The businessman who wasn’t

The documentary is called The businessman and his blues. But unlike Plamondon’s song, Gilles Talbot, the subject of the film, never wanted to be an artist.

This producer and impresario of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, who represented popular singers as well as “macrame-granola” artists, and who passed from one to the other with the ease of a feline, marked his time. He helped provide solid foundations for an industry that often operated on instinct.

As this subject appeals to me at the highest point, I plunged into this series of three episodes with great pleasure. I was not deceived. The testimonials are rich, the production is impeccable and the story, presented in the form of a puzzle, helps us to understand how Gilles Talbot and those around him were true builders.

But what makes this documentary even more interesting is that the story of this man, a former bar porter turned impresario for a host of artists, is the subject of a quest, that of his son Martin.

Martin Talbot knew his father little. Like other abandoned sons, he invented a father. Forty years after the tragic death of his father, Martin Talbot mustered his courage in both hands and tried to go beyond this shaped image in order to find out who this free, visionary, fickle, but also tough and uncompromising.

Because it must be said, Gilles Talbot had the reputation of being “tough”, “rough” and “authoritarian”. But it is also said of him that he was someone who protected his artists. “This quest allowed me to discover someone with rights,” Martin Talbot told me during an interview.

Those who don’t appreciate the current trend of placing documentarians at the heart of their film will find it difficult to use the process employed by Martin Talbot. But in this case, we must recognize that the concept required it. So we see the author, screenwriter and director going to meet people who knew his father.

In addition to the many artists that Gilles Talbot has represented (Pierre Perpall, Les Milady’s, Chantal Pary, Ginette Reno, Fabienne Thibault, Paul Piché, Gilles Vigneault and Jean-Pierre Ferland (with whom he lived the adventure of Yellow), Martin talks with his mother Nicole, first wife of Gilles Talbot, Guy Latraverse, who was a great accomplice in the creation of ADISQ, Pierre Beaudoin, an early ally, Madeleine Careau, Raphaëlle Germain, Nathalie Petrowski , Mia Dumont and others.

Over the course of the encounters, we witness the discovery of the father by the son. He experiences various emotions.

Martin Talbot was afraid to learn unpleasant things about the one who left the family nest when he was 6 years old. One evening, Gilles Talbot announced to his wife that he was going to live with Ginette Reno. “Leave it to me,” he told her. I have to leave the house. I have to succeed and it is with her that I will succeed. »

The romance between Gilles Talbot and Ginette Reno will be as brief as it is intense. The two lovers had rented an apartment next to that of Jean-Pierre Ferland. It was by hearing the sound of their antics that Ferland had the idea to write You are my love, you are my mistress. “I didn’t like that father,” says Martin Talbot.

But his meetings, particularly the one with Paul Piché, made him see another man. The creator ofHappy with a spring often met Gilles Talbot before making a career. He had the impression of wasting the great impresario’s time, but the latter told him each time how much he liked talking with this young artist. “I came away from my meeting with Paul saying to myself: ‘Ostia, I would have liked him, finally, my father.’ »

The documentary also highlights the avant-garde side of Gilles Talbot. Long before it became common practice, he organized showcases with artists he introduced to cabaret owners. It was also he who had the idea of ​​organizing the wedding of Chantal Pary and André Sylvain on a Télé-Métropole set.

The third part is in my opinion the strongest, because it tells the adventure of starmaniaa disproportionate project whose genesis is still being told today.

The way in which Gilles Talbot managed to integrate Quebec talent into this mega-show and to negotiate the production of the record with French investors is high-flying.

The last episode of course deals with the death of Gilles Talbot, in 1982, at the age of 43, when he was at the controls of a Cessna in the company of three other people, including his wife at the time. While trying to land on a runway in South Carolina one stormy evening, he confused beacons that were in the sea with those on the airstrip. The aircraft and the four bodies were never found.

After his death, his relatives discovered that Gilles Talbot did not have a penny in the bank. The one who had done big business throughout his career did not leave much. “I learned that my father was not just cash,” says Martin Talbot. And that made me happy. He wasn’t into appearances either. The people who knew him loved him with a deep love. »

Gilles Talbot’s legacy is immense. Deeply nationalist, he helped his generation and those who followed to understand that one should not be afraid of being what one is, to think big, to negotiate with one’s head held high. The episode of Quebec’s presence at the Midem de la chanson in Cannes is eloquent in this regard.

You have to watch this documentary which, surprisingly, is hosted on the Vrai platform. Through the story of Gilles Talbot, an entire section of Quebec song is told. This story is beautiful, because it is made of audacity, risk and passion. But also of survival instinct.

The businessman and his bluesstarting March 29, on True.