| |
Le Pouvoir des Fleurs
Je ne sais pas pourquoi / Va t'en chez toi - 7"
Sonore - 1968
Michael Panontin
|
It is probably to no one's surprise that a band with a name like Le Pouvoir des Fleurs came into existence in 1967. But what many may not know is that the roots of this Quebec group actually go back a few years to the town of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, about a half-hour ride to the southeast of Montreal. It was there that bass player Rene Labelle and a few friends - singer Jean-Marc LaHaye, guitarists Evasio Massignanie and Fernand Page, organist Mario Landry and drummer Pierre Beauregard - got together as Les Consuls, spending the next half-decade or so performing on Saturday nights at the local dance halls.
As the lads got more professional, they managed to grab the attention of the music hustlers up in Montreal. Eventually, they connected with ex-Cesar et les Romains Maurice Belanger, who would take over as their new manager and eventually score the band - now a five-piece and newly rechristened as Le Pouvoir des Fleurs - a one-off deal with the budding Sonore imprint.
That disc, the insanely obscure 'Je ne sais pas pourquoi' with the excellent 'Va t'en chez toi' over on the backside (though some sites have them reversed), was released in 1968. 'Je ne sais pas pourquois' sports some nifty rhythm guitar work, a cheesy organ and an inexplicable reference to 'Frere Jacques', while the terser - and equally catchy - 'Va t'en chez toi', with its lithe harmonies, seems to cop a few ideas from the Outsiders' 'Time Won't Let Me'.
Though Sonore releases in any condition can be devilishly hard to come by these days, near-mint copies of this one can still be had for under a hundred bucks. ('Va t'en chez toi' was comped in 1993 on Dog Wild's superfine Rumble - Quebec Garage Beat 66-67 LP.)
|
|
Suggestions
Les Talmud
Avoir raison / Un autre ami - 7"
Sonore
Les Loups Blancs
Je sais que tu mens b/w Sylvianne - 7"
Sonore
Intersystems
Free Psychedelic Poster Inside
(independent)
Grant Smith and the Power
Thinkin' About You / You Got What I Want - 7"
MGM
The Poppy Family
Beyond the Clouds / Free from the City - 7"
London
The Pinkerton Colours
Strange Things / Girl by the Bay - 7"
Forte
|
