Ame Son | Interview | Marc Blanc
Ame Son was an experimental rock band from France, releasing ‘Catalyse’ in 1971 for Actuel Series (BYG Records).
Marc Blanc and Patrick Fontaine met in 1967. It all originally started when they got in touch with Daevid Allen who departed from an early version of Soft Machine and began the Bananamoon band. Blanc and Fontaine were both part of his band. Ame son began when they recruited François Garrel on flute and Bernard Lavialle on guitar. The band split in June 1971 and went through various phases during the years. ‘Catalyse’ was recorded at the very beginning of the French underground scene with the free improvisation philosophy.
“We were absolutely free to do what we wanted”
Were any of your parents interested in music?
Marc Blanc: My parents were not interested in music.
How did you first get in touch with drums, flute and guitar and what do you consider to be your main instrument?
I first encountered the drums when seeing Ringo Starr playing in a A Hard Day’s Night film. When he sat with his drums while Lennon was singing ‘If I Fell’ it seemed to me I can do the same. He looked so happy behind those drums. Donovan and Francois Garrel got me interested in playing guitar and flute. Garrel gave me one of his flutes, and I always wanted to play guitar to write songs, but it took a bit of time because I didn’t have any teachers.
What kind of record did you own when you were a young teenager?
My first records were by Ray Charles, Claude Nougaro, Del Shannon, Vince Taylor and so on.
Did Radio Luxembourg play a developing role as well?
No, I did not receive its waves. Here it was only Salut les copains on Europe 1.
One of the first bands you played with were Les Primitiv’s which later turned into Expression. What can you say about your beginnings?
Les Primitiv’s was an old dream we had with Bernard Stisi when we saw The Who in November 1965 at La Locomotive. We realized the dream in 1966 playing the songs we loved from The Rolling Stones, The Pretty things, The Yardbirds et cetera. We were lucky to play in many clubs in Paris followed by a crowd of young people from the Lycée Rodin. Expression was a trio with Patrick Fontaine and Bernard Lavialle. It all began in September 1967 when we came back from a three months in the club Olympique in Corsica playing every night the same songs so we were bored and we started free improvisation, free rock or whatever you want to call it. We met Jacques Thollot, a jazz free drummer, and we saw Soft Machine at UFO too. It was a very rich period but short because Bernard Lavialle had to go to the army. Also at that time I started to write poems and songs.
Were you in any other bands before forming Ame Son? Any recordings if so?
My absolute first band was in Switzerland where my mother sent me after The Who concert in hope to try to save my studies. It was an international school. They had a little band, but they were looking for a drummer so I took the chance and became their drummer. On my return to Paris, three month later, we formed Les Primitiv’s. We performed in many clubs and parties from 1966 to September 1967 then Expression, Banana Moon Band with Deavid Allen and at the end Ame Son.
How did you meet Patrick Fontaine?
It was in September 1967 that I met him at Lycée Rodin. I loved his look and told him he had the look of a bassist. He told me he played guitar and six month later he joined Les Primitiv’s.
You were both part of the first line-up of Banana Moon (the group that later would become Gong). Did Daevid Allen inspire you as he was older than you guys and experienced in jazz et cetera?
Yes, Daevid Allen was a great person with a lot of experience. He was very gentle and open minded. Musically I was impressed because he came from Soft Machine, which was my favorite band at that time. With Daevid Allen we continued what we started with Expression…living in a community in the south of France and meeting a lot of English artists in Deia Majorca, where Soft Machine was born.
What do you recall from working on films with Jerome Laperrousaz?
Jerome Laperrousaz met us at the beginning of Expression and wanted to make a film with us. When Bernard Lavialle joined the army he introduced us to Deavid Allen and helped us to find gigs and make strange films. One was a horror film and it was really horrible. The second one was realized in May 1968. He filmed Daevid in front of the French police in the middle of burned cars, quite amazing…
What led to the formation of Ame Son and where did you meet the rest of the members?
I met Francois Garrel in 1967 during Expression and Banana Moon. He became my best friend so when we decided to form Ame Son, and because he was playing flute, he naturally joined the group. Bernard Lavialle was the solo guitarist of Les Primitiv’s and Expression so when he came back from the army he came to live with us in Montaulieu where the first line-up of Banana Moon was living. After a while we had the feeling it was time to restart the experience of Expression. We had few songs, poems, and a lot of ideas so we decided to start Ame Son. Also Daevid Allen had his visions of Gong.
What kind of material did early Ame Son play and what clubs? Do you recall any other bands that you shared stages with?
We had a few songs from Expression like ‘I Just Wanna Say’ and ‘Le mal sonne’. We started by constructing pieces of music where each member brings his ideas. We started near Saint Tropez in a ranch called “le ranch de la Foux,” after a week a band called Dickens Royal Incarnation arrived. I learned a few years ago that their record was a wonderful and mythic album. After this we started to play in all the early European festivals and there we shared stages with all the greatest bands of the time including Pink Floyd, The Pretty Things, Soft Machine and many more in Amougies Festival. Deep Purple at Les Halles, Paris, Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention in Vallauris festival. It was a wonderful period.
How did you get signed to BYG Records?
After the return from Saint Tropez, Jerome Laperrousaz told me to join BYG Records with a demo and we were signed right away and sent to London 15 days later to record ‘Catalyse’.
Tell us about the first single, ‘Je veux juste dire’ / ‘Unity’?
In May June 1970 BYG Records wanted to build a promotion with four of their rock bands. Gong, Alice, Alan Jack Civilisation and Ame Son so they produced a single for each band. We were absolutely free to do what we wanted so we took these two songs of mine ‘I Just Want To Say’ became ‘Je Veux Juste Dire,’ a French version and we did new arrangements for this project.
What are some of the strongest memories from recording ‘Catalyse’?
I have many strong memories of the recording, but the most vivid one is to arrive in London with our Citroen car to record our first record, ‘Catalyse’ in the place where we discovered all the music we loved the years before. For the recording itself it was great. Pierre Lattes, the executive producer, helped us with the sound, but let us do what we wanted, including improvisations in the middle of the songs. All the songs were recorded in one take. We finished the record in France for the voices and the mixing plus two songs ‘Je Veux Juste Dire’ / ‘Unity’.
“The concept was to build pieces with several parts forming an ensemble that can change all the time”
Was there a certain concept behind the album?
Yes, the concept was to build pieces with several parts forming an ensemble that can change all the time with climates and improvisations. And also mix our French poetry with English psychedelic influence, free jazz,and freak-out rock music
What are some of the Ame Son gigs you remember the best?
Of course, Amougies, it was our first festival and a big test for us. We didn’t know how our music would be received, fortunately we were successful with the crowd and the press so it helped us in the future. I also remember a gig in the musée d’art Modern with Gong, which was the last one of this period. We played very well and I still don’t understand why we stopped…
Were you inspired by psychoactive substances like LSD at the time of writing the album?
We took our first LSD in September 1967 in a concert hall called “La fenetre rose” and I remember that I wrote the theme of ‘I Just Want To Say’ when I came back to my room. We did not take so much drugs and usually wrote and played clean.
I also enjoy the compilation ‘Primitive Expression,’ which includes material from the 1969-71 period. What can you say about the material?
The biggest tune is a variation from ‘I Just Want To Say’. I recorded my drum ideas around the song and put on other instruments and the result was magic, so years after Spalax Music decided to release it. It was recorded on my Revox. ‘Le Grand Cirque De La Lune’ was produced by Philippe Garrel (The French director and cinematographer, brother of the flutist Francois Garrel). It was also quiet magic! We recorded in a big studio free to improvise around a theme by Philippe Garrel. At first it should have been included in his movie “The Inner Scar (La Cicatrice intérieure),” but finally refused by Nico who wanted to sing all the music of the film. ‘Le Dédale’ is a rehearsal in a cellar, live with Jacque Dudon on guitar, slide open tuning, who is one of my favorite musicians and a dear friend. ‘Dédoublement’ and ‘Sweet Georgia’ are like a reformation of Les Primitiv’s with the original line-up of the band but a few years later.
How come Ame Son stopped playing together?
It happened suddenly. I fell in love, Patrick Fontaine as well. We did not get much money and our manager was not very brilliant. He did not tell us to continue what should have been his work, one year later we started again but the wave was gone and we stopped again, and started many other times without labels, other musicians… In 1974 we began with a young guitarist called Jean-Louis Aubert, the future leader of Telephone. Then in 1995 with Jean-François Pauvros… In 2008/2009 with Francois Garrel. I also played without Fontaine, in 2011, then with my son and Fontaine, and now with a new line-up including occasionally with Fontaine.
What about the 2017 release of ‘Black Trees’?
In 2012 I bought a new cellar with my son Roméo to have a place to rehearse. I bought a new drum kit, started to play new songs with him at the same time I met Serge Vincendet from Monster Melodies. We worked together on writing new songs and we wrote and recorded ‘Black Trees’ and put out a 45 single on his label. Maybe the work of this period will go out soon. I want to call it ‘Ame Son and Son’.
You were also involved with Red Noise?
I played with them at the end of Ame Son in 1971/72. It was a completely free experience, but nice and meeting the son of Boris Vian was exciting. At their concert I started with songs on guitar and voice. It was the first part of my beginning as a solo artist.
How did you get involved with Robert Wood on his ‘Vibrarock’ release?
I had nothing to do in this project, this was Patrick Fontaine
In 1979 you released your first solo album, ‘Mon rêve familier’. Tell us about it?
At first it was a single, produced by a big production company on the WEA label. I made a nice melody to the poem of Paul Verlaine and few labels thought this could be a summer hit, but we started too late for the summer so it did not work very well. It was in French. The experience was a lot different from my “underground days,” but it gave me the opportunity to play with a great musician like Jannick Top on bass and later when I produced my solo album I called these kinds of musicians.
What about ‘Electric troubadour’ and ‘Prédestinée’?
I still wanted to write rock and folk songs so I produced these two albums by myself with help from Alain Renaud. At the same time I worked as an entertainer in a ski resort at La Plagne where I was singing, DJ-ing, being a sound engineer, and I was allowed to sell my record after the concert, so for the first time in my life I had work and money.
What else occupied your life later on?
I worked as an entertainer for 12 years in different resorts; La Plagne, Les Carroz D’Arâches, Pra Loup. After all this year I wanted to take a break and take time to write and play. Then I had the opportunity to teach tennis near my home in Paris so I did it for years and also I started to give guitar lessons. During all this period I still wrote songs and played in clubs. Sometimes I start Ame Son again and again…
Looking back, what was the highlight of your time in the band? Which songs are you most proud of? Where and when was your most memorable gig?
The songs I’m most proud of are ‘I Just Want To Say’ that became ‘Je Veux Juste Dire’ and ‘Unity’. The latter because this song came to me one morning with all the words and melody. It was a gift from earth and I still don’t understand how it happened and I’m not satisfied with the version I recorded. I also like a poem called “Catalyse Call”. ‘Comme Est Morte L’Evocation’ is another one I like. And the last few years I’m proud to write rock ‘n’ roll songs for the band and French Poetry for my solo works.
Is there any unreleased material by Ame Son?
There are few strange recordings left. One is an LSD trip we recorded in 1970 in a church. It is so strange that no one at that time finished the project.
What are some of the most important players that influenced your own style and what in particular did they employ in their playing that you liked?
I like the glissando effect from Daevid Allen and Syd Barrett a lot. I like French poetry and the surrealist movement.
Thank you for taking your time. Last word is yours.
It’s interesting to see that some people are still interested in our work after 50 years and more but I regret the time when everything seemed to be possible. These days all the projects are more complicated. Records had disappeared, CDs also, music was everywhere and nowhere.
Klemen Breznikar
Headline photo: Ame Son promotional photo | Courtesy of Marc Blanc
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