Eddie Barclay, 84; French Jazz Pianist Was Showy Music Producer

Eddie Barclay, 84, the flamboyant French music producer whose stable of singers included Jacques Brel and Charles Aznavour, died Thursday in a Paris hospital after suffering from urinary and pulmonary infections.

Born Edouard Ruault in Paris, Barclay began his career as a jazz pianist. He launched his production house in the 1950s, and marketed artists from the American Mercury label. After selling 1.5 million copies of the Platters’ “Only You,” his own label became France’s top music production company.

Barclay hired a 24-year-old Quincy Jones to be his company’s musical director. In a statement Friday, Jones credited Barclay with “introducing me to a life that I never dreamed of.”