The Jacques Brel songs stand out on these three albums (stand out among a lot of great stuff). Walker does so brilliantly with the Brel songs that I was wondering what Brel himself thought of Walker's versions. I never found out, but thanks to Spotify I was able to listen to Brel's originals. And surprise, I almost always prefer Walker's versions.
Walker's great Brel performances (to make it easier to find the originals, I've included the original title):
My Death (La mort)
Amsterdam (Amsterdam)
Mathilde (Mathilde)
Jackie (La chanson de Jacky)
Next (Au suivant)
Funeral Tango (Tango funèbre)
The Girls and the Dogs (Les filles et les chiens)
If You Go Away (Ne me quitte pas)
Walker's "Sons Of" from Scott 3 is a little mawkish for me compared to Brel's "Fils de," and Brel does a good job with "Mathilde." But for every other song he took on, Scott is a better Brel than Brel.
UPDATE: Mouron does some nice Brel interpretations on her album Quinze années d'amour.
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