Jean-Pierre Ferland

Jean-Pierre Ferland is one of the great singer/songwriter Quebec has produced, second only to Félix Leclerc and Gilles Vigneault. First a singer/songwriter in the French tradition of Léo Ferré and Georges Moustaki, he turned to art pop/rock in the early '70s, releasing his most-acclaimed albums (Jaune, 1970; Soleil, 1971). His inspiration watered down in the late '70s, so he turned to television work. After some time out of the spotlight, he came back to music in the mid -'90s, releasing the career-crowning Écoute Pas Ça in 1995 and enjoying a renewed relationship with a wider public ever since. Ferland was the first Quebec singer/songwriter to sing about the woman as a source of eroticism (leaving the housewife prototype behind). Ferland (born June 24, 1934) worked as an accountant before joining the news service of the Société Radio Canada (the French-Canadian public radio/television) in 1956. At that time he started taking guitar lessons and writing songs. Two years later, he quit his job and recorded his first sides. In May 1959, together with a group of other songwriters, he opened Chez Bozo, the first folk cabaret in Montreal. It became an important venue, attracting French singers, and was instrumental in establishing his standing. Between 1959 and 1969, Ferland released nine LPs of songs in the style of French chanson. Some of them were recorded in Paris, as early on Ferland enjoyed an important following there. His ease on-stage, crooner attitude, and occasionally a bit naughty lyrics endeared him to the press. His eighth record, eponymous, contained the song "Je Reviens Chez Nous," one of the classics of the French-speaking world. Yet, something was wrong. A youngster, Robert Charlebois, who had started as a folk singer and admitted being at first inspired by...