Dionysos was a French Canadian

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...

band based in

Salaberry-de-Valleyfield Salaberry-de-Valleyfield is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada, in the Regional County Municipality of Beauharnois-Salaberry. The population as of 2019 was 42,410. Situated on Grande-Île, an island in the Saint Lawrence River, it is bordere ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada."Le prog dans ses petits souliers (verts)"
. ''Chromatique'', 31 January 2011 . by Jérôme Walczak The band members were Phil Bech, Éric Clement, Fern Durand, Robert Lepage and Paul-André Thibert. They had a hit with their 1970 single "Suzie".

History

In 1969, the members of the group composed the music for the play ''Simon neige'', presented by the Cégep de Valleyfield theater troupe. Dionysos made a name for themselves during the summer of 1970 by playing at the Galerie Café du Vieux-Montréal. In January 1971, they released their first album, ''Le Grand Jeu'', which was co-produced by singer Donald Lautrec. It was released under the Jupiter record label and sold 6,000 copies. On June 13, 1971, Dionysos took part, representing Canada, in the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. The group's performance was a resounding success; the newspaper ''La Presse'' even compared singer Paul-André Thibert to Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones. Following this event, the group performed regularly in Canada. Their second album, ''Le Prince Croule,'' was released in November 1971 under the Zodiac record label. Following a conflict with Jean-Pierre Legault, Paul-André left the band for a short period, and his return to the lineup coincided with the arrival of the new bassist Fernand Durand. In 1974 the Zodiac record company released ''Collection Dionysos'', which turned out to be a compilation of the first two albums. In retaliation for the commercial failure of the album ''Le Prince Croule'', this album still refused them the budget necessary for the production of their third album. Deprived of the prospect of releasing this new album, the group ceased all activity in April of the same year. 18 months later, in September 1975, Dionysos released their 3rd album ''Changé d'adresse'', an album they produced themselves thanks to an advance on royalties from a distribution contract got with the Duram record label. The group, then a sextet, separated definitively during the year 1977 after a last tour on the North Shore.

Post-separation

Paul-André Thibert pursued a solo career, and in 1978 published a solo album entitled ''Musique de mes amis Dionysos''. The album brings together former members of Dionysos: Éric Clément, Fernand Durand, André Mathieu, Jean-Pierre Forget, as well as other musicians such as Alain Paquette (guitar), Michel Lefrançois (guitar) who also orchestrated, arranged and produced the album, Richard Perotte (drums), Serge Réhaume (flute) and Robert Turmel (bass). Dionysus made a comeback in 1994 with the release of ''Pionnier 1969–1994''.

Discography

Singles

*1970: Suzie *1972: J'ai Jamais

Albums

Studio

*1971: Le Grand jeu *1972: Le Prince Croule *1976: Dionysos (Changé d'addresse) *1977: Musique de mes amis Dionysos

Compilation

*1974: Collection Dionysos *1994: Pionniers 1969–1994

References

External links

* http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=3004 {{DEFAULTSORT:Dionysos Musical groups established in 1969 Musical groups disestablished in 1974 Musical groups from Quebec Canadian progressive rock groups