July 18, 2016:
THE 2016 RAY CONNIFF FAN CONVENTION: THE VIDEO
A 73 min documentation of the event to celebrate “100 Years of Ray Conniff” is now available
on a DVD (or if we get more than 3 orders on Blu-ray) [PAL].
Price: € 15.00 per copy (Blu-ray: € 25.00)
Postage € 5.00 (international, air mail)
Payment can be effected by PayPal (please use mthoenicke at web.de for money transfer) or
by international money order.
July 30/31, 2016:
New subpage added: Ray Conniff Advertisements
This subpage features a collection of full-page ads for Ray’s albums and singles. Some
of them are of very low resolution. If you can provide better scans, please let me have
them. Thank you!
This ad was featured in “Record World”, Dec. 30, 1967, p. 57.
Added July 31, 2016: Ads for recordings with other artists, backed by Ray Conniff
July 5, 2016:
The Souvenir CD
Click on the screenshot of the cover on the left to find out what is on the CD produced for the
attendants of the 2016 Ray Conniff Fan Convention in Hamburg. The booklet consists of 12
pages.
June 20, 2016:
Ray Conniff fans from 10 different nations gathered in Hamburg, Germany, from June 10 to 12, 2016, to honour
the man whose music has been the soundtrack to their lives. Below please find
some links to
> Tamara’s message (you may also click on the screenshot on the right),
> Perry’s message, and Manfred’s speech
> Here are links to downloadable photographs taken by Irmgard, Steve, Clemens,
Ingo, Christian, Claudine, Doug, Michael, Jorge, Frank. and Igor (Note: Igor’s
photographs are also available as a slide show).
> Fun pix contest (silent video)
The weather was unbelievably wonderful, marvelous, and awful nice - and so was the get-together of fans and
friends. Hopefully, there will be yet another fan convention somewhere in two years’ time.
Released in January 2016:
A 2 CD set titled “The Music of Ray Conniff”. It features 50 selections from ’S
WONDERFUL (10), the complete MEMORIES ARE MADE OF THIS-album, the complete
BROADWAY IN RHYTHM-album, CONCERT IN RHYTHM (5), ’S MARVELOUS (10), and
“Midnight Lace, Part 1”, from HAPPINESS IS:
Disc # 1:'s Wonderful / Memories Are Made Of This / Dancing In The Dark / I Get A Kick Out
Of You / Love Letters In The Sand / Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin' / September Song / Bali
Ha'i / Three Coins In The Fountain / Rhapsody In Blue / In The Still Of The Night / The Surrey
With The Fringe On Top / Hello, Young Lovers / Moonlight Serenade / Someone To Watch
Over Me / Around The World / That Old Black Magic / The Way You Look Tonight / Theme
From Romeo And Juliet / I'm An Old Cow Hand / I Hear A Rhapsody / On The Street Where
You Live / You Do Something To Me / My Foolish Heart / Young Love
Disc # 2: Midnight Lace, Part 1 / I'm Always Chasing Rainbows / Love Me Tender / Some Enchanted Evening / Tammy /
Oklahoma! / Unchained Melody / I Could Have Danced All Night & I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face / Begin The
Beguine / No Other Love / People Will Say We're In Love / They Can't Take That Away From Me / Sentimental Journey / As
Time Goes By / Sometimes I'm Happy / I've Told Every Little Star / Younger Than Springtime / A Wonderful Guy / Where Or
When / Moments To Remember / Getting To Know You & I Whistle A Happy Tune / Stardust / Theme From Grand Canyon
Suite / Only You / Early Evening
This website incorporates many pages of
Doug Mitchell’s official Ray Conniff Page (www.rayconniff.info),
such as the list of original albums, compilations, Ray’s biography etc.
In order to get back from Doug’s pages to this website, please use the BACK button of your browser.
For last year’s news go to “Archived News 2015”.
Thank you.
Total website visits
since August 1, 2011:
December 27, 2015 /
January 7, 2016:
2016 is the year during which we’ll celebrate
100 Years of
Ray Conniff!
Fans will get together from Friday,
June 10 to Sunday, June 12, 2016 in
Hamburg, Germany.
Details:
For a schedule of events and further details,
please click here!
A picture with some of the sights of Hamburg
As for accommodation* please click here.
*We made reservations with a centrally located
hotel near the central station, a few steps away
from the shopping arcades and Lake Alster. You can
book your room without any risk. Cancellations can
be made until April 15, 2016 free of charge. After
that date all rooms not booked will become
available at regular prices. If you attend the
convention, please let me know so that we can
make reservations for the right amount of people at
restaurants, conference rooms etc. Thank you!
“Ray Conniff can perfectly perform magic with melodies,
rhythms and sounds of human voices, it's incredible.
For me he is just as awesome as the man who invented the
phonograph record.” - Leonard Bernstein
(Source: The liner notes of a Czech compilation album)
Musicians born in 1916 (such as Jackie Gleason and Perez Prado)
will be honoured in a radio special on May 2, 2016 on WDR 4
(Germany), from 9:05 to 10pm. “Spielplatz” is advertised online with a
picture of Ray. Click here or on the scan on the right for more details.
April 6, 2016:
THE RAY CONNIFF CONNECTION on Angel Radio
(http://angelradio.co.uk/)
Les Peckham (of the Guy Mitchell Appreciation Society) recorded 30 X
half hour programmes which he titled "The Conniff Connection".
The programmes start tomorrow, Sunday, 22nd May at 1.30pm (2.30 in
Germany) and repeated on May 21, 2016: THE RAY CONNIFF
CONNECTION on Angel Radio (http://angelradio.co.uk/)
Les Peckham (of the Guy Mitchell Appreciation Society) recorded 30 X half hour programmes which he titled "The Conniff
Connection". The programmes feature recordings by Ray Conniff including tracks from 1939-52 with the big bands,
recordings from the mid 1950s when he was backing the singing stars on Columbia Records, and, of course, plenty of tracks
by the Orchestra and Chorus / Singers. The programmes start tomorrow, Sunday, 22nd May at 1.30pm (2.30 in Germany) and
repeated on Thursday 26th May at 11.30am (12.30pm in Germany).
May 21, 2016:
June
15/16/17/19/20/21/28/
July 4, 2016:
Friday Music, in conjunction with Sony Music Entertainment, are to release on 180 Gram
Audiophile WHITE Vinyl “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” on October 14, 2016.
POSTPONED UNTIL DECEMBER 2! (Germany: December 16, 2016)
The album cover will be a gatefold cover with two rare photos of Ray, plus a suitable for
framing insert will also be a part of the exclusive vinyl release.
Currently, the price stated at amazon.com is US $ 31.98.
EILEEN RODGERS: MIRACLE OF LOVE
Eileen Rodgers might be called 'The Star Who Never Was'. She burst on the national scene in
1955 with a long string of singles and acclaimed musical comedy performances on the stage, but
in seven quick years her recording career was over. She nevertheless made such an impact, that
she is still remembered today as one of the great vocalists of all time. Includes 19 tracks
backed by Ray Conniff (all on disc #1). Notes: Six of these have never been released on CD
before. Two recordings with Ray Conniff, “Say It from Your Heart” and “A Bottomless Cup” still
remain unreleased. This excellent issue by Jasmine is a complete collection of her singles, many
of which have not been heard since their original release plus highlights from her acclaimed cast
recordings in Fiorello, Tenderloin and Anything Goes. Eileen Rodgers never became the
superstar she should have been, but her distinctive sound continues to attract new listeners, and
her fans have steadily increased through the years and hopefully she will never be forgotten.
(2 CD set to be released on August 26, 2016; July 8, 2016, if you order from Jasmine Records
directly.)
August 14, 2016:
Back by popular
demand: Ray Conniff
tribute concert delights
Capron Park crowd in
Attleboro
Click on the photo on the
left for the complete
article which appeared in
The Sun Chronicle on
July 17.
Found on the Real
Attleboro High School
Alumni Association
Facebook page: Ray’s
first composition,
“Parting” for the class
of 1934, and a short
bio. Click on the scans
for enlargement.
Thanks to Doug for
locating these items!
September 7, 2016:
To be released November 4 (USA) / 11 (UK), 2016:
THE COMPLETE COLUMBIA CHRISTMAS RECORDINGS
This 2 CD set must have been compiled by a real Ray Conniff fan and collector, who knew
that there was a fourth Christmas album by Ray, not on the Columbia label.
The set is advertised as follows: Ray Conniff sold more records than any other
arranger/conductor in the history of pop music. So it’s no surprise that his three Christmas
albums were smash hits, charting a total of 16 times between them. Leading off was
1959’s Christmas with Conniff, which went to #14 on the charts, the first of five chart
appearances; then came 1962’s We Wish You a Merry Christmas, which went to #15 for
the first of its eight turns atop the charts; and, finally, 1965’s Here We Come A-Caroling,
which also went to #15 atop the Christmas charts for the first of its three appearances. Now, Real Gone Music
has put together all three of these albums—plus a bonus track, Conniff’s 1965 version of “My Favorite
Things”—into a bargain-priced 2-CD set comprising every Christmas track Ray recorded during his historic run
at Columbia Records. The 31-track collection includes photos from the Columbia vaults, new liner notes by Joe
Marchese, and a fresh remastering at Sony’s Battery Studios in New York. Some of the most beloved holiday
recordings of all time all in one place, presented with panache!
As many of you may know, Alan Bunting sadly passed away earlier this year. This is to let you know that
Tony Clayden (49 Alexandra Road, Well End, BOREHAMWOOD – Hertfordshire, WD6 5PB, ENGLAND
(Tel.: +44 20 8449 5559; email: tony “at” clayden.org.uk) has just purchased Alan Bunting’s entire collection
of records and CDs. It comprises a total of several thousand items. Included are a large number of Ray
Conniff LP albums and CDs and also hundreds more from the orchestras of Percy Faith, David Rose, David
Carroll and many others. Tony would welcome enquiries from serious collectors. This would be a very good
opportunity to acquire some excellent material at sensible prices.
October 1, 2016:
A new radio show by Jim Stone to celebrate Ray’s 100th birthday on November 6!
In 2002, Jim Stone produced a three part tribute to Ray on the radio, featuring Jay Meyer,
Perry La Marca, Doug Mitchell, Ron Hicklin, and the man himself. The interview with Ray
was taped in Palm Springs on September 7, 2002, only two months before he passed
away. Jorge Carpes visualised the shows, and made them available for the fans (click
here for part 1). Jim complimented Jorge on his efforts. Today, Jim sent another message
to Jorge that you might be interested in. He wrote; Jorge, I wanted to let you know that on
the dates of November 6 and 10, I am running a birthday special about Ray Conniff on
my show. This will be on the internet at http://whjzdb.net:8002/stream/2/ at 6pm
Eastern time on November 6 and 9pm Eastern time on November 10. The special will
be on during the first hour of the show. I know it's been a long time since we talked so I hope you are well and receive
this message. Please pass the info to anyone you care to. Also during the program I mention your YouTube production
of my Ray Conniff show several times. You did some a beautiful, professional job putting it together and you are to be
congratulated for doing the video side of the production. Jim Stone
October 2, 2016:
For their "Vintage Vinyl Show", BBC Radio Tees have chosen Ray Conniff as their "Artist of the Month" for the
month of November. This means that on each Sunday afternoon, between 6th and 27th November, four tracks of Ray
Conniff's music (16 in all) will be played.
The programme, presented by Colin Bunyon, is a request show and can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/tees.
Thanks for this information, Brian!
In order to commemorate Ray Conniff’s 100th birthday, German radio station WDR 4 broadcast a special on October 31
from 9:05 to 10 pm central European time in their series “Spielplatz”. For last night’s show, Suitbert Kempkes chose
the following songs:THE CONTINENTAL / STARDUST / ‘S WONDERFUL (Artie Shaw Band) / STEEL GUITAR ROCK /
I’M ALWYS CHASING RAINBOWS (instrumental version) / ROSE ROOM / MY OLD FLAME / LOVE WALKED IN /
YOU’RE THE CREAM IN MY COFFEE / WHAT A DIFF’RENCE A DAY MADE / SING / HARMONY / IT MIGHT AS
WELL BE SPRING / CLAIR / WITH EVERY BEAT OF MY HEART / LOW DOWN / DELILAH
October 14 /
November 1, 2016:
Nov. 2/13/14, 2016:
Great news for aficionados of Ray Conniff’s quadraphonic recordings:
The British VOCALION label will release Ray Conniff’s albums “Love Will Keep Us
Together” and “Laughter in the Rain” on one super audio (SACD) disc. The catalogue
number is CDLK4602. According to German sellers jpc.de the release date is scheduled for
November 21. Many DVD and CD players made by Sony, Denon or Pioneer can read
SACDs so that four different channels can be reproduced on home cinema systems. For
stereo reproduction this hybrid CD plays on all conventional players.
This is how THE Internet radio station HUMBOLDT 101 celebrates Ray’s 100th birthday. Click on the logo on the left to
get to their website, from where you can download the Humboldt 101 App. HUMBOLDT 101 is celebrating Ray's
100th birthdate with a rare concert from 1999. Seamlessly edited from the original audio recording. Airs
Thursday, November 3 at 7:00 p.m. PT and Sunday, November 6 at 7:00 a.m. (-7:00 GMT). Length: 1:30.
On November 6, 2016, Ray Conniff would have celebrated his 100th birthday. Time to honour one of the most
successful and influential artists of the 20th century. His “Ray Conniff Sound” is remembered by many people
who grew up in times when music still consisted of melodies. However, apart from being a sound wizard, he was
also an arranger, composer, trombonist and even singer. He was most popular in the musical world across the
globe in the 50s and 60s. He gained fame with his own orchestra with his rendition of Gershwin’s “’s
Wonderful”, which was a recreation of an arrangement he had written for Artie Shaw, but this time voices,
doubling with instruments, were added. This style became his trademark for a couple of years until The Ray
Conniff Singers, singing words rather than syllables, became popular. Ray won a Grammy for their rendition of
“Somewhere My Love”, Lara’s theme from “Dr. Zhivago” in 1967. However, his string of hits included other well-
known arrangements and hits, such as “Besame Mucho”, “Brazil”, “Harmony”, “Cabaret”, “Mame”, “Smoke Gets
in Your Eyes”, “Invisible Tears”, “Happiness Is”, “On the Street Where You Live” and “Memories Are Made of
This”.
Whenever he is remembered in the musical world, people mention The Ray Conniff Sound first of all, as said
before. However, I think his arranging talents and the right choice of rhythm/tempi should be given at least equal
attention. It's probably the mix of all these elements that made him the most popular orchestra leader in the
50s/60s. His three minute pieces of art often used to have an introduction that corresponded with the ending, had
surprising elements such as counter melodies and recurring patterns, solos – and (what was especially important
to him) now and then a pause right in the middle of a song during which the acoustics of the studio were
captured. In short, the aural environments Ray created were as important as his arrangements and choice of
instrumental voicings. And these elements were combined to create his world famous and distinctive treatments,
the "Conniff Sound", which people all over the world know so well. He was the first artist who introduced stereo
sound and coloured lights to the concert stage in 1959. The technical equipment for his “Concert in Stereo” was
groundbreaking. With it, he could recreate the sound people knew from his records.
His musical education had a strong foundation. He was exposed to music at an early age and went through many
different musical eras. Ray Conniff also widened my musical horizon, ranging from the American Songbook, to
musicals, music from movies, Jazz, Country and even classical music. He influenced my life in more ways than
he probably knew. Well, his music gave me the incentive to learn the English language, which my teachers at
school could not achieve, and I made many wonderful friends all over the world who shared the same musical
interests as me. My friend Lois Hollands ran the original Ray Conniff Club. After she passed away in the 70s, I
took over her presidency and informed the members about Ray’s recordings, new releases, concert tours, etc.
with a “Ray Conniff Newsletter”, which soon turned into a magazine, titled “’s Conniff”. (Click here for the
downloads of some editions.) Today, I am the webmaster of this website and one of the moderators of the
wonderful Facebook tribute page, “The Ray Conniff Legacy”, run by my friend Jorge Carpes from Brazil.
To Ray Conniff, his fans were very important. He was a down-to-earth human being that you could touch and talk
to. I met him first in 1968 when he visited Germany for talks and negotiations concerning his first tour outside the
States, in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Since then, we met many times during his concerts, e.g. in the UK
and Florida. Whenever I travelled the US, I spent a couple of days at his home. We discussed repertoire, he let
me have access to his archives, diaries etc. – everything a fan could dream of. Well, Ray even cooked meals for
my wife and me. His hospitality was unbelievable. The bi-annually held conventions to pay homage to this great
artist and human being were always great events, and quite a few fans can count themselves lucky to have had
both Ray’s wife Vera and his daughter Tamara as guests of honour.
Looking back, I can say that I owe Ray a lot – not only the enjoyment through his music but also for enriching my
life in many ways. Let’s all try to keep his memory and that of his immortal music alive! Thank you, Ray!
Manfred Thönicke
P.S.: I know I cannot list all the fans and friends who still keep the memory of Ray’s music alive and I would do
the others injustice if I didn’t list their names, but I feel I must mention these wonderful people: Doug Mitchell,
Serge Elhaik, Clemens Krauss, Ingo Stein, Jorge Carpes, Jorge Iório, Igor Karpov, Len Morris, Warren Pischke,
Mike Leach, Claudine Deman, Len Morris, Ken Conlin, Jeanette Parks and Bernd Eckhardt, who all have been
ardent followers and contributors.
Articles about Ray featured in US newspapers:
•
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (Nov. 9): “Powerful Easy Listening - A Look at the Impact of Ray Conniff
100 Years after his Birth” by Jerry Cianciolo
and
•
THE BOSTON GLOBE (Nov. 4): “Celebrating the Centenary of two Band Leaders- Smooth and Sharp” by
Matthew Guerrieri (about Ray Conniff and Billy May)
Yesterday, I received my copy of “THE COMPLETE COLUMBIA CHRISTMAS
RECORDINGS”. If you would like to read my review (including Doug’s views as well),
please click here.
November 11, 2016:
November 18, 2016:
For Ray Conniff’s complete Columbia Christmas GREETINGS click on the numbers / link below:
1 2 3 4 5 6
Left: This is one of the rare photographs by Ray featured in the 2 CD set
“The Complete Columbia Christmas Albums”, released November 4,
2016. Bonus tracks: “My Favorite Things” from the Mary Poppins album
plus one Christmas greeting by Ray (which is track No. 14 on CD #2, not
documented in the list of tracks). The liner notes are great, well-
researched. My Ray Conniff Encyclopedia must have been one of the
sources of information. It would have been nice if that had been stated
somewhere. For a full review please go to entry of November 18. For
more details see entry re September 7 below.
December 6, 2016:
The “Super Audio Compact Disc” (SA-CD, DSD audio format) released on the Vocalion label exceeds my
expectations! All tracks were taken from the original tapes, licensed by Sony. The channel separation is superb. I heard
voices and instruments, especially in the rear channels, I had never heard before. I did
have both albums on multi-channel CDs (DTS format), but they featured 4.0 sound only like
the original releases. Besides, for “Love Will Keep Us Together” the source of my DTS disc
was a Quad LP, because a Quad 8-track cartridge was never released. This super audio
CD has 5.1 sound, which also makes your subwoofer of your home theatre system work.
Excellent! And so are the liner notes by Tony Clayden, which give evidence of profound
research on Ray and his career. Don’t complain about missing liner notes from the original
album releases, because there weren’t any. The price is moderate. The disc can be played
on all conventional CD players, and also features the stereo versions of both albums in fine
quality. I hope the sales will be strong enough to encourage Vocalion to release more of
Ray’s Quadraphonic albums, such as “The Happy Sound” and “TV Themes”. Write to them!
Their home page is http://www.duttonvocalion.co.uk/
New: Christmas greetings from Ray during a
programme for the US Army Reserve
December 26, 2016:
Some people were lucky and received a copy of the 180 gram white vinyl Lp of WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS
in time for Christmas 2016. Its release was scheduled for 2015, but postponed a couple of times. Interestingly, it is not
listed on the website of Friday Music any longer, which could mean that all copies of this limited edition have already
been sold. Anyway, here are scans of the Lp, its gatefold cover and the pictures.
CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF RAY CONNIFF on November 6, 2016
November 5, 2016:
ARCHIVED NEWS 2016
ALL ABOUT
THE 2016
RAY CONNIFF
CONVENTION IN
HAMBURG,
GERMANY
’S WONDERFUL!
The Ray Conniff Page
Released in January 2016:
A 2 CD set titled “The Music
of Ray Conniff”. It features
50 selections from ’S
WONDERFUL (10), the
complete MEMORIES ARE
MADE OF THIS-album, the
complete BROADWAY IN
RHYTHM-album, CONCERT
IN RHYTHM (5), ’S
MARVELOUS (10), and
“Midnight Lace, Part 1”, from
HAPPINESS IS:
Disc # 1:'s Wonderful /
Memories Are Made Of This / Dancing In The Dark / I Get A Kick
Out Of You / Love Letters In The Sand / Oh, What A Beautiful
Mornin' / September Song / Bali Ha'i / Three Coins In The
Fountain / Rhapsody In Blue / In The Still Of The Night / The
Surrey With The Fringe On Top / Hello, Young Lovers / Moonlight
Serenade / Someone To Watch Over Me / Around The World /
That Old Black Magic / The Way You Look Tonight / Theme From
Romeo And Juliet / I'm An Old Cow Hand / I Hear A Rhapsody /
On The Street Where You Live / You Do Something To Me / My
Foolish Heart / Young Love
Disc # 2: Midnight Lace, Part 1 / I'm Always Chasing Rainbows /
Love Me Tender / Some Enchanted Evening / Tammy /
Oklahoma! / Unchained Melody / I Could Have Danced All Night
& I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face / Begin The Beguine / No
Other Love / People Will Say We're In Love / They Can't Take
That Away From Me / Sentimental Journey / As Time Goes By /
Sometimes I'm Happy / I've Told Every Little Star / Younger Than
Springtime / A Wonderful Guy / Where Or When / Moments To
Remember / Getting To Know You & I Whistle A Happy Tune /
Stardust / Theme From Grand Canyon Suite / Only You / Early
Evening
This website incorporates many pages of
Doug Mitchell’s official Ray Conniff Page (www.rayconniff.info),
such as the list of original albums, compilations, Ray’s biography etc.
In order to get back from Doug’s pages to this website, please use the BACK button of
your browser.
For last year’s news go to “Archived News 2015”.
Thank you.
2016 is the year during which we’ll celebrate
100 Years of
Ray Conniff!
Fans will get together from Friday, June 10 to Sunday, June
12, 2016 in Hamburg, Germany.
Details: For a schedule of events and further details, please
click here! A picture with some of the sights of Hamburg | As
for accommodation* please click here.
*We made reservations with a centrally located hotel near the
central station, a few steps away from the shopping arcades
and Lake Alster. You can book your room without any risk.
Cancellations can be made until April 15, 2016 free of
charge. After that date all rooms not booked will become
available at regular prices. If you attend the convention,
please let me know so that we can make reservations for the
right amount of people at restaurants, conference rooms etc.
Thank you!
Total website visits
since August 1, 2011:
Musicians born in 1916 (such as Jackie Gleason and Perez Prado)
will be honoured in a radio special on May 2, 2016 on WDR 4
(Germany), from 9:05 to 10pm. “Spielplatz” is advertised online
with a picture of Ray. Click here or on the scan above for more
details.
THE RAY CONNIFF CONNECTION on Angel Radio
(http://angelradio.co.uk/)
Les Peckham (of the Guy Mitchell Appreciation Society) recorded 30 X
half hour programmes which he titled "The Conniff Connection". The
programmes feature recordings by Ray Conniff including tracks from
1939-52 with the big bands, recordings from the mid 1950s when he
was backing the singing stars on Columbia Records, and, of course,
plenty of tracks by the Orchestra and Chorus / Singers. The
programmes start tomorrow, Sunday, 22nd May at 1.30pm (2.30 in
Germany) and repeated on Thursday 26th May at 11.30am (12.30pm
in Germany).
Ray Conniff fans from 10 different nations
gathered in Hamburg, Germany, from June
10 to 12, 2016, to honour the man whose
music has been the soundtrack to their
lives. Below please find some links to
Tamara’s message (you may also click on the
screenshot on the right), Perry’s message,
and Manfred’s speech | Links to downloadable photographs taken by
Irmgard, Steve, Clemens, Ingo, Christian, Claudine, Doug, Michael,
Jorge, Frank. and Igor (his photographs are also available as a slide
show.)
Fun pix contest (silent video) In a couple of days, you will find more links
to photos taken during the convention, videos, speeches, messages, and
much more here. The weather was unbelievably wonderful, marvelous,
and awful nice - and so was the get-together of fans and friends.
June 20, 2016: The Souvenir CD
Click on the screenshot of the cover on the left to
find out what is on the CD produced for the
attendants of the 2016 Ray Conniff Fan Convention
in Hamburg. The booklet consists of 12 pages.
June 22, 2016:
Friday Music, in conjunction with
Sony Music Entertainment, are to release on 180
Gram Audiophile WHITE Vinyl “We Wish You A
Merry Christmas” on October 14, 2016. The
album cover will be a gatefold cover with two rare
photos of Ray, plus a suitable for framing insert
will also be a part of the exclusive vinyl release.
Currently, the price stated at amazon.com is US $
31.98. October 15, 2016: POSTPONED UNTIL DECEMBER 2!
July 5, 2016:
EILEEN RODGERS: MIRACLE OF LOVE
Eileen Rodgers might be called 'The Star Who
Never Was'. She burst on the national scene in
1955 with a long string of singles and acclaimed
musical comedy performances on the stage, but in
seven quick years her recording career was over.
She nevertheless made such an impact, that she is
still remembered today as one of the great vocalists of all time.
Includes 19 tracks backed by Ray Conniff (all on disc #1). Notes:
Six of these have never been released on CD: Two recordings with
Ray Conniff, “Say It from Your Heart” and “A Bottomless Cup” still
remain unreleased. This excellent issue by Jasmine is a complete
collection of her singles, many of which have not been heard since
their original release plus highlights from her acclaimed cast
recordings in Fiorello, Tenderloin and Anything Goes. Eileen Rodgers
never became the superstar she should have been, but her distinctive
sound continues to attract new listeners, and her fans have steadily
increased through the years and hopefully she will never be forgotten.
(2 CD set to be released on August 26, 2016; July 8, 2016, if you
order from Jasmine Records directly.)
July 18, 2016: THE 2016 RAY CONNIFF FAN
CONVENTION: THE VIDEO
A 73 min documentation of the event to celebrate
“100 Years of Ray Conniff” is now available on a
DVD (or if we get more than 3 orders on Blu-ray).
Price: € 15.00 per copy (Blu-ray: € 25.00)
Postage € 5.00 (international, air mail)
Payment can be effected by PayPal (please use
mthoenicke at web.de for money transfer) or by
international money order.
July 30/31, 2016:
New subpage added: Ray Conniff Advertisements
This subpage features a collection of full-page ads for
Ray’s albums and singles. Some of them are of very
low resolution. If you can provide better scans, please
let me have them. Thank you!
This ad was featured in “Record World”,
Dec. 30, 1967, p. 57.
August 14, 2016: Back by popular demand:
Ray Conniff tribute concert delights Capron
Park crowd in Attleboro
Click on the photo on the left for the complete
article which appeared in The Sun Chronicle on
July 17.
Found on the Real Attleboro High
School Alumni Association
Facebook page: Ray’s first
composition, “Parting” for the class
of 1934, and a short bio. Click on
the scans for enlargement. Thanks
to Doug for locating these items!
Mobile/cell phone users please go to
http://mthoenicke.magix.net/public/conniff/index.htm,
rather than www.rayconniff.com, if links do not work .
To be released November 4 (USA) / 11 (UK), 2016:
THE COMPLETE COLUMBIA CHRISTMAS
RECORDINGS
This 2 CD set must have been compiled by a real
Ray Conniff fan and collector, who knew that there
was a fourth Christmas album by Ray, not on the
Columbia label.
The set is advertised as follows: Ray Conniff sold
more records than any other arranger/conductor in the history of pop
music. So it’s no surprise that his three Christmas albums were smash
hits, charting a total of 16 times between them. Leading off was 1959’s
Christmas with Conniff, which went to #14 on the charts, the first of
five chart appearances; then came 1962’s We Wish You a Merry
Christmas, which went to #15 for the first of its eight turns atop the
charts; and, finally, 1965’s Here We Come A-Caroling, which also went
to #15 atop the Christmas charts for the first of its three appearances.
Now, Real Gone Music has put together all three of these
albums—plus a bonus track, Conniff’s 1965 version of “My
Favorite Things”—into a bargain-priced 2-CD set comprising every
Christmas track Ray recorded during his historic run at Columbia
Records. The 31-track collection includes photos from the Columbia
vaults, new liner notes by Joe Marchese, and a fresh remastering at
Sony’s Battery Studios in New York. Some of the most beloved holiday
recordings of all time all in one place, presented with panache!
As many of you may know, Alan Bunting sadly passed away earlier this
year. This is to let you know that Tony Clayden (49 Alexandra Road,
Well End, BOREHAMWOOD – Hertfordshire, WD6 5PB, ENGLAND
(Tel.: +44 20 8449 5559; email: tony “at” clayden.org.uk) has just
purchased Alan Bunting’s entire collection of records and CDs. It
comprises a total of several thousand items. Included are a large
number of Ray Conniff LP albums and CDs and also hundreds more
from the orchestras of Percy Faith, David Rose, David Carroll and
many others. Tony would welcome enquiries from serious collectors.
This would be a very good opportunity to acquire some excellent
material at sensible prices.
October 1, 2016: A new radio show by Jim
Stone to celebrate Ray’s 100th birthday on
November 6!
In 2002, Jim Stone produced a three part
tribute to Ray on the radio, featuring Jay
Meyer, Perry La Marca, Doug Mitchell, Ron
Hicklin, and the man himself. The interview
with Ray was taped in Palm Springs on
September 7, 2002, only two months before
he passed away. Jorge Carpes visualised the shows, and made them
available for the fans (click here for part 1). Jim complimented Jorge
on his efforts. Today, Jim sent another message to Jorge that you
might be interested in. He wrote; Jorge, I wanted to let you know that
on the dates of November 6 and 10, I am running a birthday special
about Ray Conniff on my show. This will be on the internet at
http://whjzdb.net:8002/stream/2/ at 6pm Eastern time on
November 6 and 9pm Eastern time on November 10. The special
will be on during the first hour of the show. I know it's been a long time
since we talked so I hope you are well and receive this message.
Please pass the info to anyone you care to. Also during the program I
mention your YouTube production of my Ray Conniff show several
times. You did some a beautiful, professional job putting it together
and you are to be congratulated for doing the video side of the
production. Jim Stone
For their "Vintage Vinyl Show", BBC Radio Tees have chosen Ray
Conniff as their "Artist of the Month" for the month of November.
This means that on each Sunday afternoon, between 6th and 27th
November, four tracks of Ray Conniff's music (16 in all) will be played.
The programme, presented by Colin Bunyon, is a request show and
can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/tees.
Thanks for this information, Brian!
October 15 / Nov. 1, 2016: In order to commemorate Ray Conniff’s
100th birthday, German radio station WDR 4 broadcast a special on
October 31 from 9:05 to 10 pm central European time in their series
“Spielplatz”. For last night’s show, Suitbert Kempkes chose the
following songs:THE CONTINENTAL / STARDUST / ‘S WONDERFUL
(Artie Shaw Band) / STEEL GUITAR ROCK / I’M ALWYS CHASING
RAINBOWS (instrumental version) / ROSE ROOM / MY OLD FLAME
/ LOVE WALKED IN / YOU’RE THE CREAM IN MY COFFEE / WHAT
A DIFF’RENCE A DAY MADE / SING / HARMONY / IT MIGHT AS
WELL BE SPRING / CLAIR / WITH EVERY BEAT OF MY HEART /
LOW DOWN / DELILAH
Nov. 2/13, 2016: Great news for aficionados
of Ray Conniff’s quadraphonic
recordings: The British VOCALION label will
release Ray Conniff’s albums “Love Will
Keep Us Together” and “Laughter in the
Rain” on one super audio (SACD) disc.
According to German sellers jpc.de the
release date is scheduled for November 21.
The catalogue number is CDLK4602. Many
DVD and CD players made by Sony, Denon
or Pioneer can read SACDs so that four different channels can be
reproduced on home cinema systems. For stereo reproduction this
hybrid CD plays on all conventional players.
This is how THE Internet radio station HUMBOLDT
101 celebrates Ray’s 100th birthday week. Click on
their logo to get to their website, from where you can
download the Humboldt 101 App.
HUMBOLDT 101 is celebrating Ray's 100th
birthdate with a rare concert from 1999.
Seamlessly edited from the original audio recording. Airs
Thursday, November 3 at 7:00 p.m. PT and Sunday, November 6 at
7:00 a.m. (-7:00 GMT). Length: 1:30.
On November 6, 2016, Ray Conniff would have celebrated his 100th
birthday. Time to honour one of the most successful and influential
artists of the 20th century. His “Ray Conniff Sound” is remembered
by many people who grew up in times when music still consisted of
melodies. However, apart from being a sound wizard, he was also an
arranger, composer, trombonist and even singer. He was most
popular in the musical world across the globe in the 50s and 60s. He
gained fame with his own orchestra with his rendition of Gershwin’s
“’s Wonderful”, which was a recreation of an arrangement he had
written for Artie Shaw, but this time voices, doubling with instruments,
were added. This style became his trademark for a couple of years
until The Ray Conniff Singers, singing words rather than syllables,
became popular. Ray won a Grammy for their rendition of
“Somewhere My Love”, Lara’s theme from “Dr. Zhivago” in 1967.
However, his string of hits included other well-known arrangements
and hits, such as “Besame Mucho”, “Brazil”, “Harmony”, “Cabaret”,
“Mame”, “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”, “Invisible Tears”, “Happiness Is”,
“On the Street Where You Live” and “Memories Are Made of This”.
Whenever he is remembered in the musical world, people mention
The Ray Conniff Sound first of all, as said before. However, I think
his arranging talents and the right choice of rhythm/tempi should be
given at least equal attention. It's probably the mix of all these
elements that made him the most popular orchestra leader in the
50s/60s. His three minute pieces of art often used to have an
introduction that corresponded with the ending, had surprising
elements such as counter melodies and recurring patterns, solos –
and (what was especially important to him) now and then a pause
right in the middle of a song during which the acoustics of the studio
were captured. In short, the aural environments Ray created were as
important as his arrangements and choice of instrumental voicings.
And these elements were combined to create his world famous and
distinctive treatments, the "Conniff Sound", which people all over the
world know so well. He was the first artist who introduced stereo
sound and coloured lights to the concert stage in 1959. The technical
equipment for his “Concert in Stereo” was groundbreaking. With it,
he could recreate the sound people knew from his records.
His musical education had a strong foundation. He was exposed to
music at an early age and went through many different musical eras.
Ray Conniff also widened my musical horizon, ranging from the
American Songbook, to musicals, music from movies, Jazz, Country
and even classical music. He influenced my life in more ways than he
probably knew. Well, his music gave me the incentive to learn the
English language, which my teachers at school could not achieve,
and I made many wonderful friends all over the world who shared the
same musical interests as me. My friend Lois Hollands ran the
original Ray Conniff Club. After she passed away in the 70s, I took
over her presidency and informed the members about Ray’s
recordings, new releases, concert tours, etc. with a “Ray Conniff
Newsletter”, which soon turned into a magazine, titled “’s Conniff”.
(Click here for the downloads of some editions.) Today, I am the
webmaster of this website and one of the moderators of the wonderful
Facebook tribute page, “The Ray Conniff Legacy”, run by my friend
Jorge Carpes from Brazil.
To Ray Conniff, his fans were very important. He was a down-to-earth
human being that you could touch and talk to. I met him first in 1968
when he visited Germany for talks and negotiations concerning his
first tour outside the States, in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Since then, we met many times during his concerts, e.g. in the UK
and Florida. Whenever I travelled the US, I spent a couple of days at
his home. We discussed repertoire, he let me have access to his
archives, diaries etc. – everything a fan could dream of. Well, Ray
even cooked meals for my wife and me. His hospitality was
unbelievable. The bi-annually held conventions to pay homage to this
great artist and human being were always great events, and quite a
few fans can count themselves lucky to have had both Ray’s wife
Vera and his daughter Tamara as guests of honour.
Looking back, I can say that I owe Ray a lot – not only the enjoyment
through his music but also for enriching my life in many ways. Let’s all
try to keep his memory and that of his immortal music alive! Thank
you, Ray!
Manfred Thönicke
P.S.: I know I cannot list all the fans and friends who still keep the
memory of Ray’s music alive and I would do the others injustice if I
didn’t list their names, but I feel I must mention these wonderful
people: Doug Mitchell, Serge Elhaik, Clemens Krauss, Ingo Stein,
Jorge Carpes, Jorge Iório, Igor Karpov, Len Morris, Warren Pischke,
Mike Leach, Claudine Deman, Jeanette Parks, Len Morris, Ken
Conlin and Bernd Eckhardt, who all have been ardent followers and
contributors.
CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF RAY CONNIFF
on November 6, 2016
Above: This is one of the rare photographs by Ray featured in the 2
CD set “The Complete Columbia Christmas Albums”, released
November 4, 2016. Bonus tracks: “My Favorite Things” from the
Mary Poppins album plus one Christmas greeting by Ray (which is
track No. 14 on CD #2, not documented in the list of tracks). The
liner notes are great, well-researched. My Ray Conniff Encyclopedia
must have been one of the sources of information. It would have
been nice if that had been stated somewhere. A full review will follow
soon. For details see entry re September 7 below.
November 11, 2016:
Articles about Ray featured in US newspapers:
•
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (Nov. 9): “Powerful Easy
Listening - A Look at the Impact of Ray Conniff 100 Years
after his Birth” by Jerry Cianciolo
and
•
THE BOSTON GLOBE (Nov. 4): “Celebrating the Centenary of
two Band Leaders- Smooth and Sharp” by Matthew Guerrieri
(about Ray Conniff and Billy May)
On November 17 I received my copy of “THE
COMPLETE COLUMBIA CHRISTMAS
RECORDINGS”. If you would like to read my
review (including Doug’s views as well), please
click here.
December 6, 2016:
The “Super Audio Compact Disc” (SA-CD)
released on the Vocalion label exceeds my
expectations! All tracks were taken from the
original tapes, licensed by Sony. The
channel separation is superb. I heard
voices and instruments, especially in the
rear channels, I had never heard before. I
did have both albums on multi-channel CDs
(DTS format), but they featured 4.0 sound
only like the original releases. Besides, for
“Love Will Keep Us Together” the source of my DTS disc was a Quad
LP, because a Quad 8-track cartridge was never released. This super
audio CD has 5.1 sound, which also makes your subwoofer of your
home theatre system work. Excellent! And so are the liner notes by Tony
Clayden, which give evidence of profound research on Ray and his
career. Don’t complain about missing liner notes from the original album
releases, because there weren’t any. The price is moderate. The disc
can be played on all conventional CD players, and also features the
stereo versions of both albums in fine quality. I hope the sales will be
strong enough to encourage Vocalion to release more of Ray’s
Quadraphonic albums, such as “The Happy Sound” and “TV Themes”.
Write to them! Their home page is http://www.duttonvocalion.co.uk/
New: Christmas greetings from Ray during a
programme for the US Army Reserve
December 26, 2016:
Some people were lucky and
received a copy of the 180 gram
white vinyl Lp of WE WISH YOU A
MERRY CHRISTMAS in time for
Christmas 2016. Its release was
scheduled for 2015, but postponed a
couple of times. Interestingly, it is not
listed on the website of Friday Music
any longer, which could mean that all
copies of this limited edition have
already been sold. Anyway, here are
scans of the Lp, its gatefold cover
and the pictures.
ARCHIVED NEWS 2016
’S WONDERFUL! The Ray Conniff Page
