Ray Conniff ends an era

It was a rock and roll world while I was growing up but there were three easy listening albums that left me distinct impressions during the ’60s. One was Manhattan Tower by Gordon Jenkins. A homage to New York City, it was an original recorded musical which pioneered an idea later very effectively put use by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice for Jesus Christ Superstar. Record the musical first. Then do the stage version. I don’t think a stage version of Manhattan Tower was ever produced but it was a first of its kind.

Another one was Girl Meets Girl by Percy Faith. This one was a collection of old songs. What made it different from other albums of the period was that the songs were sequenced in such a way that they told a story. Boy meets girl. Would You Like to Take a Walk. They fall in love. All I Do is Dream of You. Another girl enters the picture. Temptation. Then heartbreak. It’s Easy to Remember. And reconciliation. Our Love is Here to Stay. Eventually as albums grew from singles collections to concept productions, a lot of artists adopted Faith’s idea and told stories through the sequence of their songs.

Then there was So Much in Love by Ray Conniff. This has the very famous sound of the Ray Conniff Singers and the sparkling orchestral arrangements. But there is nothing quite like this album. It is also made up of old songs but these are arranged as two song medleys. I was so fascinated with the choices, the clever combinations and the way one song blended into the other. Autumn Leaves and Walking in the Rain. I Fall in Love Too Easily and My Heart Stood Still. Dancing on the Ceiling and Dancing in the Dark. I Wish I Didn’t Love You So and Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered.

Faith and Jenkins have been making music in the great beyond for some years now. Last Friday, Oct. 11, Ray Conniff also died at 85. According to the news bulletin, he fell and hit his head and later died at the Palomar Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Conniff’s name may not ring a bell among younger music buyers anymore but there was a time when every album he did was a sure moneymaker. In fact, he gave the music industry a sure-fire formula for easy listening albums that remains in use up to now. Take some songs, preferably current hits. Give them new arrangements, preferably light. Then put them all together in one album. To this day, any producer working on a commercial easy listening album made up of hits is very likely to describe his work as "Ray Conniff."

Conniff was born on Nov. 6, 1916 in Massachusetts. He played the trombone and started a dance orchestra in high school. He later moved to New York where he arranged songs and played with various bands. It was after his war stint with the Armed Forces Radio Services that he started developing his own style. This was put to excellent use at Columbia where he went to work as an arranger and where he made most of his hits.

Among his most memorable works were Boulevard of Broken Dreams, which made a star out of Tony Bennett, Walking in the Rain for Johnny Ray, Band of Gold for Don Cherry, Memories are Made of This for Mindy Carson, Moonlight Gambler for Frankie Laine and those brilliant arrangements for the early Johnny Mathis recordings, Chances Are, Wonderful, Wonderful and It’s Not for Me to Say. After a number of these hits, it was but an easy step for Conniff to recording his own albums.

Ray was still actively recording one album a year and touring with his orchestra and singers once a year at the time of his death. He has recorded over 100 albums and sold over 70 million units. He has a Grammy for Somewhere My Love and is one of the few artists to receive the prestigious CBS Records International Crystal Globe Award for outstanding sales outside the US of A. That includes the Philippines where his albums were real huge sellers during the ’60s and ’70s.

Despite the preponderance of rock and R&B in the charts these days, I do not think easy listening albums will ever lose their appeal for music lovers. These are just waiting for kids to discover them. Check out Conniff’s We Wish You a Merry Christmas this Holiday Season. It has a great Christmasy feel. Then you might just want to listen to his other works.