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, and he worked 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.
Amongst the hit singles he backed with his orchestra (and eventually with a male chorus) were "Yes Tonight Josephine" and "Just Walkin' in the Rain" by Johnnie Ray; "Chances Are" and "It's Not for Me to Say" by Johnny Mathis; "A White Sport Coat" and "The Hanging Tree" by Marty Robbins; "Up Above My Head," a duet by Frankie Laine and Johnnie Ray, and "Pet Me, Poppa" by Rosemary Clooney. He also 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.
In these early years he also produced some similar sounding records for Columbia's Epic label under the name of Jay Raye (which stands for "Joseph Raymond") amongst them a backing album and singles with Somethin' Smith & The Redheads, an American male vocal group.
Because of the success of his backings Mitch Miller allowed him to make his own record, and this became the successful "'S Wonderful", a collection of standards that were recorded with an orchestra and a wordless singing chorus (four men, four women). He released many more albums in the same vein, including "Dance The Bop" (1957), "'S Marvelous" (1957, gold album), "'S Awful Nice" (1958), "Concert in Rhythm" (1958, gold album), "Hollywood in Rhythm" (1958), "Broadway in Rhythm" (1959), and "Concert in Rhythm, Volume II" (1959, gold album).
In 1959 he started the Ray Conniff Singers (12 women and 13 men) and released the album "It's the Talk of the Town. This group of word— not just syllable — singing singers brought him the biggest hit he ever had in his career: "Somewhere My Love" (1966). The title track of the album was written to the music of Lara's Theme from the film Doctor Zhivago (1965), and was a top 10 single in the US. The album also reached the US top 20 and went platinum, and Conniff won a Grammy. The single and album reached high positions in the international charts (a.o. Australia, Germany, Great Britain, Japan) as well. Also extraordinarily successful was the first of four Christmas albums by the Singers, "Christmas with Conniff" (1959). Nearly fifty years after its release, in 2004, Conniff posthumously was awarded with a platinum album/CD.
Musically different highlights in Conniff's career are two albums he produced in cooperation with Billy Butterfield, an old buddy from earlier swing days. "Conniff Meets Butterfield" (1960) featured Butterfield's solo trumpet and a small rhythm group; "Just Kiddin' Around" (after a Conniff original composition from the 1940's), released 1963, featured additional trombone solos by Ray himself. Both albums are pure light jazz and did not feature any vocals.
Later in the 1960's he produced an average of two instrumental and one vocal album a year. Among these are (Original albums only):
* "'s Wonderful" (1956)
* "Dance the Bop!" (1957)
* "'s Marvelous" (1957)
* "'s Awful Nice" (1958)
* "Concert in Rhythm, Vol.1" (1958)
* "Broadway in Rhythm" (1958)
* "Hollywood in Rhythm" (1958)
* "It's The Talk of the Town" (1959)
* "Conniff Meets Butterfield" (1959)
* "Christmas with Conniff" (1959)
* "Concert in Rhythm, Vol.2" (1959)
* "Young at Heart" (1960)
* "Say It with Music (A Touch of Latin)" (1960)
* "Memories Are Made of This" (1960, gold album)
* "Somebody Loves Me" (1961)
* "'S Continental" (1961)
* "So Much in Love" (1962, gold album)
* "Rhapsody in Rhythm" (1962)
* "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" (1962, gold album)
* "The Happy Beat" (1962)
* "You Make Me Feel So Young" (1963)
* "Speak to Me of Love" (1963)
* "Friendly Persuasion" (1964)
* "Invisible Tears" (1964)
* "Love Affair" (1965)
* "Music From 'Mary Poppins', 'The Sound of Music', 'My Fair Lady' & Other Great Movie Themes" (1965)
* "Here We Come A-Caroling" (1965)
* "Happiness Is" (1965)
* "Ray Conniff's World of Hits" (1966)
* "En Español (The Ray Conniff Singers Sing It in Spanish)" (1966)
* "This Is My Song" (1967)
* "Ray Conniff's Hawaiian Album" (1967)
* "It Must Be Him" (1967, gold album)
* "Honey" (1968, gold album)
* "Turn Around Look at Me" (1968)
* "I Love How You Love Me" (1968)
* "Live Europa Tournee 1969/Concert in Stereo" (1969)
* "Jean" (1969)
* "Concert In Stereo: Live At 'The Sahara Tahoe'" (1969)
* "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (1970)
* "We've Only Just Begun" (1970)
* "Love Story" (1970)
* "Great Contemporary Instrumental Hits" (1971)
* "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" (1971)
* "Love Theme from "The Godfather" (1972)
* "Alone Again (Naturally)" (1972)
* "I Can See Clearly Now" (1972)
* "Ray Conniff in Britain" (1973)
* "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" (1973)
* "Harmony" (1973)
* "The Way We Were" (1973)
* "The Happy Sound of Ray Conniff" (1974)
* "Ray Conniff In Moscow" (1974)
* "Laughter in the Rain" (1975)
* "Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" (1975)
* "Love Will Keep Us Together" (1975)
* "I Write the Songs" (1975)
* "Live in Japan" (1975)
* "Send in the Clowns" (1976)
* "Theme from 'SWAT' and Other TV Themes" (1976)
* "After the Lovin'" (1976)
* "Exitos Latinos" (1977)
* "Ray Conniff Plays the Bee Gees and Other Great Hits" (1978)
* "I Will Survive" (1979)
* "The Perfect '10' Classics" (1980)
* "Exclusivamente Latino" (1980)
* "Siempre Latino" (1981)
* "The Nashville Connection" (1982)
* "Musik für Millionen" (partly produced for a German TV show in 1982)
* "Amor Amor" (1982)
* "Fantastico" (1983)
* "Supersonico" (1984)
* "Campeones" (1985)
* "Say You Say Me" (1986)
* "30th Anniversary Edition" (1986)
* "Always in My Heart" (1987)
* "Interpreta 16 Exitos De Manuel Alejandro" (1988)
* "Ray Conniff Plays Broadway" (1990)
* "'S Always Conniff" (1991)
* "Latinisimo" (1993)
* "40th Anniversary" (1995)
* "Live in Rio (aka Mi Historia)" (1997)
* "I Love Movies" (1997)
* "My Way" (1998)
* "'S Country" (1999)
* "'S Christmas" (1999)
* "Do Ray Para O Rei" (2000).
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". 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 his name was just a name fake as then his orchestral sound was so sensational. Nevertheless he sold about 70 million albums world-wide 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.
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. This also features many rare tracks.
Early In The Morning
Ray Conniff Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Then just walk away
We don't have tomorrow
But we had yesterday
(Hey!)
Wasn't it me who said that
Nothing good's gonna last forever?
Let's just be glad for the time together?
It must've been hard to tell me
That you've given all you had to give
I can understand you're feeling that way
Everybody's got their life to live
Well, I can say goodbye in the cold morning light
But I can't watch love die in the warmth of the night
If I've got to be strong
Don't you know I need to have tonight when you're gone?
'Till you go I need to lie here and think about
The last time that you'll touch me in the morning
Then just close the door
Leave me as you found me, empty like before
(Hey!)
Wasn't it yesterday
We used to laugh at the wind behind us?
Didn't we run away and hope
That time wouldn't try to find us (Didn't we run)
Didn't we take each other
To a place where no one's ever been?
Yeah, I really need you near me tonight
'Cause you'll never take me there again
Let me watch you go
With the sun in my eyes
We've seen how love can grow
Now we'll see how it dies
If I've got to be strong
Don't you know I need to have tonight when you're gone?
'Till you go I need to hold you until the time
Your hands reach out and touch me in the morning
(Mornings where blue and gold and we could feel one another living)
Then just walk away
(We walked with a dream to hold and we could take what the world was giving)
We don't have tomorrow,
(There's no tomorrow here, there's only love and the time to chase it)
But we had yesterday
(But yesterday's gone my love, there's only now and it's time to face it)
Touch me in the morning...
In Ray Conniff's song "Touch Me In The Morning," the lyrics speak of a past relationship and the feelings of regret and longing that follow its end. The opening lines describe a moment of intimacy that cannot be sustained, where the two lovers will have to part ways. The singer is resigned to the fact that their time together is over and that they do not have a future together, but they reflect on the memories they have shared. The verses describe a sense of loss and an expression of the need to hold onto the moments that they have experienced together. They lament that what they shared will never be the same, and they recall the naivety they had when they hoped time would not catch up with them.
The chorus reveals the singer's true emotions, showcasing how they struggle to say goodbye in the morning but cannot bear to watch love die in the night. They acknowledge the fact that, if they must let go, they need to have this one last night to remember, to hold and cherish each other until the morning. The final verse describes the end of their time together and the realization that they will never experience those moments again. The past is both beautiful and gone forever, and they must move on with their lives. The song is a poetic portrayal of lost time and lost love.
Line by Line Meaning
Touch me in the morning
I want you to make love to me in the morning
Then just walk away
You don't want to have a relationship with me
We don't have tomorrow,
We don't have a future together
But we had yesterday
We had good times in the past
Wasn't it me who said that
Didn't I say that nothing lasts forever?
Nothing good's gonna last forever?
Things don't stay good forever
And wasn't it me who said
Didn't I suggest we be happy with the time we had?
Let's just be glad for the time together?
Let's appreciate the time we spent together
It must've been hard to tell me
It was probably difficult to tell me
That you've given all you had to give
That you've given everything you can
I can understand you're feeling that way
I can empathize with how you feel
Everybody's got their life to live
Everyone has their own path to follow
Well, I can say goodbye in the cold morning light
I can say goodbye at any time
But I can't watch love die in the warmth of the night
I can't let our love die when we're together
If I've got to be strong
If I have to be tough
Don't you know I need to have tonight when you're gone?
I need to feel close to you even when you're gone
'Till you go I need to lie here and think about
While you're here, I need to lay here and think about
The last time that you'll touch me in the morning
The last time you'll make love to me in the morning
Then just close the door
You can leave after that
Leave me as you found me, empty like before
Leave me feeling as empty as before you came
Wasn't it yesterday
Didn't we used to have good times?
We used to laugh at the wind behind us?
We used to be carefree and happy
Didn't we run away and hope
Didn't we flee and hope
That time wouldn't try to find us (Didn't we run)
That the negative impact of time wouldn't catch up with us
Didn't we take each other
Didn't we love one another
To a place where no one's ever been?
To a land of pure love and happiness
Yeah, I really need you near me tonight
I need you to be close to me tonight
'Cause you'll never take me there again
Because we can never go back to that happy place again
Let me watch you go
Let me see you leave
With the sun in my eyes
As the sun shines in my eyes
We've seen how love can grow
We know how love can develop
Now we'll see how it dies
Now we'll see how love can end
If I've got to be strong
If I have to be tough
Don't you know I need to have tonight when you're gone?
I need to feel close to you even when you're gone
'Till you go I need to hold you until the time
While you're here, I need to hold you until the time
Your hands reach out and touch me in the morning
The way you touch me in the morning
(Mornings where blue and gold and we could feel one another living)
(Mornings where everything feels good)
Then just walk away
Then you can leave
(We walked with a dream to hold and we could take what the world was giving)
(We had big dreams and wanted to conquer the world)
We don't have tomorrow,
We don't have a future together
(There's no tomorrow here, there's only love and the time to chase it)
(We don't need to worry about the future, we just need to focus on love)
But we had yesterday
We had good times in the past
(But yesterday's gone my love, there's only now and it's time to face it)
(But we can't change the past, we just have to face the present)
Touch me in the morning...
Make love to me in the morning
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Michael Masser, Ron Miller
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind