EMI’s anthology of 60s French pop – La Belle Epoque: EMI’s French Girls 1965-68 – includes this tuneful track from 1967, Christie Laume‘s “L’Adorable Femme des Neiges.” Unsurprisingly, this song – with its effective use of the celeste – would be the title track of a 4-song EP released in France on Odeon, although sequenced, curiously, as its final tune:
“L’Adorable Femme des Neiges”
Christie Laume (1967)
YouTube numbers (just under 400 “views”) would seem strongly to suggest that entire swaths of the world’s population are wholly unfamiliar with this quirky song about an adorable lady of the snow who is, presumably, a force for good.
Christie Laume would release four EPs between 1966-1968. As Laume explains on her own website —
“After my brother married Edith Piaf, much to my delight and surprise, my brother and Edith invited me to live with them. That event, without realizing it, brought a rapid and dramatic change in my life. Suddenly because of them, I was living a life of a celebrity without being one.
Edith wanted to hear my voice and asked me if I wanted to sing. Edith asked me to sing in the opening act of several of her concerts and would have me introduce her to the crowd. She gave me the name Christie Laume. I began to live the life of a professional singer: rehearsing, touring, and recording.
After the death of Edith Piaf, I continued to sing and record under the guidance and encouragement of my brother, Theo Sarapo. At that time, the Ye Ye style songs became popular and I recorded several singles and also made several television appearances.”