Lasting Weep

Lasting Weep was a Québécois chamber-rock quartet, active from 1968 to 1972 in Montreal. They recorded an album of studio material and spawned Maneige. In 1976, bandleader Jérôme Langlois regrouped Lasting Weep for three live shows documented on Le spectacle de l’albatros.

Members: Jérôme Langlois (guitar, keyboards, clarinet), Alain Bergeron (flute, saxophone, vocals), Claude Chapleau (bass, violoncello, guitar), Mathieu Léger (drums, percussion, piano, vocals)

Background

Lasting Weep formed in 1968 in Montreal when guitarist-keyboardist Jérôme Langlois and flutist Alain Bergeron formed a quartet with bassist Claude Chapleau and drummer Mathieu Léger. The four teenagers derived the group name from “Chanson d’automne,” the 1866 poem by French Symbolist writer Paul Verlaine. Langlois and Léger studied at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, where they met percussionist Gilles Schetagne.

As their musical training advanced, they moved from jazz and blues covers toward originals. In 1969, they accepted film-cue assignments and used excess studio time to document Lasting Weep material. Léger invited Schetagne to augment the quartet at Galerie Café and Collège Brébeuf.

On July 31, 1970, Lasting Weep played the Woodstock Pop Festival de Manseau, where the quartet performed to several thousand spectators amid widespread cancellations from the advertised bill. The group continued club and college appearances across the Montreal area. In November 1971, Lasting Weep opened for King Crimson at Cégep de Saint-Laurent in Montreal.

Meanwhile, Langlois commenced a long-form work L’Albatros, unfinished at the time of Lasting Weep’s 1972 breakup. Langlois and Bergeron continued as a duo with pieces titled “Le Rafiot” and “Les Aventures de Saxinette et Clarophone.” They formed Maneige with Schetagne, bassist Yves Léonard and percussionist Paul Picard.

Langlois completed L’Albatros as he left Maneige in early 1976 and reunited the four Lasting Weep members for three performances between February 28 and March 1 at the Bibliothèque nationale du Québec in Montreal. Lasting Weep performed as part of an expanded seventeen-member ensemble with members of Maneige and musicians from the surrounding Quebec progressive scene. The multimedia production also incorporated mime and theatrical staging.

Lasting Weep recorded the three Bibliothèque shows, released three decades later courtesy of archivists ProgQuébec, which recovered the concert masters along with the earlier studio and live tapes, then assembled the material into two archival CDs for a March 2007 release.

Discography:

• Lasting Weep (1969-1971) (2007)
• Le spectacle de l’albatros (2007, recorded 1976)

Sources

• Jérôme Langlois official site — Lasting Weep: firsthand identification of the Manseau lineup as Langlois, Bergeron, Chapleau, and Léger; Langlois dates the performance to July 31, 1970 and recalls the group as eighteen-year-olds. (Jérôme Langlois)
• Gilles Schetagne official site — Beginnings: firsthand account of meeting Mathieu Léger at the Conservatoire and guesting with Lasting Weep on percussion at Galerie Café and Collège Brébeuf. (Gilles Schetagne)
• Gilles Schetagne official site — Maneige: firsthand account of the 1972 Lasting Weep division and the subsequent recruitment of Yves Léonard, Schetagne, and Paul Picard into Maneige. (Gilles Schetagne)
• Jérôme Langlois / FamilleRock interview: preserves Langlois recollections about Manseau, his withdrawal from Lasting Weep, the Bergeron duo material, and the February 28–March 1, 1976 L’Albatros production. (FamilleRock.Com)
• Mondo P.Q. — Festival Pop de Manseau: detailed reconstruction of the troubled festival; confirms Lasting Weep as one of the Quebec groups that actually performed on July 31. (Mondo P.Q.)
• Qobuz history of Quebec progressive rock: independently places the King Crimson support at Collège/Cégep Saint-Laurent in November 1971 and the breakup in 1972. (Qobuz)
• ProgQuébec biography preserved by NTS: source for the Verlaine name origin, early cover repertoire, soundtrack-related studio access, 1969 recordings, and later recovery of the masters. (NTS Radio)
• Apple Music / Musique ProgresSon: dates Le spectacle de l’Albatros to March 27, 2007 and identifies Musique ProgresSon as copyright holder. (Apple Music – Web Player)