Two years after the Superfrancofête [fr] concert J'ai vu le loup, le renard, le lion [fr], the organisers of the celebrations for the National Holiday in 1976 (the 23 June) decided to create another giant outdoor concert. This time, the political content and the sense of identity needed to be stronger, and five singers were chosen instead of three. The members of the concert of 1974 were rapidly thrown together, each artist providing their own musicians. In 1976, an orchestra were provided, with much time for practice, collaborations, and even a collaborative composition session, which led to Chacun dit je t'aime. The concert took place twice, in Québec on the Plaines d'Abraham, on 21 June 1976 and in Montréal on Mount Royal, on 23 June 1976. Robert Charlebois and Gilles Vigneault were again part of the event, with the addition of Claude Léveillée, Jean-Pierre Ferland and Yvon Deschamps, the last a surprising inclusion, since he is known foremost as a comedian, and then a singer. The patriotism in songs like Gens du pays (sung by all five) is mostly in the songs by Vigneault, but also Charlebois' The frog song. The rocker had already performed his songs successfully two years previously, therefore he had to perform songs from his new record, Longue distance. A new version of Fu Man Chu was also performed. Charlebois also sung a duet with Léveillée on Les vieux pianos with two pianos on stage. All five contributed parts of their traditional-influenced songs in the La même gigue medley. The sound is better than on the previous album, and 1 Fois 5 is a good example of singer-songwriters from the 1970s in Québec and of the nationalism of the time.[1]
At Saint-Jean-Baptiste on 23 June 2006, France D'Amour, Anik Jean, Marjo, Andrée Watters and Marie-Hélène Fortin of the group Mes Aïeux revisited the classic songs of the five singers in a special performance marking the 30th anniversary of the 1 fois 5 concert.
Eventually, GSI Musique worked for several months on the version of the "Une fois 5" concert recording, releasing a record and video of the concert together with Radio-Québec who owned the rights to the visual aspects of the concert. The release date has been set to June 1, 2010, for the CD/DVD of this legendary concert.
Songs on record
--Disc 1--
Gens du pays / les 5
The frog song / Robert Charlebois
Il me reste un pays / Gilles Vigneault
L'étoile d'Amérique / Claude Léveillée
Aimons-nous / Yvon Deschamps
Le petit roi / Jean-Pierre Ferland
Tout l'monde est malheureux / Gilles Vigneault
Les fesses / Yvon Deschamps
Les vieux pianos / Robert Charlebois et Claude Léveillée
Mon ami J.C. / Jean-Pierre Ferland
La grande valse fofolle / Claude Léveillée
Le doux chagrin / Les 5
a) Vive les Jeux olympiques; b) J'sais pas comment, j'sais pas pourquoi / Yvon Deschamps
Chacun dit je t'aime / les 5
Ce matin un homme / Claude Léveillée
Mon ami Fidel / Robert Charlebois
Les gens de mon pays / Gilles Vigneault
Un peu plus haut, un peu plus loin / Jean-Pierre Ferland
La même gigue / les 5
Gens du pays / les 5
Songs of the concert
Gens du pays / les 5
Marie-Claire / Jean-Pierre Ferland
The frog song / Robert Charlebois
Il me reste un pays / Gilles Vigneault
L'étoile d'Amérique / Claude Léveillée
Aimons-nous / Yvon Deschamps
C'est extraordinaire (dialogue) / Les 5
Tout l'monde est malheureux / Gilles Vigneault
La grande valse fofolle / Claude Léveillée
Les fesses / Yvon Deschamps
Les vieux pianos / Robert Charlebois et Claude Léveillée
Le doux chagrin / Les 5
Mon ami Fidel / Robert Charlebois
Mon ami J.C. / Jean-Pierre Ferland
Fu Man Chu (Chu D'dans) / Robert Charlebois
Vive les jeux olympiques (monologue)/ Yvon Deschamps
J'sais pas comment, j'sais pas pourquoi / Yvon Deschamps
Le petit roi / Jean-Pierre Ferland
Ce matin un homme / Claude Léveillée
Les gens de mon pays / Gilles Vigneault
Un peu plus haut, un peu plus loin / Jean-Pierre Ferland
Présentation des musiciens / Les 5
Chacun dit je t'aime / Les 5
La même gigue / les 5
Gens du pays / les 5
Production team
Musicians – Victor Angellilo, Marcel Beauchamp, Gaston Rochon, Gilles Schetagne, Marc Bélanger, Jean-Marie Benoît, Michel Dion, Ronald Faucher, Michel Fauteux, Jean-Claude Guérard, Jean-Pierre Lauzon, Daniel Lessard, Michel Le François, Yvan Ouellet, Richard Provençal, Libert Subirana, Serge Vallières
Choir: France Castel, Louise Lemire, Louise Bédard and Margo McKinnon
Musical directors: Gaston Rochon, Marcel Beauchamp, Michel Le François, Jean-Pierre Lauzon and Yvan Ouellet
Director: The group; Artistic counselor: Jean Bissonnette
Sound: Michel Léveillée, Nick Blagona assisted by André Perry
Mixing: Nick Blagona assisted by André Perry
Studio: Fedco Audio Labs (Mobile studio), Le Studio Morin-Heighs
Original recording: Sabin Brunet, S.N.B. in 1976
Digital remastering: Bill Kipper, S.N.B. in 1991
Production: GSI Musique and Kébec Disque; executive producers: Jean Bissonnette, Jean-Claude L'Espérance, Guy Latraverse
Liner notes- Conception and graphic design: Kébec Disque; Presentation text: Lise Payette