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Way back in 1956 when Ray Conniff was employed in the Artist and Repertoire department of CBS Records in America, he hit upon the idea of blending voices and instruments in a way that was unique then and still is, and has subsequently become his musical trade mark.
Label: Hallmark SHM 874
Although this album primarily features The Singers singing the words, there are two songs which feature the orchestra and chorus instrumentally. Ray plays trombone on one of these, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and he also features “Skeets” Herfurt on the amplified flute, as well as some exciting timpani work by Bernie Mattinson (stereo left), and Wally Snow (stereo right).
Label: CBS 63423
A rare 7 inch E.P. (Extended Play) record from 1960. During the sixties E.P.s were a common release format and artists like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones released several during their early careers. They were always accompanied by a picture sleeve, usually glossy which made them a collectible item. This Ray Conniff E.P. features four tracks: An Improvisation On “Liebestraum”, You Are My Heart`s Delight, An Improvisation On “None But The Lonely Heart” and I`ll See You Again
Label: Philips SBBE 9009
The above photo of Ray was taken as he was relaxing on the beach of the Kauai Surf Hotel on the garden island of Kauai, one of the Hawaiian outer islands.
Ray wrote all the arrangements for this album during his two-week stay at the Kauai Surf, and between arrangements the Hawaiians showed him how to strum the uke and taught him their own way of singing the Hawaiian songs, which in many cases is quite a bit different from the original.
“It was the most enjoyable two weeks work I’ve ever done in my whole career,” was Ray’s comment as he rejoined the Singers in Hollywood to record this album for your listening pleasure.
Label: CBS Records 63106
Cover Photo: Frank Bez
“So Much in Love!” offers a refreshing and different Conniff approach. This time, the Ray Conniff singers step out from the orchestra to sing twelve great love songs which are paired off so that each medley tells a musical story about people who are “so much in love”. For example, in the first medley, the girls sing the nostalgic “Autumn Leaves”, recalling a lost or distant love. The men answer with “Just Walking in the Rain”, as they find themselves in pretty much the same situation. The two songs are interwoven to complete the story in song. As you listen, you may even find yourself remembering romantic situations suggested by these songs… after all, hasn’t everybody, at one time or another, been “So Much in Love!”
Label: Columbia BPG 62103
This, Ray’s first HALLMARK album, is a historic occasion. Not only is it a delightful potpourri of the best of Conniff, but it is also a collection of the several “sounds” which are truly Conniff. The result is a synergistic blend which every Conniff fan will love and all new discoverers of Ray Conniff can treasure.
Ray Conniff himself is not only many-splendored, but many-faceted. This most recent collection demonstrates the remarkable versatility of Ray Conniff the composer, Ray Conniff the conductor, Ray Conniff the arranger and, above all, Ray Conniff the artist.
One of the most remarkable things about Ray Conniff, the man, is that he is forever showing us another side of his glittering virtuosity while retaining the “Ray Conniff Sound”… the “sound” that was the reason for, and is today the measure of, Ray’s successful career. Today it is his trademark. A trademark that cannot be copied or imitated, because the sound is the man and as such cannot he duplicated.
Tom Riley
Label: Hallmark CHM 647
“Say it with a beautiful song,” sing Irving Berlin’s charming lyrics for the title tune of Ray Conniff’s latest, and that is precisely what America’s Number One dance arranger does. More-over, he does it with a Latin beat, just a hint of the intriguing rhythms from the tropics. The brilliant Conniff way with a tune is too famous to need further mention, but the saucy extras he has added to this new programme add up to entertainment that is brighter than ever.
Ray Conniff’s novel methods of blending voices and orchestra have brought dancers hurrying back to the floor and caused even casual listeners to sit up and take notice. Female voices are doubled with trumpets, high saxophones or clarinets, while the male voices are paired with trombones, trumpets or saxes in the lower registers. This subtle colouring intensifies the soft tones and at the same time mellows the harsher ones. And it produces the glossiest dance music anyone could desire.
Ray began his recording career as an arranger (for Johnny Mathis, It’s Not for me to Say; for Guy Mitchell, Singing the Blues; for Johnnie Ray, Makin’ My Baby Back Home, among others) but so vivid were his talents that he was soon signed as an artist himself. During the brief period that Ray has been arranging and conducting his dance albums, more than a million Conniff records have been sold, with demand growing every day.
In this collection, Ray plays a dozen favourite songs, touching them lightly with a Latin inflection. Four are by Cole Porter, others by George Gershwin, Sigmund Romberg, Peter de Rose and, of course, the Irving Berlin title tune. Each of them is, to quote Mr. Berlin again, “a melody mellow,” and each of them is another Conniff delight.
Label: CBS BPG 62046
Cover Photo: Richard Heimann
In bursts of enthusiasm to capture the “now” sound, musicians sometimes forget that basic musical beauty lies in the melodic line. Not necessarily in electronic magic, The artistry of Ray Conniff is the listening proof of this.
The view from the “live” side of the microphone as compared to the “listening” side of the microphone at a Conniff recording session is as different as Beethoven is to Bacharach. In the studio, each performer faces that “live” mike and hears only his own sound and that of his immediate neighbor. The “listening” side is the soundproof control booth where everything is heard and balanced for the finished result.
Label: CBS 64294
Front cover photograph: Guy Webster
“Say it with a beautiful song,” sing Irving Berlin’s charming lyrics for the title tune of Ray Conniff’s album, and that is precisely what America’s Number One arranger does. Moreover, he does it with a Latin beat, just a hint of the intriguing rhythms from the tropics. The brilliant Conniff way with a tune is too famous to need further mention, but the saucy extras he has added to this new programme add up to entertainment that is brighter than ever.
Ray Conniff’s novel methods of blending voices and orchestra have brought dancers hurrying back to the floor and caused even casual listeners to sit up and take notice. Female voices are doubled with trumpets, high saxophones or clarinets, while the male voices are paired with trombones, trumpets or saxes in the lower registers. This subtle colouring intensifies the soft toned and at the same time mellows the harsher ones. And it produces the glossiest dance music anyone could desire.
Ray began his recording career as an arranger (for Johnny Mathis, “It’s Not For Me To Say”, for Guy Mitchell, “Singing The Blues”, for Johnny Ray, “Walkin’ My Baby Back Home”, among others) but so vivid were his talents that he was soon signed as an artist himself. During the years that Ray has been arranging and conducting his albums for CBS, he has notched up no less than nine gold records, and demand for Conniff albums is still growing every day.
In this collection, Ray plays a dozen favourite songs, touching them lightly with a Latin inflection, Four are by Cole Porter, others by George Gershwin, Sigmund Romberg, Peter DeRose and, of course, the Irving Berlin title tune. Each of them is, to quote Mr Berlin again, “a melody mellow”, and each of them is another Conniff delight.
Label: Embassy 31040
Ray Conniff was the name that used to provide the musical backing for people like Johnny Mathis, Guy Mitchell, Johnny Ray and Frankie Laine. With these names he scored million selling records and achieved a unique place as someone who knew how to provide the essential and successful backing to a hit record.
Then, in the mid-fifties, Ray Conniff went his own way; successfully, as it turned out, with a series of albums based on the very simple but entertaining principle that certain ranges of voices could combine with the right instruments in enhancing a good song. Thus was born the “Conniff sound” – one that has to date sold over twenty-five million albums.
All of which is quite an achievement for a man whose musical beginnings were in a school band in Massachusetts, where he played trombone. Even at this stage Ray was dabbling in arranging and after he moved to Boston, then to New York, his talent began to develop. He worked with the big bands of the day, Buddy Berigan, Bob Crosby and Artie Shaw and from that groundwork moved into the field of arranging.
The ‘Conniff Sound’ evolved during the mid-fifties and Ray has always chosen with great care the songs that give his singers and musicians the necessary ingredients to bring off that incredible formula.
This album, containing as it does some of the most enduring titles of the popular musical scene, shows that wherever it is applied, the ‘Conniff Sound’ makes very entertaining listening.
Label: Hallmark SHM 807