Raymond Lefèvre

French easy listening orchestra leader, arranger and composer. He often wrote the soundtracks of the Louis De Funès movies. b. November 20, 1929, Calais, France d. June 27, 2008 He started his professional musical education when he was 17 years old at the Paris Conservatory. At the beginnig of the 50s he was a jazz pianist in a trio with Hubert Rostaing and Bobby Jaspar. He made his first steps in the Franck Pourcel Et Son Grand Orchestre, where he played as a pianist. He also played in the Paul Mauriat orchestra. In 1956 he released his debut album on Barclay and soon got his own orchestra. He worked in the French television programs Musicorama (1950s) and Palmarés des Chansons (1965, 1966, 1967) accompanying famous artists as Dalida, Claude François, Richard Anthony. Lefèvre conducted entries four times at the Eurovision Song Contest (1961, 1962, 1963 & 1970). His biggest international hit was "Soul Coaxing" in 1968, he also had succes with "The Day the Rains Came" in the US (1958) and "La Reine de Saba" in Japan (1969). He was married and father of 2 sons, Bernard Lefèvre and Jean-Michel Lefèvre.