Raymond Lefevre - Palmares des Chansons Nº1 '1965 [2009]

Tracks list

The instrumental smash Ame Câline vaulted conductor and arranger Raymond
LeFevre to the front ranks of the easy listening renaissance that followed the
commercial vogue for stereophonic sound. Born in Calais, France on November 20,
1929, LeFevre studied flute as a child and at 16 entered Paris Conservatoire
National de Musique, moonlighting as a jazz pianist in local clubs and cabarets.
After a stint behind jazz bandleader Hubert Rostaing, LeFevre joined conductor
Bernard Hildas Club des Champs-Elysées orchestra. He established himself as a
composer and arranger during a lengthy tenure as a Barclay Records staffer,
concurrently serving six years behind Egyptian born singer Dalida and in 1957
scoring the first of more than a dozen films with director Guillaume Radot,
Fric-Frac en Dentelles. A year later, LeFevre notched a minor U.S. hit with his
interpretation of Gilbert Bécauds Le Jour Ou La Pluie Viendra, retitled The
Day the Rains Came for American consumption. By this time, he was also
established as the musical director for the French television variety series
Musicorama, leading his orchestra in accompaniment of countless singers. While
scoring the 1964 feature Faites Sauter La Banque!, LeFevre first collaborated
with fellow easy listening maestro Paul Mauriat, his greatest commercial rival
in the years to follow. While Mauriat scored the biggest instrumental hit of the
period with the chart-topping Love Is Blue, LeFevres lush symphonic approach was
a fixture on the European pop charts throughout the 60s as consumer demand for
stereo recordings guaranteed impressive sales for singles including La La La (He
Gives Me Love), Puppet on a String, and A Whiter Shade of Pale. He scored his
biggest hit in 1968 when composer Michel Polnareffs haunting Ame Câline (aka
Soul Coaxing) emerged as a staple on pirate station Radio Caroline, and while
his commercial fortunes dwindled in the decade to follow, LeFevre remained a
ubiquitous presence in French cinema, winning widespread acclaim for the 1971
thriller score Jo. He also continued recording until 2001, enjoying his greatest
commercial renown in Japan. LeFevre died in Seine-Port, France on June 27, 2008.


Tracks:

01. Palmares Des Chansons (01:37)
02. Io Che Non Vivo (02:43)
03. Jaime (02:23)
04. Un Amour Dans La Ville (02:19)
05. Nuit (02:40)
06. Les Etoiles De La Rout (02:47)
07. La Passionata (02:41)
08. Yesterday (02:33)
09. La Boheme (02:28)
10. Moon over Naples (02:43)
11. Il Faut Si Peu De Pluie (02:25)
12. Lamerique (02:20)

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