Henri Betti(1917-2005)

Henri Betti was born at 1 rue Barillerie in the district of "Vieux-Nice" in a modest family : his father Pierre Betti (1892-1971) was a house painter and his mother Madeleine Suaut (1889-1975) was a fishmonger. His paternal family originates from the region of Emilia-Romagna in Italy : his grandfather Ferruccio Betti (1862-1941) was born in Parma and he immigrated to Nice with his wife Clémence Fontana (1863-1917) and his children in 1893.

In 1935, he entered at the Conservatory of Paris which is then directed by Henri Rabaud. He is the student of Lazare Lévy (1882-1964) for piano class and Raymond Pech (1876-1952) for harmony class. He got the "Premier Accessit d'Harmonie" on July 9, 1937.

He then headed for a classical pianist, but in 1940, when he has been discharged from military service of Fortified Sector of the Dauphiné in Briançon, he crosses Roger Lucchesi on the "Promenade des Anglais" in Nice, who told him that he composed a song for Maurice Chevalier and asked him to accompany him to the piano when he the present him in his property "La Louque" in Cannes. Maurice Chevalier refuse the song but to ask Henri Betti be his regular accompanist. During the singing tours, he will make him play the "Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23" by Frédéric Chopin between songs. Anxious to renew his repertoire, he also asked him to compose songs. Henri Betti then wrote music forty songs with the lyricist Maurice Vandair until 1945 that "Notre Espoir" and "La Chanson du Maçon" in 1941, "La Fête à Neu-Neu" in 1943 or "Chanson Populaire" in 1945. Of the fifteen securities singing tour of Maurice Chevalier in 1945, Henri Betti sign fourteen.

He joined the "S.A.C.E.M" in 1941 as composer and was appointed "Sociétaire Définitif" in 1949.

After World War II, he knows great success with "Le Régiment des Mandolines" in 1946 for Lily Fayol, "Mais qu'est-ce que j'ai !" in 1947 and "Rien dans les Mains, rien dans les Poches" and "Maître Pierre" in 1948 for Yves Montand and especially "C'est si bon" in 1947 for Jean Marco. It is then recorded by Les Soeurs Étienne that make it a success. It is then sung for the first time before an audience by Suzy Delair at the Nice Jazz Festival in 1948 before becoming a standard international jazz with Louis Armstrong, who recorded for the first time in New York in 1950 with the English lyrics of Jerry Seelen.

From 1949 to 1983, his music production is abundant : revues for "Le Lido", the "Moulin Rouge", the "Folies Bergère", the "Olympia" or the "Stardust" and the "Tropicana" of Las Vegas, and many operettas and plays.

He has also composed for the cinema in the 1950s and television in the 1960s. His most famous soundtrack is that of Honoré de Marseille (1956) which will nearly 4 million admissions in France in 1957. In 1953, he played the role of the composer and accompanist of the company of Jean Nohain in Soyez les bienvenus (1952) which he also composed the music for the film.

On his 15 film scores, Henri Betti wrote 20 songs sung by Georges Guétary (3 in Une fille sur la route (1952) and 2 in Le chemin du paradis (1956)), Henri Génès (2 in L'oeil en coulisses (1953)), Roger Lanzac (3 in Soyez les bienvenus (1952)), Armand Mestral (1 in Soyez les bienvenus (1952)), Christiane Jaquier (1 in Soyez les bienvenus (1952)), Monique Maurène (1 in Soyez les bienvenus (1952)), Édith Georges (1 in Les deux font la paire (1954)), Fernandel (4 in Honoré de Marseille (1956)) and Rudy Hirigoyen (2 in L'auberge en folie (1956)).

In 1959, he composed with Bruno Coquatrix the music of "Paris mes Amours" and "Avec" (lyrics by André Hornez) for Josephine Baker singing at the Olympia.

In the early 1950s, he made her singing on stage first as "vedette américaine" featuring at the "ABC" in 1951 and the "Theatre des Deux Anes", in Parisian cabarets as "Le Bosphore" and "Chez Tonton", and in summer outdoors in Nice, Cannes, Juan-les-Pins shows. And then as a full-featured except to "Bobino" and "Gaumont-Palace".

During his career, Henri Betti worked with the composers Paul Bonneau, Gérard Calvi, Bruno Coquatrix, Don James, Jean-Pierre Landreau, Rolf Marbot and Georges Tabet and with the lyricists André Berthomieu, Bourvil, Jean Boyer, Charlys, Maurice Chevalier, Jean Cosmos, Pierre Cour, Yves Favier, Pierre Gilbert, André Hornez, Jean Le Seyeux, Francis Lopez, Jean Manse, Jacques Mareuil, Jean Nohain, Édith Piaf, Jacques Pills, Jacques Plante, René Rouzaud, André Salvet, Pascal Sevran, Maurice Vandair, Henri Varna, Raymond Vincy and Albert Willemetz.

In 1951, he participated with Albert Willemetz to the foundation of the "Comité du Coeur", relief fund for needy artists under the auspices of the "S.A.C.E.M", which will be Vice-President.

In 1958, he collaborated with Jean-Pierre Landreau to compose all the music revues of Lido for the company "Lido-Mélodies" whose two founding members were Pierre Delvincourt and Jean Gruyer.

In 1971, he participated with Maurice Lehmann to the foundation of the "ANAO" ("Association Nationale des Amis de l'Opérette") which will be Vice-President.

He was member of the "Conseil d'administration" of the "S.A.C.D" from 1961 to 1975 and of the "S.A.C.E.M" in 1982, 1983, from 1985 to 1987 and from 1989 to 1992.

Henri Betti is made "Chevalier" of the "Ordre des Palmes Académiques" in 1960. He received the "Prix Maurice-Yvain", awarded by the "S.A.C.D", in 1980 and the "Médaille d'or" of the "S.A.C.E.M" in 1994.

In 1987, he composed his last song, "C'est à Brasilia", with the lyrics of Pascal Sevran. The song was performed by Les Soeurs Étienne.

In 1993, he published his autobiography, "C'est si bon !", published by "Embrasure".

In 2003, he entered the nursing home "Ger'Home" in Courbevoie where he died two years later of natural causes at the age of 87 years.

Henri Betti married with the tap dancer Françoise Engels in 1949 in Bois-Colombes (Hauts-de-Seine). He had met her during performances of the operetta "Baratin" at "L'Européen" the same year. It is in this same operetta his usual lyricist André Hornez met his future wife Gisèle Fréry who was also a dancer.