Song:Conception
Album:Tout Ecartille
Though mostly unknown in English speaking countries, Robert Charlebois is a pioneer of Quebec rock music. He has been at the forefront of the Quebec music scene since the 60s and has been very durable as he reinvents himself occasional. He has also done acting and owned a brewery in the 90s. He was born June 25, 1944 in Montreal. He took piano lessons as a teen and taught himself guitar. He started out in Montreal folk music clubs in the early 60s. His 1965 debut album was compared favourably to French music legends Jacques Brel and Georges Brassens. In 1968 he went to California and experienced flower power and psychedelia first hand. When he returned home, he wasn't a folk singer anymore. His 1968 album Charlebois reflected that. His music experiments went a little overboard but by the early 70s, he toned it down a bit and his music had elements of rock and folk. Conception is from his 1972 album Robert Charlebois (aka Fu Man Chu) and was a hit in Quebec and France. It is considered one of the cornerstone albums of Quebec music. Charlebois faded in the late 70s and turned to acting in films and on the stage. But he reinvented himself in the 80s as a pop crooner and continues to record occasionally today. He also owned the microbrewery Unibroue which he sold to Sleeman in 2004. I have wanted to feature Charlebois before but his music can be difficult to find as the rights are split up at several record companies. Unidisc was able to put this 4CD comp together and it's reasonably priced. Robert Charlebois was named to the Order Of Canada in 1999 and was honoured with a postage stamp in 2009. Here's Robert Charlebois performing Conception on the French TV show Discorama 1972. This video is not on Youtube.
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