Before his death, my father confided in me his biggest fear was that his music would be forgotten. When he told me this, I was astounded. How could a musician so great remain so humble and unaware of his enduring handprint on modern music? I promised him that I would do my best to keep his musical legacy alive.

My father is one of the few artists to have had a successful musical career that spanned 65 years. He has recorded over 100 albums, which have sold over 70 million units.

I had many talks with him over the years about what kept him so young-hearted, so physically fit. He told me it was because he loved what he did. My father’s fountain of youth was his music.

This package is his life’s work. Many hours went into the selection of these songs. lt was important it be a representation of all the things he was—an arranger, a composer and a trombonist. I also shed many tears while doing this, because I hear him and feel his spirit in each track.

While my dad was known for his big hit arrangements of “‘S Wonderful” and “Somewhere My Love” (for which he won a GRAMMY® Award), he was also an avid composer. I recall many occasions where he would suddenly become inspired at the dinner table, exchange his fork for a pen, and jot down the beginning of a melody on his napkin. Among those gems included here are “Scarlet,” which features him playing a breathtaking trombone solo; “Someone,” a love song written for my mom; and my personal favorite “Theme From An X-Rated Movie.” He also loved to stretch himself and his musical mind—he was especially proud of his classical arrangements, including “Favorite Theme From Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto,” because of their grandeur and intricacy. Care was also taken to feature rarities on this collection—for example, “Midnight Lace - Part I” and “Midnight Lace - Part II” are included. “Part I” was released on the album Happiness Is, while “Part II” was only released as the single B-side*.

In the winter of 1937, determined to find his dream, a 20-year-old Ray Conniff boarded a bus in his hometown, Attleboro, MA, and went to New York City. He had a trombone, a lunch packed by his morn, and $200 in his pocket. Before the year’s end, he’d landed his first name-band gig as a trombonist and arranger for the Bunny Berigan Band. His talent soon became the buzz of the big band circuit, and Bob Crosby hired him away in 1939. My dad was always self-effacing about his trombone playing, which always baffled the players in the band, because his tone and style were so impeccable.

After a year with Crosby’s Bobcats, he joined Artie Shaw in 1940. With the onslaught of World War II, he was drafted and spent two years in the Army working as a trombonist and arranger for the Armed Forces Radio Services in Hollywood. After he was discharged in 1946, Harry James hired him as an arranger.

By the late ’40s, ‘bebop’ jazz taking over the scene, and my dad just didn’t feel that style of music in the same way that he felt swing—tempo and beat were his lifeblood. He thought he’d have no problem finding arranging work again after leaving James, but he didn’t. Unable to pay his mortgage or electricity bill, he started digging ditches to make ends meet, and began thinking of ways to better himself musically. He built a shed in the backyard of his Reseda, California home and taught himself how to conduct with the aid of a book and a mirror. He also started studying the pop music charts—he wanted to understand what made a song a hit. From this research, he came up with his “magic formula” of arranging: always use catchy musical hooks and themes.

He joined Columbia Records as an arranger in 1953** and, armed with his formula, produced a slew of hits for A&R director Mitch Miller including Don Cherry’s ‘Band Of Gold,” Johnnie Ray’s “Just Walking In The Rain” and Johnny Mathis’ “Chances Are.” It was while recording “Band Of Gold” that my dad first stumbled upon using voices as instruments. His first solo album, ‘S Wonderful, used this formula. It spent nine months in the top 20, and to date has sold over 15 million copies.

My dad went on to place more than 52 albums on the album charts, 14 of which charted for more than 100 weeks. Fans embraced him for his arrangements of such songs as “The Way You Look Tonight,” “Memories Are Made Of This” and “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.”

Calling him a perfectionist when it came to his sound is an understatement. He wanted his orchestra and chorus to sound as good live in front of an audience as they did on the recordings. During the 1 96Os, he pioneered concert sound by becoming the first artist to transmit three-channel stereo throughout a concert hall with the aid of an elaborate stereo sound system. Critics hailed it as “the musical event of the ‘60s.”

His work was also readily embraced overseas. In 1974, he became the first pop artist from the West asked to go to Russia to record an album in Moscow.

As the music began to change again in the late 1970s with the onslaught of rock and disco, his music found another audience in Latin America. Fans in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Peru embraced his catchy rhythms and family-man image. He never toured without my mother and I at his side. My father went on to record an album and tour annually in Latin America until his stroke in March 2002. He died on Oct. 12, 2002. He was 85 years old.

The final song in this compilation is my dad singing “My Way” during his 1998 Brazil tour. I was in the audience. The fans sang along, many were moved to tears. He was a force of nature. I was blessed to have had him in my life. We are all blessed to have his music.

 

Tamara Conniff is the music editor for The Hollywood Reporter. She is currently writing a book about her dad.

 

In memoriam: Ray Conniff 10/12/02

 

Notes:

* The take featured on this CD set is different to the one release as the single B-side.

** The correct year was 1955