Eddy Mitchell

Biography

Eddy Mitchell (born Claude Moine July 3, 1942, Paris) is a French singer and actor. He began his career in the late 1950s, with the group Les Chaussettes Noires (The Black Socks), taking his name from the American expatriate tough-guy actor Eddie Constantine (later the star of Jean-Luc Godards Alphaville). The band performed at the Parisian nightclub Le Golf Drouot before signing to Barclay Records and finding almost instant success; in 1961 it sold two million records.

Heavily influenced by American rock and roll, Mitchell (who went solo in 1963) has often recorded outside France, at first in London, but later in Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee. Guitarist Jimmy Page and drummer Bob Graham were among the British session musicians who regularly supported him in London.

Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.