Canadian Masters and their Works
Gille Vigneault –Tam de delam (Collection Émergence) – 1963 
Article by Robert Thérien
Born in a tiny community on the Upper North Shore, more than a 1000 kilometres east of Montréal, Gilles Vigneault was somewhat of a late-bloomer of the musical scene. He studied literature in Québec City and started writing and publishing poems in the 50's. He became a teacher in 1954 et appeared in a children series on a local television station. Folk singer Jacques Labrecque recorded a few of his songs in 1959. But Vigneault did not sing in public until the summer of 1960 in La boîte à chanson in Quebec where he met Gaston Rochon, a musician and singer (he was a member of the vocal quartet Les collegians troubadours) who became his collaborator for over twenty years. And he had just turned 33 when his first recordings came out in February of 1962. But within 3 years, some of his songs, like “La danse à St-Dilon” and “Les gens de mon pays”, were already classics. His lyrics, although written in an impeccable style, were coloured with a lot of local expressions. The music arranged and orchestrated by Gaston Rochon told of classical and folk influences. But above all, Vigneault was a born-performer and a first-rate story teller.
Gilles Vigneault and Gaston Rochon. The team at work in the early 1960s.
See the score of one of their best-known work "Mon pays".
As the repertoire grew in size and sophistication, Gaston Rochon became more important than ever. As pianist, arranger, musical director, he was indispensable. Unfortunately, in pop music arrangers, harmonisers are almost never officially credited or recognized for their work.
Vigneault and Rochon wrote in the following two decades over 100 songs, a formidable body of work, almost on par with that of Félix Leclerc, the founder and major figure of the “chansonnier” genre. In the early 1970s, Leclerc (1914-1988) was living in semi-retirement; Vigneault was perceived by many as the likely heir to the throne of the patriarch.
Gradually, the Parisian public grew to love the “chansonnier” and he was awarded in 1970 the prestigious Prix de l'Académie Charles-Cros for his album Du milieu du pont. Vigneault kept publishing his poems throughout the 60's, as well as writing film scores; “Mon pays”, one of his most famous song, was written for a National Film Board documentary in 1965. He also wrote material for other singers, including Gilbert Bécaud, Robert Charlebois and Claude Léveillée.
In the early 70's, Vigneault founded Le Nordet, his own record company. His songs became more politically oriented as he became one of Québec's most influential cultural leaders. After a landmark show in Québec, La Superfrancofète, with Félix Leclerc and Robert Charlebois in August of 1974, Vigneault made a tour of several Canadian cities, including Ottawa, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Toronto. Vigneault was by then a national icon of Québec and was exporting its folkways and culture abroad.
Link
http://www.radio-canada.ca/radio/profondeur/vigneault