Persuaders - Don't Fight It b/w I Found a Love

Tracks

Side 1

		Track Name	Length
	1	Don't Fight It

Side 2

		Track Name	Length
	1	I Found a Love

Photos

Videos

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Information/Write-up

A cornerstone of Quebec’s 1960s soul and funk scene, The Persuaders delivered a fiery blend of jazz, R&B, and groove-heavy rhythm and blues that rivaled anything coming out of Detroit or New York at the time. Fronted by trumpet player, vocalist, and multi-instrumental prodigy Denis Lepage, the group included Serge Proulx (guitar), André Demontigny (alto sax), Joey Steiner (sax), Robert Alarie (bass), and Andy Shorter (drums).

Lepage—who would later achieve international fame in the disco era as one half of Lime and under aliases like The Professor, Le Pouls, and Nini Nobless—first honed his craft as a teenage bandleader with The Stringers, a jazz-inflected R&B outfit. With The Persuaders, he helped define a uniquely Québécois strain of soul music, performing regularly at Montreal venues like Club 217, where they backed visiting legends such as Stevie Wonder and The Isley Brothers (featuring a young Jimi Hendrix on guitar).

Though they released only a handful of recordings, including a now-legendary single with Lotsa Poppa, The Persuaders remain a cult favorite—sought after by collectors and celebrated by crate diggers for their raw power, tight arrangements, and deep musicality. Their legacy is part of the rich, underexplored history of Black music in Quebec, and of Denis Lepage’s astonishing, shape-shifting career.
-Robert Williston

Denis Lepage: trumpet, vocals
Serge Proulx: guitar
André Demontigny: alto saxophone
Joey Steiner: saxophone
Robert Alarie: bass
Andy Shorter: drums

Produced by André Perry for on Wayne Enterprises

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