Roger Rodier is a Québecois composer, singer and guitarist, that drew favorable comparisons to Nick Drake. He was born in Montréal and released only one album, called Upon Velveatur, in 1972 and two singles prior to that (1969) in collaboration with his buddy Germain Gautier. Rodier is really an unknown/forgotten artist, an obscure character, he didn't make public appearances often. When his album came out, he only made a couple of gigs, some alone, some in support of Procol Harum and Genesis.
Biography:
Roger Rodier (born in Montréal) was a Canadian folk singer/songwriter. His 1972 album, "Upon Velveatur", on Columbia was very much in line with the folk-rock-oriented singer-songwriter trends of the era. It was at least as much indebted to British sounds from that genre as North American ones and featured breathy vocals, subdued melancholy, and combination of predominantly acoustic guitars with subtle strings and some female backup vocals. Prior to the album, Rodier had issued a couple of singles on the local Montréal label "Pax", the first of them sung in French.
Despite getting praised in Rolling Stone by Lester Bangs for its "timeless grace," the album, Upon Velveatur, received little exposure when it was issued in autumn 1972. Rodier made only a small number of gigs, some alone, some in support of Procol Harum and Genesis.
Although Rodier did start work on a second album for Columbia in early 1973, it wasn't finished, and Rodier left music a few years later without having released anything else.
Rodier came to music in the late 60's as a folk artiste and recorded a pair of singles with buddy Germain Gauthier. Both singles were released in 69 and went unnoticed, partly due to Rodier's lack of willingness to strike it big with the medias, despite a certain hype and some label efforts. Both singles are included as bonus tracks on the present album's CD reissue. Upon Veveatur was recorded in 1972 in a brand new Montreal recording studio, with his buddy Germain and a certain Red Mitchell on electric guitar and some unknown musicians to boot. Released on Columbia and receiving some very worthy plaudits, but never released outside Canada.
Genres: Psych., Folk
Past members:
Germain Gauthier (bass)
Roger Rodier (vocals guitar)
Red Mitchell (guitar)
Discography:
- Upon Velveatur (1972)
https://youtu.be/PEFwJX9O4Bg: Full Album
Source: Progarchives / Last FM: a part of this bio is written by Gabriel Rivest (Tsevir Leirbag), Quebec, Canada
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