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1959-70 Gene Vincent and the French

Apart from Elvis who was an unavoidable fixture from 1956 onwards, the British rock’n’rollers were particularly enamoured of Bill Haley, Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis, all of whom conducted tours of Blighty. However, in France it is Gene Vincent who became the rock’n’rollers’ idol and where he is to this day still affectionately known among rockers simply as Gégène (pronounced ʒeˈʒɛn), the French way of shortening Eugene.

Brussels fans check poster before Gene’s concert, 1963

Apart from Bill Haley and his Comets in 1958, Gene was the first of the great rockers to have toured France of course. His first performance was at the famed Olympia on December 15th 1959. He would return for many more tours in 1962, 1963, 1964 and then in 1967, 1968, 1970, a year before his death …

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