Les Sultans

Les Sultans were one of the biggest acts to emerge from Quebec's garage band scene in the mid-'60's. Originally an instrumental group from St-Hyacinthe named The Dowries, they changed their name in 1964 and recorded a number of singles for small Quebec labels. After signing with Teledisc, which was run by Denis Pantis, they recorded their self-titled debut album (pictured below) in 1966. At this point, the group's line-up consisted of Pierre Bélanger on drums, Ghislain Dufault on drums, Denis Forcier on guitar and keyboards, Claud Reid on lead guitar and harmonica, and lead singer Bruce Huard. The first LP did pretty well in Quebec, and the following year they recorded their second album, Express, which showed the influence of British acts like The Kinks and The Zombies. That was followed by a live album, 1968's Les Sultans en Personne a Starovan, which was a recording of their "Spectacular Goodbye" at Montreal's Starovan Club. And with that it was three and out for Les Sultans, although Huard went on to have a fairly successful solo career.



The tracklist for Les Sultans is fairly typical of the time period, in that it's a mix of covers and Beatles-influenced original numbers, but it's no run of the mill garage band LP. "Je t'aime bien" is a a nice cover of "You Make Me Feel So Good" by The Zombies (even though it's credited to Les Sultans), but the other three tunes I've posted here are Les Sultans originals. "La poupée qui fait non" is the first song on the album, a mid-tempo rocker with tight harmonies and a few economical solos. "Tu es impossible" is a harder number with a guitar riff almost identical to the one on Beck's "Devil's Haircut" (which, as it turns out, was lifted from "I Can Only Give You Everything" by Them). And "Angélique" is a gorgeous '50's-style ballad with great singing by the entire band, especially on the fade-out.

La poupée qui fait non
Tu es impossible
Je t'aime bien
Angélique

Note: These songs have been archived at It Came From Canada.