Frogtoon Music

Christmas With Conniff (Album) by Ray Conniff

Artist Biography For Ray Conniff

Joseph Raymond Conniff November 6 1916 - October 12 2002 Was An American Musician. He Was Born In Attleboro Massachusetts And Learned To Play The Trombone From His Father. 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. He Wrote A Top 10 Arrangement For Don Cherry's "Band Of Gold" In 1955 A Single That Sold More Than A Million Copies. 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. 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. 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. 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 . In 1959 He Started The Ray Conniff Singers 12 Women And 13 Men And Released The Album "It's The Talk Of The Town. 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 1965 And Was A Top 10 Single In The US. 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 Posthumously Was Awarded With A Platinum Album/CD. Musically Different Highlights In Conniff's Career Are Two Albums He Produced In Cooperation With Billy Butterfield An Old Buddy From Earlier Swing Days. "Conniff Meets Butterfield" 1960 Featured Butterfield's Solo Trumpet And A Small Rhythm Group "Just Kiddin' Around" After A Conniff Original Composition From The 1940's Released 1963 Featured Additional Trombone Solos By Ray Himself. 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 * "'s Wonderful" 1956 * "Dance The Bop!" 1957 * "'s Marvelous" 1957 * "'s Awful Nice" 1958 * "Concert In Rhythm Vol.1" 1958 * "Broadway In Rhythm" 1958 * "Hollywood In Rhythm" 1958 * "It's The Talk Of The Town" 1959 * "Conniff Meets Butterfield" 1959 * "Christmas With Conniff" 1959 * "Concert In Rhythm Vol.2" 1959 * "Young At Heart" 1960 * "Say It With Music A Touch Of Latin " 1960 * "Memories Are Made Of This" 1960 Gold Album * "Somebody Loves Me" 1961 * "'S Continental" 1961 * "So Much In Love" 1962 Gold Album * "Rhapsody In Rhythm" 1962 * "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" 1962 Gold Album * "The Happy Beat" 1962 * "You Make Me Feel So Young" 1963 * "Speak To Me Of Love" 1963 * "Friendly Persuasion" 1964 * "Invisible Tears" 1964 * "Love Affair" 1965 * "Music From 'Mary Poppins' 'The Sound Of Music' 'My Fair Lady' & Other Great Movie Themes" 1965 * "Here We Come A-Caroling" 1965 * "Happiness Is" 1965 * "Ray Conniff's World Of Hits" 1966 * "En Español The Ray Conniff Singers Sing It In Spanish " 1966 * "This Is My Song" 1967 * "Ray Conniff's Hawaiian Album" 1967 * "It Must Be Him" 1967 Gold Album * "Honey" 1968 Gold Album * "Turn Around Look At Me" 1968 * "I Love How You Love Me" 1968 * "Live Europa Tournee 1969/Concert In Stereo" 1969 * "Jean" 1969 * "Concert In Stereo Live At 'The Sahara Tahoe'" 1969 * "Bridge Over Troubled Water" 1970 * "We've Only Just Begun" 1970 * "Love Story" 1970 * "Great Contemporary Instrumental Hits" 1971 * "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing" 1971 * "Love Theme From "The Godfather" 1972 * "Alone Again Naturally " 1972 * "I Can See Clearly Now" 1972 * "Ray Conniff In Britain" 1973 * "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" 1973 * "Harmony" 1973 * "The Way We Were" 1973 * "The Happy Sound Of Ray Conniff" 1974 * "Ray Conniff In Moscow" 1974 * "Laughter In The Rain" 1975 * "Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" 1975 * "Love Will Keep Us Together" 1975 * "I Write The Songs" 1975 * "Live In Japan" 1975 * "Send In The Clowns" 1976 * "Theme From 'SWAT' And Other TV Themes" 1976 * "After The Lovin'" 1976 * "Exitos Latinos" 1977 * "Ray Conniff Plays The Bee Gees And Other Great Hits" 1978 * "I Will Survive" 1979 * "The Perfect '10' Classics" 1980 * "Exclusivamente Latino" 1980 * "Siempre Latino" 1981 * "The Nashville Connection" 1982 * "Musik Für Millionen" Partly Produced For A German TV Show In 1982 * "Amor Amor" 1982 * "Fantastico" 1983 * "Supersonico" 1984 * "Campeones" 1985 * "Say You Say Me" 1986 * "30th Anniversary Edition" 1986 * "Always In My Heart" 1987 * "Interpreta 16 Exitos De Manuel Alejandro" 1988 * "Ray Conniff Plays Broadway" 1990 * "'S Always Conniff" 1991 * "Latinisimo" 1993 * "40th Anniversary" 1995 * "Live In Rio Aka Mi Historia " 1997 * "I Love Movies" 1997 * "My Way" 1998 * "'S Country" 1999 * "'S Christmas" 1999 * "Do Ray Para O Rei" 2000 . Between 1957 And 1968 He Had 28 Albums In The American Top 40 The Most Famous One Being "Somewhere My Love" 1966 . He Topped The Album List In Britain In 1969 With "His Orchestra His Chorus His Singers His Sound". 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. 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. 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. 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 His Name Was Just A Name Fake As Then His Orchestral Sound Was So Sensational. Nevertheless He Sold About 70 Million Albums World-Wide And Continued Recording And Performing Until His Death In 2002. He Died In Escondido California And Is Interred In The Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery In Los Angeles California. 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. This Also Features Many Rare Tracks.

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Frogtoon Music Album Info: Christmas With Conniff

These Are The Original Sleeve Notes From The "Christmas With Conniff" Album. "When The Christmas Season Begins To Draw Upon Us The Bemused Denizens Of Walt Kelly's Version Of Okefinokee Swamp-The Location Of Pogo-Stomp Around Wishing Each Other A Mery Crispness. This Is A Very Cheerful Thought Indeed And It Finds Expression In This Holiday Package From Ray Conniff And The Conniff Singers A Merry Crispness In Approach And Performance To A Garland Of Christmas Songs. Designed As A Presentation For Dancing It Naturally Omits Carols But It Brings Together Some Of The Best-Loved Songs Of Recent Years Along With Ageless Jingle Bells And The Even Older Charm Of Greensleeves.
Mr. Conniff In The Guise Of St. Nick Has Arranged These Delightful Songs In His Inimitable Manner Using The Voices As Basic Ingredients Of The Orchestral Fabric And Gaining Special Inspiration From The Cheery Character That Most Of Them Have. There Are Ballads Of Course Silver Bells The Romantic Christmas Song And That Sine Qua Non Of The Season White Christmas But Most Of The Tunes Are Bright And Jolly As Befits A Yuletide Celebration And As Befits A Christmas Dancing Party. So Deck The Hall Hang Up The Mistletoe And Remember Not To Dance Too Close To The Tree. Here Are Ray Conniff And The Conniff Singers With A Wonderful Christmas Gift A Shiny Glistening Package Of Beloved Songs For Your Dancing Pleasure."

Music Tags for Christmas With Conniff: