"Soul Coaxing"
Single by Raymond Lefèvre
from the album Soul Coaxing
B-side	"If I Were a Carpenter" (U.S.) "A Man and a Woman" (UK)
Released	February 1968 (U.S.)
Label	4 Corners Records (U.S.) Riviera Records (UK)
Songwriter(s)	Michel Polnareff
Raymond Lefèvre singles chronology
"The Day the Rains Came" (1958) "Soul Coaxing" (1968)

"Soul Coaxing" or "Âme câline" , written in 1967 by French singer/songwriter Michel Polnareff,^[1] provided Raymond Lefèvre and His Orchestra with a 1968 instrumental hit.

Chart performance

Released in the States in January 1968, "Soul Coaxing" peaked at No. 4 on the Easy Listening chart and at No. 37 on the Billboard Hot 100,^[2] in April, near the end of its 12-week run - though it reached the Top Ten in Boston, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Columbus and other markets. "Soul Coaxing" debuted on Billboard's Hot 100 during the five-week run at No. 1 of the instrumental smash hit "Love Is Blue (L'Amour Est Bleu)" by Paul Mauriat and His Orchestra. As with Lefèvre, Mauriat was a well-known orchestral leader in his native France.

In Britain the single was issued on the Major Minor label and in May 1968 stalled at No. 46 in the singles chart,^[3] though it served as a theme tune for certain radio stations including Chiltern Radio Supergold, Radio Caroline and Radio Luxembourg.

Other recordings

• Polnareff released his original vocal version ("Âme câline") across Europe in 1967.
• In 1968, American singer Peggy March (formerly Little Peggy March) released an English-language version titled "If You Loved Me", but it failed to chart.
• Other instrumental versions were recorded by Norrie Paramor, Franck Pourcel and Sounds Orchestral.
• In 1977, pioneering disco-era British-Indian musician and producer Biddu Appaiah (recording as the Biddu Orchestra) released a disco version of "Soul Coaxing".

Use in other media

• BBC Radio 2 occasionally broadcasts Lefèvre's 1968 recording, particularly on its Saturday morning show Sounds of the 60s.

References