Oscar Thiffault (1912–1998) was a folk musician from Quebec, Canada.
Early life Thiffault was originally from Estrie, and lived for most of his life in Saint-Étienne-des-Grès.
Career Working on construction sites, Thiffault composed new versions of Quebecois folk songs, and also wrote many songs setting new lyrics to traditional melodies."Oscar Thiffault (1912-1998)". Université de Napierville website. He first found success in 1954 with "Le Rapide-Blanc", a humorous song written in 1935 while working on the Rapide-Blanc Generating Station."D'Oscar Thiffault à Omnikrom : ces chansons inappropriées que l’on a oubliées". On dira ce qu'on voudra, with host Rebecca Makonnen, 3 March 2017 Ici Radio Canada. The song was a country and western adaptation of the traditional song "Le moine tremblant et la dame".
Thiffault wrote songs honouring local sports figures, including hockey players Maurice Richard, ("Le Rocket Richard"), and Guy Lafleur ("La Tourne à Ti-Guy Lafleur")."Music about Sports". The Canadian Encyclopedia, by Florence Hayes, Richard Green, January 17, 2012 Other songs that he wrote were "Je parle à la française" and "En écoutant Y mouillera pu pantoute".
In 1988, a documentary film about Thiffault's life, created by Serge Giguère, was released."Quebec Dreams: The films of Serge Giguère & Sylvie Van Brabant". By Claude Lalumière • Point of View, April 1st, 2007 • Issue 66, Summer 2007 His songs continue to be played and recorded in Quebec; the band Carotté included "“Tape la bizoune" on their debut album.“For me, music and agriculture go hand in hand”. Words + Music, by Philippe Renaud | June 13, 2017
References
External links
Oscar Thiffault at WorldCat