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.
Sounds Of Silence
Ray Conniff Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I've come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.
In restless dreams I walked alone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp,
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence.
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dare
Disturb the sound of silence.
"Fools" said I, "You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach you."
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
And echoed
In the wells of silence
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made.
And the sign flashed out its warning,
In the words that it was forming.
And the sign said, "The words of the prophets
Are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls."
And whisper'd in the sounds of silence.
The song "Sounds of Silence" by Ray Conniff, can be considered a metaphor for the struggle of humanity against social conformity and the loss of communication between individuals. The lyrics are a reflection of a person’s isolation in a world full of people, where their deepest thoughts can only be found in the “sound of silence.” The singer addresses the darkness, as an old friend to whom they have returned, to recount the realization that came to them in the night. This realization is the vision that crept softly into their brain, leaving a seed within, that still remains within the sound of silence.
The lyrics go on to describe the singer’s journey through a cold, damp, and lonely place where they witness thousands of people talking without speaking, hearing without listening, and writing songs that voices never share. They address these people, who have allowed silence, like a cancer, to grow in their hearts and minds through their conformity and unwillingness to engage in meaningful communication. The singer, hoping to teach them through their own struggles, reaches out to them with their words, but their words fall like silent raindrops, echoed only in the wells of silence.
Finally, the song concludes with an image of people turning to worship the neon god they have created, while a sign flashes a warning that the words of the prophets are written on the walls of the subway stations and tenement halls. The message hidden in these words suggests that genuine communication is difficult to find in the world, but it is what can ultimately lead to a richer life.
Line by Line Meaning
Hello darkness, my old friend,
Addressing the state of being alone, and the familiarity of such, as an extension of one's self.
I've come to talk with you again,
Seeking internal dialogue as a means of discovering meaning and purpose.
Because a vision softly creeping,
An unexpected idea or concept that enters the mind without conscious intent.
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
The notion that the mind may conceive of solutions to problems while one is disengaged from conscious thought.
And the vision that was planted in my brain
The process by which ideas take root in the mind, often via unconscious processes.
Still remains
Ideas and concepts are persistent, and may linger or evolve even after the initial conception.
Within the sound of silence.
The potential for insight and inspiration within the absence of external interference or distraction.
In restless dreams I walked alone
A continuation of the theme of isolation, this time in a dream state.
Narrow streets of cobblestone,
A metaphor for the challenging and uncertain roads of life and thought.
'Neath the halo of a street lamp,
The appearance of a guiding light - perhaps a clue or solution - in the midst of uncertainty.
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
The sense of feeling exposed or vulnerable in the face of uncertainty.
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
A sudden and potentially distracting intrusion into the contemplative state of mind.
That split the night
The idea that distractions can be jarring enough to disrupt focus and thought.
And touched the sound of silence.
Even when one is focused, distractions can make it difficult to maintain a contemplative state of mind.
And in the naked light I saw
The idea that exposure of one's thoughts and ideas to others can be difficult, but sometimes necessary.
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
The magnitude of the challenges in seeking to express and share ideas with a broad audience.
People talking without speaking,
The limitations of language in capturing the depth and complexity of inner experience.
People hearing without listening,
The disconnect between cognitive and emotional engagement in communication.
People writing songs that voices never share
The disappointment and frustration that can arise when one's ideas remain unexpressed and unheard.
And no one dare
The fear that inhibits many from sharing their thoughts and ideas with others.
Disturb the sound of silence.
The fear of being rejected or dismissed by others, and the resulting reluctance to share one's thoughts and ideas.
"Fools" said I, "You do not know
The frustration that arises when one feels that others do not appreciate the importance of inner experience and contemplation.
Silence like a cancer grows.
The sense that lack of communication and connection can have a destructive effect on individuals and society at large.
Hear my words that I might teach you,
The desire to share insight and perspective with those who may lack it.
Take my arms that I might reach you."
The potentially daunting process of trying to connect with other people, particularly when thoughts and ideas are so personal.
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
The sense that ideas and insights, no matter how important or meaningful, can fail to resonate with others.
And echoed
The sense that one's voice, while potentially powerful, can also seem small and insignificant in the context of a larger conversation.
In the wells of silence
The idea that silence can be a source of reflection and contemplation, particularly when one's voice remains unheard.
And the people bowed and prayed
The sense that, particularly in difficult and uncertain times, people turn to prayer or other forms of introspection as a means of finding answers or solace.
To the neon god they made.
The idea that people may turn to symbols or other external sources of guidance and inspiration when their own attempts at communication and reflection fail.
And the sign flashed out its warning,
The sense that external symbols and sources of guidance can sometimes function as a sort of warning, directing people toward or away from certain ideas or behaviors.
In the words that it was forming.
The idea that symbols and signs can convey powerful messages, sometimes more effectively than words or other forms of communication.
And the sign said, "The words of the prophets
The notion that symbols and signs can be seen as prophetic, offering guidance or warning in uncertain times.
Are written on the subway walls
The idea that signs and symbols can be found in unexpected places, and can offer a deeper meaning or insight than might be initially apparent.
And tenement halls."
The idea that profound insights can be found everywhere, regardless of one's environment or circumstances.
And whisper'd in the sounds of silence.
The potential for insight and wisdom to emerge from silence, meditation, or reflective introspection.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Paul Simon
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind