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, working 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.
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, an album which was originally published to promote his European tour (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) in 1969. 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 that his name was as fake as his orchestral sound was sensational. Nevertheless he sold about 70 million albums worldwide 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. His grave marker bears a musical score with the first four notes of "Somewhere My Love."
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 and The Singles Collection, Vol. 2 was released in 2007. These collections also feature rare singles and previously unissued tracks.
Ray's music is also featured prominently in the movie, There's Something About Mary.
Track List
CD 1
01- Besame Mucho
02- El Continental
03- Tico-Tico
04- Sentimientos [Feelings]
05- Solo Tu [Only You]
06- Jovenes e Inquietos [Young And Foolish]
07- Ojos Espanoles [Spanish Eyes]
08- Adios A Jamaica [Jamaica Farewell]
09- Marea Baja [Ebb Tide]
10- Paloma Blanca
11- El Condor Pasa
12- Vereda Tropical
13- Gracias Por El Recuerdo [Thanks For The Memory]
14- Aquellos Ojos Verdes [Those Green Eyes]
15- El Amor Es Una Cosa Esplendorosa [Love Is A Many Splendored Thing]
CD 2
01- El Mar [La Mer]
02- Brasil [Brazil]
03- Frenesi
04- Un Extrano En El Paraiso [Stranger In Paradise]
05- La Pobre Gente De Paris [The Poor People Of Paris]
06- Lullaby Of Bordland
07- New York, New York
08- Gotas De Lluvia En Mi Cabeza [Raindrops Keep Faliing On My Head]
09- Al Sur De La Frontera [South Of The Border]
10- Don't Cry For Me Argentina
11- La Chica Mas Bonita Del Mundo [The Most Beautiful Girl]
12- Carino [Honey]
13- Digalo Con Musica [Say It With Music]
14- Los Blancos Riscos De Dover [The White Cliffs Of Dover]
15- Los Rrecuerdos Estan Hechos De Esto [Memories Are Made Of This]
Part 1
Part 2
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