Graeme Allwright was a French-language singer-songwriter who became famous in the 1960s for his interpretations of English-language singers such as Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Pete Seeger.

Although he built his career in France, Allwright was born in Wellington, New Zealand in 1926, growing up there to a backdrop of American folk and jazz played across the radio for troops stationed there. At 15 Allwright won a place at The Old Vic theatre school in London and moved there to begin training as an actor. That plan was upended by a move to France with his then-girlfriend Catherine Dasté in 1948.

While there he learned the language and began to play the guitar, discovering an aptitude for translation by adapting New Zealand stories into French for a school he was working at. He began to do the same for English-language songs and in the early 1960s started playing in Parisian clubs. That ultimately led to a contract with the Philips subsidiary Phonogram in the late '60s and the release of 'Le Jour de Clarte', a collection of French adaptations of major American folk artists. It coincided with the protests that ultimately brought down the government of President Charles de Gaulle's and proved a landmark album for the left-wing French counterculture of the period.

He went on to become a mainstay of the French folk scene and though his output was uneven he remained active into his 90s.

Allwright died on 16th February 2020, aged 93.

Graeme Allwright

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