Zoo -

Zoo was a French brass-rock band that released three albums between 1969 and 1972 on Riviera.

Members: Michel Bonnecarrère (guitar), Tony Canal (trumpet), Daniel Carlet (saxophone, violin), Joël Daydé (vocals, 1968-70), Christian Devaux (drums), Pierre Fanen (guitar, 1968-70), André Hervé (keyboards), Michel Hervé (bass), Michel Ripoche (saxophone, violin, trombone), Ian Bellamy (vocals, 1970-72)

Background

Zoo formed in France in 1968 when singer Joël Daydé, reedist Daniel Carlet (tenor saxophone, violin), and bassist Michel Hervé carried their New Strangers connection into a larger studio-linked group. Guitarist Pierre Fanen, guitarist-composer Michel Bonnecarrère, reedist Michel Ripoche (violin, tenor saxophone, trombone), trumpeter Tony Canal, keyboardist André Hervé, and drummer Christian Devaux completed the early lineup. Daydé had passed through Polaris, Les Safaris, Les Tombes, and Les Balthus before La Question, the group name used before Zoo. Fanen, Ripoche, and Canal entered the lineup from the studio circuit.

Daydé, Carlet, and Hervé had worked as Club Med activity leaders before the group began early dates under the Question name in Paris and Switzerland. Zoo entered the studio on April 16, 1969, and the nine-piece lineup completed eight titles over two days. The musicians left the session with the Zoo name.

Zoo

Zoo released their self-titled debut album in 1969 on Riviera.

The album contains six group originals and two outside songs, “Memphis Train” and “You Sure Drive a Hard Bargain.” Zoo pairs singer Joël Daydé, bassist Michel Hervé, drummer Christian Devaux, guitarists Pierre Fanen and Michel Bonnecarrère, keyboardist André Hervé, trumpeter Tony Canal, and reed-string players Daniel Carlet and Michel Ripoche.

“If You Lose Your Woman” locks its sung line to a hard backbeat, repeated riff, and clipped spoken interjections. “Ramses” surges through an instrumental course with taut brass replies and sharp violin turns. “Bluezoo” simmers around bent-note phrasing and narrowed horn punctuation.

“Memphis Train” charges through a brisk refrain and straight-ahead call phrases. “Samedi Soir à Carnouet” stretches a blues-derived instrumental cadence into longer ensemble replies. “Mammouth” expands the same brass-and-string language into a broad episodic form.

A1. “If You Lose Your Woman” (4:15) – Joël Daydé / Michel Bonnecarrère
A2. “Ramses” (4:41) – Bonnecarrère
A3. “Bluezoo” (5:47) – Pierre Fanen
A4. “Rhythm and Boss” (4:46) – Bonnecarrère

B1. “Memphis Train” (3:26) – B. Rice / R. Thomas / W. Sparks
B2. “Samedi Soir à Carnouet” (5:59) – Bonnecarrère
B3. “You Sure Drive a Hard Bargain” (4:50) – Allen Jones / Booker T. Crutcher
B4. “Mammouth” (7:35) – Bonnecarrère

Bernard de Bosson and Philippe Rault produced Zoo with engineer Francis Miannay.

Riviera lifted “Memphis Train” as a 1969 single (b/w “Rhythm and Boss”). A Spanish single paired “You Sure Drive a Hard Bargain” with “Ramses.”

I Shall Be Free

Zoo released their second album, I Shall Be Free, in 1970 on Riviera.

The album contains nine Zoo compositions and one Laura Nyro song, “Luckie.” The album replaces Daydé, Fanen, and Canal with singer Ian Bellamy; Bonnecarrère, the Hervé brothers, Devaux, Carlet, and Ripoche remain from the debut.

“New Violins” places bowed figures at the front of the arrangement. “Endless Words” brings the saxophone line through the album’s reduced-brass setting. “City Breakdown” and “Plaistow Place” frame Ian Bellamy’s lead line in compact song forms. “I Shall Be Free” tightens the title phrase into a direct refrain. “Luckie” gives the sequence its outside-composition slot and compresses the band into a brief chorus reading.

A1. “City Breakdown” (3:50) – André Hervé / Ian Bellamy
A2. “New Violins” (3:35) – Michel Bonnecarrère
A3. “Benjamin Sacramouse’s Dream” (3:28) – Hervé / Bellamy
A4. “Runaround Lucy” (3:49) – Bonnecarrère / Bellamy
A5. “Plaistow Place” (3:15) – Bonnecarrère / Bellamy

B1. “I Got Out of My Mind” (4:00) – Bonnecarrère / Bellamy
B2. “I Shall Be Free” (3:44) – Hervé / Bellamy
B3. “Luckie” (2:37) – Laura Nyro
B4. “Endless Words” (4:41) – Hervé / Bellamy
B5. “Maggie Mae’s Daughter” (2:42) – Daniel Carlet / Bellamy

Bernard de Bosson co-produced I Shall Be Free with Philippe Rault, also credited on 1970 titles by Junco Partners and the Julio Finn Band.

Riviera lifted “City Breakdown” as a 1970 single (b/w “Plaistow Place”). In 1971, “Benjamin Sacramouse’s Dream” reappeared as a single (b/w “City Breakdown”).

Hard Times, Good Times

Zoo released their third album, Hard Times, Good Times, in 1972 on Riviera.

Hard Times presents a six-piece with singer Ian Bellamy, keyboardist-guitarist André Hervé, bassist Michel Hervé, drummer Christian Devaux, and reed-string players Daniel Carlet and Michel Ripoche. The album contains Bellamy-led English-language material, two Rault co-writes, and the collective closing piece “La Feuille.”

“Four Strings” collides bowed leads in an instrumental duel over dense band motion. “Hard Times, Good Times” condenses the brass-led side of the album into a compact title-phrase single. “What Am I to Be” places Bellamy’s line across a longer sung form. “Down in Memphis” works a clipped backbeat cadence with short ensemble punctuation. “La Feuille” closes in a brief passage of mixed brass, string, and keyboard figures.

A1. “What Am I to Be” (6:05) – Ian Bellamy
A2. “Down in Memphis” (3:54) – Philippe Rault / Daniel Carlet
A3. “Captain” (3:56) – Bellamy / André Hervé
A4. “Faces” (4:40) – B. Bergmann / E. Baaz

B1. “Delusions and Dreams” (3:10) – Rault / Michel Hervé
B2. “Four Strings” (3:58) – Michel Ripoche
B3. “Second-Class Games” (3:57) – Bellamy
B4. “Hard Times, Good Times” (3:25) – Bellamy / André Hervé
B5. “Queen of the Green Eyes” (3:26) – Bellamy / Christian Devaux
B6. “La Feuille” (2:16) – André Hervé / Carlet / Ripoche / Bellamy / Michel Hervé / Rault

Philippe Rault produced the 1971 “Hard Times, Good Times” single with engineer Bernard Estardy. Alain Marouani photographed the single sleeve.

Riviera lifted “Hard Times, Good Times” as a 1971 single (b/w “Tupamaros”). In 1972, “What Am I to Be” became a single (b/w “Four Strings”), followed by “Life Is Living” (b/w “Stiggy Poo”).

Discography: