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.
It Had To Be You
Ray Conniff Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I wandered around and finally found the somebody who
Could make me be true, could make me feel blue,
And even be glad just to be sad thinkin' of you.
Some others I've seen might never be mean
Might never be cross or try to be boss,
But they wouldn't do.
With all your faults, I love you still,
It had to be you, wonderful you,
It had to be you.
It had to be you, it had to be you.
I wandered around and finally found somebody who
Could make me be true, could make me be blue,
And even be glad just to be sad thinkin' of you.
Some others I've seen might never be mean
Might never be cross or try to be boss,
But they wouldn't do.
For nobody else gave me a thrill.
With all your faults, I love you still.
It had to be you, wonderful you
It had to be you.
The lyrics of the song "It Had To Be You" by Ray Conniff & His Orchestra revolve around finding true love. The singer admits to wandering around aimlessly until they find someone who makes them feel blue and yet still manages to make them happy just by thinking of them. Despite the faults and imperfections of this person, the singer loves them and believes that it had to be them, and no one else.
The lyrics suggest that sometimes when we find someone who we truly love, we overlook their flaws and faults. The singer admits that there may be other people who are nicer or easier to be around, but there is no one who can replace this person's ability to fill the singer's heart with love and contentment. The words also suggest that true love doesn't always make us happy; sometimes, it makes us blue or even sad, but that doesn't diminish the value of that love.
Overall, "It Had To Be You" is a song about the journey of finding true love and how, despite the challenges and imperfections, it's a love that cannot be replaced by anyone else.
Line by Line Meaning
It had to be you, it had to be you.
Out of everyone in the world, it had to be you who I fell in love with. You were the only one who could capture my heart.
I wandered around and finally found the somebody who
After searching and searching, I finally found the person that I had been looking for. I was lost until I found you.
Could make me be true, could make me feel blue,
You are the only one who can bring out the best in me and make me feel true to myself. Even if you make me sad, I would rather feel that way than not have you at all.
And even be glad just to be sad thinkin' of you.
I am so in love with you that even when I am sad and missing you, the thought of you still brings me joy. I would rather be sad with you on my mind than happy without you.
Some others I've seen might never be mean
I have seen other people who were never cruel or unkind, but they still couldn't compare to you.
Might never be cross or try to be boss,
They might never get angry or try to control me, but they still wouldn't be the one for me.
But they wouldn't do.
No one else could ever take your place in my heart and in my life. They just wouldn't do.
For nobody else gave me a thrill.
Out of everyone I have ever known, you are the only one who truly excites me and makes me feel alive. You give me a thrill like no one else can.
With all your faults, I love you still,
Even though you have flaws and imperfections, I love you more every day. I accept you for who you are, faults and all.
It had to be you, wonderful you,
You are the one who makes my heart skip a beat and my life feel complete. It had to be you, wonderful you.
It had to be you.
No one else could ever take your place in my heart. It had to be you.
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Isham Jones, Gus Kahn
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Stan Marshall
This was the song and arrangement (Conniff) I heard when this LP was released (I was 12 yrs old) It changed my musical taste from Elvis Presley to orchestral popular stuff. It still sounds alive and fresh as it did in 1958. Long lost now I had every LP Conniff made and yet this LP remained in the top 2 or 3. The piano backing and trumpet solo add much to the counterpoint - Conniff was a great arranger.
alejandro gonzalez
Una de las primeras melodias de Ray Conniff que conocimos en Mexico en los 60's. De ahi pa'l real fue una de las orquestas gringas mas populares, probablemente hasta los 80's.
Jasminesp926
Eu amo as músicas do Ray Conniff
O Brasil ama Ray Conniff.
Roberto Dallossi
Jasminesp926 Eu amo desde criancinha, he, he! Cresci ouvindo Conniff (e outros grandes) por conta do meu pai. Quando o velho estava em casa, era (boa) música o dia inteiro.
Nelson Roberto
Sim este disco foi o segundo editado por aquí em Brasil, e logo se tornou um grande sucesso como permanece até hoje pelos apreciadores deste magnifico Ray Conniff.
Roberto Dallossi
Esta talvez seja a mais espetacular gravação de "It Had To Be You". Sensacional!
Jose Salame
This melody takes me back to my days as a college sudent in Minneapolis in the early sixties. Ray Conniff's arrangements were out of this world. Cheers from Guayaquil, Ecuador, South America.
nikiichan
This is wonderful!!!! thanks for uploading all this music~
CarlDuke
Ray Conniff was brilliant. What an ear!!
Conceição David
Saudades dos bailes maravilhosos da década de 60!