Lewis Furey, born Lewis Greenblatt (born 7 June 1949) is a Canadian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, singer,

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist,

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

, actor and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

Career

Born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

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 ...

to French and American parents, Furey trained as a classical violinist, and at age 11 performed as a soloist in the ''Matinées pour la jeunesse'' concert series of the

Montreal Symphony Orchestra The Montreal Symphony Orchestra (french: Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, or OSM) is a Canadian symphony orchestra based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The orchestra’s home is the Montreal Symphony House at Place des Arts. It is the only orche ...

. From 1961 to 1965 he studied at the

Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal The Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal (CMQM) is a music conservatory located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In addition to the Montreal region, the school takes in students from nearby cities, including Granby, Joliette, St-Jean, S ...

."Lewis Furey brings Brahms back to life"
Brendan Kelly, ''Montreal Gazette'', 23 October 2016 He later studied at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

in New York City. In 1972, he began playing and recording his own rock music compositions. In the ensuing years, he produced three albums of pop music: ''Lewis Furey'' (1975, A & M 4522), ''The Humours of Lewis Furey'' (1976, A & M 4594) and ''The Sky is Falling'' (1979, Aquarius AQR-521). Distinguishing features of the albums were Furey's

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...

-like vocal stylings, a number of songs with

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

content (particularly the local Montréal radio hit ''Hustler's Tango''), and exotic arrangements featuring unusual uses of violin and banjo as well as elements of

klezmer Klezmer ( yi, קלעזמער or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for l ...

music. In 1975, he began a new venture as a composer for films. His first film score, for director

Gilles Carle Gilles Carle, (July 31, 1928As fully funny, Carle had pleasure to always give himself one year less, and to let people think wrongly that he was born in 1929, "The Year of the Big World Crash": see on the Quebec French newspapers that many writer ...

's ''La Tête de Normande St. Onge'' (1975), won a

Canadian Film Award The Canadian Film Awards were the leading Canadian cinema awards from 1949 until 1978. These honours were conducted annually, except in 1974 when a number of Quebec directors withdrew their participation and prompted a cancellation. In the 1970s ...

. In 1977, he worked on the Gilles Carle film ''L'Ange et la femme'' along with his future wife, the actress and singer

Carole Laure Carole Laure O.C. (born August 5, 1948) is an actress and singer from Quebec, Canada. Career Throughout most of her career, Carole Laure primarily collaborated with Anglophone singer, songwriter, producer, and director Lewis Furey, whom she ...

. This project involved more than composing alone; Furey and Laure are famously seen performing a sex act in the film. Furey also composed for the Allan Moyle film ''The Rubber Gun'', which despite the risqué-sounding title was about families affected by drug use. Later in the 1970s, Furey and Laure produced a number of successful stage reviews in Paris. Furey also served as producer and frequently also as songwriter for a series of albums by Carole Laure, beginning with ''Alibis'' (1979, RCA KKL-1-0290), a hit in Québec in 1979. In 1980, Furey wrote the music for another Gilles Carle film ''Fantastica'', which starred Laure in the lead role of Lorca. Furey also acted in the film and was nominated for a

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978; also known as the "Etrog Awards," for scu ...

in Canada for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role." Furey further developed his career in film and television music with productions such as a 1983 Gilles Carle movie, ''

Maria Chapdelaine ''Maria Chapdelaine'' is a romance novel written in 1913 by the Breton writer Louis Hémon, who was then residing in Quebec.Guy Laflèche. Polémiques'. Editions du Singulier; 1992. . p. 126 – 128. Aimed at young French and Quebecois people ...

'', based on the classic Québec-based

Louis Hémon Louis Hémon (12 October 1880 – 8 July 1913), was a French writer best known for his novel ''Maria Chapdelaine''. Biography He was born in Brest, France. In Paris, where he resided with his family, he was enrolled in the Montaigne and Loui ...

novel of the same name. His score for this film won a Genie Award. In 1984 he wrote the screenplay for '' Night Magic'', with the script co-written by

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

. Based in France since the late 1970s, Furey has continued to score film and television work as well as producing and writing for successful albums by Laure, such as ''She Says Move On'' (1991) and ''Sentiments naturels'' (1997). A stage production based on the latter ran for over a month in Paris in 1998. Furey's songs have been recorded by various other artists such as

Céline Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

, who recorded "Michael's Song" (''

La ballade de Michel "La ballade de Michel" (meaning "Michael's Ballad") is Celine Dion's second single from the movie soundtrack '' Opération beurre de pinottes''. It was released in 1985 in Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Qué ...

'') and "Listen to the Magic Man" ("''

Dans La Main D'un Magicien "Dans la main d'un magicien" (meaning "In the Hand of a Magic Man") is Celine Dion's first single from the movie soundtrack '' Opération beurre de pinottes''. It was released in 1985 in Quebec, Canada. Dion recorded also an English version of th ...

''") for the film ''

The Peanut Butter Solution ''The Peanut Butter Solution'' (French title: ''Opération beurre de pinottes'') is a 1985 Canadian children's fantasy film directed by Michael Rubbo. The second installment in the '' Tales for All (Contes Pour Tous)'' series of films by Les Produ ...

'' (1985), both co-written by

Eddy Marnay Edmond Bacri known by the professional name Eddy Marnay (Algiers, 18 December 1920 – 3 January 2003), was a French songwriter. In his career, he wrote more than 4000 songs, including works for Édith Piaf, Frida Boccara and Céline Dion. He ...

etailed biography in French Wikipedia

Tom Robinson Thomas Giles Robinson (born 1 June 1950) is a British singer, bassist, radio presenter and long-time LGBT rights activist, best known for the hits "Glad to Be Gay", "2-4-6-8 Motorway", and "Don't Take No for an Answer", with his Tom Robinson ...

, who recorded "Closing a Door" (''

Cabaret '79 Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

'', 1982) and "Love Comes" (''

North by Northwest ''North by Northwest'' is a 1959 American spy thriller film, produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason. The screenplay was by Ernest Lehman, who wanted to write "the Hitchcock picture to ...

'', 1982); and

Petula Clark Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and composer. She has one of the longest serving careers of a British singer, spanning more than seven decades. Clark's professional career began during the ...

. His first two albums became hits in Japan and are available on CD only as Japanese re-releases. He is abundantly represented on the Japanese-language internet (search on ルイス･フューレイ). A CD version of ''The Sky is Falling'' was released in France. He is the brother of Canadian playwright/actor/pianist Richard Greenblatt, author of the major hit play '' 2 Pianos, 4 Hands''.

Discography

Albums

*''Lewis Furey'', 1975 *''The Humours of Lewis Furey'', 1976 *''The Sky is Falling'', 1979 * Carole Laure/Lewis Furey ''Fantastica'', 1980 * Carole Laure/Lewis Furey ''Enregistrement Public au Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin'', 1982 * Carole Laure/Lewis Furey ''Night Magic'', 1985 * "Haunted By Brahms", 2017/2018

Singles

*Lewis Furey: ''Lewis is crazy''/ ''What a sad summer'', Gamma, 1972 (Canada) *Lewis Furey: ''Hustler's tango'' / ''Last night'', A & M, 1975 (USA) *Lewis Furey: ''Lullaby'' / ''Who's got the bag'', A & M, 1976 (USA) *Lewis Furey: ''Top ten sexes'', A & M, 1976 (USA) *Lewis Furey: ''Waiting on you'' / ''The sky is falling'', Aquarius, 1978 (Canada) *Lewis Furey& Carole Laure: ''See you Monday'', RCA / Saravah, 1979 (original soundtrack of the film ''Au revoir... à lundi'') (France) *Lewis Furey& Carole Laure: ''Fantastica'' / ''What's wrong with me'', RCA / Saravah, 1980 (original soundtrack of the film ''Fantastica'') (France) *Lewis Furey& Carole Laure: ''I should have known better'' / ''Slowly, I married her'', RCA / Saravah, 1982 (France) *Lewis Furey& Carole Laure: ''Fire'' / ''Angel eyes'', RCA / Saravah, 1985 (original soundtrack of the film ''Night Magic'') (France)

Participations

* 2007: '' Plaza Musique'', L'amour et l'Occident, vocals on I Want To Be Your Friend

Filmography

*''

Normande The Normande is a breed of dairy cattle from the Normandy region of north-west France. It is raised principally for its milk, which is high in fat and suitable for making butter and cheese, but also for its meat, which is marbled and good-fla ...

(La Tête de Normande St-Onge)'', 1975 (composer) *''

The Angel and the Woman ''The Angel and the Woman'' (french: L'Ange et la femme) is a 1977 Canadian fantasy film, fantasy romance film directed by Gilles Carle and starring Carole Laure, Lewis Furey, and Stephen Lack. The film follows a woman who, after being brutally sho ...

(L'Ange et la femme)'', 1977 (composer; actor) *''

The Rubber Gun ''The Rubber Gun'' is a 1977 film directed by Allan Moyle and starring Stephen Lack and Pierre Robert. It was nominated for two Genie Awards in 1980. Plot In a book store, smooth-talking hard drug dealer/user and local artist Steve (Stephen Lack) ...

'', 1977 (composer) *'' Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang'', 1978 (composer) *'' Bye, See You Monday (Au revoir à lundi)'', 1979 (composer; actor) *''Avec... le charme de Carole Laure'', 1979 (appears as himself; TV) *''Agency'', 1980 (composer) *'' Fantastica'', 1980 (composer; actor) *''

'', 1983 (composer) *'' American Dreamer'', 1984 (composer) *'' Night Magic'', 1985 (director; co-writer with Leonard Cohen; composer) *''

'', 1985 (composer) *''Sauve-toi, Lola'', 1986 (composer) *''Champagne for Two'', Shades of Love series, 1987 (director; composer; TV) *''Lilac Dream'', Shades of Love series, 1987 (composer; TV) *''Midnight Magic'', Shades of Love series, 1987 (composer; TV) *''The Rose Café'', Shades of Love series, 1987 (composer; TV) *''Sincerely, Violet'', Shades of Love series, 1987 (composer; TV) *''The Emerald Tear'', Shades of Love series, 1988 (composer; TV) *''Little White Lies'', Shades of Love series, 1988 (composer; TV) *''The Man Who Guards the Greenhouse'', Shades of Love series, 1988 (composer; TV) *''Moonlight Flight'', Shades of Love series, 1988 (composer; TV) *'' Shadow Dancing'', 1988 (director) *''Sunset Court'', Shades of Love series, 1988 (composer; TV) *''Tangerine Taxi'', Shades of Love series, 1988 (composer; TV) *''Rats and Rabbits'', 2000 (director; writer) *''Une fille dans l'azur'', 2001 (composer; TV)

References

External links

*
Very comprehensive overview, Vivonzeureux Fanzine, in French

Lewis Furey's Personal Web Site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Furey, Lewis 1949 births 20th-century Canadian composers 20th-century Canadian male musicians 20th-century Canadian pianists 20th-century Canadian violinists and fiddlers 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century classical violinists 21st-century Canadian composers 21st-century Canadian male musicians 21st-century Canadian pianists 21st-century Canadian violinists and fiddlers 21st-century classical pianists 21st-century classical violinists Anglophone Quebec people Best Original Score Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Best Original Song Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Canadian classical pianists Canadian classical violinists Canadian film score composers Canadian male film actors Canadian male pianists Canadian male singers Canadian record producers Canadian male violinists and fiddlers Film directors from Montreal Jewish Canadian filmmakers Jewish Canadian musicians Living people Male actors from Montreal Male classical pianists Male classical violinists Male film score composers Musicians from Montreal