Warm reunion in the Radio-Canada cafeteria. We must have been dating for well over thirty years, as the dedicated Beatles fans that we are. On October 6, Gilles Valiquette presents his album, brand new (it smells new), a surprise gift from this abnormally caressing autumn. Back to Songs for Coffee : that’s the title, very simple and explicit. It is in fact an anniversary rework of Valiquette’s first album, new versions with guests. Original model extra. We get two CDs, a 33 rpm disc and 23 large pages to tell everything, show it, and dive into the story as needed.
Gilles Valiquette smiles. Not unhappy. Not euphoric either: he always had the discreet joy of the craftsman. Recognizable, important in the landscape, aware of his place, but never too focused on the brilliance of stardom. Let’s dare the image: he never had the glasses he needed to stand tall, unlike Elton John. Gilles has glasses to see better, that’s all. And there is plenty to see. We admire the object together for a few moments. And first this cover photo! A coffee placed on a glorious worn copy of Songs for a coffee, 1973 edition. Tenderness of the wink. This album has toured so much!
Enough to celebrate it. “It wasn’t my idea to begin with,” he explains. “I didn’t even think about it, the fifty years since the release. It’s here gang from La Cordonnerie who approached me. » So many local singer-songwriters were influenced by this album and mention it again and again. This disc and that of the Séguin (on which Valiquette was the lead guitarist), released a few days apart in April 1973, paved the way for Harmonium, Beau Dommage and company, the whole beautiful host of melodists, Norman guitar A shoulder strap. “That’s true, I think, but I wasn’t making a big deal out of it. I like it moderately, the remasterings, the duet albums, the tributes. »
From model to album
“Do something, okay, but what? » The only good argument, beyond the accolades, was artistic. THE Songs for a coffee from 1973 was not a real album. “It was a model, with a little clothing. I was an accompanying guitarist, and I had songs, I was looking for performers. It was René Letarte, ex-bassist of Bel Canto at the time, friend and collaborator, who said to me while listening to the model: “You should release this.” Oh come on ! I had treated myself to two days of studio time, in the little free time between the Séguin album and the rest of the tours where I accompanied Jacques Michel. »
It’s wonderful to hear the multitrack tape of this guitar-voice model, in addition to the anniversary program of Back to Songs for Coffee. Model refused by all the record companies: “They told me that I sang flatly, that I didn’t have the look…” Still, it’s damn good, already. Zero vision, blocked ears, these gentlemen from showbiz. It’s ringing ! ” Yes, it’s true. It was my first goal. The thing is that the sound recording was of quality, done with good microphones, in a good studio, very professionally. It was missing instrumentation, that’s all. » A seasoned guitarist, with intense music lessons, Gilles was ready. “My first professional recording session was The Northern Train, with the Séguins. I quickly had a good name as a musician. »
They sing and play Songs for a coffee, the Séguins. And we find them in 2023, in the studio with their unwavering friend. Marie-Claire Séguin, who no longer sings in public, made an exception for Gilles. Let’s see: everyone is there. Jacques Michel, Louis Valois and Monique Fauteux of Harmonium, René Letarte, Daniel Lavoie, up to François Pérusse and Normand Brathwaite. So to speak: the conventum of a generation. “It’s in my nature, I think. In the 1970s, headliners from bands that didn’t mix that often would get together in the studio with me. »
The macaroon of blessing
In promotion of Songs for a coffee, a button (a “badge”) had been pinned on many jean jackets, quoting the title song’s bridge: “God bless all these long hair / God bless all these songs / God bless this generation”. A macaroon for this Back to Songs for Coffee could well give the unifier his due: “May this generation bless Gilles Valiquette! »
I simply took the opportunity to play again with my friends, with my son Louis, and even with Patrick Norman
Even Véronique Sanson is there. At the very least his song As I imaginegrafted to the 1973 song, Dear Véronique, as a postscript to a love story that also deserves its anniversary. “I fell in love with the image of Véronique Sanson, with her voice. René Letarte and I did everything to impose it on the radio. André Rhéaume, another former member of the groups, an ex-Bel-Air who became a host at CHOM, agreed at our insistence to run In love. Warner sold 50,000 copies! » Gilles Valiquette giggles. “I was better at helping others!” »
He didn’t listen again Songs for a coffee before re-recording everything, with the help of Marc Pérusse and Ghyslain-Luc Lavigne, in four studios, according to everyone’s availability. “I didn’t want to compare. Nor reproduce identically. I simply took the opportunity to play again with my friends, with my son Louis, and even with Patrick Norman for an instrumental piece for two guitars, which we called Passages. If there’s a celebration, it’s there. » The songs have stood the test of time, and so have the friendships. “That’s the main thing, for me. We are bound. »