1. Ray Conniff wrote a top-10 arrangement for Don Cherry's "Band of Gold" in 1955, a single that sold more than a million copies.
14 Facts About Ray Conniff
1. 2.
Ray Conniff backed up the albums Tony by Tony Bennett, Blue Swing by Eileen Rodgers, Swingin' for Two by Don Cherry, and half the tracks of The Big Beat by Johnnie Ray.
3.
Between 1957 and 1968, Ray Conniff had 28 albums in the American Top 40, the most famous one being Somewhere My Love.
4.
Ray Conniff 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 in 1969.
5.
Ray Conniff played live with his orchestra and eight-person chorus in large football stadiums as well as in Vina del Mar.
6.
The album reached the US top 20 and went platinum, and Ray Conniff won a Grammy.
7.
Musically different highlights in Ray Conniff's career are two albums he produced in cooperation with Billy Butterfield, an old friend from earlier swing days.
8.
Ray Conniff recorded in New York from 1955 to 1961, and mainly in Los Angeles from 1962 through 2000.
9.
In 1979, Ray Conniff was hired to re-arrange and record a new version of "Those Were The Days" and "Remembering You", the opening and closing themes to All in the Family for Carroll O'Connor's new spin-off, Archie Bunker's Place on CBS with a small ensemble, trombone solo, and honky-tonk piano.
10.
Ray Conniff sold about 70 million albums worldwide, and continued recording and performing until his death in 2002.
11.
Ray Conniff died October 12,2002, in Escondido, California after falling and hitting his head on a sink, and is buried in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.
12.
In 2004, a memorial two-CD compilation set, The Essential Ray Conniff, was released, featuring many rare and previously unreleased tracks.
13.
Ray Conniff's music is featured prominently in the movie There's Something About Mary.
14.
Ray Conniff was one of the most successful easy listening artists on the Billboard magazine album chart, placing 30 albums on their Billboard Hot 200 charts to 1973.