(Easy Listening, Swing, Big Band, Vocal Jazz) Ray Conniff - Коллекция (22 диска) 1960-1997, lossless

With 'S Continental, Ray Conniff returned to a familiar title (evoking his first three hit albums with their "'S" names) and a familiar approach. Once again the songs were secular standards, in this case many with a European origin (though "The Continental," of course, came from the continent of Hollywood), and the voices were back to "da-das" and "doot-doots." The result was another Top Ten hit and a lengthy stay in the charts, but Conniff's return to the form of his first albums accurately suggested that he was repeating himself, and this album marked the end of his most popular period.

Memories Are Made of This was one of Ray Conniff's most commercially successful albums -- and also one of his most distinctive. The songs are a typical assortment of hits from the previous decade, but Conniff remakes them in surprising and creative ways. The album is strictly instrumental in its approach, with Conniff's chorus confined to the wordless vocalizing for which it is famous. Subtle Latin beats and playful arrangements transform "Tammy" and "Three Coins in the Fountain" into minor masterpieces; the listener may recognize the melodies, but Conniff's interpretations are refreshingly new. The repertoire smartly ties together traditional and teen pop to create a broadly appealing program of songs ranging from "Love Me Tender" and "Love Letters in the Sand" to pop oldies like "No Other Love." Memories Are Made of This is simultaneously an infectiously fun album and an impressive display of inspired arrangements.

Ray Conniff was only a step or two above Lawrence Welk, where edginess is concerned, on the easy listening scale, and it is true that his albums could often have a sort of bland, soulless quality in their weakest moments. Nevertheless, there is something undeniably lovely about the orchestral and vocal arrangements on many of his albums, and that is never more so the case than on We Wish You a Merry Christmas. Even if you ignore the album's holiday aim, it is possibly Conniff's single finest recorded moment, with an incomparably strong choral vocal performance from his Singers. You cannot really segregate the music from its purpose, however, and to do so would be to gloss over the album's single greatest attribute: its timeless, sparkling mood. It remains as fresh, in its way, 30 years later as it was on the day that it was recorded. Moreover, it can rightly be called a Christmas classic. While most of Conniff's music has drastically dated, some of it quaintly and some of it rather embarrassingly, few albums have come along in the subsequent years that have better captured the sort of sprightly holiday joie de vivre present on the album, nor its wonderfully exuberant, almost guileless charm. There is a nostalgic cast to the music, even if you aren't exactly certain what you are being nostalgic about. It instantly invokes the kind of old-time Christmases that existed in the pre-urban sprawl past (sleigh rides, ice skating on rural rivers, carolers moving from house to house), even if you never actually experienced them yourself and even if they no longer exist in quite that same way anymore, or were rosy fictions in the first place aside from on tree ornaments and in Andy Williams television specials. On strictly musical terms, the backing is mostly unobtrusive, a pleasant but rather conventional orchestral backdrop. Still, the music is delicately played and always pretty. That prettiness is simply overshadowed by wonderful arrangements, particularly the vocal arrangements. In addition to a wonderful take on "Ring Christmas Bells" and one of the few recorded "Twelve Days of Christmas" that doesn't ultimately grow irksome, Conniff spliced together four expert medleys for the album. But the superior singing is what makes the album so special. The Singers effortlessly pull off intricate rounds ("Ring Christmas Bells") and glorious harmonies throughout that seem tailor made for tunes such as "The Little Drummer Boy" and "O Holy Night." In places, they even almost manage to swing along with the orchestra. Hip or not, though (and it is not far often than it is), We Wish You a Merry Christmas is a gorgeous little gift package ringing with the season's jubilant spirit.

With liner notes in the form of a fake market research memo by Ray Conniff on the subject of "why my albums are so popular with all record buying age groups," The Happy Beat proceeds to offer something for everyone, from show tunes to pop standards to rock & roll. The rock aspect is a little muffled since "Blueberry Hill," although associated with Fats Domino, is actually an old chestnut, and the Chordettes' 1961 hit "Never on Sunday" is a classically "pop" soundtrack song. But The Happy Beat is a typical snapshot of rush hour at the Conniff crosswalk, where all styles and nationalities of music merge into one glad, thoroughly assimilated crowd. It might be hard to imagine how such diverse fare as "Volare," "Yellow Rose" (aka "Yellow Rose of Texas"), and Johnny Ray's "Cry" could be blended to such a creamy consistency, but Conniff's distinct sound could accommodate practically anything.

On Friendly Persuasion, Ray Conniff, with the help of his orchestra and chorus, interprets a variety of songs with brassy arrangements that at times include trombone solos played by Conniff himself. Conniff experimented with new stereo setups on this album, and they are briefly addressed in his sleeve notes. The chorus is wielded exclusively as an instrument on this outing -- there are none of the Mitch Miller-style singalongs heard on many of Conniff's other albums. The title track and "April Love" are associated with Pat Boone, but from there the repertoire moves in unusual directions, from "High Noon" to the Original Dixieland Jazz Band's "Tiger Rag." Despite his undeserved reputation as a purveyor of Muzak, Ray Conniff's LPs covered a lot of ground and were not all aimed at the same market. Friendly Persuasion is for fans of orchestral pop and wide stereo recordings, and for those who prefer the trademark wordless vocals with which Conniff is identified.

An aggressively "happy" album by Ray Conniff and his singers, Happiness Is combines exuberant singalongs, wordless vocals, and instrumentals in a grab-bag album that covers many -- if not most -- of Conniff's bases. A couple of mellow moments don't detract from the overarching sunniness of the album, which lapses into delicious self-parody with "Popsy" and the hilarious title track (co-written by former teen idol Paul Evans). "The Sheik of Araby" is whistled to a shuffling soft-shoe rhythm, and the joyous ba-ba's totally eclipse the inherent loneliness of "Blue Moon." Happiness Is is a fun and very funny album that once again shows Conniff's self-effacing sense of humor.

Ray Conniff's World of Hits is a budget-priced, 12-track collection that contains a nice selection of Ray Conniff's hits, including "The Shadow of Your Smile," "Danke Schoen," "Hello, Dolly!," "Moscow Nights," "Greenfields" and "Moon River." It's not essential or definitive, but it's a good sampler for casual fans.

This is My Song & Other Great Hits is a good but unexceptional collection that combines some of Ray Conniff's biggest hits with his versions of '60s pop hits. It doesn't offer a good overview of his hits or his career, but there are nice versions of "Mame," "Sunrise, Sunset," "Cabaret," "Strangers in the Night," "What Now My Love," "Winchester Cathedral," "Georgy Girl," "Born Free" and the title track.

Ray Conniff's first LP of 1968, It Must Be Him, was a fairly typical collection of easy listening interpretations of pop hits from 1965-1967 that had been fairly easy to listen to in their original recordings. In a sleeve note, Conniff praised "the harmonic structures, melodic lines, and rhythmic backgrounds" of contemporary pop that were bringing about "the most radical and exciting change I have witnessed in the entire 25 years I have been associated with the recording industry," and in his arrangements he retained much of the flavor of the hit versions, to the point of using a studio band that featured electric guitars. But that didn't mean he was covering the Rolling Stones, by any means. Rather, he took advantage of a softening in pop after the British Invasion that allowed new middle-of-the-road performers like Engelbert Humperdinck ("Release Me") and Vikki Carr ("It Must Be Him") to emerge. His version of the 5th Dimension's "Up, Up and Away" sounded a lot like the original, if only because his perky singers took the same approach as the popular vocal group. His singers were sometimes asked to tackle unlikely lyrics, particularly the bitter, obsessed "It Must Be Him," which was given an oddly androgynous tone when what were clearly male singers joined in with the females on the chorus, an effect repeated in "Don't Sleep in the Subway." But Conniff's fans didn't mind. His albums were intended for an older audience that occasionally heard a song they liked on AM radio, even if they were put off by the long hair of some of the performers. For them, albums like It Must Be Him were useful hits collections, and this one was useful enough to earn a gold record award.

Ray Conniff rushed out his second album of 1968, completing the third and last recording session for it on Monday, April 8, and issuing the completed LP before the end of the month, if reference sources are to be believed. It's not clear what the rush was for, except that the arranger/conductor was on a hot streak, with It Must Be Him, issued in January, on its way to gold-record status. Like that album, this one was credited to Conniff and the Singers, a mixed vocal chorus that rendered song lyrics in a relentlessly perky style. The selections were all covers of pop hits from 1964-1968, among them the maudlin title track, which hit number one for Bobby Goldsboro the week Conniff recorded it. The chorus' upbeat style wasn't really appropriate to the song, and it was also at odds with the sentiments of "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," "Theme From 'Valley of the Dolls'," and particularly "Sounds of Silence," songs containing reflective and sometimes bitter reflections in keeping with the turbulent times of the '60s. That didn't matter to Conniff, of course; he simply borrowed identifiable musical elements from the original recordings (the harpsichord on "Love Is Blue," the twangy electric guitar on "Sounds of Silence") to remind listeners of what they'd heard on the radio, and directed the chorus to sing the lyrics as if they were on a Mitch Miller session, no matter what the words might portend. Fans of the original songs may have found the results disconcerting on occasion, but Conniff was aiming at a less-discerning audience that could have hummed along when hearing the songs on the radio without paying close attention to the words. And he hit the bull's-eye once again; Honey went on to earn him another gold-record certification.

A good matchup of two similar and consecutive LP releases is offered on this discount-priced two-fer. It Must Be Him and Honey were Ray Conniff's first two albums of 1968, and they were among his more successful, each enjoying a long chart run and earning gold record certification. Conniff had updated his arranging style by this point, adapting himself to the rock revolution by bringing in electric guitars and beefing up the sound of the rhythm section, but he hadn't changed his basic approach. All 22 tracks here are his versions of songs that were in the pop charts between 1964 and 1968, originally recorded by the likes of British Invasion acts like the Beatles and Herman's Hermits as well as a slew of middle-of-the-road pop singers. Some of the songs, notably "Yesterday," "Sounds of Silence," and "Goin' Out of My Head," as well as the trio of songs written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and the two written by Jimmy Webb, have gone on to become standards. Others are more of their time, though they may spark a smile of recognition among '60s nostalgia fans. Conniff's arrangements shadow those of the original recordings, while his singers render the lyrics in a consistently pleasant, superficial style, even when they are negotiating the disquieting sentiments of "Sounds of Silence," for example. The indiscriminate use of male voices on lyrics written from a female point of view sometimes lends an unintended subtext of sexual ambiguity ("It must be him!," sing the boys and girls with apparently equal ardor) -- that is, if you want to hear it that way. Maybe the best way to appreciate this long-outdated style of music is with a sense of humor.

This Collectables reissue combines two similar Ray Conniff dates originally released on Columbia: 1968's Turn Around Look at Me and I Love How You Love Me, released the following year. There is nothing special here -- simply bland easy listening versions of "This Guy's in Love With You," "Mrs. Robinson," "Wichita Lineman," "Hey Jude," and "Moon River." Recommended only to serious Ray Conniff collectors.

This two-fer from Collectables features a pair of out-of-print Ray Conniff LPs: Jean and Bridge Over Troubled Water. Originally issued in 1969 and 1970, respectively, each of the 22 tracks has a continuity dominated by easy listening (or elevator music) versions of popular songs from the '60s. Highlights include "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In," "I'll Never Fall in Love Again," "Leaving on a Jet Plane," "Honey Come Back," and "Everybody's Talkin'." This is an enjoyable reissue from the massive Ray Conniff catalog on Columbia Records, but most listeners would be better-served with one of the many compilations in print.

One of Conniff's best live tour albums!
This album was recorded in 1969 at the Sahara Tahoe hotel in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. It was released when Conniff was at the peak of his popularity and is probably the best selling of his live tour albums.
The repertoire varies from Conniff's old instrumental hits such as Smoke Gets In Your Eyes and On The Street Where You Live to contemporary songs of that period including Love Me Tonight, Honey, and Mrs. Robinson, performed by the Conniff Singers.
Unfortunately, the CD reissue does not include the original credits and liner notes. The listener may not be aware of some of the big name musicians Conniff had in his orchestra, such as Johnny Guarnieri on piano (from Artie Shaw/Benny Goodman bands), Panama Francis on drums (Cab Calloway), Skeets Herfurt on clarinet (Dorsey Brothers Orchestra), and Johnny Best on trumpet (Glenn Miller Orchestra). Conniff himself was an arranger and trombonist for Bunny Berigan, Bob Crosby, and Artie Shaw among others.
Conniff was never afraid to share the limelight with the musicians and singers. Several solos are performed on this set but perhaps the best is when Ray gathers the above mentioned musicians to perform authentic Dixieland favorites: Muskrat Ramble and South Rampart Street Parade.
The CD packaging is missing most of the photos from the original Lp set. However, it does include a well written article by Ray's daughter Tamara which discusses Ray's entire career from first learning how to play the trombone through the present day.