SONG OF THE DAY

“Les Gens de Mon Pays” by Gilles Vigneault (Mets Donc Tes Plus Belles Chansons ensembles, GSI Musique, 1986).

INTERESTING FACTS (from wikipedia)

РGilles Vigneault is a Qu̩b̩cois poet, publisher and singer-songwriter, and well-known Quebec nationalist and sovereigntist.

– He was one of the principal figures of the generation of chansonniers who helped the Quebec chanson find its own identity, even while helping it find a universal dimension.

– In August 1960, at the request of the audience at the boîte à chansons L’Arlequin in Quebec City, he agreed to sing his earliest song: Jos Monferrand, written in 1957, which had been recorded by Jacques Labrecque in 1959. This was the beginning of his singing career which culminated in 1962, when he received the Grand prix du disque from Montreal radio station CKAC. His reputation grew in Quebec and elsewhere with the success of his song Mon Pays, from the sound track of the NFB film La neige a fondu sur la Manicouagan (1965).

– In the last half of the 1960s, Vigneault started to perform outside of Quebec, notably in France, but also elsewhere in Canada, including appearances at the Mariposa Folk Festival and at Massey Hall, in Toronto.

– The mid-1970s saw Vigneault’s participation in several major events. On 13 August 1974 130,000 spectators came together on the Plains of Abraham for the Superfrancofête, where Vigneault participated in an historic concert alongside Félix Leclerc, a representative, in a way, of the older generation, and Robert Charlebois, of the younger generation. A highpoint of the concert was the threesome’s rendition of Raymond Lévesque’s powerful Quand les hommes vivront d’amour.

– On 24 June 1975, during a Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day concert on Montreal’s Mount Royal, Vigneault sang for the first time Gens du pays, a song which has since become a sort of anthem in Quebec.

– In 1976, the Ensemble Claude Gervaise recorded an album of Vigneault’s music entitled Tout l’monde est malheureux: “Claude Gervaise” Joue Vigneault.

– Vigneault has received a number of honorary doctorates including: Trent (1975), Université du Québec à Rimouski (1979), and Université de Montréal (1981).

– Vigneault has received numerous awards and honours: Prix Félix-Leclerc for the song “Mon pays” (1965), Governor General’s Award for French language poetry or drama (1965), Prix de musique Calixa-Lavallée (1966), Grand Prix du Disque of the Charles Cros Academy, Paris (in 1970 for Du milieu du pont; in 1984 for two recordings for children: Les Quatre saisons de Piquot and Quelques pas dans l’univers d’Éviola), Molson Prize (1982), Prix Denise-Pelletier conferred by the Quebec government (1983), Jacques-Blanchet medal (1987), Vermeil medal of the City of Paris (1990), Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards – Lifetime Artistic Achievement (1993), Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (2006), and is a Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec (2000), Knight of the Légion d’honneur (1986), and Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (1990).