Charles Trenet, Johnny Hess

Charles Trenet was among the last of his kind of singer, a holdover from the era of pre-World War II France and the prime of Maurice Chevalier, as well as singer/composers such as Georges Brassens and Léo Ferré. Originally an art student, Trenet turned to singing in his early twenties, initially in partnership with pianist Johnny Hess in a duo billed as "Charles and Johnny." In his earliest stage persona, Trenet was also known as a musical impressionist, with a special penchant for doing exaggerated impersonations of Chevalier. Ironically, amid the manic antics of the act, he ...