A father who died in the crash of the Cessna he was piloting. A son who, so to speak, never knew this father. The quest of the son who wants to know who this father was “before it is too late”. Not enough to justify a series of three one-hour programs, a priori. 1960s until his death in 1982. And Martin, the younger of his two sons, happens to be an author, screenwriter and director.
And it happens above all that the quest for the son is also ours: unlike a Guy Latraverse, an Alain Simard or a René Angélil, who knew how not to forget themselves in the photo or in the he history, the tale of the extraordinary career of the equally essential Gilles Talbot did not long survive the man. After the obvious tribute to the ADISQ gala (which he had co-founded, all the same), Gilles Talbot falls into more than relative oblivion. Even in search engines. Martin shows it well, there is almost nothing. No archives there either.
No need for a complex scenario to make the quest fascinating: it is. The simplicity of the approach was essential. We therefore follow Martin Talbot on the screen, who, from clue to clue, from discovery to discovery, from overlap to overlap, will go so far as to reconstruct a coherent course in the maze of revelations. And the more we advance with him, the more we understand that indeed, one hour of documentary would not have been enough for the investigator, the guide and the narrator.
From Pierre Perpall to Serge Turbide, from Chantal Pary to Ginette Reno…
So it begins with two scrapbooks by Ginette Reno bought on Kijiji from a certain… Pierre Perpall. Which naturally leads Martin to the singer Pierre Perpall in question, the “Quebecois James Brown”, one of the first artists whose career Gilles Talbot managed from 1968. Perpall has a whole lot of photos and d anecdotes. And don’t be asked to go for a few slides on the air‘I Got You (I Feel Good). We quickly understand that Martin Talbot puts everyone at ease. Son on a mission and friendly pro.
After Pierre Perpall? Serge Turbide and his “rubber legs”. Gilles Talbot’s first clients were ” novelty acts ” of the song. Everything is good to make them known. Invent a (brief) love story between Turbide and Chantal Pary? Why not (later, he will have the idea of arranging the televised marriage between the same Chantal and André Sylvain)! Follow Martin Talbot’s gaze: “She was the most popular singer at that time, after Ginette Reno. Ginette, of which Gilles will be the manager, and then….
On the cover photo of a 33 laps by Dany Aubé, we see children in a merry-go-round. Here’s Martin at three years old, looking like he’s wondering what he’s doing here. “He never wanted you to be on camera,” his mother told him. Family and personal history is never far away. And neither does Ginette Reno. The Talbot son meets our national Ginette at her home: he is impressed, who isn’t? But for him, it’s a rare opportunity to get closer to his father. Ginette and Gilles, quite a story. These two, we first see them on black and white film in London, when Ginette tries out the English-speaking market, pushed by Gilles.
The story and its underside
The story will thicken. The son prepares us for it. “I know that my father was very discreet about his life. I really don’t know if he would approve of my approach. “We, yes, of course. From club bouncer to artist manager, from co-founder of Kébec-Disc with Guy Latraverse to first president of ADISQ, he was not only the engine of great song machines (the Yellow de Ferland, as witnessed by the late Michel Robidoux), but an imposing character, with a more than obvious charisma: there was not much resistance to him. “There was good sexyyour father”, whispers Ginette to Martin while looking at a framed photo of Gilles on his Harley “that he had picked up in New York”.
All this in the first of three hours of the series, and we are still far from the blues in the life of the businessman. The following ? Martin invites us there. “I’m sure I’ll find out a bit more about his story. Our history. And her underwear.