Jean-Louis Fenoglio sang with the Trois Ménestrels, a trio built on an improbable pairing: a chanson réaliste singer, an actor, a revue boy. Much in vogue in the 1960s, they had borrowed their name from the wandering musicians of old, who went singing from one castle to the next. He was killed at his home in Gambais in 1976 by the group's stage manager, who was his partner; he was fifty-one. His stone engraves a single word of profession, and in the singular.
The story
On Jean-Louis Fenoglio's stone, a single word of trade, and it stands in the singular although there were three of them: “Ménestrel.” The group's name serves as his profession — that is what the public called them.
Les Trois Ménestrels came out of an unlikely assembly: a chanteuse réaliste, a singer of the street's hard-luck songs, an actor and a revue dancer — three trades of the stage that nothing destined to sing together. The trio grew very popular in the 1960s, the age of vocal groups, somewhere between music hall and cabaret song. The name they chose for themselves claimed a lineage: that of the wandering minstrels of the Middle Ages, who sang from castle to castle.
Born in 1925, Jean-Louis Fenoglio was killed at his home in Gambais in 1976 by the group's stage manager, who was his partner; he was fifty-one. The stone in Division 61 engraves the group's word and nothing of what had brought the group into being.
The grave
An inscription of four elements in which the name of the group stands in for a profession: “Jean-Louis FENOGLIO Ménestrel 1925-1976.” A single word — minstrel — in the singular, though they were three: that is what the public called them, and that is what the stone kept of the vocal trio of the 1960s. Neither the chanson réaliste singer, nor the actor, nor the revue boy whose meeting had given birth to the group.
On site, do not miss
A single word of profession, and it is the name of the group: “Jean-Louis FENOGLIO Ménestrel 1925-1976” — minstrel.
Visitors' questions
Where is Jean-Louis Fenoglio's grave?
In Division 61 of Père-Lachaise. The inscription runs to four items: “Jean-Louis FENOGLIO Ménestrel 1925-1976” — the name of the group stands in for the trade. He was killed at his home in Gambais in 1976 by the group's stage manager, who was his partner.
Lucien GibertWho were the Trois Ménestrels?
A vocal trio, hugely popular in the 1960s, put together out of unlikely parts: a chanteuse réaliste, a singer of the hard-luck songs of the streets, a stage actor and a chorus boy from the revues. Three trades of the business that had no business singing together.
Alice TissotWhy the name ménestrels?
Because it is a statement of intent: the ménestrels were the wandering musicians of the Middle Ages, who sang their way from castle to castle. The trio claimed that line of strolling players in its very name.
PatachouWhat does his epitaph say?
“Jean-Louis FENOGLIO Ménestrel 1925-1976.” One word to give a trade — and it is the name of the group, not the name of the profession. The word is in the singular, though there were three of them on stage.
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