Yves Montand was a French singer and actor (born in Italy as Ivo Livi), whose popularity began in the 1940’s, when Edith Piaf discovered him, and lasted well into the 1980’s. Montand acted in 31 movies in that span of years.

French jazz man / novelist Boris Vian (composer of the anti-war song “Le Déserteur” )adapted the lyrics of ‘La Chanson de Bilbao’ from the 1929 musical Happy End, written by Kurt Weill Elisabeth Hauptmann and Bertolt Brecht. Montand sang it Vian’s adaptation on his 1961 album ‘Rengaine, ta Rengaine‘.