Bill Deraime

Bill Deraime is a French blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist whose career took flight during the early '80s and who remained active long thereafter, releasing a long line of albums well into the new millennium. Born Alain Deraime on February 2, 1947, in Senlis, Oise, he become deeply interested in American music as a teenager, particularly the blues, soul, and folk. In 1968 he moved to Paris at the height of the social revolution then overtaking France and adopted a bohemian lifestyle, playing music in the streets, forming an underground folk club, volunteering for social causes, and so on. Moreover, he formed a series of bands during the 1970s — including one, Bill et Flo, that featured his wife and made some commercial recordings late in the decade — and found himself stylistically drifting deeper into the blues. In 1979 he made his full-length solo album debut on the Argile label with the self-titled Bill Deraime, on which he explored his vision of the blues. One of the first Frenchmen to perform blues music from the standpoint of a purist, Deraime was subsequently offered a major-label recording contract with RCA and released a series of albums throughout the first half the 1980s: Plus la Peine de Frimer (1980), Qu'est Ce Que Tu Vas Faire? (1981), Entre Deux Eaux (1982), Live à l'Olympia (1983), Fauteuil Piégé (1984), and Energie Positive (1985). While he experienced some commercial success during the early '80s, scoring a couple hits ("Faut Que J'me Tire Ailleurs," "Babylone Tu Deconne") and playing L'Olympia in Paris, Deraime grew weary of the commercial pressures of the music industry and dropped out for a while during the latter half of the decade. Deraime resumed his recording career thereafter, and though his output was sometimes sporadic, he released a long line of albums well into the new millennium.