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THE ALBUM
"La Voix Du Bon Dieu" (meaning "Good God´s Voice" or "The Voice Of The Good Lord") is the French debut studio album by Celine Dion, released in Quebec, Canada on November 9, 1981.
...> About The Album
The album contains Celine´s first three singles: "Ce n´était qu´un rêve" (co-written by herself), "La voix du bon dieu" and "L´amour viendra" (French adaptation of Dario Baldan Bembo´s song "Dolce fiore"), as well as two covers: Renée Lebas´ "T´ire l´aiguille" and Berthe Sylva´s "Les roses blanches". Celine collaborated on this project and all her next early French recordings with Eddy Marnay who wrote songs for Barbra Streisand, Édith Piaf, Nana Mouskouri and Claude François among others. Rene Angelil, Celine´s manager (later husband), mortgaged his home to start his own record company just to produce her first records. He decided to put out two albums at the same time: "La Voix Du Bon Dieu" and "Céline Dion Chante Noël" (with Christmas songs). They had sold 30,000 copies in 1981 and they´d go on to sell about 125,000 copies the following year. "La Voix Du Bon Dieu" has sold 100,000 copies in total. The album produced two top 20 Quebec singles in "Ce n´était qu´un rêve" and "La voix du bon dieu" which peaked at number 11 and 14 respectively. "Ce n´était qu´un rêve" was also released in France the next year as Celine´s first single in that country, but plans to release the album were cancelled. In 2005, Celine included "Ce n´était qu´un rêve" and "La voix du bon dieu" on her greatest hits compilation "On Ne Change Pas".
...> Track Listing
1. "La voix du bon dieu"
2. "Au secours"
3. "L´amour viendra"
4. "Autour de moi"
5. "Grand maman"
6. "Ce n´était qu´un rêve"
7. "Seul un oiseau blanc"
8. "T'ire l´aiguille"
9. "Les roses blanches"
...> Recording Sessions
For the summer of 1981, some twenty-five thousand copies of "Ce n´etait qu´un reve" single were sold. Besides the album of original songs that Eddie Marnay was furiously working on, Rene Angelil decided to put out another record of Christmas songs. He wanted to prove that Celine wasn´t just another child singing star, but a true singer with a magical voice and original material. So during the summer of 1981, Celine recorded the songs from "La Voix Du Bon Dieu" and from "Céline Dion Chante Noël" at the Saint-Charles Studio in Montreal, Canada. In reference to the recording sessions, Celine has said "At the end of the day, Rene came by to take my mother and me, and sometimes my father as well, to the Saint-Charles studio. Rene always invited a lot of other people, his cousin Paul Sara, his friends Marc Verreault, Ben Kaye, Jacques Des Marais, several others, people from the industry and the media. Sometimes he brought along his children, and his wife, Anne-Renee. Eddy Marnay and Suzanne-Mia Dumont were there, too. And with several of my brothers and sisters, their children, their friends, the control room was ready to burst with all these people who watched us working, sometimes until the wee hours of the morning. In the middle of the night, we had pizza or Chinese food delivered" (from an extract of the book "My Story, My Dream").
...> Album Photo Session
Celine posed for a photo session made for this album. Her first proffesional photo session. In reference to this photo session, Celine has said "On the days I didn´t sing, I went shopping either with my sisters, Anne-Renee (Rene´s wife), or Mia (Marnay´s wife). Rene had given Mia the responsibility of teaching me how to create a look for the album photos. When I posed for the album photos, I refused to laugh or even smile, because I didn´t want my teeth to show. My teeth were so long and prominent that even with my mouth closed, they hung over the corners of my upper lip" (from an extract of the book "My Story, My Dream").
...> Title And Cover
The album´s name was chosen after the first song of the same name "La voix du bon Dieu", wich was writen by French songwriter, Eddy Marnay. During the launching event for the album, at the Bonaventure Hotel in Montreal, Canada on November 9, 1981, each guest was presented with a bouquet of mimosa, a press kit and a copy of the album. On the front of the press kit, Marnay had written, "Thank you, Celine, for letting me hear the Voice of Heaven. I´m no prophet, but I believe that you´ll ride the rainbow, and that the sun will shine on you forever. With all my love". The album jacket presented two sides of Celine´s personality. On the front, a well-behaved, gentle child whose eyes were averted, as if she were carefully listening to someone. There was sparkle in those big dark eyes, and a pout on her lips. Her cheeks were round like a child´s, and her hair fell freely onto her pink sweater. But on the back of the jacket, there was a made-up young woman. In her long fingers, with pink, polished nails, she held a flowery parasol that rested on her shoulder. Her straight-on gaze depicted a self-assured, conquering look. The record cover showed her two sides: the girl-child attentively listening to someone, and the young woman who had mastered her image as well as she´d mastered her voice.
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THE EDITIONS
| Cover | Edition/Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
|
Vinyl LP Edition | ----- |
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Cassette Edition | ----- |
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THE SINGLES
...> "Ce n´était qu´un rêve"
"Ce n´était qu´un rêve" (meaning "Nothin but a dream") is a debut single, released on June 19, 1981 in Quebec, Canada.
It was included on her first album "La Voix Du Bon Dieu". The song was written by Celine, her mother Thérèse and brother Jacques. On June 19, 1981 Celine made her first broadcast appearance. She performed "Ce n´était qu´un rêve" in a very popular talk-show in Quebec hosted by Michel Jasmin. On September 5, 1981 the song entered the Quebec Singles Chart, spending five weeks on it and peaking at number 14. "Ce n´était qu´un rêve" was also Celine´s debut single in France, released in 1982 with "L´amour viendra" as B-side. Celine performed "Ce n´était qu´un rêve" many times during her career. It was included on "The Colour Of My Love Concert" VHS/DVD (1995), "Au Cœur Du Stade" CD (1999), "Au Cœur Du Stade" DVD (1999) and her 2005 French greatest hits compilation "On Ne Change Pas".
| Cover | Description | Track Listing |
|---|---|---|
|
Vinyl single released in France in 1981. | 1. "Ce n´était qu´un rêve"; 2. "L´amour viendra" |
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Vinyl single released in Canada on June 19, 1981. | 1. "Ce n´était qu´un rêve"; 2. "Ce n´était qu´un rêve" [ instrumental ] |
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...> "La voix du bon Dieu"
"La voix du bon dieu" (meaning "Good god´s voice") is the second single from the album "La Voix Du Bon Dieu", released in November 1981, in Quebec, Canada.
On November 30, 1981 the song entered the chart in Quebec, spending there thirteen weeks and peaking at number 11. The single's B-side included "Autour de moi". While the version of the song included on the album of the same title contained generic back-up singers, the entire Dion family accompanied Celine´s 1981 vocal track for a new version included on "Tellement J´ai D´amour...". A third version of "La voix du bon dieu" was included on her album "Les Oiseaux Du Bonheur", released in France in 1984. This track included a new vocal recording and softer orchestrations. The second version of "La voix du bon dieu" was included on Celine´s 1986 compilation "Les Chansons En Or" and her 2005 French greatest hits compilation "On Ne Change Pas". The third version was included on the 1997 compilation "C´est Pour Vivre" and the 2002 CD re-release of her first album in France, called "Du Soleil Au Cœur". The vinyl single contains: "La voix du bon Dieu" and "Autour de moi".
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...> "L´amour viendra"
"L´amour viendra" (meaning "Love will come") is the third single from the album "La Voix Du Bon Dieu", released in 1982 in Quebec, Canada.
The song was written by Eddy Marnay, Amerigo Cassella and Dario Baldan Bembo. It's a French adaptation of Bembo´s song "Dolce fiore". "L´amour viendra" was also included as B-side on Celine´s debut single in France, "Ce n´était qu´un rêve". The vinyl single contains: "L´amour viendra" and "La voix du bon Dieu".
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THE MUSIC VIDEOS
...> "Ce n´était qu´un rêve"
An early pseudo music video from a TV special was made when the single came out in 1981.
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