Oscar Thiffault

Born in Montreal, Canada on April 6, 1912, Oscar Thiffault was a country singer and songwriter. He won a folk song contest at the age of 17 but wasn’t able to make a living off of his music career so he spent several years working on construction sites while also writing songs. His songs were often updated versions of Quebecois folk songs or old traditional melodies with updated lyrics. In 1954, he recorded the single, “Le Rapide blanc,” which went on to sell more than 500,000 copies. Based on the traditional song “Le moine tremblant et la dame,” he had written the song in 1935 while working on the construction of a dam at Rapide-Blanc, on the Saint-Maurice River. Some of his other best-known songs include “Embarque dans ma voiture,” “La veuve,” “Le Rocket Richard,” “Les Parcometres,” “La television,” and “Tape la bizoune.” In 1978, Oscar Thiffault achieved his greatest success with the song "Y mouillera pus pantoute, pantoute.” He was honored in by the Académie du country du Québec in 1987. The first artist from Quebec to sell more than 100,000 copies of a record, he went on to sell more than two million records over the course of his career. Oscar Thiffault died on February 6, 1998, at the age of 85. His music has been compiled many times over the years on collections such as Le Rapide Blanc (2005) and Hommage À Oscar Thiffault (2014).

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