Pop Montreal | Beverly Glenn-Copeland: A Career in Chiaroscuro

The name Beverly Glenn-Copeland probably doesn’t mean much to you. Yet it’s the most beautiful story of musical resurrection since “Sugarman” Rodriguez. And this story begins in Montreal…

A difficult start to the interview. We had been warned that Beverly Glenn-Copeland, 80, was tired, and he had asked us to send our questions in advance, which we did without complaint… even though it is against house policy.

Our goal was to revisit the career of this atypical singer, little known to the general public. But his wife and agent Elizabeth, who insists on being present for the interview (we will understand later why…), lets us know that it would be better to limit ourselves to current projects, starting with the show scheduled for this Thursday at the Pop Montreal festival.

In the process, we learn that the concert will involve nine musicians and singers. That there will be a choir. Guests. And that the couple almost bought a house in the Laurentians a few years ago, before falling back on Hamilton, Ontario, from where he is calling us by Zoom, live from his balcony.

After this unexpected detour, we still manage to return to our initial game plan, emphasizing to our interlocutors that the past can sometimes shed light on the present, especially when the person concerned has had such a particular journey, with ramifications as far as Quebec.

It should be noted that Beverly Glenn-Copeland’s musical career began in our metropolis. According to Wikipedia, the American-born trans singer was one of the first black people to study at McGill University in the mid-1960s, when his first name was Beverly. As far as we know, the artist was not very well regarded by the institution, due to his transgender issues.

But he nevertheless has fond memories of Quebec, where he recorded his first album in 1970 on the CBC label, a gem of folk jazz in the vein of Joni Mitchell and Tim Buckley, which unfortunately did not find its audience.

From failures to rediscovery

Transplanted back to Toronto, Beverly Glenn-Copeland recorded an excellent second album in 1971 with jazzmen Lenny Breau, Jeremy Steig and Doug Riley. But the record also fell into the ditch, due to its unclassifiable side. “There was this guy at Sam the Record Man who loved this album. He wanted to put it in his store. The problem was, there was no category corresponding to my music. So he didn’t sell any of it,” the singer-songwriter says with a laugh.

Beverly Glenn-Copeland then kept a long silence on the recording scene. This did not prevent her from continuing to compose confidentially, from collaborating with other musicians (including folk musician Bruce Cockburn), from writing songs for Sesame Street and play a recurring character in the children’s series Mr. DressupCanadian-English equivalent of Bobino Or Passe-Partout.

Released on cassette in 1986, the album Keyboard Fantasies marks a turning point in the singer’s career. He now tends towards a kind of lyrical new-age pop song, inspired by his practice of Buddhism and based on the use of synthesizers. The result is luminous. Like its predecessors, the album unfortunately goes into the butter and its author remains in obscurity… at least until the reissue of Keyboard Fantasies in 2016 on a small Canadian label, which marks the beginning of his rehabilitation.

This time, Beverly Glenn-Copeland is not going unnoticed. He is making a strong impression on a new generation of trendy music lovers, who are discovering his deeply touching voice, carrying “hope, compassion and wonder”, according to the reference site Allmusic.

At 70 years old and counting, his career is experiencing a second wind, similar to that of Sixto Rodriguez, who came back to life in 2012 thanks to the film SugarmanGlenn Copeland’s rehabilitation will result, among other things, in the reissue of his old records, the release of a compilation (Transmission), the production of a documentary on its history (The Story of Beverly Glenn Copeland), numerous shows, a Polaris Prize in 2020 and the release of a new album in 2023 (The Ones Ahead), his first since 2004! To top it all off, the artist has since made his transition official, paving the way for trans artists who now occupy the pop scene, including Anhoni, ex-Anthony and the Johnsons, an achievement in itself.

Passing the torch

Beverly Glenn-Copeland’s “resurrection” is probably due to the calming and therapeutic virtues of his songs, commodities so sought after in our anxious times. When asked how he manages to remain so optimistic despite the surrounding darkness, he answers that “carrying this torch” is his responsibility, and that he must show the way to the younger ones.

To hear Elizabeth tell it, it’s likely that this concert will be Beverly Glenn-Copeland’s last in Montreal. “Touring is really tough,” she says, describing it as a stage “swan field” for the octogenarian.

The latter, moreover, does not seem to lack projects, since he is currently working on the development of a musical comedy, writing a book and a collaboration with the English singer Sam Smith for a compilation dedicated to the trans community (release scheduled for the end of October). Beverly Glenn-Copeland also confides that he has completed a creative cycle, since his new songs will now be without words – but not without voices. “I have reached the end of the words,” he says.

The end of the words? Not quite. Discreet throughout the interview – steered with a benevolent iron fist by his wife – the singer asks to end the conversation. He approaches the camera and then praises his partner, as if to excuse her demands and interventions. “I have to tell you that I could not have done this interview without her,” he says. “For me, it becomes more complicated. So I insist: it is thanks to Elizabeth that I was able to speak to you…”

Noted.

Beverly Glenn-Copeland, Thursday, September 26, 7:45 p.m., at the Rialto Theater, as part of Pop Montreal

Check out the event page

Pop Montreal: the programmer’s choices

More than a hundred artists will perform at the Pop Montréal festival, from September 25 to 29. How to find your way around? Dan Seligman, the event’s programmer, offers a few suggestions.

Iris DeMent

A discreet folk legend, in the vein of Allison Krauss and Gillian Welsh. “I think she deserves more attention. She’s made some of the best records in the genre in at least three decades,” says Dan Seligman. A rare Montreal visit for this American sexagenarian.

Rialto, September 25, 8 p.m.

Fake Real

New wave? Pop? Eurodance? Electrotrash? Seligman prefers to call it an “offbeat boy band”. We’re told that this would be their first concert in Canada.

Piccolo Rialto, September 26, 11 p.m.

Claire Rousay

Experimental, ambient, pop, with vocoder, musique concrète, sound archives, fluidity of genres, in every sense of the word. “A demanding and captivating music.”

Rialto Hall, September 27, 10 p.m.

Edith Nylon

Cult group of the French new wave of the 1980s. What more can we add?

Sala Rossa, September 28, 8 p.m.

Rosario Chameleon

Performative underground pop inspired by Berlin and Maniwaki, with a moustache to boot. “One of the most interesting local artists,” according to the chief programmer.

Casa del Popolo, September 26, 8:15 p.m.

Visit the Pop Montreal website