Raymond Lefèvre

An instrumental triumph called "Ame Câline" propelled conductor and arranger Raymond LeFevre into the leading tier of the easy listening resurgence fueled by stereophonic sound's commercial appeal. Born in Calais, France on November 20, 1929, LeFevre took up the flute during childhood and gained admission at age 16 to Paris' Conservatoire National de Musique, where he supplemented his studies by performing as a jazz pianist across local clubs and cabarets. Following a period with jazz bandleader Hubert Rostaing, he entered the ranks of conductor Bernard Hilda's Club des Champs-Elysées orchestra. LeFevre built his reputation as a composer and arranger through an extended role on the staff at Barclay Records, while also spending six years accompanying Egyptian born singer Dalida and, in 1957, composing the score for Fric-Frac en Dentelles, the first of more than a dozen films directed by Guillaume Radot. The following year he achieved a minor U.S. hit via his reading of Gilbert Bécaud's "Le Jour Ou La Pluie Viendra," issued stateside as "The Day the Rains Came." At that point LeFevre had already assumed duties as musical director for the French television variety program Musicorama, where his orchestra backed numerous vocalists. During work on the 1964 film Faites Sauter La Banque!, he began his first partnership with fellow easy listening figure Paul Mauriat, who would later emerge as his principal commercial competitor. Although Mauriat captured the era's largest instrumental success with the number-one single "Love Is Blue," LeFevre's richly symphonic style appeared regularly on European pop charts during the 1960s, driven by strong demand for stereo releases such as "La La La (He Gives Me Love)," "Puppet on a String," and "A Whiter Shade of Pale." His peak commercial moment arrived in 1968 when Michel Polnareff's evocative "Ame Câline," also known as "Soul Coaxing," became a regular fixture on the pirate station Radio Caroline. While later sales diminished, LeFevre maintained a steady presence in French cinema and received broad recognition for his 1971 thriller score Jo. He sustained recording activity through 2001 and found his strongest audience in Japan. LeFevre died in Seine-Port, France on June 27, 2008.