Claude Gauthier (singer)
Encyclopedia
Claude Gauthier is a Quebec singer-songwriter
and actor
.
Mass and his mother played piano. Listening to the classic French singers of the time on radio, such as Edith Piaf
and Charles Trenet
, inspired him as well. But his musical revelation came when he heard Félix Leclerc
for the first time on the radio. From then on, he wanted to make music and, like Leclerc, sing simple, direct songs about everyday life.
In 1954 Gauthier moved to Montreal
where he worked for three years in the warehouse of the record dealer Édouard Archambault. After that he worked as a wilderness guide.
All during this time he wrote songs and he was soon rewarded for his efforts. Encouraged to take part in a contest for singer-songwriters put on by CKVL
, in Montreal, in 1959, he won first prize for "Le Soleil brillera demain" ("the sun will shine tomorrow").
He left his job and started singing in the coffee houses in Montreal accompanying himself on guitar. His songs from this period include: "Ton nom", ("Your Name") and "Le Grand six pieds" ("The Big Six-footer"). "Le Grand six pieds" was a big hit for him. It was based on memories of his early childhood, of the people, their struggle to make ends meet; it was a metaphor for the people of Quebec.
He was signed up by the Columbia Record company. Gauthier’s first album was called Claude Gauthier chante Claude Gauthier (Col FS-531). It included the song "Le Grand six pieds", which earned him the , awarded by the Montreal radio station CKAC.
He took part in the 1962 Mariposa Folk Festival
and in 1964 he sang at Carnegie Hall
, New York, where he was warmly received. He shared the stage with Buffy Sainte-Marie
, and Peter, Paul, and Mary. Gauthier and Sainte-Marie (who was born in Saskatchewan
) exchanged tunes and co-wrote a song together. Sainte-Marie called her version "Until it’s time for you to go" and Gauthier entitled his, "T'es pas une autre".
Gauthier's success reached into France as well, and in 1966 he performed in Paris at the Olympia with Gilles Vigneault
, Pauline Julien
, and Clémence Desrochers. The following year he again appeared at the Olympia this time with Monique Leyrac
, Les Jérolas, and Les Feux-Follets.
At this time Gauthier started on another career, that of actor. He was the male lead in and wrote music for the film Entre la mer et l'eau douce (1967), which was directed by Michel Brault
and starred Geneviève Bujold
. The song "Genevieve" which Gauthier wrote for the film was an independent success. He also acted in acted in CBC TV's Septième Nord in 1967.
Gauthier started to record for a new record company, Gamma, a company that was in the process of recording a new generation of performers, such as Louise Forestier
, and Robert Charlebois
, bringing Gauthier to the awareness of a new generation. Gauthier performed with this outing of new talent at Expo 67
. He appeared in the film "Où êtes-vous donc? in 1968.
This period in Gauthier's career was one that brought him to rock and roll and the politics that was in the air at the time. His album Cerfs-Volants (Gamma GS-158) came out in 1968 and won the Festival du disque award. It contained topical songs about world events, such as those that were happening in Vietnam
.
During the next few years Gauthier recorded only 45s, but in 1972 his next album came out, Le Plus Beau Voyage (Gamma GS-158). It was recorded in France and it was one of his most successful recordings. A book of the same title containing his lyrics was published in Montreal in 1975.
Starting in 1973 Gauthier began to act in films. His first effort at this time was in Michel Brault's film Les Ordres (1974). This film has as a background the events of the October crisis
of 1970, when the Canadian Parliament promulgated the War Measures Act. In this film Gauthier plays an unemployed father who is arrested during the crisis.
The other films he acted in during this period were: Partis pour la gloire (1975) directed by Clément Perron for which Gauthier also composed the theme song "Les Beaux Instants", which appears on the LP of that name (1975, Presqu'Île PE 7500). And, he also acted in La Piastre (1976) directed by Alain Chartrand.
During the rest of the 1970s Gauthier devoted himself to music, starting with a series of performances at the Outremont Theatre in 1975. He performed at the Festival of French Song in Strasbourg
(France) in 1977. His next album, Ça Prend des Racines (1977) — Presqu'île PE-7506 was successful but his singing career slowed down in the following years.
He sang with Félix Leclerc on Leclerc's album My sonin 1978, and in 1982 he sang on Fabienne Thibeault
's Les chants aimés. He did not put out another album under his own name until 1984's Tendresses.o.s.
Although Gauthier did continue to perform as a singer, he performed only occasionally and often with other musicians, such as the 1985 tour Trois fois chantera with Claude Léveillée and Pierre Létourneau. He also appeared at the Festival de St-Malo (1989). But these efforts were all in the background; his primary focus was on acting.
He appeared in Gilles Carles' La Guêpe (1986), François Labonté's Henri (1986), Louise Carré's Qui a tiré sur nos histoires d'amour(1986), Yves Dion's Les Enfants de la rue (1987), Michel Brault's short drama L'Emprise(1988) (once again with Geneviève Bujold), and Robert Ménard's L'Homme de rêve (1991). He also composed the music for Alain Chartrand’s film Un homme de parole (1991).
Although he took part in the Montreal Francofolies in 1990 and put out his first CD, Planète coeur, in 1991 (Transit TRCD-9101), Gauthier turned his career toward television. He appeared in Arthur Leblanc’s Arthur (1991) a documentary about the Acadian
violinist Arthur Leblanc. And he also appeared in several Canadian TV series, including Chambres en ville (1989) and Bombardier (1992) a TV mini-series.
In the following years he put out four CDs: L'Agenda (1993, Transit TRCD-9105), Quebec-Love (a compilation, 1994, Gamma GCD-504), Au Temps Des Boîtes à Chansons (recordings made in 1962, and reissued in 1998), and Jardins (1998 — GSI Musique GSIC-989).
In the same year that Jardins came out, Gauthier joined younger musicians, Daniel Boucher
, Sabrina Bisson, and Marie-Michele Desrosiers in a concert commemorating the tenth anniversary of the death of Félix Leclerc; the concert was called Le 08-08-88 à 8h08.
In 1999, Gauthier appeared in the critically acclaimed film by Michel Brault, Quand je serai parti... vous vivrez encore (English title: The Long Winter).
In November 2000 Gauthier received the Prix Hommage of the SOCAN (Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada) for a lifetime of creativity. His 14th album L’homme qui passait par là appeared in March 2001. Following that album a concert performance by the same name (L’homme qui passait par là) was presented at the Corona Theatre in Montreal and also at the Cabaret du Capitole in Quebec City
in March 2002. This performance included a string quartet, and host of projections from film archives as well as exceptional dramatic lighting; it underscored Gauthier's 40-year career.
Starting in 2003 a series of retrospective recordings came out, Le plus beau voyage de mes chansons 1959-1972 (GSI Musique GSIC-905) in which Gauthier reinterpreted his previous hits with a new group of musicians. And along with Daniel Boucher, Gauthier appeared in another homage to Félix Leclerc at the Fête nationale du Québec
, 2003, at the Parc Maisonneuve, Montreal. Gauthier continues to perform as a singer-songwriter and as an actor.
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
.
Biography
Gauthier grew up in a family that enjoyed and performed music. His father sang Sundays in the CatholicRoman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
Mass and his mother played piano. Listening to the classic French singers of the time on radio, such as Edith Piaf
Édith Piaf
Édith Piaf , born Édith Giovanna Gassion, was a French singer and cultural icon who became widely regarded as France's greatest popular singer. Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads...
and Charles Trenet
Charles Trenet
Charles Trenet was a French singer and songwriter, most famous for his recordings from the late 1930s until the mid-1950s, though his career continued through the 1990s...
, inspired him as well. But his musical revelation came when he heard Félix Leclerc
Félix Leclerc
Félix Leclerc, was a French-Canadian singer-songwriter, poet, writer, actor and Québécois political activist. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada on December 20, 1968...
for the first time on the radio. From then on, he wanted to make music and, like Leclerc, sing simple, direct songs about everyday life.
In 1954 Gauthier moved to Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
where he worked for three years in the warehouse of the record dealer Édouard Archambault. After that he worked as a wilderness guide.
All during this time he wrote songs and he was soon rewarded for his efforts. Encouraged to take part in a contest for singer-songwriters put on by CKVL
CINF (AM)
CINF was a French language Canadian radio station located in Montreal, Quebec.Owned and operated by Corus Quebec, it broadcasted on 690 kHz with a power of 50,000 watts as a clear channel station, using a slightly directional antenna solely for the purpose of improving reception in downtown...
, in Montreal, in 1959, he won first prize for "Le Soleil brillera demain" ("the sun will shine tomorrow").
He left his job and started singing in the coffee houses in Montreal accompanying himself on guitar. His songs from this period include: "Ton nom", ("Your Name") and "Le Grand six pieds" ("The Big Six-footer"). "Le Grand six pieds" was a big hit for him. It was based on memories of his early childhood, of the people, their struggle to make ends meet; it was a metaphor for the people of Quebec.
He was signed up by the Columbia Record company. Gauthier’s first album was called Claude Gauthier chante Claude Gauthier (Col FS-531). It included the song "Le Grand six pieds", which earned him the , awarded by the Montreal radio station CKAC.
He took part in the 1962 Mariposa Folk Festival
Mariposa Folk Festival
The Mariposa Folk Festival was founded in 1961 in Orillia, Ontario. It was held in Orillia for three years before being banned because of disturbances by festival-goers. After being held in various places in Ontario for a few decades, it returned to Orillia in 2000. Ruth Jones, her husband Dr...
and in 1964 he sang at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
, New York, where he was warmly received. He shared the stage with Buffy Sainte-Marie
Buffy Sainte-Marie
Buffy Sainte-Marie, OC is a Canadian Cree singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. Throughout her career in all of these areas, her work has focused on issues of Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Her singing and writing repertoire includes...
, and Peter, Paul, and Mary. Gauthier and Sainte-Marie (who was born in Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
) exchanged tunes and co-wrote a song together. Sainte-Marie called her version "Until it’s time for you to go" and Gauthier entitled his, "T'es pas une autre".
Gauthier's success reached into France as well, and in 1966 he performed in Paris at the Olympia with Gilles Vigneault
Gilles Vigneault
Gilles Vigneault, is a Canadian poet, publisher and singer-songwriter, and well-known Quebec nationalist and sovereigntist.A poet deeply rooted in his native Quebec, Vigneault has become an icon at home and Quebec ambassador abroad...
, Pauline Julien
Pauline Julien
Pauline Julien, CQ was a singer, songwriter, actress, feminist activist and Quebec sovereigntist.Born in Trois-Rivières, Québec, Julien was the companion of the poet and Québec provincial MLA Gérald Godin, another Trifluvian and sovereigntist. She also worked with Gilles Vigneault and recorded...
, and Clémence Desrochers. The following year he again appeared at the Olympia this time with Monique Leyrac
Monique Leyrac
Monique Leyrac, is a Canadian singer and actress from Quebec. Born Monique Tremblay in Montreal, Quebec 1928. She was the first great international star from French Canada. Using her natural gifts of music and drama she started her acting career on radio in 1943...
, Les Jérolas, and Les Feux-Follets.
At this time Gauthier started on another career, that of actor. He was the male lead in and wrote music for the film Entre la mer et l'eau douce (1967), which was directed by Michel Brault
Michel Brault
Michel Brault, OQ is a Quebec cinematographer, cameraman, film director, screenwriter and film producer. He is a leading figure of Direct Cinema, characteristic of the French branch of the National Film Board of Canada in the 1960s...
and starred Geneviève Bujold
Geneviève Bujold
Geneviève Bujold is a Canadian actress best known for her portrayal of Anne Boleyn in the 1969 film Anne of the Thousand Days, for which she won a Golden Globe Award for best actress and was nominated for an Academy Award....
. The song "Genevieve" which Gauthier wrote for the film was an independent success. He also acted in acted in CBC TV's Septième Nord in 1967.
Gauthier started to record for a new record company, Gamma, a company that was in the process of recording a new generation of performers, such as Louise Forestier
Louise Forestier
Louise Forestier is a singer, songwriter and actor.-Biography:Forestier was trained in acting at the National Theatre School in Montreal, but it was as a singer that she first became known in 1966, when she received the Renée Claude Trophy from Le Patriote, a boîte à chansons in east-end...
, and Robert Charlebois
Robert Charlebois
Robert Charlebois, OC, OQ is a Quebec author, composer, musician, performer and actor. He is an important figure in French language song....
, bringing Gauthier to the awareness of a new generation. Gauthier performed with this outing of new talent at Expo 67
Expo 67
The 1967 International and Universal Exposition or Expo 67, as it was commonly known, was the general exhibition, Category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It is considered to be the most successful World's Fair of the 20th century, with the...
. He appeared in the film "Où êtes-vous donc? in 1968.
This period in Gauthier's career was one that brought him to rock and roll and the politics that was in the air at the time. His album Cerfs-Volants (Gamma GS-158) came out in 1968 and won the Festival du disque award. It contained topical songs about world events, such as those that were happening in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
.
During the next few years Gauthier recorded only 45s, but in 1972 his next album came out, Le Plus Beau Voyage (Gamma GS-158). It was recorded in France and it was one of his most successful recordings. A book of the same title containing his lyrics was published in Montreal in 1975.
Starting in 1973 Gauthier began to act in films. His first effort at this time was in Michel Brault's film Les Ordres (1974). This film has as a background the events of the October crisis
October Crisis
The October Crisis was a series of events triggered by two kidnappings of government officials by members of the Front de libération du Québec during October 1970 in the province of Quebec, mainly in the Montreal metropolitan area.The circumstances ultimately culminated in the only peacetime use...
of 1970, when the Canadian Parliament promulgated the War Measures Act. In this film Gauthier plays an unemployed father who is arrested during the crisis.
The other films he acted in during this period were: Partis pour la gloire (1975) directed by Clément Perron for which Gauthier also composed the theme song "Les Beaux Instants", which appears on the LP of that name (1975, Presqu'Île PE 7500). And, he also acted in La Piastre (1976) directed by Alain Chartrand.
During the rest of the 1970s Gauthier devoted himself to music, starting with a series of performances at the Outremont Theatre in 1975. He performed at the Festival of French Song in Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
(France) in 1977. His next album, Ça Prend des Racines (1977) — Presqu'île PE-7506 was successful but his singing career slowed down in the following years.
He sang with Félix Leclerc on Leclerc's album My sonin 1978, and in 1982 he sang on Fabienne Thibeault
Fabienne Thibeault
Fabienne Thibeault is a Canadian singer. She is particularly known for her role in Starmania. Thibeault has released numerous albums over her career. She has been the recipient of two Félix Awards.-History:...
's Les chants aimés. He did not put out another album under his own name until 1984's Tendresses.o.s.
Although Gauthier did continue to perform as a singer, he performed only occasionally and often with other musicians, such as the 1985 tour Trois fois chantera with Claude Léveillée and Pierre Létourneau. He also appeared at the Festival de St-Malo (1989). But these efforts were all in the background; his primary focus was on acting.
He appeared in Gilles Carles' La Guêpe (1986), François Labonté's Henri (1986), Louise Carré's Qui a tiré sur nos histoires d'amour(1986), Yves Dion's Les Enfants de la rue (1987), Michel Brault's short drama L'Emprise(1988) (once again with Geneviève Bujold), and Robert Ménard's L'Homme de rêve (1991). He also composed the music for Alain Chartrand’s film Un homme de parole (1991).
Although he took part in the Montreal Francofolies in 1990 and put out his first CD, Planète coeur, in 1991 (Transit TRCD-9101), Gauthier turned his career toward television. He appeared in Arthur Leblanc’s Arthur (1991) a documentary about the Acadian
Acadian
The Acadians are the descendants of the 17th-century French colonists who settled in Acadia . Acadia was a colony of New France...
violinist Arthur Leblanc. And he also appeared in several Canadian TV series, including Chambres en ville (1989) and Bombardier (1992) a TV mini-series.
In the following years he put out four CDs: L'Agenda (1993, Transit TRCD-9105), Quebec-Love (a compilation, 1994, Gamma GCD-504), Au Temps Des Boîtes à Chansons (recordings made in 1962, and reissued in 1998), and Jardins (1998 — GSI Musique GSIC-989).
In the same year that Jardins came out, Gauthier joined younger musicians, Daniel Boucher
Daniel Boucher
Daniel Boucher may refer to:*Daniel Boucher , professor of Buddhist studies at Cornell University*Daniel Boucher , Québécois musician...
, Sabrina Bisson, and Marie-Michele Desrosiers in a concert commemorating the tenth anniversary of the death of Félix Leclerc; the concert was called Le 08-08-88 à 8h08.
In 1999, Gauthier appeared in the critically acclaimed film by Michel Brault, Quand je serai parti... vous vivrez encore (English title: The Long Winter).
In November 2000 Gauthier received the Prix Hommage of the SOCAN (Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada) for a lifetime of creativity. His 14th album L’homme qui passait par là appeared in March 2001. Following that album a concert performance by the same name (L’homme qui passait par là) was presented at the Corona Theatre in Montreal and also at the Cabaret du Capitole in Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
in March 2002. This performance included a string quartet, and host of projections from film archives as well as exceptional dramatic lighting; it underscored Gauthier's 40-year career.
Starting in 2003 a series of retrospective recordings came out, Le plus beau voyage de mes chansons 1959-1972 (GSI Musique GSIC-905) in which Gauthier reinterpreted his previous hits with a new group of musicians. And along with Daniel Boucher, Gauthier appeared in another homage to Félix Leclerc at the Fête nationale du Québec
Fête nationale du Québec
Quebec's National Holiday is celebrated annually on June 24, St. John the Baptist DayIn Quebec, the national holiday is a paid statutory public holiday covered under the Act Respecting Labour Standards...
, 2003, at the Parc Maisonneuve, Montreal. Gauthier continues to perform as a singer-songwriter and as an actor.
Recordings
- Claude Gauthier Chante Claude Gauthier (1961) — Columbia FL-284/FS-531 (V)
- Claude Gauthier (1962) — Columbia FL-295/FS-541 (V)
- Claude Gauthier (1965) — Gamma GS-101 (V)
- Claude Gauthier (1967) — Gamma GS-110 (V)
- Cerfs-volants (1969) — Gamma GS-119 (V)
- Le Plus beau voyage (1972) — Gamma GS-158 (V)
- Album-Souvenir (compilation, 1975) — Alta LT-807 (V)
- Les Grands succès de Claude Gauthier (compilation, 1975) — Gamma GS-2-1006 (V), GC2-1006 9 (K7)
- Les beaux instants (performance at the Théâtre Outremont) (1976) — Presqu'île PE-7500 (V), Transit TRCD-9104 (CD)
- Ça prend des racines (1977) — Presqu'île PE-7506 (V)
- TendresseS.O.S. (1984) — Son Hi-Fi C-184 (V)
- Collection souvenir (compilation, 1988) — DMI CS-2-6104 (CD), CS-4-6104 (K)
- Planète Coeur (1991) — Transit TRCD-9101 (CD)
- L'agenda (1993) — Transit TRCD-9105 (CD)
- Québec-Love (compilation, 1994) — Gamma GCD-504 (CD)
- Jardins (1998) — GSI Musique GSIC-989 (CD)
- Au temps des boîtes à chansons (recorded in 1962, published 1998) — Analekta AN2-7012 (CD)
- L'homme qui passait par là (2001) — GSI Musique GSIC-978 (CD)
- Collection souvenir (compilation, 2002) — Gamma AGEK-2365 (CD)
- Le plus beau voyage de mes chansons 1959-1972 (re-recordings, 2003) — GSI Musique GSIC-905 (CD)
External links
- Canadian Encyclopedia of Music (Article about Claude Gauthier in EnglishEnglish languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
) - Québec Info Musique (Article about Claude Gauthier in FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
) - Radio Canada (Biography and more about Claude Gauthier's career as an actor and a singer-songwriter in French)