A large number of artists remain active and undeniably relevant after 80 years. The duty went to meet them to understand the secret of their longevity. And their vitality. To simply listen to them. Third text in the series.
He has rubbed shoulders with the entire roster of the Union of Artists since 1959. A conversation with Claude Gauthier takes us back to a career spanning 65 years with countless side roads. It’s about song, life and love, but also the October crisis, the renewed energy of the Parti Québécois and Buffy Sainte-Marie — “an authentic Aboriginal woman”, according to him. We even talked about the deer’s strategy to protect themselves against wolves.
On the phone, the 84-year-old singer’s voice is hoarse. And cheerful. He enjoys good health, but carries a cold that never ends, no doubt thanks to his grandsons who attend daycare. “A daycare is a nest of germs, but I’m so lucky: I’m a gaga grandpa,” he says, smiling (a smile, you can hear it).
We join him at his chalet in the Hautes-Laurentides, where he shares his time with his apartment in Montreal. He loves observing the deer sleeping in herds near the house: “They know that wolves don’t come near inhabited areas, because they fear humans. »
Claude Gauthier is preparing to blow out 85 candles on January 31, surrounded by his two sons, his two grandchildren and his wife, Suzanne — they have been married since 1963. The secret of lasting love? “There may be no recipe. In life, we are made to live together or we are not made to live together. There’s a lot of luck in that. It’s love, it’s friendship. And it’s beautiful. »
The poet and actor has sung a lot about love and the unfinished country of Quebec in his 21 albums, the last of which was released last summer. He has also starred in 23 films or series, including the classic of classics, Orders, by Michel Brault, in 1974. Claude Gauthier plans to enter the studio next month to prepare a Christmas mini-album. In the meantime, he is releasing a song dedicated to lovers on February 9, in anticipation of Valentine’s Day.
“If the stream flows / Into the water of the river / Then I throw myself / Into your wide open arms”, he sings in Symbiosis, composed on November 23, 2023. The tone recalls Jean Ferrat, one of the giants he met over the years, in Paris or in Quebec. Gauthier recognizes it: his songs remain timeless. It has rarely been “in fashion”. And he doesn’t care.
The passion of a lifetime
Claude Gauthier has “done it all”, literally, since his first success, The sun will shine tomorrow, which earned him the 1959 song contest at radio station CKVL in Verdun. He had a string of successes, including The big six footer And The most beautiful journey. Without pretension, the artist traces the thread of a “happy life” which spans nearly a century.
When he was 12, his mother asked him what he wanted to do when he grew up. He knew it without a shadow of a doubt: “Write songs like Félix Leclerc. » His mother ordered a $17 guitar from the Eaton’s catalog. He taught himself to play three chords, “like the cowboys”.
“Since then, I have never stopped writing songs. It’s been my life. I always want to write. It’s more than pleasure, it’s a passion that doesn’t want to die and keeps me alive,” he says.
“I went to bed at night and wrote a few lines. The next morning, with coffee, the first thing that excites me is to go and reread what I have written. »
Brel, Ferré and him
The author of Tall six feet was the first “French Canadian”, as they said at the time, to sign with Columbia in 1961, before Vigneault, Léveillée and Pauline Julien. Since it is a question of his friend Pauline, he remembers an evening at Square Saint-Louis, with the singer and her husband Gérald Godin: a certain Leonard Cohen had sung Suzanne with his guitar.
Gauthier played twice at L’Olympia de Paris, but gave up a career in France. “Paris scared me too much. I felt very small in the face of all that,” he says.
Abandoning his French dream did not prevent him from meeting all the greats of song, including Brel, Ferré, Moustaki and Bécaud. He was sitting on a piano bench next to Aznavour when the latter hummed Shirt pencil case for one of the first times.
Gauthier even adapted a Buffy Sainte-Marie song into French which was covered (in English) by Elvis Presley. “If the snoreau had sung a line in French, I would be rich today thanks to the copyright! » he says, laughing.
He developed a professional friendship with Buffy Sainte-Marie, whose Indigenous identity was called into question in a CBC investigation. She removed references to her Cree origins from her website. The controversy does not change anything in the esteem he has for his friend, whom he met during each of his appearances at the Montreal Jazz Festival.
The scar of 1970
He’s like that, Claude Gauthier. His friends are never far from his thoughts. The singer had six representatives of the “law enforcement” visit his home during the October crisis. Three civilians (armed) knocked on the back door, and three police officers on the front door.
“They tell us: “Sit down, we have the right to search.” They searched and found nothing. I was a little sad not to find myself in prison with my friends Pauline Julien, Gérald Godin, Michel Chartrand and 450 other people,” says Claude Gauthier.
After the events, he received a call from Michel Brault, who had given him a role in the film Between the sea and fresh waterin 1967. He offered him a character inspired by his misadventure of October 1970 in Orders, which won the Best Director award at Cannes. Claude Gauthier’s acting career was launched.
He remains bitter toward the federal government. He is delighted with the rise of the Parti Québécois, a pure product of his generation. “Will Quebecers one day want independence? I do not know. But there are no bandits in this party. I still believe in that sincerity. »
The author of Most beautiful trip kept his verve. “I still believe in it: I am Quebec, dead or alive. »