Christine Charbonneau is a singer and
songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

 born in Montréal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, Canada, in 1943. She began her career in 1959, singing and writing songs in the genre that was popular at the time in Quebec music clubs, known as "boîtes à chansons". While completing her education, she toured around the Province with her guitar and songs, and was part of the cultural movement known as the Quiet Revolution

Quiet Revolution

The Quiet Revolution was the 1960s period of intense change in Quebec, Canada, characterized by the rapid and effective secularization of society, the creation of a welfare state and a re-alignment of politics into federalist and separatist factions...

 (La Révolution Tranquille) that gave birth to Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

 National Identity

National identity

National identity is the person's identity and sense of belonging to one state or to one nation, a feeling one shares with a group of people, regardless of one's citizenship status....

. After the decline of these music clubs around 1965, Charbonneau oriented her career towards television, radio, and recording, as well as on composing and writing for others. Her career spanned over two decades of recording her own material and songwriting for well-known artists. She has been recognized as the female songwriter with the most songs recorded by other artists during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.

Early career

Charbonneau wrote her first song at the age of 12 . In 1958, she studied decorative arts at the Institut des arts appliqués

Cégep du Vieux Montréal

Cégep du Vieux Montréal is a CEGEP located at 255 rue Ontario Est, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada....

 in Montréal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

. While studying she compiled her first repertoire of songs. In 1959, Charbonneau was one of the few females chansonnier

Chansonnier

A chansonnier is a manuscript or printed book which contains a collection of chansons, or polyphonic and monophonic settings of songs, hence literally "song-books," although some manuscripts are so called even though they preserve the text but not the music A chansonnier is a manuscript or...

 in Quebec and was invited to La Butte à Mathieu, the Mecca of Quebec song, where she gained recognition as one of the icons of the chansonniers Circle .

In 1966, Charbonneau participated in several programs of the popular television series Chansons

Chansons (TV series)

Chansons is a Canadian music television series which aired on CBC Television from 1966 to 1969.-Premise:This series of folk music performances was produced in colour as a Canadian Centennial project. Shooting locations included Alberta, British Columbia, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec...

 (broadcast in French as Mon pays mes chansons) a Canadian music television series that aired on CBC television and Radio-Canada

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...

 from 1966 to 1969. Created for the Canadian Centennial

Canadian Centennial

The Canadian Centennial was a year long celebration held in 1967 when Canada celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Confederation. Celebrations occurred throughout the year but culminated on Dominion Day, July 1. 1967 coins were different from previous years' issues, with animals on each...

, the series was directed by Anton Vandewater, filmed and presented across Canada. One of the program featured (besides Charbonneau), Gordon Lightfoot

Gordon Lightfoot

Gordon Meredith Lightfoot, Jr. is a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music, and has been credited for helping define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s...

, Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...

 , Pauline Julien

Pauline Julien

Pauline Julien, CQ was a singer, songwriter, actress, feminist activist and Quebec sovereigntist.Born in Trois-Rivières, Québec, Julien was the companion of the poet and Québec provincial MLA Gérald Godin, another Trifluvian and sovereigntist. She also worked with Gilles Vigneault and recorded...

, The Travellers, Jean-Pierre Ferland

Jean-Pierre Ferland

Jean-Pierre Ferland, OC, CQ is a Canadian singer and songwriter.-Life and career:Ferland began work with Radio-Canada in 1956 as an accountant, but his career there was short lived. Shortly after, he began taking guitar lessons with Stephen Fentock and began to fall in love with music, writing his...

 and Claude Léveillé. In 1967, Charbonneau was invited to the Quebec Pavilion to present her tour de chant during Expo 67

Expo 67

The 1967 International and Universal Exposition or Expo 67, as it was commonly known, was the general exhibition, Category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It is considered to be the most successful World's Fair of the 20th century, with the...

, the 1967 World's Fair

World's Fair

World's fair, World fair, Universal Exposition, and World Expo are various large public exhibitions held in different parts of the world. The first Expo was held in The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, United Kingdom, in 1851, under the title "Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All...

, held in Montréal and themed Terre des hommes

Terre des hommes

Terre des hommes is a charitable international humanitarian federation which concentrates on children's rights, founded in 1959 and based in Lausanne, Switzerland...

.

In the 1970s, Charbonneau co-starred on the Radio-Canada TV variety show Smash

Smash

Smash may refer to:*Smash! , a British comic of the 1960s* Smash Variety show starring Olivier Guimond and Denis Drouin, co-starring "the Smashettes" Patsy Gallant, Christine Charbonneau, Renée Claude, France Castel, Christyne Chartrand, ,Ranee Lee and Diane Dufresne.*Smash , the name given on an...

with Patsy Gallant

Patsy Gallant

Patsy Gallant is a Canadian pop singer and musical theatre actress. Of Acadian ancestry, she has recorded and performed in both English and French.-Successful beginnings in French :...

. She would later team up with Gallant to write most of the lyrics of Gallant's two major French albums, Patsy Gallant (Tout va trop vite) (1972) and Toi l'enfant (1974) , both released by Columbia Records

Columbia Records

Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

, bringing Gallant early success. Some of Gallant's hits, such as Tout va trop vite, Le lit qui craque, the French version of Thank you come again and Un jour comme les autres reached the top 20 charts.

Later years

In the following years, Charbonneau wrote most of the original songs that appear on six albums by France Castel, namely, France Castel 1973 (Disques Profil), France Castel 1973 English adaptations (Disques Profil), Je le vois dans ma soupe (1974) (Disques Image), Moi je n’veux pas déranger personne (1974) (Disques Image), Collection France Castel (1975) (Trans-World Records), and Amoureuse (2000) (Disques Mérite Compilation). Castel's hit songs by Charbonneau are: Château de sable, Du fil des aiguilles et du coton, Je le vois dans ma soupe, and Ça m'fait du bien.

During the late 1970s, Charbonneau also wrote songs and lyrics for Claude Valade, Ginette Reno

Ginette Reno

Ginette Reno, OC, CQ is a French-Canadian author, composer, singer, and actress. She is known by the nickname .Born as Ginette Reynault in Montreal, Quebec, she played the role of Maria Barberini in the independent film Mambo Italiano and played the mother in Léolo.She has recorded in both...

, Michel Louvain

Michel Louvain

Michel Louvain is a French Canadian singer most popular in the 60s and 70s among women. His first hit, "Buenas Noches Mi Amor", launched his career, and his biggest hits include "La Dame en Bleu" and "Je Déclare l'Amour au Monde Entier". He has also worked as a host for a varieties of shows on...

, Michèle Richard, Pierre Lalonde

Pierre Lalonde

Pierre Lalonde is a singer and television host from Montreal, Quebec, Canada.Pierre attended high school in the United States but returned to Canada in 1960, where he worked at radio station CKJL with his father in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec...

, Sheila

Sheila

Sheila is a common given name for a female, derived from the Gaelic name Síle/Sìle, which is believed to be a Gaelic form of Julia or Cecilia. Like "Cecil" or "Cecilia", the name means "blind", from the Latin word caecus...

, and others.

Over the course of her singing career, Charbonneau recorded six albums and fifteen singles including Les insolences d'une jeune femme (Disques Sélect). Her self-titled album followed in 1966 and was produced and released by Disques Triomphe. In 1968, she recorded Christine Charbonneau - Le Pays dont je parle (Les Disques Gamma). In 1975, she turned to pop music with her release of the album C'est pas ce que tu penses (Disques Pleiade/Polydor), which included her disco hit Censuré and then Quintessence (Polydor) in 1977. Censuré (Disques Mérite), a compilation of her second and fourth albums, was remastered and distributed in 2000.

Hits

Charbonneau's hits include La guerre des jupons, La beatnick, Ça commence toujours par l'amour, Héros du quotidien, Je t'aime même quand tu me boudes, and Les faiseurs de chansons. But her most successful hit was the disco song Censuré, released in 1975 and part of the album C'est pas ce que tu penses. La chanson écrite au féminin, describes Charbonneau as having written songs that were the hits of the 70s, such as Du fil des aiguilles et du coton recorded by France Castel (and sang by Céline Dion

Celine Dion

Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...

in her first public appearance in 1974, at the age of five), Tout va trop vite, Les femmes (Qu'y a-t-il dans le cœur des femmes), and Censuré.

Discography (albums)

Christine Charbonneau "En amour toujours" ( Charbonneau Prod.)(2005)

• Professional Demo. Production, Christine Charbonneau, Nelson Caron.
• Ritchie Studio. Audio technician, Nelson Caron. Songs: (music and lyrics), orchestrations, voices, keyboard, Christine Charbonneau. Sérapis Publishing, SOCAN. Limited distribution for mailing.
• En amour toujours; Tout ça te dit; Summer blues; L'amour va'hi; Playa del sol; Bouger pour bouger; Je l'aime en secret;
• Un jeu d'enfants; Amazonie; Je bénirais l'amour; Vague; Rêvons tout haut; *La Nouvelle- Atlantide; Blues de nuit. (Socan)

Christine Charbonneau "Censuré" (Mérite Records), Compilation, (2000)

• La guerre des jupons; Dans un jour; La Beatnick; Nous deux; Quand j'aurai; Toi que j'avais reconnu; Au pays du soleil;
• L'été est fini; Tu m'es arrivé; Je t'aime; Je t'aime même quand tu *m'boudes; Censuré; Tu ne me retiens pas; Je cherche un mot;
• La vie t'appelle; Les Faiseurs de chansons; J'ai plus l'temps; Mon amour, *mon ami, mon frère; C'est pas c'que tu penses;
• C'est pour toi que je chante. (Socan)

(Compilation of two albums: "Christine Charbonneau" -(1966) (Orchestrations and Director, Georges Tremblay, Triomphe Records). And "C'est pas c'que tu penses" (Production and Orchestration, Leon Aronson, Pleiade/Polydor Records) (1975) : Recorded at Listen Audio Studio, Old-Montréal. Sérapis Publishing, Socan. Sodrac.

Christine Charbonneau "Quintessence" (Pleiade/Polydor Records) (1975)

• Ça commence toujours par l'amour; Seule; La vie; La première neige; La musique m'appelle; Ahuntsic; Allez viens; Magie; La vérité;
• À mes amis. (Production and Orchestrations, Leon Aronson: Recorded at Listen Audio Studio, Old-Montréal. Sérapis Publishing, Socan. Sodrac.

Christine Charbonneau "C'est pas c'que tu penses" (Pléiade/Polydor Records) (1975)

• Je t'aime même quand tu m'boudes; Censuré; Tu ne me retiens pas; Je cherche un mot; La vie t'appelle; Les faiseurs de chansons;
• J'ai plus l'temps; Mon amour, mon ami, mon frère; C'est pas c'que tu penses; C'est pour toi que je chante. (Production and Orchestration, Leon Aronson, Pleiade/Polydor Records) (1975) : Recorded at Listen Audio Studio, Old-Montréal. Sérapis Publishing, Socan. Sodrac.

Christine Charbonneau (Gamma Records) (1968)

• Le pays dont je parle; En courant dans l'herbe; La fille sur la couverture; Le rêve; Ma chanson préférée; Papa gâteau; Ville-Marie;
• L'enfer; Quand l'amour naît; Les poètes. (Production Daniel Lazare. Orchestrations and Director François Dompierre, Gamma Records)(1968): (Band and voice recorded together) at Marco Studio, Ste-Catherine st. West, Montréal. Gamma Publishing, Socan, Sodrac

Christine (Charbonneau) (Triomphe Records), (1966)

• La guerre des jupons; Dans un jour; La beatnick; Nous deux; Quand j'aurai; Toi que j'avais reconnu; Au pays du soleil; L'été est *fini; Tu *m'es arrivé; Je t'aime. Arrangements, Orchestrations and Director Georges Tremblay. Production Jacques Matti. (Band and voice recorded together) Studio RCA Victor, Saint-André st., Montréal. Sérapis Publishing, Socan.

Christine Charbonneau "Les insolences d'une jeune femme" ( Sélect Records) (1963)

• J'ai; C'est tout comme si; Ma ville; Petit garçon à la fenêtre; La java des pistons; Combien; J'en ai vu d'autres; Le temps passe;
• Le menuet; Quelques larmes; Valse forte; Quand l'ombre douce. (Autre publication : Alouette, SAD-511) Artistic Director and Producer John Damant, Orchestrations and Director Paul de Margerie. (Band and voice recorded together) Les industries musicales Publishing,Socan. Recorded at RCA Victor Studio, Guy st., Montréal. Socan

Discography (singles)

• Magie de Noël / Magie de Noël (Catherine Joubert et Natercia Vasconcelos (1981, Able) (Christine Charbonneau B side)
• Héros du quotidien / Tu es (1980, Gamma). Listen Audio Studio.
• Les jumelles cosmiques (with Michelle François) / Instrumental (1978, Kébec-Disc)
• La première neige / Magie (1977, Disques Pléiade, Polydor)
• Seule / À mes amis (1977, Disques Pléiade, Polydor Records)
• Censuré / Je t'aime même quand tu m'boudes (1975, Les disques Polydor/France)
• Je t'aime même quand tu m'boudes / Les faiseurs de chansons (1975, Disques Pléiade, Polydor Records)
• Censuré / Mon amour, mon ami, mon frère (July 1975, Disques Pléiade, Polydor Rwecords)
• Partons ensemble / Le bonheur n'est pas ici (December 1971, Profil records) Son Québec Studio.
• Chanson des fonctionnaires / Instrumental (196x, CSN)
• Les enfants du paradis / Dors mon amour (November 1969, London Records) André Perry Studio, Longueil.
• Je n'avais pas compris (adap. Both sides now, Joni Mitchell) / En courant dans l'herbe (March 1969, Gamma Records)
• Le rêve / Ma chanson préférée (1968, Gamma Records)
• Le pays dont je parle / Papa gâteau (1968, Gamma Records)
• Au pays du soleil / Quand j'aurai (1966, Triomphe Records)
• Ne pleure pas / De vous à moi (1964, Dinamic Records). SOCAN. SODRAC.

Recordings of Charbonneau songs by other artists

• Ginette Ravel, L'amour
• Renée Claude, Je te chercherai
• Ginette Reno, Donne l'amour; Oublie-moi
• France Castel, Du fil, des aiguilles et du coton, Château de sable, Sur le pont, Un petit peu d'amour, Cette mélodie, Femme, To one and all, Castle's in the sand, Going on, Pussy galore, Lovers refrain, Time, Moi je n'veux pas déranger personne, Le puzzle, La terre, l'air, le feu et l'eau, Dominique, Au tournant de ma vie, Au fond de nous, Le goût de l'amour, Ils ont marché sur la lune, Le bonheur, Castel's in love, L'amitié, Donne un peu d'amour, Je le vois dans ma soupe, Pilule d'amour (pilule de lune), Ça m'fait du bien, Si tu t'ennuies; Promenade
• Sheïla: Les Femmes (Qu'y a-t-il dans le cœur des femmes).
• Renée Martel: Une nuit je t'avais vu (music by Jean-Guy Chapados). Co-editions Chapatel et Sérapis, Socan.
• Christyne Chartrand: L’amour est un ballon
• Shirley Théroux: L'amour avec toi
• Les Toulouse: Trois dimensions
• Jacques Salvail: Mille et une nuits
• Christine Bouffard: Avant toi
• Annie Jacques: Le petit jardin
• Les Cabestans: Ma chanson préférée
• Danielle Candy: Du fil des aiguilles et du coton
• Patsy Gallant: Pourquoi faut-il?, Allons nous coucher; Le temps des jeux. Je voudrais quelqu'un qui m'aime; Un monde est en voie de naître, J'aime l'amour, Tout va trop vite, Un jour comme les autres, Toi l'enfant, Daya dou dum, J'veux m'en r'tourner chez-nous, Les femmes (Qu'y a-t-il dans le cœur des femmes) (original Charbonneau song), Le lit qui craque, J'aurais voulu t'aimer, Parapluie, L'argent, l'amour, peace, Thank you come again, Un jour comme les autres
• Claude Valade: Est-ce si facile de m'oublier, C'est parce que je t'aime, Aide-moi à passer la nuit, Le chemin de tes rêves, J'ai dit non, Je veux être près de toi, Quand tes yeux, Viens t'étendre au creux de mes bras, Sincèrement je t'aime, Les enfants sont partis
• Michel Louvain: La dame en bleu, Ma belle gitane, Un tango avec toi, (original Charbonneau song)
• Annie Blanchard: Aide-moi à passer la nuit
• Pierre Lalonde: Une question de temps, Derrière les volets, Amoureux
• Raymond Berthiaume: Le goût de toi
• Michèle Richard: Je connais un ange