Joseph Raymond Conniff (November 06, 1916 - October 12, 2002) was an American musician. Events 355 - Roman Emperor Constantius II promotes his cousin Julian to the rank of Caesar, entrusting him with Year 1916 ( MCMXVI) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Events 539 BC - The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon. See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the He was born in Attleboro, Massachusetts, and learned to play the trombone from his father. See also Attleborough, United Kingdom Attleboro is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States The trombone is a Musical instrument in the brass family Like all brass instruments it is a lip-reed Aerophone: sound is produced when the player’s He studied music arranging from a course book.
After serving in the U.S. Army in World War II (where he worked under Walter Schumann), he was hired by Mitch Miller, then head of A & R at Columbia Records as their home arranger, and he worked with several artists, including Rosemary Clooney, Marty Robbins, Frankie Laine, Johnny Mathis, Guy Mitchell and Johnnie Ray. The United States Army is a military organization whose primary mission is to "provide necessary forces and capabilities. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Walter Schumann ( 8 October 1913- 21 August 1958 was an American Composer for Film, Television, and the Theater Mitchell William Miller (born July 4, 1911) is an American Musician, Singer, conductor, Record producer, Columbia Records is an American Record label founded in 1888 Columbia is the oldest surviving Brand name in pre-recorded sound being the first record company Rosemary Clooney ( May 23, 1928 &ndash June 29, 2002) was an American Singer and actress whose warm radiant Martin David Robinson ( September 26 1925 – December 8, 1982) was an American singer songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio ( Chicago, March 30, 1913 – San Diego, February 6, 2007) John Royce "Johnny" Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American Singer of Popular music. Guy Mitchell ( February 22, 1927 - July 1, 1999) was a Croatian-American pop Singer, was successful in his homeland John Alvin Ray ( January 10 1927 &ndash February 24 1990) was an American Singer, Songwriter, and He wrote a top 10 arrangement for Don Cherry's "Band of Gold" in 1955, a single that sold more than a million copies. Donald Ross Cherry (born January 11, 1924) is a Singer of Traditional pop music and a Golfer Cherry was born in Wichita Falls Year 1955 ( MCMLV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar)
Amongst the hit singles he backed with his orchestra (and eventually with a male chorus) were "Yes Tonight Josephine" and "Just Walkin' in the Rain" by Johnnie Ray; "Chances Are" and "It's Not for Me to Say" by Johnny Mathis; "A White Sport Coat" and "The Hanging Tree" by Marty Robbins; "Up Above My Head," a duet by Frankie Laine and Johnnie Ray; and "Pet Me, Poppa" by Rosemary Clooney. " Just Walkin' in the Rain " is a Popular song. It was written in 1952 by Johnny Bragg and Robert Riley two prisoners at Tennessee State Prison in Nashville " Chances Are " is a popular Song with music by Robert Allen and lyrics by Al Stillman. " It's Not for Me to Say " is a 1957 popular Song with music by Robert Allen and lyrics by Al Stillman. He also backed up the albums Tony by Tony Bennett, Blue Swing by Eileen Rodgers, Swingin' for Two by Don Cherry, and half the tracks of The Big Beat by Johnnie Ray. Tony Bennett (born Anthony Dominick Benedetto; August 3 1926) is an American Singer of popular music, standards Eileen Rodgers ( 1933 - July 13, 2003) was an American singer and Broadway performer
In these early years he also produced some similar sounding records for Columbia's Epic label under the name of Jay Raye (which stands for "Joseph Raymond") amongst them a backing album and singles with Somethin' Smith & The Redheads, an American male vocal group. Epic Records is an American Record label. It is owned and operated by Sony Music Entertainment.
Because of the success of his backings Mitch Miller allowed him to make his own record, and this became the successful 'S Wonderful, a collection of standards that were recorded with an orchestra and a wordless singing chorus (four men, four women). He released many more albums in the same vein, including Dance The Bop (1957), S Marvelous (1957, gold album), S Awful Nice (1958), Concert in Rhythm (1958, gold album), Hollywood in Rhythm (1958), Broadway in Rhythm (1959), and Concert in Rhythm, Volume II (1959, gold album). Year 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar) Year 1958 ( MCMLVIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The year 1959 ( MCMLIX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
In 1959 he started the Ray Conniff Singers (12 women and 13 men) and released the album It's the Talk of the Town. The Ray Conniff Singers (also known as Ray Conniff and the Singers were a vocal group established 1959 by composer-arranger-bandleader Ray Conniff. This group of word— not just syllable — singing singers brought him the biggest hit he ever had in his career: Somewhere My Love (1966). The title track of the album was written to the music of "Lara's Theme" from the film Doctor Zhivago, and was a top 10 single in the US. " Lara's Theme " is the generic name given to a recurring musical cue written for the film Doctor Zhivago (1965 by composer Maurice Jarre. Doctor Zhivago ( Доктор Живаго) is a 1965 drama - romance - War film directed by David Lean and loosely The album also reached the US top 20 and went platinum, and Conniff won a Grammy. The single and album reached high positions in the international charts (a. o. Australia, Germany, Great Britain, Japan) as well. Also extraordinarily successful was the first of four Christmas albums by the Singers, Christmas with Conniff (1959). Nearly fifty years after its release, in 2004, Conniff was posthumously awarded with a platinum album/CD. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again "
Musically different highlights in Conniff's career are two albums he produced in cooperation with Billy Butterfield, an old buddy from earlier swing days. Billy Butterfield ( January 14, 1917 in Middleton Ohio – March 18, 1988) was a jazz Trumpeter, Flugelhornist Conniff Meets Butterfield (1959) featured Butterfield's solo trumpet and a small rhythm group; Just Kiddin' Around (after a Conniff original composition from the 1940s), released 1963, featured additional trombone solos by Ray himself. The year 1959 ( MCMLIX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1963 ( MCMLXIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Both albums are pure light jazz and did not feature any vocals.
Later in the 1960's he produced an average of two instrumental and one vocal album a year. Among these are (Original albums only):
Original Albums
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Between 1957 and 1968, he had 28 albums in the American Top 40, the most famous one being Somewhere My Love (1966). Year 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar) Year 1968 ( MCMLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1966 ( MCMLXVI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. He topped the album list in Britain in 1969 with His Orchestra, His Chorus, His Singers, His Sound. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Year 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. He also was the first American popular artist to record in Russia—in 1974 he recorded Ray Conniff in Moscow with the help of a local choir. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Year 1974 ( MCMLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. His later albums like Exclusivamente Latino, Amor Amor and Latinisimo made him very popular in Latin-American countries, even more so after performing in the Viña del Mar International Song Festival. The Viña del Mar International Song Festival (Festival Internacional de la Canción de Viña del Mar is a Music festival held annually during February since 1959 in Viña In Brazil and Chile he was treated like a young pop superstar in the 1980s and 1990s when he was in his 70s and 80s. He even played live with his orchestra and eight-person chorus in large football stadiums as well as in Viña del Mar. Viña del Mar ( Spanish: "Vineyard of the Sea" also known locally as La Ciudad Jardín (Spanish "The Garden City" is a Chilean
Ray Conniff was a quiet, modest sympathetic artist. He always worked in the background so that in the fifties there were rumours that this man didn't even exist and that his name was as fake as his orchestral sound was sensational. Nevertheless he sold about 70 million albums world-wide and continued recording and performing until his death in 2002. See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar.
He died in Escondido, California, and is interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. Escondido ( "eskun-DEE-doe") is a city located in northern San Diego County California just north of the city of San Diego. The Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery is located at 1218 Glendon Avenue in the Westwood Village area of Los Angeles, California. Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West
In 2004, a memorial two-CD compilation set, The Essential Ray Conniff, was released, featuring many rare and previously unreleased tracks. The Singles Collection, Vol. 1 was released on the Collectables label in 2005 and The Singles Collection, Vol. 2 was released in 2007. These collections also feature rare singles and previously unissued tracks.
Ray's music is also featured prominently in the movie, "There's Something About Mary. "
Spinoffs
A special version of the song "Happiness Is" was recorded for use in a TV commercial for Kent cigarettes, prior to the ban on TV advertising of tobacco products. Kent is a brand of Cigarettes first to introduce smoke filters in 1952.
External links
- The Ray Conniff page
- Manfred's Ray Conniff Page
- SpaceAgePop.com biography
- The Ray Conniff discussion board
- Ray Conniff at Find A Grave Retrieved on 2008-01-26
- Ray Conniff CDs released on the Collectables label
- The Ray Conniff Lyrics Web Page
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