Founded by singer Claude Piron – born in Saint-Pierre-de-Cormeilles, France on January 25, 1936 - Danny Boy et ses Pénitents is now acknowledged as the first French rock and roll group. Before forming the band, Piron began his singing career with the release of several solo singles including the 1958 hit “Viens,” a cover of the Kalin Twins’ “When.”. Two years later, he changed his professional name to Danny Boy and hired a group of jazz musicians to play rock and roll under the band name Danny Boy et ses Pénitents. Because rock music was not considered ‘cool’ by jazz musicians, the members didn’t want to reveal their identities, so they wore balaclavas during their performances. Claude Piron eventually replaced the jazz musicians with a group of young rock musicians by the time the group released their debut EP, Croque la Pomme, in 1961. The success of the EP paved the way for further EPs including Je Ne Veux Plus Être un Dragueur (1961) and a self-titled 10” mini album in 1962. Danny Boy et ses Pénitents got caught up in the Twist craze and released several EPs – 1962’s Twistez, Twist, and Kissin’ Twist – and singles capitalizing on this new dance that was becoming an international sensation. The group then toured France for eight months with Cirque Pinder before the other members, citing exhaustion, quit the group. In 1963, Claude Piron formed a new group under the name Danny Boy et ses Pénitents and continued to perform up through 1967, when they undertook a tour with rock icon Vince Taylor. They issued a final single before breaking up for good. Claude Piron set his Danny Boy persona aside and spent the next 45 years working as a fishmonger in Normandy. He returned to performing as Danny Boy in 2004 and performed on several rock revival tours with members of other veteran rock artists. Claude Piron died on August 7, 2020, at the age of 84. Danny Boy et ses Pénitents’s back catalog has been reappraised several times over the years thanks to compilations such as Danny Boy et ses Pénitents, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 (both released in 1990) and Danny Boy et ses Pénitents (2016).
