Ray Conniff (born John R. Conniff November 6 1916 in Attleboro, Massachusetts, USA, and died October 12 2002, Escondido, California, USA) 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 coursebook.

After he was in the army in World War II, 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 Marty Robbins 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, amongst them a backing album and singles with Somethin' Smith & The Redheads , an American male vocal group.

Due to 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 boys, four girls). He released many more albums in the same vein, including Dance the Bop (1957), 'S Marvellous (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 girls and 13 boys) 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 (also called "Lara's Theme") was written for 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 40'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 60's he produced an average of two instrumental and one vocal albums a year. Among these are (Original albums only):

• 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 (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. In Brazil 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.

Conniff sold about 70 million albums world-wide and continued performing until his death in 2002, even performed "Somewhere My Love" at the March 2002 wedding of Liza Minnelli and David Gest. He is interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.

Recently, a two-CD compilation set, The Essential Ray Conniff, was released, featuring many rare and previously unreleased tracks.

External links

• SpaceAgePop.com biography http://www.spaceagepop.com/conniff.htm