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.
The Twelve Days of Christmas
Ray Conniff Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
My true love sent to me
A partridge in a pear tree
On the second day of Christmas
My true love sent to me
Two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree
On the third day of Christmas
My true love sent to me
Three French hens
Two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree
On the fourth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me
Four calling birds
Three French hens
Two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree
On the fifth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me
Five golden rings
Four calling birds
Three French hens
Two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree
On the sixth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me
Six geese a-laying
Five golden rings
Four calling birds
Three French hens
Two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree
On the seventh day of Christmas
My true love sent to me
Seven swans a-swimming
Six geese a-laying
Five golden rings
Four calling birds
Three French hens
Two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree
On the eighth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me
Eight maids a-milking
Seven swans a-swimming
Six geese a-laying
Five golden rings
Four calling birds
Three French hens
Two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree
On the ninth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me
Nine ladies dancing
Eight maids a-milking
Seven swans a-swimming
Six geese a-laying
Five golden rings
Four calling birds
Three French hens
Two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree
The Twelve Days of Christmas is a traditional Christmas carol that tells the story of gifts given over the twelve days between Christmas and the Epiphany. The song begins with the singer receiving a partridge in a pear tree from their true love on the first day of Christmas, with each subsequent verse adding a new gift and repeating all the previous ones. By the twelfth day, the singer has received a grand total of twelve gifts.
The gifts themselves have religious and historical significance. The partridge in a pear tree represents Jesus Christ, while the two turtle doves are the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. The three French hens represent the Three Wise Men, and the four calling birds are the four Gospels. The five golden rings stand for the first five books of the Old Testament, while the six geese a-laying represent the six days of creation. The seven swans a-swimming are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the eight maids a-milking are the eight Beatitudes. The nine ladies dancing are the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit, and the ten lords a-leaping are the Ten Commandments. Finally, the eleven pipers piping are the eleven faithful Apostles, and the twelve drummers drumming symbolize the core beliefs of the Christian faith.
The Twelve Days of Christmas is one of the most well-known and beloved Christmas carols, but it is also a complex and intricate one. The gift symbolism and repetition make it a challenging song to sing and remember. However, its enduring popularity has led to countless adaptations and covers over the years, making it a perennial favorite of holiday music lovers.
Line by Line Meaning
On the first day of Christmas
The start of a gift-giving ritual
My true love sent to me
The sender is someone who deeply cares for the recipient
A partridge in a pear tree
A thoughtful and somewhat unique gift, symbolizing love and new beginnings
On the second day of Christmas
Continuation of the gift-giving
Two turtle doves
A pair of birds, representing devotion and love
And a partridge in a pear tree
Reinforcement of the previous day's gift, emphasizing the importance of love and renewal
On the third day of Christmas
More gifts to celebrate the Christmas season
Three French hens
Three birds, likely a nod to the Holy Trinity, and representing faith, hope, and love
Two turtle doves
A reminder of the second day's gift and the importance of love
And a partridge in a pear tree
A symbol of new beginnings and a continuation of the first two days' theme
On the fourth day of Christmas
More gifts to express love and joy
Four calling birds
Four songbirds, representing the four gospels of the New Testament
Three French hens
A continuation of the previous day's theme, symbolizing faith, hope, and love
Two turtle doves
A reminder of the importance of love
And a partridge in a pear tree
A fitting conclusion to the first four days, symbolizing love and new beginnings
On the fifth day of Christmas
Halfway through the gift-giving ritual
Five golden rings
Five rings, likely a representation of the first five books of the Old Testament, symbolizing God's love and faithfulness
Four calling birds
A continuation of the idea that the story of Christmas is rooted in the gospel
Three French hens
A symbol of the virtues of faith, hope, and love
Two turtle doves
Reinforcement of the idea that love is at the heart of this Christmas story
And a partridge in a pear tree
An expression of new beginnings and hope
On the sixth day of Christmas
Continuation of the gift-giving
Six geese a-laying
Six geese laying eggs, symbolizing creation and birth
Five golden rings
A continuation of the previous day's theme of God's love and faithfulness
Four calling birds
A nod to the importance of Scripture in the Christmas story
Three French hens
A reiteration of faith, hope, and love as central to the holiday season
Two turtle doves
An affirmation of love as the ultimate gift
And a partridge in a pear tree
A continuation of the theme of new beginnings and hope
On the seventh day of Christmas
Another day of gift-giving
Seven swans a-swimming
Seven majestic birds, symbolizing grace and purity
Six geese a-laying
A continuation of the theme of creation and birth
Five golden rings
A reminder of God's faithfulness and love
Four calling birds
A reminder of the importance of Scripture in the Christmas story
Three French hens
A nod to the virtues of faith, hope, and love
Two turtle doves
A reaffirmation of the importance of love
And a partridge in a pear tree
A final reminder of new beginnings and hope
On the eighth day of Christmas
Yet more gifts to celebrate the season
Eight maids a-milking
Eight maids, likely a reference to the Beatitudes, which outline virtues that are central to the Christian faith
Seven swans a-swimming
A continuation of the theme of grace and purity
Six geese a-laying
A symbol of the new life that is born at Christmas
Five golden rings
A reminder of God's love and faithfulness
Four calling birds
A reminder of the gospel and the role it plays in the Christmas story
Three French hens
A symbol of faith, hope, and love
Two turtle doves
A reminder of the importance of love in our lives
And a partridge in a pear tree
A final touch of hope and new beginnings
On the ninth day of Christmas
The gift-giving continues
Nine ladies dancing
Nine women dancing, symbolizing joy and celebration
Eight maids a-milking
A continuation of the previous day's theme of virtues central to the Christian faith
Seven swans a-swimming
A reiteration of the theme of grace and purity
Six geese a-laying
A symbol of new life and creation
Five golden rings
A reminder of God's love and faithfulness
Four calling birds
A reminder of the importance of the gospel in the Christmas story
Three French hens
A symbol of faith, hope, and love
Two turtle doves
A reminder of the importance of love in our lives
And a partridge in a pear tree
A final touch of hope and new beginnings
Lyrics © MUSIC SALES CORPORATION
Written by: Traditional
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@patrickstocks3576
Merry Christmas 🎄
@pbscraze
Ray Conniff’s version will ALWAYS be simply the best
@user-sz3ix3gf8x
Yes and btw we're in the 12 days of Christmas 😃
@marlondavidmaduro2332
Masterpiece song, glorious voices and impecable orchestra
@francisnguyen6349
The 12 Days of Christmas 🎄 are outstanding Holidays songs 🎵.
@Glen-ft8ch
Gig Harbor WA is for me !!!
@jdrs4214
This song is never going to be defeated by any other versions, past and future. This one is just simply the Best!!!!
@jmhufana6843
No one can touch this version..
@Glen-ft8ch
Gig Harbor WA is for me. Patterson will pay !!!
@Glen-ft8ch
Gig Harbor WA is for me Coco !!!