Serge Gainsbourg's "Moi m'aime Bwana" (Unreleased 1991 Album Demos)

Serge Gainsbourg (1928-1991) was a French singer, songwriter and actor, considered as the most important French singer of all times. On March 2nd 1991, "Gainsbarre" died from an heart attack, leaving several unfinished tracks that were intented to constitute a new album entitled Moi M'aime Bwana.

In Autumn 1989, a journalist interviewing Gainsbourg gave him an idea for a new album title: "Is there any French singer you appreciate ? - Moi-même. ["Myself"]. Write it "Moi m'aime" ["Love myself", a play on word with "Moi-même"]." And the journalist replied with an over-the-top african accent: "Moi m'aime, Bwana!" in the hope to relax the atmosphere. Serge was suddenly interested by this sentence and asked how to spell it.

Years later, the journalist learned that this would become the album's title (some magazines also called the album Christian's Name's Christian). Aude Turpault, one of Gainsbourg's closest friends, mentioned in a 2011 interview that prototype tracks of the album were recorded on tapes with piano music: "Yeah, he played things on piano, and most of the time there were no lyrics, except a few written on little pieces of paper [...] The main character was named Abigail. A couplet said "Abigail, telle qu'en elle-même" (Abigail, like in herself), and was talking about her soul getting off and coming back. Some things were really funky and a bit jazzy but, except that, I remember nothing."

Serge passed away about one week before his departure for New Orleans, where he intended to record his latest songs (the recording studio had been rented, and the musicians paid). All we know about the album comes from the interview with Aude Turpault: it would have been a Blues album, with a main character (like in his earlier album "Histoire de Mélodie Nelsone"), and a funk musical style (probably like Love On The Beat/You're Under Arrest). Moreover, songs must have been written. The demos were not released on the several anthologies that followed Serge's death. The tapes probably belong for now to Gainsbourg's manager Philippe Lerichomme, and might turn up for a future release.

 Talking about the interview 

 The interview of Aude Turplault 