Vigon's French R&B

"Vigon" immigrated to France from Morocco and adopted this stage name because in his younger days his little schoolmates teased him about his incorrect pronunciation of "vagon" (wagon). He made several rhythm & blues records including this particularly strong cover of Little Richard's Bama Lama Bama Loo. (Thanks to my friend Max for the tip !)

Here he is live in 1969 with his band Les Lemons, doing "The Spoiler".

[Footnote : This is remarkable since there was almost no soul/R&B "made in France." The exception that proves the rule is, of course, Nino Ferrer, born in Italy. Here he is rocking the Brussels train station.]

[Footnote : Original version of The Spoiler (I think) by Eddie Purrel.]

US version  Ed.

[Footnote : As a bonus, here's a Finnish band's version of Bama Lama.]

But was Little Richard annoyed by these copy-cats ? We have the official response. After performing the song himself, Richard unambiguously sets the record straight. In a hilarious, pre-rehearsed interview with Dick Clark, he states that he is "very grateful to know that my material is the type of material that the entertainers today would like to use."