Joseph Raymond Conniff Wiki: Salary, Married, Wedding, Spouse, Family
Joseph Raymond "Ray" Conniff, also known as "Jay Raye," (November 6, 1916 – October 12, 2002) was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s.
Full Name
Joseph Raymond Conniff
Net Worth
$14 Million
Date Of Birth
November 6, 1916
Died
2002-10-12
Place Of Birth
Attleboro, Massachusetts, USA
Profession
Music Department, Soundtrack, Composer
Nicknames
Ray Conniff, Conniff, Ray
Star Sign
Scorpio
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Trademark
1
Pictures of beautiful women featured on his record album covers
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Fact
1
April 23, 1956, he leads his orchestra for the American version of the French song "Donnez-moi tout ça" which was written by Henri Betti (music) and André Hornez (lyrics). The English lyrics were written by William Engvick and the title became "Give me More". The recording took place in New York and the song was sung by Don Cherry.
2
Had two top-40 singles, both on Columbia Records, in 1965: "Invisible Tears" and "Lara's Theme" (Somewhere, My Love) from Doctor Zhivago (1965).
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He released more than 100 recordings and produced twenty-five Top-40 albums for Columbia Records, and his recordings included renderings of New York, New York, 'S Wonderful, and Besame Mucho.
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Won a Grammy Award for his recording of the Doctor Zhivago (1965) theme, "Somewhere My Love".
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The album, 'S Wonderful, stayed on the Top 20 charts for nine months.
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He is also credited with being at the forefront, if not the outright inventor of, a pop genre either critically lauded or loathed as "Easy Listening." As a result, his popularity waned with the rise of rock 'n' roll, but stars such as Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, The Carpenters and Burt Bacharach benefited from his arrangements.
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The Ray Conniff Orchestra and Singers epitomized the lounge-singing style of the 1950s and 1960s with a mix of wordless vocal choruses and light orchestral accompaniment.
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His musical background was gained from the gift of having musically-trained parents. His father, a trombone player, led a local band while his mother played the piano, and the young Ray followed in his parents' footsteps, eventually becoming more successful than the family could have ever dreamed. Conniff led a band while in high school. He moved to Boston and began playing with Dan Murphy's Musical Skippers. He then moved to New York during the swing era in the mid-1930s, where he found a job playing and arranging for Berigan in 1937. By 1939, he moved to Hollywood to join Bob Crosby's Bobcats.
