AMG Review of Master Serie, Vol. 1

William Ruhlmann
All Music Guide

The first of two volumes of Universal's Master Serie program devoted to Brigitte Bardot traces the actress-turned-pop star's early recordings from 1963 to 1965. The music is an eclectic mixture of mid-'60s pop/rock, such as Serge Gainsbourg's "L'Appareil à Sous" and "Ca Pourrait Changer," with 1920s-style jazz ("Les Amis de la Musique," "C'est Rigolo") and acoustic ballads like "Une Histoire de Plage" and "A la Fin de l'Été." Bardot is more of an actress than a singer, but she throws herself into her vocals and manages to hit both her notes and the beats without trouble while projecting a winning personality. She is certainly no worse a singer than, say, Marianne Faithfull, to name a British contemporary whom she resembles on the ballads. And while she's no Astrud Gilberto, she holds her own on a samba like "Maria Ninguen." Referring inevitably back to her films, the collection concludes with "Ah! Les P'tites Femmes (De Paris)," her duet with Jeanne Moreau from their film #Viva Maria!