Jean-Pierre Ferland -

Jean-Pierre Ferland (June 24, 1934 – April 27, 2024) was a Québécois chanson singer-songwriter, largely active from 1958 through 1984 with albums on Select, Barclay, and Jaune. He embraced folk-psych with guitarist David Spinozza on the 1970/71 albums Jaune and Soleil, an ambitious two-record set.

Background

Jean-Pierre Ferland was born on June 24, 1934, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and grew up on rue Chambord in the Plateau-Mont-Royal district. His father, Armand Ferland, operated an automobile garage at the corner of avenue du Mont-Royal and rue Mentana, where Ferland helped alongside his brothers. His mother listened to Guy Mauffette and Jacques Normand on CKVL’s La Parade de la chansonnette française, while Ferland developed an interest in American vocalists such as Bing Crosby. He attended École supérieure Saint-Stanislas and left midway through tenth grade at age sixteen. Ferland first wrote songs at age twenty-one and subsequently took guitar lessons.

Radio-Canada hired Ferland as a messenger in 1956 and later assigned him to accounting and announcer scheduling. At the broadcaster, Ferland met radio announcer Pierre Paquette, who encouraged his songwriting and helped him develop his early material. On January 5, 1957, Ferland made his television debut on À la romance, hosted by singer Lucille Dumont. In February 1958, Ferland recorded four original songs for London Records, split across the singles “Marie-Ange la douce” (b/w “Le chasseur de baleine”) and “Tristesse et guitare” (b/w “L’amure est morte”).

Ferland made his first stage appearance at the Comédie Canadienne in January 1959 as part of Difficultés temporaires, a benefit revue for striking Radio-Canada directors. The benefit concerts connected Ferland with other Montreal singer-songwriters, including Hervé Brousseau. Ferland and Brousseau developed plans for a venue devoted to original French-language songs. They recruited Claude Léveillée, Clémence DesRochers, and Raymond Lévesque to form Les Bozos, a collective named for a song by Félix Leclerc. With pianist André Gagnon as accompanist, the singers opened Chez Bozo on May 15, 1959, above the restaurant Lutèce at 1208 rue Crescent. Ferland also recorded twelve original songs for his first album, the Music-Hall LP Jean Pierre chante ses compositions.

Discography:

Jean-Pierre (1959)
Rendez-vous à la Coda (1961)
J’estime, j’aime, j’amoure (1962)
Jean-Pierre Ferland (1962)
M’aimeras-tu ou ne m’aimeras-tu pas (1964)
Jean-Pierre Ferland vol. 4 (1965)
Jean-Pierre Ferland (1966)
Jean-Pierre Ferland vol. 5 (1966)
Jean-Pierre Ferland (1968)
Un peu plus loin (1969)
Jaune (1970)
Soleil (1971)
Les vierges du Québec (1974)
Le showbusiness (1975)
La pleine lune (1977)
Jean-Pierre Ferland (1980)
Y’a pas deux chansons pareilles (1981)
Androgyne (1984)

Sources

Jean-Pierre Ferland et Ginette Reno: Deux enfants du Plateau devenus des géants de la chanson. Pierre Trottier, Société d’histoire et de généalogie du Plateau-Mont-Royal, autumn 2013, pp. 12–13. Establishes the Chambord residence, Armand Ferland and the family garage, childhood listening, Saint-Stanislas schooling, Radio-Canada positions, Pierre Paquette connection and first stage appearance. (Historical society PDF)
Dix questions à l’artiste et son biographe. Le Journal de Québec, October 3, 2012. Ferland biographer Marc-François Bernier explicitly corrects the longstanding assertion that Ferland graduated from HEC Montréal. (Interview)
Le nostalgique heureux. Le Journal de Montréal, November 20, 2021. First-person interview in which Ferland dates his initial songwriting to age twenty-one and identifies his family background and early Radio-Canada acquaintances. (Interview)
Jean-Pierre Ferland — Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. Confirms the January 5, 1957 television appearance, February 1958 London sessions and founding members of Chez Bozo. Its schooling claim conflicts with the biographer interview. (CSHF)
Héritages idéologiques et culturels de l’Ordre de Bon Temps et de la génération de l’Hexagone dans la création du premier réseau de chansonniers au Québec. Gayle Bégin, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, 2009, pp. 34–35. Identifies the Radio-Canada strike benefits, including Difficultés temporaires at the Comédie Canadienne on January 12–14, 1959. (University thesis)
Les Bozos — Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec. Establishes the connection between the 1958–59 Radio-Canada strike and the Ferland–Brousseau initiative. (Québec heritage register)
Chez Bozo — Montréal Concert Poster Archive. Reconstructs the venue opening from contemporary Montreal newspaper advertisements and articles, including the May 14 press preview and May 15 public opening. (Concert archive)
Ferland, Jean-Pierre — AuteursCompositeurs.com. Quebec song and record discography. Identifies London singles FC-410 and FC-411 and the 1959 Music-Hall debut, catalogue 33-106, with its twelve-song tracklist. (Discography)