Gilles Brown (6 February 1943 – 6 February 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter and producer from Quebec.
Biography Gilles Brown was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on 6 February 1943.
He was trained in journalism and communications.
He formed the Valentins with Pierre Laurendeau in 1962. The Valentins became somewhat popular thanks to the song "Parce que". He also had his debut as a radio announcer in 1962.
He went solo in 1964 and had his first hit with "Monsieur la basse", a French adaptation of "Mr. Bass Man" by Johnny Cymbal. He also became successful through "Ce soir", "C’est toi que j’aime", "Mon ange", "Le chef de la bande" and "Agent secret". He participated in the tour Musicorama in 1966.
Gilles Brown was one of Quebec's first yé-yé performers. He had a stable level of popularity during multiple years, but never became a great star.
He was a prolific songwriter, writing for Les Sultans and Stéphane, and making francophone adaptations of hundreds of anglophone songs for the producers Denis Pantis, Tony Roman, Guy Cloutier and Yves Martin.
He wrote the biggest hits of multiple performers in 1963–1973, including César et les Romains ("Toi et moi"), Fernand Gignac ("Ne pleure pas"), the Gendarmes ("Ne me quitte pas"), Michèle Richard ("Les boîtes à gogo") and Anne Renée ("Un amour d'adolescent"). During this same period, he also wrote for Robert Demontigny, Jenny Rock, Claire Lepage, Michel Louvain, Les Lutins, Les Milady's, Les Baronets, Les Hou-Lops, Steve Fiset, Margot Lefebvre, Tony Massarelli, Ginette Reno, Claude Stében, Johnny Farago, Patrick Zabé, Liette Lomez, Céline Lomez, François Bégin, France Castel, Jean Nichol, Dany Aubé, Nada, Donald Lautrec, Jacques Boulanger, Jacques Salvail, Jean Malo, Nicole Martin, Anne Renée, Simon and Raynald Papillon.
Between 1971 and 1973, he recorded songs in a duo with Yves Martin, some of which like "Il ne faut pas pleurer" were very successful. In the early 1980s, he returned to songwriting and wrote the texts and music of three of Claude Valade's albums. He produced the latter under the label Création. He was part of the board of directors of the SPACQ.
Brown died of cancer on 6 February 2016 in Montreal. He had spent the last years of his life managing the art galleries Clarence-Gagnon in Montreal and in Baie-Saint-Paul, which he owned since the 1980s.
Discography +SinglesYearTitle1962Apprendre à twister/Lucie1962Lise/Je peux t’aimer1963Parce que/Reviens Diane1963Hélène/Un gars sans une fille1963?Quand on est amoureux/Footsee1964Monsieur la basse/On se trouvera1964Ensemble/On n’est plus en vacances1964Ce soir/Quand celle qu’on aime sourit1964C’est la bamba/C’est toi que j’aime1965Mon ange/Ce danger, c’est moi1965Le chef de la bande/Toujours des beaux jours1965Silhouettes/Vive la liberté1966Les cloches sonnent/Adieu, bonne chance1966Agent secret/On est jeune qu’une fois1967Son nom est Lison/Elle a pleuré1967Cette fille/Il est devenu quelqu’un1967C’est pour vous que je chante/Moi j’aime les filles1967Parce que/Tu n’es plus une petite fille1968Le karaté/Ne t’en va pas1969Le grand imposteur/J’ai rêvé d’un ange1969C’est l’été qui revient/La rose et l’amour1969Ce soir/Cette fille/C’est pour vous que je chante/Agent secret1971Un souvenir/On est ben tannés1971Il ne faut pas pleurer/Non monsieur1972Il faut se dire adieu/Je t’invite à l’amour1972Alors pourquoi ne pas dire que tu m’aimes/La route est longue1972Ce soir/Pour tous les âges1973Pardonne-moi/Tant que l’on s’aimera1973Viens, viens/Prends mon coeur1973Ciao, ciao Maria/Je ne pourrai plus oublier1974Parce que/Diane1978Ce soir/C’est pour vous que je chante1978C’est toi que j’aime/Mon ange1984Les enfants/Si +AlbumsYearTitle1963Les Valentins1964Voici Gilles Brown1965C’est toi que j’aime1967Agent secret196815 disques d’or1969Gilles Brown: 15 succès1969Ce soir1972Yves Martin et Gilles Brown1973Il faut se dire adieu1974Yves Martin et Gilles Brown: disque d’or197421 disques d’or2000C'est pour vous que je chante
References