Raymond Lefèvre (20 November 1929 – 27 June 2008) was a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, ...

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

leader,

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchest ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

Biography and career

Born on 20 November 1929 in

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

, France, Raymond Lefèvre is best known for his interpretation of the 1968 theme " Soul Coaxing (Ame Caline)" (composed by

Michel Polnareff Michel Polnareff (born 3 July 1944, Nérac, Lot-et-Garonne, France) is a French singer-songwriter, who was popular in France from the mid-1960s until the early 1990s with his penultimate original album, ''Kāma-Sūtra''. He is still criticall ...

), which became an international

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

. He also wrote

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrac ...

s for

movies A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

with

Louis de Funès Louis Germain David de Funès de Galarza (; 31 July 1914 – 27 January 1983) was a French actor and comedian. He is France's favourite actor, according to a series of polls conducted since the late 1960s, having played over 150 roles in fil ...

such as ''La Soupe Aux Choux'' (1981) or the series ''Le Gendarme de Saint Tropez''. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, he accompanied

Dalida Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti (; 17 January 1933 – 3 May 1987), professionally known as Dalida, was an Italian-French singer and actress born in Egypt. She sang in eleven languages and sold millions of records internationally. Her best known son ...

on most of her

recordings A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

(''Bambino'', ''Por Favor'', ''Tu peux tout faire de moi'', ''Quand on n'a que l'amour''), amongst many others. He started his musical career in 1956 on the

Barclay Records Barclay is a French record company and label founded by Eddie Barclay in 1953. Eddie Barclay was a bandleader, pianist, producer, and nightclub owner. With his wife, Nicole, who was the vocalist in his band, he started Barclay. The catalogue in ...

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed ...

. His recordings were released in the United States on the Kapp and Four Corners record labels until 1969.

Early career

He was accepted at the

Paris Conservatory The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

when 17 years old. During the early 1950s he played the piano for the

Franck Pourcel Franck Pourcel (14 August 1913 – 12 November 2000) was a French composer, arranger, and conductor of popular and classical music. Biography Early life Born in Marseille, France, Pourcel started learning the violin at the age of six. Later, ...

orchestra. In 1953 he played the piano at the Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. He started his musical career in 1956 on the Barclay label and recorded his debut album that year. He worked on the French television programmes ''Musicorama'' (1950s) and ''Palmarés des Chansons'' (1965, 1966, 1967) accompanying such famous artists as

Claude François Claude Antoine Marie François (; 1 February 1939 – 11 March 1978), also known by the nickname Cloclo, was a French pop singer, composer, songwriter, record producer, drummer and dancer. François co-wrote the lyrics of " Comme d'habitude" ( ...

, Richard Anthony, with his own orchestra. His recording of " The Day the Rains Came" was a best seller in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

in 1958. The song "Ame câline" (Soul Coaxing) became an international hit in 1968 and "La La La (He Gives Me Love)" - an instrumental adaptation of 1968's

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

's winning song by Spanish singer

Massiel María de los Ángeles Felisa Santamaría Espinosa (born 2 August 1947), professionally known as Massiel, is a Spanish pop singer. She won the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 with the song "La, la, la", beating the British pop singer Cliff Richard' ...

- was a minor hit in 1968 in Canada and the United States. In 1969, his recording of "La Reine de Saba" (Queen of Sheba) became a big hit in Japan. From 1972 until the early 2000s, he undertook several successful tours of Japan. He worked on the soundtracks of many

movies.

Eurovision

Lefèvre conducted entries four times at the

, three times for

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

(in

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

, and

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

), and once for

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

Death

Raymond Lefèvre died in

Seine-Port Seine-Port () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Demographics Inhabitants of Seine-Port are called ''Saint-Portais''. See also *Communes of the Seine-et-Marne department The fo ...

, France on 27 June 2008 at the age of 78.

Discography

Film music (excerpt)

* 1957 - ''Fric-frac en dentelles'' with Peter van Eyck. * 1964 - Le gendarme de St. Tropez * 1965 - Le gendarme à New York (with

Paul Mauriat Paul Julien André Mauriat ( or ; 4 March 1925 – 3 November 2006) was a French orchestra leader, conductor of Le Grand Orchestre de Paul Mauriat, who specialized in the easy listening genre. He is best known in the United States for his mill ...

) * 1967 - Les grandes vacances * 1968 -

Le gendarme se marie ''The Gendarme Gets Married'' (french: Le gendarme se marie) is the third installment of the ''Gendarmes'' series, starring again Louis de Funès and one more time Geneviève Grad as his daughter. This comedy film succeeds '' Gendarme in New York ...

* 1970 -

Le gendarme en balade ''The gendarme to stroll'' (french: Le gendarme en balade) is the fourth instalment of the gendarme series starring Louis de Funès and also known as "The Gendarme Takes Off" and "The Troops on Vacation". It is followed by two more films: ''Le ge ...

* 1979 -

Le gendarme et les extra-terrestres ''The Gendarme and the Extra-Terrestrials'' (french: Le Gendarme et Les Extra-Terrestres) is a continuation of the Gendarme series starring Louis de Funès. It is also known as ''The Gendarme and the Creatures from Outer Space'' and is followed by ...

* 1981 - La soupe aux choux * 1982 -

Le gendarme et les gendarmettes ''The Gendarme and the Gendarmettes'' (french: Le gendarme et les gendarmettes) is a 1982 French comedy film, and the sixth and last movie of the ''Gendarme'' series . It is the final film of the director Jean Girault and the lead actor Louis de F ...

Records

* 1965 - Palmares des chansons * 1966 - Palmares des chansons No.2 * 1967 - Palmares des chansons No.3 * 1967 - Palmares des chansons No.4 * 1967 - Raymond Lefevre No.5 * 1968 - Raymond Lefèvre No.6 * 1968 - Raymond Lefèvre No.7 * 1968 - Joyeux Noels * 1968 - Christmas Symphonies * 1968 - Palmares des chansons * 1968 - Raymond Lefèvre No.9 * 1969 - Raymond Lefèvre No.10 * 1969 - Musique de films * 1969 - Great Strauss Waltzes * 1969 - Raymond Lefèvre Plays the Hits * 1970 - Raymond Lefèvre No.12 * 1970 - Concerto pour une voix * 1971 - Raymond Lefèvre No.13 * 1971 - Soul Symphonies * 1971 - This is Raymond Lefèvre * 1971 - Golden Prize * 1972 - Raymond Lefèvre No.14 * 1972 - Raymond Lefèvre No.15 * 1972 - Raymond Lefèvre No.16 * 1972 - Live in Japan * 1972 - Oh Happy Day * 1972 - Mamy Blue * 1973 - Festival de Sanremo 1973 * 1973 - Soul Symphonies No.2 * 1973 - Raymond Lefèvre No.17 * 1974 - Raymond Lefèvre No.18 * 1974 - Raymond Lefèvre No.19 * 1974 - Live in Japan 1974 * 1974 - Best of Raymond Lefèvre * 1975 - Stereo Laboratory Vol. 10 Strings * 1975 - Emmanuelle Golden Prize * 1975 - Raymond Lefèvre No.20 * 1976 - Raymond Lefèvre No.21 * 1976 - French Love in Hi-Fi * 1976 - Les plus grands succes 76 * 1976 - Love Symphonies * 1976 - 16 musiques de films * 1977 - Rock and Rhythm in Hi-Fi * 1977 - Love in Stereo No.1 * 1977 - Live in Japan 1977 * 1977 - El nuevo sonido de Raymond Lefèvre * 1977 - Eux * 1978 - Festival des meilleurs musiques des films * 1978 - Soul Symphonies No.3 * 1978 - Holiday Symphonies * 1978 - Grandi temi da film * 1978 - Film Symphonies * 1978 - Romance * 1979 - Live in Japan 1978 * 1979 - Tomorrow's Symphonies du Futur * 1979 - Disco Symphonies * 1979 - Pop Symphonies * 1979 - Love World * 1980 - Concerto * 1980 - The Best of Raymond Lefèvre * 1980 - 16 grands succes * 1981 - Suite latine * 1982 - Demonstration * 1982 - Operamania * 1983 - Digital Parade * 1984 - Lefèvre Meets Chiharu * 1984 - Les plus grands succes de Julio Iglesias * 1984 - Live in Japan 1984 * 1984 - Plays Chinese Songs * 1986 - Back to Bach * 1988 - Music of the Night * 1988 - Les plus grands succes de Raymond Lefèvre Vol. 3 * 1989 - Mull of Kintyre * 1991 - Canzone * 1993 - Sous le ciel de Paris * 1993 - Les plus grands succes de Raymond Lefèvre Vol. 5 * 1995 - Plein soleil * 1995 - Autumnal Player (When Richard Meets Raymond) * 1995 - Japon mon amour (with Richard Clayderman) * 1998 - Lacrima cristi * 2002 - De temps en temps * 2009 - Raymond Lefèvre et son Grand Orchestre * 2010 - A mon pere

References

External links

*
soundtrack-record listingnews of his deathGrand Orchestra - the best orchestras of the world!
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lefevre, Raymond 1929 births 2008 deaths Easy listening musicians French film score composers Eurovision Song Contest conductors Monument Records artists Dalida Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery 20th-century conductors (music) French male film score composers 20th-century French male musicians