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LEGENDARY QUÉBÉCOIS SINGER-SONGWRITER FÉLIX LECLERC – 50th ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF “L’ALOUETTE EN COLÈRE” OFFICIALLY RELEASING ON JUNE 9

INCLUDES PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED DEMOS OF SONGS FROM 1973 ALBUM

 

“L’ALOUETTE EN COLÈRE (DEMO 1971)” AVAILABLE NOW

 

Download Media Assets HERE

 

21 APRIL 2023 (TORONTO, ON) – Félix Leclerc, the late Québécois singer-songwriter, poet, writer, and political activist, will be honoured with the forthcoming release of L’alouette en colère (Édition Anniversaire) on June 9. Today, a previously unreleased demo of the title track recorded in 1971, “L’alouette en colère”, becomes available on all digital platforms.

 

In the song “L’alouette en colère”, the legendary Félix Leclerc used the traditional folk idiom to comment on a civil rights issue of the era: the October crisis of 1970. A raw version of the record has officially been released as part of the upcoming anniversary project.

 

LISTEN TO “L’ALOUETTE EN COLÈRE (DEMO 1971)” HERE

 

PRE-ORDER L’ALOUETTE EN COLÈRE (ANNIVERSARY EDITION) HERE

 

Arriving on the 50th anniversary of the release of the album L’alouette en colère, the latest edition of the project includes all the original songs as we know and love them, as well as previously unreleased demos of iconic tracks including “Viendra-t-elle aujourd’hui”, “Les 100,000 façons de tuer un homme”, and more.

 

The project has been coordinated by the Félix-Leclerc Foundation under the blessing of Nathalie Leclerc, the singer-songwriter’s daughter and direct heir.

 

“I remember at the time, ‘L’alouette en colère’ marked an important turning point in my father’s professional and personal life,” says Nathalie Leclerc about the anniversary re-release. “Marked by the October crisis, he took a stand on the future of the Québécois people.”

 

The full album will be released on June 9 with more unreleased demos and additional material.

 

L’alouette en colère (Édition Anniversaire) Tracklisting: 

  1. L’alouette en colère
  2. Viendra-t-elle aujourd’hui 
  3. My Neighbour is Rich
  4. La légende du petit ours gris
  5. Un soir de février
  6. Batelier, batelier
  7. Les 100,000 façons de tuer un homme
  8. Races de monde
  9. La mouche à feu (La luciole)
  10. Pour bâtir une maison
  11. Tu t’en iras demain

 

Bonus Tracks:

  1. Viendra-t-elle aujourd’hui (Demo 1971)
  2. Races de monde (Demo 1971)
  3. L’alouette en colère (Demo 1971)
  4. Les 100,000 façons de tuer un homme (Demo 1971, Prise 1)
  5. Les 100,000 façons de tuer un homme (Demo 1971, Prise 2)
  6. Un soir de février (Demo 1971)

 

ABOUT FÉLIX LECLERC:

In Québec, during the 1940s, a new type of artist appeared: the chansonnier (folksinger). Félix Leclerc, OC GOQ (August 2, 1914 – August 8, 1988) was a published writer who set his poems to music, giving them a new life. Song content and lyrics became vitally important for Leclerc and his new audience. Leclerc played a major role in revitalizing the Québécois folk song tradition.

 

Leclerc was a French-Canadian singer-songwriter, poet, writer, actor, and Québécois political activist.

 

In the early 1950s, Leclerc signed a recording contract with Polydor Records and recorded for them, and Philips, until the late 1970s.

 

Leclerc was the father of three children: photographer and cameraman Martin Leclerc, film director Francis Leclerc, and Nathalie Leclerc, first general and artistic director of l’Espace Félix-Leclerc and vice-president of the Fondation Félix-Leclerc. He died in his sleep in Saint-Pierre-de-l'Île-d'Orléans, Québec in 1988. A monument in his memory was constructed there in 1989. The house which he occupied from 1956 to 1967 is also a museum in his honour in Vaudreuil-Dorion, west of Montréal.

 

In 2003, Leclerc was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. He was designated a “historical figure” by the Québec government in 2014, on the 100th anniversary of his birth. This designation testifies to the influence the artist exerted in the history of the province. With all his work, he participated in shaping the collective identity of the Québécois. Premier Pauline Marois stated at the time: “Félix Leclerc was proud to be a Québécois, and he embodied this pride in an eloquent way, putting it into songs and passing it onto his fellow citizens.”

 

Leclerc became a national figure and was a strong voice for Québec independence. Several parks, roads, and schools in Québec have been named in his honour. Since 1979, the Félix Awards, given to Québecois recording artists, are named after him. In 1999, the Government of Canada honoured him with a postage stamp. His semi-autobiographical novel Pieds nus dans l’aube was adapted by his son, filmmaker Francis Leclerc, as the 2017 film Barefoot at Dawn.

 

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