEVRE DISCOGRAPHY
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CY, MAIA & ROBERT - ON THE SCENE (1966)
In 1965, Robert Lelievre and Englishman Cy Nicklin formed a folk trio with Danish singer Maia Aarskov called Cy, Maia & Robert. The trio were unique in that all three members hailed from three different parts of the world. Robert was French, Cy was English, and Maia was Danish. The Sonet label released Cy, Maia & Robert's first album "On The Scene" in April 1966. Only one song written by Robert Lelievre appears on the album, the rest being versions of traditional songs, and covers, including Paul Simon's “A Church is Burning” and “Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall”, Bob Gibson's “Daddy Roll ‘em, Alex Campbell's “I’ve been on the road”, Davy Graham's “Cannot keep from crying” and Irving Gordon's “Two Brothers”. Tracks: A Church is Burning (3:28) / Two Brothers (3:24) / The other day (4:02) / Cannot Keep From Crying (3:19) / Aziza (4:08) / Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall (3:14) / Daddy Roll 'em (2:26) / Rocking the Cradle (2:30) / The Water is Wide (4:10) / Moonshiner (4:20) / Whoa Back Buck (3:07) / I've Been on the Road (3:45). (Sonet SLPS 1220). "The other day", "A Church is Burning", and "I've Been on the Road" all appear on the compilation: Let's Go - Den store danske 60'er box. LP also released in France as Folk Songs On The Scene with Cy, Maia & Robert on Polydor 657 121.
Dag Erik Asbjørnsen (Scented Gardens Of The Mind, 2001): On The Scene (1966) was a classic pre-electric folk album (with multiple acoustic guitars and vocals) influenced by Pete Seeger, Peter Paul & Mary and Simon & Garfunkel. It's highly enjoyable with three crystal clear and passionate voices of this quality! Fragments of the Culpeper's Orchard sound can already be spotted in the songs where Cy sings lead vocals."
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CY, MAIA & ROBERT - GREEN ROCKY ROAD/HARVEST OF HATE (1966)
Cy, Maia & Robert second single "Green Rocky Road/Harvest of Hate" was released by the Sonet label in 1966. The trio's sound is now closer to Folk Rock, recorded with Irwing Waldorf (Beefeaters, Matadorerne) on drums. (Sonet T 7238).
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CY, MAIA & ROBERT - A CHURCH IS BURNING/TAKE A LOOK INSIDE (1966)
Cy, Maia & Robert's first single "A Church Is Burning/Take a Look Inside" was released by the Sonet label in February 1966. "A Church Is Burning" was written by Paul Simon, and "Take a Look Inside" was written by J. Mapes. Produced by Gustav Winckler and Karl Emil Knudsen. (Sonet T 7223). The single is in the common folk revival style of the time, and is possibly the first cover of a Paul Simon tune. "A Church Is Burning" also appears as track 08. on CD 4 of the Danish "Let's Go - Den store danske 60'er box" compilation box-set.
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CY, MAIA & ROBERT - OUT OF OUR TIMES (1967)
Cy, Maia & Robert's 2nd and more progressive album "Out of Our Times" was released by the Sonet label in July 1967, and later reissued in a different sleeve in 1971. The majority of the LP contains original songs written by Robert, with the exception being a cover of The Strawb's Dave Cousins' “I’m On My Way”, and Paul Secon's "Lonely Child". Arrangements by Sahib Shihab and Bertrand Bech. Tracks: I Lie with You (4:05) / Tommy Tailor the Third (2:24) / Born and Bred (3:27) / Carlos (2:20) / Cuckold (3:22) / City Blues (2:52) / Twenty Summers (2:40) / Goin' Where I'm Wanted (2:06) / Night Mare (2:39) / Lonely Child (2:56) / Town (2:34) / I'm on My Way (3:00). (Sonet SLPS 1240) / (Sonet SLPS 1950). "Twenty Summers" appears on Det bedste af dansk musik 1963-70. "City Blues" appears on 2008 compilation On The Spot Vol. 2 - A Peek at the 60s Danish Jazz Scene.
Dag Erik Asbjørnsen (Scented Gardens Of The Mind, 2001): Out Of Our Times (1967) was an enormous step forward, quite comparable to what happened between the first and second Incredible String Band albums. This is a pioneering work walking the tightrope between folk, pop and vocal jazz. Some tracks had string arrangements and /or electric guitar. Most of the innovative songs were written by Lelievre."
Another review of Out of Our Times by Richie Unterberger (All Music Guide): "Out of Our Times is an interesting if erratic mix of folk, pop, and folk-rock. Perhaps that's more due to scrambled transmission of such influences to Denmark than deliberate eclectic stylings of eccentricity on part of the performers. Still, it's a little weird for listeners from English-speaking nations to hear its push, pull, and admixtures of elements. The harmonies are often grounded in early-'60s folk boomers like Peter, Paul & Mary and Ian & Sylvia, but there are also more modern cuts like "I Lie With You" and "I'm on My Way" that strongly echo the Mamas & the Papas. On songs like "Tommy Taylor the 3d," there's energetic jazz-pop vocalizing with idiosyncratic rhythms, rather in the same way jazz-pop harmonies would occasionally manifest themselves (though in a smoother fashion) in the Mamas & the Papas. There's not much rock here, but there are touches of electric guitar, percussion, and the sorts of arrangements that wouldn't be out of place on a Southern Californian sunshine pop record. There are also misfires like "Carlos," a children's folk song with extremely heavily accented female vocals (in English, as all the songs are). In general, though, the tunes are upbeat, enjoyable, occasionally mildly countercultural ("Goin' Where I'm Wanted"), and arranged with refreshing imagination, if sometimes on the corny side. By the way, "I'm on My Way" is a cover of an early composition by Dave Cousins of the Strawbs, who also recorded it (when Sandy Denny was in the band) around the same time."
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ALEX CAMPBELL - AT THE TIVOLI GARDENS (1967)
Robert Lelievre and former musical partner Cy Nicklin recorded a live album with Scottish folk singer/guitarist Alex Campbell at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1967 for Storyville Records. Personnel: Alex Campbell (vocals, guitar); Cy Nicklin, Robert Lelievre (guitar); Leif Sjoberg (bass). Produced by Gustav Winckler (Cy, Maia & Robert). At The Tivoli Gardens sees Campbell sing songs from real life: about drugs and rambling, loneliness and love. The genre is contemporary – rather than traditional – folk music, with tunes by Paul Simon, Tom Paxton, Bob Dylan and Bert Jansch, among others. *About Alex Campbell: Alex was a modern European folk legend who helped shape the British and European modern folk scenes in the sixties. He was apparently one of the first musicians to actually earn a living playing folk music, and also one of the first to leave Britain for the Continent, eventually settling in Denmark. Alex was also a very charismatic man, keeping audiences enthralled with his story-telling and singing, though his performances were occasionally marred by his excessive drinking. In his lifetime, he had apparently recorded over 100 records, but was never commercially successful. He also believed in recording quickly, rather than numerous re-takes to correct perceived imperfections in his performance. Alex Campbell died of tuberculosis in Denmark in January 1987. The singer-songwriter Allan Taylor wrote, "Alex Campbell was the most important and influential folksinger of the folksong revival in Europe, admired, respected and loved by his fellow performers and his audiences. An outrageous, hard drinking, hard travelling, hard living man." In his autobiography, the comedian Billy Connolly also wrote of his admiration for Campbell.
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FULL LIMIT - CHEERS DEARS/NATURAL MAN (1968)
Cy, Maia & Robert's last release together was the single "Cheers Dears/Natural Man" under the name Maia & Full Limit for the Metronome label. "Cheers Dears" was written by Robert Lelievre and Paul Secon, and
"Natural Man" was written by Iain (Ian) Campbell. This release also includes Paul Secon, and Scottish musicians James "Jimmy" Campbell and Ian Campbell among its personnel. (Metronome B 1700)
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ROBERT & IAIN - ALLIANCE (1968)
In March 1968, Robert recorded an acoustic-dominated LP called "Alliance", with Scottish folk singer Iain Campbell for the Metronome label. Five of the six entirely French-sung tracks Robert penned on this LP were recorded by him alone, with just a guitar. The lead track, Robert's "Demain", was later released as a single backed with Iain's "Glass Fibre Road". A cover of Hank Williams' "My Son Calls Another Man Daddy", and the traditional "Rowantree" are the only two non-original compositions featured on the record. From the LP's back cover: "The album title Alliance means a meeting of two modern day "troubadours". They found each other in a back street in Copenhagen's Christianshavn. First words spoken were Robert's: Bonjour Iain – how's it gaun general?
This first meeting of the French Robert Lelievre (ex Cy, Maia & Robert) and the Scottish Iain Campbell led to a closer Alliance. After many beers, cups of coffee and borrowed cigarettes etc. etc. the results about the same alliance can be heard on this LP. Recorded in Copenhagen, March 1968 by Ivar Rosenberg Lydteknik. Producer: Torben Eggers. Photos: Teit Jorgensen. Layout: Olav Bennike". Tracks: Demain (3:20) / 19, Vernon Terrace (3:39) / Caroline Campbell of Glasgow (2:55) / Fille ce n'est rien (2:28) / I will Go (2:53) / La pluie (4:05) / No Friendly Faces (3:13) / Les flocons de ma tristesse (3:55) / Glass Fibre Road (3:47) / Rowantree (2:20) / Regrets (3:48) / Aberfan (Mining Disaster) (3:24) / Dunoon Folk Festival (2:46) / My Son Calls Another Man Daddy (3:10) / Les timbres (4:20). (Metronome BP 7707)
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ROBERT & IAIN - DEMAIN/GLASS FIBRE ROAD (1968)
In 1968, Robert's song "Demain" was released by Spanish label Belter as a single, with Iain Campbell's "Glass Fibre Road" making up the b-side. (Belter 07-762).
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LE LELIEVRE (THE HARE) - DIS-TOI-BIEN/J'AI VU TON VISAGE (1969)
In January 1969, Robert recorded this single for Polydor at the "Advision" studio, after declining an apparent 5-year contract with The Beatles' Apple Records label. The single was later released by producer Giorgio Gomelsky's Polydor offshoot, Marmalade. A full-length solo LP titled The Hare was expected to follow, though with Marmalade collapse, the album was never released. Dis-Toi-Bien also appeared on Marmalade's 1969 sampler compilation Marmalade 100 Proof (with Robert credited on the LP as 'Le Lievre (The Hare)'). For more information about this single, and the unreleased The Hare album, read below.
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ROBERT LELIEVRE - THE HARE (UNRELEASED ALBUM) - (1969)
In December 1968, Robert, wife Michelle, and photographer friend Teit Jørgensen, travelled to London for a month to meet with legendary influential American impresario, music manager and record producer Giorgio Gomelsky, in the hopes of securing a contract with the then newly-established Apple Records label. With Apple, Robert was given a contract draft, which apparently was a 5-year deal. However, after meeting with Giorgio Gomelsky and The Monkees' producer Chip Douglas on Boxing Day, Robert instead chose to sign a deal as a songwriter and studio musician (and record a solo LP titled The Hare) with Polydor (who Giorgio Gomelsky was working for at that time). For Polydor, Robert recorded at least two known songs - "Dis-Toi-Bien" and "J'ai Vu Ton Visage" – at London's "Advision" studio in January 1969, though it is still unknown whether any further songs were ever recorded at the Advision studio. Both mentioned recordings were later released as a single and b-side respectively, on Gomelsky's own label 'Marmalade Records' - which he formed after leaving Polydor not long after signing Robert to the former label. Teit Jørgensen was present in the studio for a single session, but went back home to film school by New Year, therefore cannot attest to any further recordings ever being made. "Dis-Toi-Bien" was appeared on Marmalade's 1969 sampler compilation Marmalade 100 Proof (with Robert credited on the LP as 'Le Lievre (The Hare)'). Marmalade Records soon folded however not long after the release of their sampler LP, some time around the start of 1970. On the back cover of the Marmalade 100 Proof LP, Robert and his music is described by Giorgio Gomelsky as the following: "Music knows no boundaries. The Hare is a Frenchman and he's running, politically exiled in Denmark, where we met him a few months ago, and heard his songs for the first time. It may seem strange to include a French song in this album (we are in fact working on an English version at the moment) but the musical content and performance are so strong that we hope the spirit of it will come through. "Tell yourself, young girl, that if I am coming back it's not for your blue eyes, But because I want to put my feet up in front of the fire". As of 2008, interest has grown in the hopes of a possible release of The Hare one day soon. Giorgio himself was contacted recently with regards to this particular album, and it has been reported that he still has a great admiration for Robert and his music, and regrets the fact that the album did not see release.
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UNRELEASED ALBUM (1971)
After the demise of Pan, Robert began recording a new album for the Sonet label, together with former Pan guitarist Thomas Puggard-Müller and guitarist Nils Tuxen. The resulting album however was never released, possibly due to the fact that it was a) completed yet Sonet had second thoughts, or b) the recording was abandoned before completion. From a February 2008 Q & A piece for this site, Pan guitarist Thomas Puggard-Müller recalls this as yet unreleased album: "This recording was a private project of the Director of Sonet Records. I was playing bass and guitar and the guitar player from Savage Rose - Niels Tuxen - played pedal steel and guitars. For some strange reason the album was never released." All of the songs that were to appear on the new album, except one, were written by Robert and sung in French. The titles of the songs were as follows: "Je Ne Sais Plus Si'je Crois", "Il N'ya Pas Si Longtemps De Sa", "If Think I'm Gone See A Friend", "Ma Fiere Amante", "Don't You Know", "Samba For One", "Tristesse", "Instrumental", "Les Feux De La St. Jean", and "Try To See".
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