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An industry getting organized

Black and white photo of Claude Léveillée in a suit jacket.

Claude Léveillée

Despite the ancient piano of the Butte, Claude Léveillée became one of its most faithful performers. He was part of the first cohort of artists to mark the hearts of Québec with a love of home-grown music and poetry. His accountant Guy Latraverse was also a regular and at the time, few of the artists had an impresario. They made the best of their careers without much support. Guy Latraverse took several of them under his wing, including Yvon Deschamps and Jean Lapointe. He became the representative of several singers from France who, like Claude Nougaro, began their tours in Québec with a show at the Butte. The growing reputation of the place becoming obvious, more and more producers and impresarios soon turned up to recruit that rare pearl.

Black and white photo of La Butte's main entrance in winter outside. On its old barn wood walls, a large gallery runs alongside paneled windows.

Main entrance

 

For many Québec artists, the Butte became a cultural workshop at which to prepare a show elsewhere. In 1967, Charlebois premiered Terre des bums. In the 1970s, Jean-Pierre Ferland did the same for Jaune, Emmanuelle polished Le monde à l’envers and Diane Dufresne tested her song J’ai rencontré l’homme de ma vie.

Black and white photo of Diane Dufresne singing with her eyes closed and holding a microphone to her mouth.

Diane Dufresne

Several albums were recorded live at the Butte and were the subject of audiovisual recordings as well. Great sound and lighting technicians, such as Frank Furtado, Luc Phaneuf and Jacques Lambert, made their debut there.

Poetry and comedy The era of the boîte à chansons draws to a close