Lasting Weep

Lasting Weep Biography

Lasting Weep was formed in 1968 by Jerome Langlois (guitar, piano, clarinet), Alain Bergeron (flute), Mathieu Leger (percussions) and Claude Chapleau (bass) when they were just teenagers. The group's name was derived from Paul Verlaine's poem "Chanson d'Automne" ("Les sanglots longs..."), and was in English as was still the case with all rock groups from Quebec (Offenbach Soap Opera, WD Fisher, The Medium...) until the end of the decade. Lasting Weep's cover repertoire was heavily influenced by blues-rock (Hendrix, Ten Years After, etc.), and combined with classical music training and a new fascination for progressive rock (particularly Jethro Tull), the group began composing its own music. In 1969, having earned some studio time while working as session musicians (mainly for soundtracks), Lasting Weep professionally recorded three lengthy pieces which were never put on vinyl as the group was unable to attract a record label. The band played many shows in cafés and clubs, and was even invited to back-up King Crimson at College St-Laurent, and also played at the Festival de Manseau in 1970. In 1971, Lasting Weep began writing a rock opera entitled "L'Albatros", but in 1972 the group disbanded, and Langlois and Bergeron founded Maneige. Léger then joined the Quatuor de Jazz Libre du Québec, and played with Michel Madore, followed by Conventum, and eventually L'Orchestre Sympathique in 1976, while Chapleau went on to produce. In a strange twist of fate, just as he was leaving Maneige in early 1976, Langlois completed writing "L'Albatros" and convinced a who's who of progressive rock musicians to join him on stage to play his rock opera live. In February 1976, at La Bibliothèque Nationale in Montreal, Langlois was joined by his former bandmates from both Maneige and Lasting Weep, as well as Raôul Duguay, members of L'Orchestre Sympathique, Conventum, L'Engoulevent and others, to perform a series of live performances of his epic "L'Albatros", surely one of the most important events in Quebec's progressive music history. These shows were professionally recorded and mixed but never released on vinyl. Luckily, the master tapes were recovered, along with the masters of the 1969 studio sessions and some other material. And it is so that ProgresSon Music released the band's first commercial releases in 2007, on its ProgQuebec label. from www.progquebec.com