Tiny Bubbles - Music

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 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 Was Posthumously 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 1940s Released 1963 Featured Additional Trombone Solos By Ray Himself. Both Albums Are Pure Light Jazz And Did Not Feature Any Vocals. read less