"The Poor People of Paris " is a popular song. It was adapted by Jack Lawrence in 1954 from the French language song "La goualante du pauvre Jean" ("The Ballad of Poor John") (words by René Rouzaud, music by Marguerite Monnot [1]). The title arises in part from a misinterpretation of the French title, as "pauvre Jean" was taken for the same-sounding "pauvre gens," which translates as "poor people." [2]

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Les Baxter version

A recording of the song by Les Baxter's orchestra (Capitol Records catalog number 3336, with the flip side "Theme from 'Helen of Troy'") was a number-one hit on the Billboard Singles Charts in the US in 1956: for four weeks on the Best Sellers in Stores chart ^{[3] [4]}, for six weeks on the Most Played by Jockeys and Hot 100 charts, and for three weeks on the Most Played on Jukeboxes chart. This recording was also released in Australia by Capitol under catalog number CP-1044 ^[5].

Winifred Atwell version

In the same year, the piano version by Winifred Atwell (Decca Records catalog number F10681 ^[6]) was number one in the UK Singles Chart from April 13 to 27 ^[7].

Other versions

Cover versions by Lawrence Welk, Russ Morgan (Decca Records catalog number 29835, with the flip side "Annabelle" ^[8]) and Chet Atkins appeared in the US Top 100. Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney recorded a version containing the seldom-heard Jack Lawrence lyrics. On the Cash Box Magazine best-selling record charts (combining all versions of the song), the song was number 1 from March 24 through April 14, 1956, and on the chart 21 weeks ^[9].

Edith Piaf had one of her great hits with the original French version of the song.

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References

1. Biography of Marguerite Monnot
2. Page on composition of the song in Jack Lawrence site
3. The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits
4. List of 1955-1959 Billboard #1 songs
5. Capitol Records (Australia) discography
6. Winifred Atwell 45rpm record discography
7. UK chart data for 1952-1961 for artists with names beginning with A
8. US Decca Records in the 29500 to 29999 series
9. Archives of the Cash Box best-selling record charts