# Female WWII-era French Bar-singing lady... (help!!) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 7, 2005, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-wwii-era-french-bar-singing-lady-help/293346 "2005-03-07T13:09:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-wwii-era-french-bar-singing-lady-help/293346/1 "2005-03-07T13:09:27Z")
You’d know her voice if you heard it - gravelly, whiskey-roughened singing (in French) like her heart was being ripped out of her chest and if you only knew what the words meant you’d gladly lay down your life for her… Only I don’t know who she is - I’d really like to start collecting some of her music (and its ilk) but since I don’t know her, I can’t… Can anyone help? Grim ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-wwii-era-french-bar-singing-lady-help/293346/2 "2005-03-07T13:13:40Z")
Edith Piaf? ---
**Author:** ![archmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@archmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/archmichael)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-wwii-era-french-bar-singing-lady-help/293346/3 "2005-03-07T13:14:01Z")
Edith Piaf ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-wwii-era-french-bar-singing-lady-help/293346/4 "2005-03-07T13:14:27Z")
Edith Piaf! ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-wwii-era-french-bar-singing-lady-help/293346/5 "2005-03-07T13:15:05Z")
With a 1940s style death ray ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-wwii-era-french-bar-singing-lady-help/293346/6 "2005-03-07T13:25:34Z")
Quickest triple-simul-post … ever!!! Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-wwii-era-french-bar-singing-lady-help/293346/7 "2005-03-07T14:16:00Z")
Paul Robeson. What? I just wanted to say something more original than repeating “Edith Piaf”. 😉 😃 ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-wwii-era-french-bar-singing-lady-help/293346/8 "2005-03-07T14:19:36Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > I just wanted to say something more original than repeating “Edith Piaf”. 😉 😃 We weren’t just _repeating_ it. We all used a different tone of voice. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-wwii-era-french-bar-singing-lady-help/293346/9 "2005-03-07T14:37:19Z")
_Edith_ Piaf ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-wwii-era-french-bar-singing-lady-help/293346/10 "2005-03-07T14:43:12Z")
The Little Sparrow. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-wwii-era-french-bar-singing-lady-help/293346/11 "2005-03-07T19:02:53Z")
“Rio” by Duran Duran. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-wwii-era-french-bar-singing-lady-help/293346/12 "2005-03-07T19:19:30Z")
Rice Pilaf. Or not. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-wwii-era-french-bar-singing-lady-help/293346/13 "2005-03-07T19:55:52Z")
As well as collecting her records try and get hold of a couple of her biographies . There is one written by her half sister describing her very colourful early life. Her later life was equally eventful . Her almost self destruct attitude has been compared to that of Billy Holliday . If you are ever in Paris you can visit her grave in the Pére Lachaise cemetery. There are always fresh flowers there from her many admirers. She was less than five foot tall ,always wore a simple black dress but could enthral a theatre full of people with that powerful voice , singing songs (some of which she wrote herself) which the average working-class Frenchman could relate to. As you can tell , I am a great fan of hers. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2005, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/female-wwii-era-french-bar-singing-lady-help/293346/14 "2005-03-07T20:01:49Z")
Here is a very informative web site:- [http://www.little-sparrow.co.uk/](http://www.little-sparrow.co.uk/)