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From: aboyantz
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  • Lovely tune

  • I must add to the emotional comments in this column. I was a lost 15 year old (1971) when John Pylman, my high school band teacher, welcomed me into his home one evening, I fell in love with Soul Coaxing, and with music in life. I stayed in touch with John Pylman until his death in 2008, now I still call and comfort his wife, Helen. This music touches my soul with the memories of a great men, who gave me a stronger meaning in life. Many of us have felt strong emotions with this song. Thanks!

  • love that piano intro

  • This has always been terrific to lisen to.

  • I bought an album in Frankfurt in 71 that had this on it. In fact that's why I bought it.

  • Spring of '68, I was 21 y/o, & lived to hear this song on the radio. I own 2 copies of the 45 & treasure them. A Masterpiece.  Wolfszky9

  • dit werd gebruikt bij de top 2000 van 2011 achtergrond muziekje als de presentator aan het praten was.

    de uitzendin van 25/12/11 tot en met 31/12/11

  • Again, Im one who searched for this unique sound I heard when I was around 6 to 10 years old. Adventually traced a version of this by Tony Hatch about 15 years ago, but I felt it wasnt quite the same as I remember when I was a child. Thanks to You Tube, I traced this 'Original' track and remember this was the one I remembered some 35 od years ago.

  • For the past several years I've been playing a beautiful melodic instrumental in my head that I remember from my childhood but had no idea who the artist was or the name. I was searching the songs of Mauriat,Percy Faith, Mantovani,etc. to no avail. Then I got Whitburn's book Top Pop Singles and started looking page by page at all the instrumental songs that I wasn't familiar with and checked them out here on You Tube. Well my long search finally ended here tonight(with tears in my eyes) Thanks!!

  • Yes it really did portray a rather more happier time in the World. Be thankful we have the technology to access such beautiful music.

  • I have the french words translated by a Quebecer. Be glad to share.  nhillier@telus.net

  • Like almost every gorgeous French song ever written, this song's English translation lost the original's beauty. It ISN'T called "Soul Coaxing", the actual title is "Cuddling Soul" and the French lyrics are utterly exquisite.

    If anyone wants the correct translation, drop me a private message and I will give them to you.

  • never tire of this song

  • i have posted on here before but still reminds me of long gone days when somehow the world just seemed a happier time ,think this makes me feel like all the innocence has been taken away,cant put anyother way ,shame

  • What are the chances of an instrumental tune this fabulous being a hit in 2012? Zero. That melody and arrangement during the bridge (from 0:49) is magical. I bow to this tune.

  • As Kid in the mid to late 60's my ambition was to be a DJ like here in the States or off-shore in the UK. I made to radio Broadcasting by the late 60's-mid 70's all Engineering

  • would help if I spelled 'genius' correctly.....

  • man I love this song---an orchestra but with a rock beat--and a mesmerizing melody. It even spent 5 weeks in the top 40 in 1968. Found a mint copy in a flea market around 1992 & its here to stay. So nice to see all the positive comments and the memories shared on here.

  • I remember hearing this song back in the sixties but never knew the name of the song or performers (since there were multiple versions) until several years ago.

    I have to rank this as one of my top five instrumentals songs.

    Youtube was how I rediscovered it. I very much appreciate what Youtube has done for me in allowing me to rediscover this favorite.

  • THE ultimate instrumental ever for me. Perhaps the only thing that comes close is Theme From A Summer Place. Nice favourable comments fellow Tubers. Robert, Blackpool

  • Very nice, and obviously made after Pet Sounds.

  • Beautifully done....

  • This is the stuff! I was in my senior year in High School. They played this on the radio and I went nuts. Never knew who did it until long after it dropped from sight.

  • this song played on armed forces radio in germany in '68. my best friend died in 'nam about this time. this song brings back both happy and sad times. thanks for posting this hard to find classic from that era.

  • Killer track, Lefèvre has one of the best versions. The interplay between those arpegiated chords and that tuneful bass line in the intro is enough to get the spine tingling, and then that beautiful top melody kicks in. Wow! Sends the body chemistry berserk. It's almost naughty listening to it.

  • Love this song. So peaceful & soothing.

  • Tremendous songwriting by Michel Polnareff

  • Does an instrumental ever come close to this?!! I've made this my own official theme tune! Robert, Blackpool. Hello fellow tubers!

  • I have been searching for this great tune for many many years not knowing the name of the song...Tonight I found this song.....a great night for me.

  • A great and not well enough known instrumental masterpiece. My first 'real' girlfriend, Margie, loved it and hearing it always reminds me of her, those years, cruising in my 1965 Mustang.

  • Spring of '68, I was 21 y/o, & this song touched my soul like few have ever. Simply put, a masterpiece. Wolfsky9

  • @Wolfsky9 I was 20 and like most others of our generation I loved the Beatles, The Who, Motown, and so on. Then one day this track was played on Radio Caroline and it truly moved me like nothing I had ever heard before. Truly beautiful music.

  • Hope Brian Matthew will get it more deserved notice;I have created a facebook page

    'SOUL COAXING THE BEST INSTRUMENTAL EVER' if anyone wants to join.

  • @JFBridge

    This and Theme from a Summer Place are on a different level to anything else, don`t know why they just strike a cord in my soul.(no pun intended)

  • Boy, somebody's been reading my mail too. I was so in love with this song as a kid my parents ordered me a stereo copy for Christmas. I never really listened to the rest of the LP but I wore out the 45 and this song off of the LP. It still moves me inside.

  • Why isn't ANYONE putting pressure on the BBC to give this airplay, or, perhaps ClassicFM could drop their continuous adverts/film music and show the world what a true classic this has now become.

  • Me too ,what a gem !! I was heavily into music in 1968 but don't remember this. Thanks to Brian Matthew for his wonderful programme Sounds of the Sixties , he digs up many rariies with the help of his staff.

  • I didn't remember it either until Brian Matthew played it on Sounds of the Sixties on BBC Radio 2 on Saturday 30th July 2011. I won't forget it again and am going to track down a recording for playing in the car! I agree with the other sentiments expressed about this instrumental!

  • @Yourewastingyourtime Yes, when I heard Brian Matthew play this on Saturday morning I knew it would create a bit of a stir. In a world where every piece of music is called a 'song' it makes a refreshing change to see someone call an instrumental like this an instrumental!

  • First heard this song about 40 years ago- its haunted me ever since!

  • I have not heard this song since I was 9 years old. I have been looking for it for years not knowing who it was by or the name. Thank you so much for uploading. Love it!

  • The good old days of Caroline North. As you say razzledazzle, an excellent peice of music. Quite a few versions of it around now

  • the ventures did a great cover of this on "flights of fantasy"

  • Anyone notice that the introduction to this is very similar to the ending of the verses in the late Andrew Gold's "Thank you for being a friend." (a cover of which became the "Golden Girls" theme, though you could barely hear this part in the edited version)? Always liked that part of the record, though I didn't really know "Soul Coaxing" well enough to recognize the similarity back then.

  • I think most of his albums are available on CD--don't know when they were transferred--but jeeeeezz , are they expensive. £40 to £80 on Amazon. Theres a few British company's who transfer all types of music and rare stuff from the past onto CD ,with first class clarity. One is called 'Guild' and the best one is 'Vocalion', who have a massive collection of this kind of music . Vocalion say they intend to try and make available Raymond Lefevre on their label. it will be a darn sight cheaper.

  • No - I don't know how I forgot the Theme from a Summer Place either.

  • KHJ-TV (channel 9) in Los Angeles used this as the theme for their daily afternoon "Million Dollar Movie" for many years. One of the great instrumentals. If something has truly been lost in pop music - it is the instrumental hit. Love is Blue, A Walk in the Black Forest, Manhattan Spiritual, the Theme from the Summer of '42, Cast Your Fate to the Wind - the list goes on and on.

  • Why was the summer always longer, hotter, better? Why was music like this never to follow you into your old age and always be consigned to your teens. If we are who we are, due in part to our memories, then I shall always be 13 going on 14, long hot summer, grass brown in the fields from no rain, sound of grasshoppers, sky azure blue. God, let be 13, 14,15 16 again. Let the radio play this as I take a flask of tea to my father mowing the hay on the ham by the river. Don't want to be old no more.

  • @AbeGrimes ... jeez.. that is one of the most beautiful poetic waxings of nostalgia i've ever read. want I should be as prolific in expression as my utterings are more closely associated with melancholia.

  • yes I remember it from the sixties..............a very beautiful tune

  • This song and Love Is Blue made 1968 for me!!

  • This song and Love Is Blue made 1968 for me!!

  • this song brings back bitter sweet memories. i was stationed in germany when my best friend from home was killed in 'nam. this so ng brings back memories of that time thanks for posting it.

  • this piece brings back so many nice memories of my childhood, i was 10 at the time,

  • Lovely song, I was only 4 years old in 1968.

  • A beautiful song....brings a tear to my eye I'm not afraid to say,,,,takes me back to my days in Gettysburg....toss between this and 'A Summer Place'....wow!!!!

  • @centralparocker - I grew up outside of Harrisburg--not too far away--and if I close my eyes while listening to this song, I'm 13 years old again!

  • Great song, one of the best, but I have mixed emotions listening to it. It was a big hit during Vietnam and that's where the problem lies with such a haunting melody. As big a hit it was in the states likewise in Nam where it was on all the approved music lists at AFN or AFRTS. I just think how many fresh faced young kids when out to face their destiny after hearing this song that morning or the night before? Food for thought.

  • As an on-air personality in '68-'69 in the Central Highlands, I've long since come to realize that much of the music of the time was perhaps some of the best our generation (or any generation) had to offer... and, for many of us. 40 yrs later, we have bitter sweet memories for precisely the reason you mention. Who knows how many of our brothers went out & never came back? After hearing a song? Or, reading a letter from home? Oh, well... Welcome Home, Brother!

  • @bjs10946 I'm glad you mentioned this. My late brother Ricky was a Marine in Vietnam 1967-68 and when he returned he'd always weep when this song was played remembering a bunch of his buddies who never came back home. The Vietnam war finally killed him in 1992. He was never the same when he returned.

  • @jERRYKIEFER great insight about the war and this song....

  • It makes me sad to know that so many people will never know or appreciated the genius of this music.

  • This song is a timeless classic & It will never grow old!!! I hope this is the kind of music they play in heaven after i'm gone. Instead of that hip-hop rap crap i hear more and more all the time everyday that i can't stand listening to!!!

  • I wish I could remember what was going on in my life back then that causes me to have such nostalgia when I listen to this.

  • I wish I could remember what was g on in my life back then that causes me to have such nostalgia when I listen to this.

  • Ppl will think I'm daft, but I'll tell you why this tune has sentimental memories for me. I was 8 years old at the time, and I was sitting on dad's lap whilst mum got the grit out of my knees after I'd fallen off my bike. That was when I first heard it on the radio. Dad died 23rd December 1995 (which is why I hate Christmas), and Mum died on 22nd September 2006.

  • @Stemax1960 " ppl will think i'm daft"..etc etc Well I certainly don't think u r daft to pass on a wonderful happy memory of ur mum and dad!! I have suffered bouts of depression all my life and the terrible grief and sadness I experience is over the loss of my wonderfull happy times shared with mum and dad and brother and sister and the happy home we had which is now gone. It only takes 1 tune or song to bring back those memories which u wish you could return to - but life goes on.

  • This was the theme song for K-RED radio when I attended Humboldt State College in Arcata, Ca. in 1967. I woke up to this song every morning.

  • So beautiful and soothing.

  • I love this one, he is masterly!!!

    This song i pure JOY!!!:-))

  • One of the best "feel good" recordings I can think of. Truly a favorite of mine.

  • its still a classic tune after 43 years !

  • Don't remember how high it got in the UK charts, but it has sentimental memories all the same. Where have the years gone?

  • @Stemax1960

    #46 in 1968.

  • @JFBridge Thanks for that. It deserved the #1 slot in my opinion.

  • @Stemax1960

    I hope one day justice will be done and it will get to number one.We are lucky people who know this classic;there are still too many who don't and they've never lived.

  • You're right..not too many people remember this tune

    but I remember it well. Bought the single when it first

    came out and still have it.

  • Excellent piece, the best instrumental ever.

  • I love this piece.

  • Brilliant instrumental - you have great taste in music.

  • search for "Ame caline 1968 Par Mitchou.avi" on youtube to see a short clip of Michel Polnareff, the composer, signing Ame Caline in April 1968

  • Can't stop crying.

    My mom used to sing me this song when I was just a kid, back in 1969.

    :(

  • Wow this takes me back - thanks for posting it.Memories of Johnnie Walker and Radio Caroline have come flooding back! What an era - so glad I lived trough the 60's- we will never hear music like it ever again I think. So many classic songs and pieces of music from then live on. Cheers. Sue

  • By God, this is some tune!

  • I couldn't agree with you all more. This incredible instrumental mesmerized me at 14 years old, when the Beatles, Stones, Motown and the amazing music of the '60s dominated my listening. There have obviously been many, many beautiful and stirring instrumentals over the years. But NOTHING like this one. Underrated...underplayed...und­er-appreciated. But it's genius and in my book unsurpassed.

  • @jbrian3163 : Michel Polnareff i a great harmonist, and so is Paul McCartney. It is a sad thing that they never attempted an album together, juste like Sean Lennon and "M" did.

  • @jbrian3163 Genuis is right....underplayed is right....you NEVER hear this on radio, except for Sirius----maybe....

  • Nineteen Sixty Eight - what a year for instrumentals!! Classical Gas, Grazin' In The Grass, Soulful Strut, Love Is Blue, etc!

  • What a buzz to read so many comments that I can relate to having been a teen in the 60's.  I would love to be able to compile a collection of the instrumentals of this era. Do any of you remember (happily I mean) Jerry Smith's piano solo instrumental "Drivin' Home"? - I found that track recently after much searching. Not as classy as "Soul Coaxing" by a long shot, but by heck it's a catchy piece from back then too! Thank God for the 60's and trust Him for more good times to come. Andy B

  • I'm in tears. The memories come back so strong when I hear this--where, oh where have the years gone??? Wolfsky9 

  • Again I repeat as before,simply the best instrumental of all time.

  • This piece of music gives me a gut ache and makes me cry like a baby, it's so nostalgic.

  • @mi1964amigo ,what can i do to stop your crying? But this music reminds me also of the pirates!. By the way what means the word ache? Greatings from holland!

  • @delpotman It's only tears of memories, delpotman, nothing to worry about :) - but thank you for your kind thoughts.

    'Ache' is another word for 'pain'.

    It also reminds me of the pirates, and as Wolfsky says, it makes me wonder where the years have gone and I wish it could be like it was back then, now.

    Greeting to you too, from London!

  • It's strange how, with time we forget or shove to the corners of our mind unhappy memories. When this wonderful song was getting it's optimum airplay, in the spring and summer of '68, we had riots in Paris,starvation in Biafra, Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy assassinated in the USA, the Tet offensive in Vietnam,

    the Czech's "velvet revolution" bulldozed aside my Russian tanks. Perhaps the music WAS better back then, but the world had just as many problems though then we still had hope

  • @petclark1

    Apollo 8 sailed the Moon at Christmas that year, and when Borman, Lovell and Anders read from Genesis we folks on the good earth somehow got some hope back. They came back with the most beautiful photograph of the planet Earth, which still inspires.

  • This song makes me long for the time when beautiful instrumentals could reach the music charts.

  • Dentists should perform root canals whilst this song is playing on a perpetual loop over the loudspeaker, to mask my screams

  • This song came out on the heels of Paul Muriat's "Love is Blue" in the spring of '68. Years later I had my first gig at an easylistening/news station in Kansas City. That song was in their library of songs permitted to play and yes I WOULD PLAY IT! Oh yes, should I mention my high school crush on a girl named Linda Lewis (ooops!) while this song was on the charts?

  • love the female backing chorus at the end

  • I've been looking for this song for a long time. It was on the pre-show tape at the Atlantic Drive-In theatre, near Atlantic City. Back in the Summer of '69, I worked there in the concession stand making 1.50 an hour. The food was pretty bad & expensive.

  • Whenever i hear this song. It always takes me back to a much MORE PLEASANT place in time. When America was ALOT DIFFERENT!!!

  • One of the great instrumentals of all time.

  • Really brings back great memories!

    

  • Man, I really love these strings.

  • Heavenly!!!

  • Wat is dit mooi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Frank

  • Makes you wish you could vote much more emphatically than a simple "thumbs up," doesn't it? Also makes you wonder who the six people are who voted "thumbs down." CuffColl.

  • This is just LOVE!!

  • In my opinion, this is one of the most beautiful instrumentals ever recorded. Sad to think that many people do not even remember it. But those who do, love it as much as I do.

  • @46razzledazzle Completely agree !!

  • I have to agree : I was so moved when I 1st heard this here on You Tube, I was in tears. Spring of '68, I was 21 y/o, & OMG, I loved this song so much. I've worn out my 45. Wolfsky9

  • I have to agree : I was so moved when I 1st heard this here on You Tube, I was in tears. Spring of '68, I was 21 y/o, & OMG, I loved this song so much. I've worn out my 45. Wolfsky9 , 64 y/o

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  • im sure as a kid, it was used as testcard music.

  • I wish I was born in this generation..when this kind of music was the standard

  • WKTZ 90.9 FM still plays only this classic - type EasyListening music. This Post errors out when I type their website. Go figure! Look them up on your favorite search. Jones College Radio - AWSOME! They list the Title and Artist as well. This is all this 49 yr. old writer listens to anymore. The Radio Industry in America has shut down this Beautiful Music years ago - yet there's still a (perhaps small) demand for this. Check 'em out: Jones College Radio. You'll be glad u didTHANKS FOR THE POST!

  • @WLQR I've put 12,000 songs on 550 playlists, but if you check my faves, THIS is in my top 100 ! ! ! Fortunate enough here in PHX to pull in a Prescott station that also still plays the REAL beautiful music format, and what's really crazy is - it includes lots of bossa nova rhythm ! ! ! Station owner says 'my salespeople know how to sell our format!' Crazier still - this EL classic was written by France's top ROCK icon of the day ! ! ! Come check out my 12,000 favorites, Chuck

  • I was 7 years old when I heard this song for the first time, now that I´ve listened once more bring me back to my child memories. what a beautiful song !!!!

  • I was 12 years old when this song came out.  As I recall, it was the summer of 1968. My family and I were on vacation down at the shore. It was an era of rock and roll taking off, and I was into it. I listened to top 40 AM radio, and this one touch me. A great classical song! !

  • Played this on my evening show, 1969-1971, WOAI-AM, (1200 kHz., 50 Kw.) and had countless requests for the cut from all over North America, Mexico and Canada...People loved the song...One of the greatest instrumentals of all time...I agree...!!!

  • I remember hearing this beautiful song on radio 5DN here in Adelaide,South Australia back in the 70s. Thank you for putting this on Youtube.

  • Oh boy this and Our Winter Love Wolfsky!!! you are soooo right

  • BBC Family Favourites from the 60's. Reminds me of my mum, Sunday lunches and BFPO numbers. Ah those were he days...KTF.

  • Back in 1967 I was attending Humboldt State College in Arcata. Ca. I remember waking up every morning to KRED radio. This was the theme music played by that station. Great song and great memories.

  • GORGEOUS....

  • Absolutely SUPERB instrumental!!!!

  • O_o what an odd bit of music... its like 60s dreaming... in space...

  • Thats a classic. In this version it was played more than the original.

  • I loved this track from the 1st time i heard it. Bloody Marvellous back then in 1979 and just as good now. xxxx I love it XXX 

  • FANTASTIC!!!!!! Goosebumps!

  • Lovely, lovely, how can this piece bring so much peace to the soul? :)

  • I was not even 10 yrs old when this was on the radio but have always loved it. This song, and Flamingo by Herb Alpert. 2 songs with no words that were very difficult to locate. Thanks for posting this lovely song!

  • @outtehere i loved flamingo, i think we're the only two in the world lol

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  • I remember exactly where I was when I first heard this in March 1968...eerie and haunting!

  • Foot started tapping immediately!!!! :D 

  • love this song brings so much tears to my eyes of a dear Mother who i lost not long ago she realy loved this tune..............Thanks who ever uploaded it!!! xx

  • This theme used to close the Kid Jenson show on "Lucky " Luxembourg in the early seventies. Also played at the end of the nighters at the Golden Torch in Stoke.

  • c'est génial ........

  • This was (and maybe still is) the opening theme used by Radio City, the Swansea Hospitals Radio Service. I was a presenter there during the late 70's, early 80's. Thanks for the happy memory.

  • Following up on the comments of JFBridge, he's right. This is the greatest instrumental of all time, surpassing "Love is Blue", "The Homecoming" and even "Cast Your Fate to the Wind", all of which are superb.

    Before the days of radio format fragmentation, it was possible to hear a song like "Soul Coaxing" segued into "Satisfaction" by the Stones. Although it may seem like a trainwreck in today's era of narrowcasting, that juxtapositioning did actually work.

  • Magnificent, This is Life !

  • A timeless Masterpiece, from Spring of '68, a better time. Wolfsky9

  • @Wolfsky9 yes it is --- and it was!!

  • This is Phenomenal-!! Thank Yoiu!!!

  • This music proves GOD exists! It does not get any better than this.

  • @4756bob  AMEN!!

  • @cshell64  You know too. That is great. Thanks for the Agreement on the song.

  • @4756bob Philip agrees with us too! (He has GREAT taste, like us!!!) :) Him and his Sister used to listen to this song over and over again when they were little.

  • @4756bob Amen to that--only a Loving God could give us anything this gorgeous. No instumrental has ever moved me as this one has--in spring of '68, & today, 2010. Wolfsky9, 64 y/o

  • @Wolfsky9 Thanks for the comment May GOD Bless

  • I think this one of the greatest instrumental songs ever... Loved this song back when I was very young and all my friends were listening to the Beatles.. It takes me back to a great time in my life... I just well up with tears every time I hear it

    Reminds me of my Mom & Dad miss you both....

  • @luvtheoldies13 yes- room enough for both the beatles and the great instrumentals!-- and yes::: our parents are so valuable - we don't really appreciate them until it's too late! --memories just don't do it!

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  • It was Spring, '68; her name was Tami, & whenever I heard this on the radio, 950AM, Boss Radio in Denver, KIMN, it was for her. Wherever you are Tami, this is for you, Forever. Wolfsky9

  • I looked for who did this for 30yrs. Paid $50. for the cd and I would say I can't put a price on how it can make me feel.

  • This song always gets to me....but in a good, sentimental way.

    Reminds me of my Mom and Dad, growing up back in the 60s, when things were simpler......miss you Mom and Dad very much......

  • Wondering if there is a live concert video existing where Raymond Lefevre and his Orchestra are playing Soul Coaxing.  I have seen other videos he has had from the past showing his orchestra playing, but not Soul Coaxing. Can anyone help me? Love this song so much! It is a blast from the past! Thank you for your help!

  • One of my all time favorite instrumentals from the age of rock and roll, even though this song isn't rock and roll. It did make the local survey here in OKC on our top 40 radio station. Great song. Thanks for posting it. I just played it while ago here at home.

    Larry N. Boyington, aka Larry Neal, former curator of the Wax Museum on the big 1520 KOMA

  • @larrynealwaxmuseum Sir, Having grown up in Denver, listening to Boss Radio KIMN, 950 AM, I loved it whever I also heard " KOMA IN OKLAHOMA" ! Late at night, on weekends, we always listened to you guys--what a great station KOMA was! Once, I listened all the way To San Bernardino CA, while driving to Ca, late at night! KOMA kept me going, all night long--late summer of '66. Wasn't Charlie Tuna with you guys then? What times they were! Wolfsky9, 64 y/o

  • Lots of great back seat memories come to mind whenever i hear this song; thanks for posting it.

  • My favourite instrumental of all times, if the truth were know, my all time favourite. bar none.

  • sure i remember this played on radio caroline north ,winter 1967 . happy days, makes me feel good music , top music

  • Wow, I am teenager again! I love this song.

  • omg!! I love the music.. how do you know what I like?thankyou for your thoughts..!!

  • This is my all time favorite instrumental, and has been since it hit the airwaves a few years ago in '68. I can listen over and over again without tiring. Seems that there should have been a 20 minute version!

  • @Likeitbald

    Some mornings, I DO listen to it over and over. What a wonderful way to greet a new day!

  • Along with Theme From A Summer Place, & Our Winter Love, this is one of the 3 finest instrumentals of all-time. Ever. Period. Wolfsky9