Person

Dorsey, Pierre

1909-1971

Pierre Dorsey (born Pierre Gustave Dreyfus, pseudonym Ricardo Rodilo) was born in Orsay, Essonne, France. Not much is known about his younger years and education. Under his birth name he co-wrote with Raymond Asso the song “Le mauvais matelot,” sung by Edith Piaf around 1937. There is a record of him, accompanied by his mother and father( and possibly his wife), arriving in Brazil in 1955. His songs “Je te tendrai les bras” (co-written with Hubert Giraud) and “Amour, je te dois” (co-written with Robert Gall), both of which were written under his professional name, Pierre Dorsey, won the 1959 and 1960 Coq d’or de la chanson française competition. The next we hear is that the third-place entry in the Eurovision competition was won by the song “Ce soir-là,” which he co-wrote with Hubert Giraud, sung by French singer François Deguelt, on behalf of Monaco. From then on, he seems to have had many successes playing the piano with his string orchestra and later in a trio that included his son. He composed and wrote lyrics prolifically: the Bibliothèque national de France has 97 entries for him, including songs covered by various artists, and Encyclopédisque lists 19 entries. Most of his songs were released in Europe.