Rose wrote:
> She died of cancer at the young age of 48, but yes she had a problem with
> alcohol and morphine. I believe that Joni was paying homage to Piaf. I
found
> this interesting tidbit in my research:
> . At the age of nineteen, she was discovered by nightclub impressario
Louis
> Lepli e, and because she had been singing a song about a sparrow, he
> christened her La Mt me Piaf, street slang for "Kid Sparrow." Patrons of
> Lepli e's club Gerny's were astonished by the power and richness of her
> voice, and by her diminutive size for she was only four feet ten inches
tall
> and weighed probably not much more than eighty pounds. But, her initial
> success at Gerny's was cut short when Lepli e was murdered, probably over
> money and probably by some young toughs to whom he had been introduced by
> Piaf. Although she was cleared of any complicity in the murder, the
scandal,
> and her reputation as a friend of most of Paris' pimps, prostitutes, and
> petty criminals, drove her out of Paris for a time and forced her to
perform
> in provincial movie houses and bistros to keep from starving once again.
>
> He would often stay in houses of ill repute to stay warm.
> You can read a brief biography as well as sound clips
> here: http://soundprint.org/documentaries/more_info/piaf.phtml
Wow, thanks for sharing that Rose. And it pretty much makes me think that
she was Joni's inspiration for this song - the lyrics certainly fit the
story.
Hell
____________________________
"To have great poets, there must be
great audiences too." - Walt Whitman
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Visit the NBLs (Natural Born Losers) at:
http://www.nbls.co.nz
