Scott's Song by Song #95: Michel St-Père - Like Father, Like Son
Welcome to issue #95 of Scott’s Song By Song (#scottssongbysong).
The musicians on today’s album will certainly be familiar to regular readers of my content! Michel St-Père is best known as the guitarist/composer in the Canadian prog band Mystery, as well as a member of Huis, both of whom have Scott’s Spotlight articles on this blog, not to mention a review of Mystery’s latest album, “Redemption”. Additionally, he is the founder and head of Unicorn Digital, the record company that is releasing the album. The album, “Like Father, Like Son”, which will be released on October 15, 2026, is a special one for Michel. On it he plays his arrangements of several well known songs and pieces that shaped his playing over the long course of 50 years as a guitarist. The title of the album pays homage to his own father, who was his first guitar teacher. Accompanying Michel on the album are two other modern prog heavyweights. Jonas Reingold (Ex-The Flower Kings, Ex- The Tangent, Karmakanic, and The Steve Hackett Band–All of whom are featured here– or linked from here in the case of The Tangent– as well) plays bass, while Jimmy Keegan (Ex-Spock’s Beard and Pattern Seeking Animals, both featured here as well) is behind the kit! This is a prog-power-trio par excellence!
This album comes courtesy of Anne-Claire Rallo of Bad Dog Promotions. As always, I receive no additional compensation, and am free to “call it like I hear it”. As per my usual method, this is a cold listen.
The credits list the following:
Michel St-Père - Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Banjo, Ukulele, Keyboards
Jonas Reingold - Bass Guitar and Fretless Bass Guitar
Jimmy Keegan - Drums
Let's jump in!
Track 1 - Star Trek (1:23)
A big power chord sets the scene for Michel playing the famous melody of the theme to the legendary science fiction series! The rhythm section, of course, is as tight as nails! A very energetic opening! (composer: Alexander Courage)
Track 2 - Peter Gunn (4:15)
He has selected another TV theme here. The “Peter Gunn Theme” composed by the legendary Henry Mancini, is probably better known as a piece of music than its parent late 50s/early 60s private eye show! Two of the most notable cover versions are those from Duane Eddy and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Keegan kicks it off with the drumbeat, and when Michel & Jonas kick in with that famous riff, we’re rockin’ hard! After the first iteration of the theme, Michel takes a blazing extended guitar solo. He then harmonizes the melody with overdubbed guitar parts. This may be my new favorite version of this famous tune! Killer track!
Track 3 - Apache (3:18)
This instrumental from the late 50s/early 60s era of guitar-led instrumentals, has a slightly complicated history. Originally written by UK composer Jerry Lordan after watching a 1954 movie of the same name, it was first recorded by UK guitarist Burt Weedon in early 1960, but Lordan didn’t feel like Weedon had the right feel in his version, calling it “too jaunty”. He then introduced the tune to Cliff Richard and the Shadows, with whom Lordan was touring. The Shadows also recorded the tune, and due to delays in the release of Weedon’s version, both versions were released at around the same time. The Shadows’ version overshadowed (no pun intended, but I’ll take it!) Weedon’s version on the UK charts going to #1, while Weedon’s version peaked at #24. Later, Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch wrote the song “Mr. Guitar” for Burt Weedon to apologize for obscuring his version of the tune. (History lesson over, lol.)
It begins with a Native-American style tom-tom beat, or at least the stereotypical idea of what one was in the era that the song first appeared. Of course, Keegan rocks it hard! Jonas & Michel lead into the melody, before Michel takes the spotlight. This is, once again, a great, modern rock arrangement of this old chestnut! Another fantastic track!
Track 4 - Sleep Walk (3:33)
This famous instrumental, written and recorded by the duo of Santo & Johnny (brothers with the last name of Farina) in 1959 featured a steel guitar, and is part of the same golden age of guitar-based instrumentals as the proceeding track Notable covers include versions by Larry Carlton and Joe Satriani, and Steve Howe would sometimes play it during his solo spot during Yes concerts in the early 2000s.
Michel’s version starts out straight enough, but I suspect he’s using a slide on his favorite blue Fender Strat Ultra instead of a steel guitar. He retains a clean guitar tone for this 6-8 ballad. Reingold and Keegan add some nice accents at times. This version reminds me of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Lenny”. A very nice version of a classic!
Track 5 - The Man with a Harmonica (3:38)
This track and the next two are all from Italian composer Ennio Morricone from the soundtrack of the legendary “spaghetti western”, “Once Upon a Time in the West”. I am not as familiar with how these tracks sounded in their original form as I was with the first four tracks.
After some cool guitar effects, the trio plays accented, sustained chords that act as a bit of a fanfare. At around 1:45 they kick in with a rock beat. Keegan has some great fills here and Reingold walks all over the bass! Of course, Michel St-Père does what he does best, playing soaring melodic guitar solos that absolutely sing! As I said, I don’t know the original, but I LOVE this!
Track 6 - “Farewell to Cheyenne” (1:41)
This begins with a percussion instrument playing a rhythm that is somewhere between raindrops falling and a horse clopping down the road. THIS is the track where the banjo comes into play! The syncopated 4-4 beat gives a quaint feel to this piece. Michel’s lead guitar stays in the background on this one.
Track 7 - “Once Upon a Time in the West” (4:13)
Windy sound effects elicit the image of a old-western dirt road through the center of town. After a subtle guitar part, he orchestrates layered guitars for a dramatic dynamic shift. The music comes back down and gradually builds into a moderate, easy-going 4-4 beat. The theme tune is majestic! He uses keyboards here to nicely add to the texture. Another wonderful track. These three tracks probably could have been put together as a suite in a single track and worked quite well. But either way, he presents the music in his own style, while honoring the legacy of the source material.
Track 8 - Pipeline (2:28)
This is one that I once played in a cover band in the mid-to-late 90s in the Atlanta Metro area, and is a fun track to play! This surf guitar classic was made famous by The Chantays in 1962, also part of that age of rock-guitar instrumentals. I can’t wait to hear his take on it!
This is harder rockin’ than the version we did back in the day! These guys are cookin’! I love the layered guitar parts he uses, and Keegan is absolutely bashing away behind the kit! I could hear Gary Hoey or Satriani doing a version like this, but Michel made it his own! I’d recommend this as a single/music video. A hot track!
Track 9 - Ebb Tide (2:45)
Originally composed in 1953 by Robert Maxwell & Carl Sigman, it has been performed by many artists as diverse as Frank Sinatra, The Platters and The Righteous Brothers. The Righteous Brothers version from 1965 is the most successful, and I would guess (but I don’t know for certain) that this is the one Michel is influenced by. I think I am only vaguely familiar with this song.
This version feels like a jazz-trio. It has an easy going 6-8 sway to it. At around 1:15, however, the gears shift and it becomes an epic rock ballad! At least, for a moment, lol. It winds down quickly after that. A nice piece!
Track 10 - Hawaii Five-O (1:51)
Another TV theme from the 60s; but one that has always rocked! The original TV show version came from Morton Stevens for the 1968 TV series, but surf-guitar ensemble The Ventures quickly released a cover version (likely recorded alongside the famous “Wrecking Crew” LA studio musicians). The opening drum fill may be one of the most famous drum bits of all time! Take it away Jimmy!
And he nails it, of course, while Michel & Jonas add accents to it. Michel, takes over on the melody and this is a rockin’ version to be sure! Killer track!
Track 11 - Shadow of the Hierophant (9:16)
This is the longest track on the album, and the most overtly prog one. I’d bet that almost everyone reading this knows that this is a cover of Steve Hackett originally recorded for his debut solo album “Voyage of the Acolyte” (reviewed here on the blog).
Michel St-Père starts his version with a big power chord section, then it settles down while he plays the melody on electric guitar. Jimmy & Jonas join in with a big rhythm section accompaniment. The quieter parts alternate with the heavier ones, giving a nice sense of dynamics. At around 3-minutes in Michel St-Père uses “right-hand tapping” which Hackett pioneered several years before Eddie Van Halen popularized it. Hackett’s version felt to me more like a classical ensemble, but these guys are presenting it in a rock-driven format which I love! He’s really ripping into the guitar at around 8:15! While I am sure that Michel St-Père considers Steve Hackett to be a guitar hero of his (and most prog fans as well), he honors him immensely with this rendition! Well done! (Of course, as mentioned, Jonas Reingold plays in Hackett’s solo band of late.)
Track 12 - Always With Me, Always With You (3:24)
This is a cover of Joe Satriani’s classic 1987 instrumental guitar ballad, off of his breakthrough album “Surfing With the Alien”. I was lucky enough to see Satch play this live in the mid 90s at Music Midtown in Atlanta, accompanied by bass master Stu Hamm and drummer Gregg Bissonette. Hamm played two parts on the bass simultaneously, with the right hand tapping the arpeggios of the rhythm guitar part of the studio recording while the left hand hammered-on the sustained low notes; it was mind-blowing.
This is a faithful cover, yet it feels fresh! Michel St-Père shows that he is in the league with players like Satch here! He nails the “tapping” section right around the two-minute mark. In fact, the time-code of this track is within 2 seconds of the Satriani original. Masterfully played!
Track 13 - Grease (3:06)
This is perhaps the most unexpected track on the album. The theme from the movie version of “Grease”, written in late-70s disco style by Barry Gibb himself and sung by Frankie Valli. Let’s see what he does with it!
Well, he rocks the horn parts and vocal melodies on the guitar, that’s what! Jimmy and Jonas add to the rock version for sure! It takes vision to see the rock potential of such a disco-era favorite! I love it! Jonas and Jimmy get a little feature at around 2:35. That, surprisingly, kicked ASS!
Track 14 - Space:1999 (2:47)
This one I knew absolutely nothing about. This is the theme song from the 70s British science fiction series of the same name, composed by Vic Elmes and Barry Gray. After a dramatic fanfare, the groove turns funky. Reingold is all over the bass! Of course, Michel St-Père plays the melodies brilliantly. At around 1:45, there is a quieter, more mellow section with sustained notes, but the groove quickly returns. This is a complex little piece. Love it!
Track 15 - Mars, The Bringer of War (7:30)
This Gustalv Holst piece is part of his suite, “The Planets”. It might as well be a prog song! It has been covered by King Crimson (as the basis for “The Devil’s Triangle”) and Emerson Lake and Powell. Michel St-Père’s version uses guitar orchestrations, and as we have come to expect, this amazing rhythm section helps to bring it to life. There are odd-meters throughout. This music is prog ahead of its time in an orchestral setting. Michel St-Père and company absolutely NAIL it here! What a fantastic finale for this incredible album.
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:
What could have been a quick throwaway album of covers is turned into a musical statement when produced by three masterful musicians! I loved every moment of that! Michel St-Père, Jonas Reingold and Jimmy Keegan have created something special here. Much like the recent release from Hackett & Rothery “The Roaring Waves”, Michel St-Père could have just used this as an excuse to shred and rip on the guitar along with familiar tunes, but instead he used tasteful arrangements and made something truly special. Being that it is an album of covers, however, I don’t feel like I can give it a 5 star rating in good conscience against albums of original compositions. That said, it is an amazing musical statement! 4.5 out of 5 stars/90%. Very highly recommended.
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LINKS FOR LISTENING/BUYING:
It can be pre-ordered directly from Unicorn Digital here:
https://www.unicorndigital.net/product-page/michel-st-pere-like-father-like-son
Several tracks now have YouTube videos, in fact, so many that I am just posting the link to the search…I think most of the album, if not the whole thing is there!
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=michel+st-pere
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