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Liner Notes

Orchestra with wordless vocals

We once again pull out the most popular orchestra leader in my dad’s collection. This is a follow-up album to a popular record my dad does not have. Both titles reference the Ira and George Gershwin tune S’Wonderful from the 1927 Broadway musical Funny Face.

Of course Conniff arranged all of these standards by using a chorus singing tones and not lyrics, which created his own recognizable style.

So, get ready to hear another in the great line of Space-Age composers performing music you heard on stage and screen in Volume 213: Ray’s Marvelous.

Video Intro

Listen here or on my PodBean Podcast Episode page:

You can check out the video version here or on YouTube:

Credits and Copyrights:

Ray Conniff And His Orchestra – ‘S Marvelous
Label: Columbia – CL 1074
Format: Vinyl, LP, Repress, Mono
Released: 1958
Genre: Jazz, Pop
Style: Easy Listening, Space-Age

We’ll hear 6 of the 12 songs on this record.

The Way You Look Tonight
Written-By – Dorothy Fields and Jerome Kern

They Can’t Take That Away From Me
Written-By – The writing team of Ira and George Gershwin

I’ve Told Ev’ry Little Star
Written-By – the writing team of Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern

You Do Something To Me
Written-By – Cole Porter

Where Or When
Written-By – The writing team of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart

As Time Goes By
Written-By – Herman Hupfeld

I do not own the rights to this music. ASCAP, BMI licenses provided by third-party platforms for music that is not under Public Domain.

#rayconniff #easylistening #vinylcollecting #oldvinyl

Here is the Episode Script!

Thanks sweetie and thank YOU for tuning into episode 213 of Spinning My Dad’s Vinyl.

We once again pull out the most popular orchestra leader in my dad’s collection. This is a follow-up album to a popular record my dad does not have. Both titles reference the Ira and George Gershwin tune S’Wonderful from the 1927 Broadway musical Funny Face.

Of course Conniff arranged all of these standards by using a chorus singing tones and not lyrics, which created his own recognizable style.

So, get ready to hear another in the great line of Space-Age composers performing music you heard on stage and screen in Volume 213: Ray’s Marvelous.

[Music: They Can’t Take That Away From Me]

Ray Conniff and his orchestra with They Can’t Take That Away From Me from the 1937 film Shall We Dance
Written-By – The writing team of brothers Ira and George Gershwin

The reason for my reference to space-age?

Space-age pop or bachelor pad music is a subgenre of easy listening or lounge music associated with American and Mexican composers. This was music written during the space age of the late 1950s and early 1960s. I’ve mentioned this type of music before.

Ok…Why this record for this episode?

While I certainly knew who Ray Conniff was from the first radio station I ever worked at, I didn’t realize how popular he would still be all these years later. The YouTube video from the first time I featured his music has more than eleven thousand views.

This is the sixth episode we have featured him in and we still have two records remaining.

He was popular with my dad too.

I’ve come to appreciate his treatment of some great standards.

Like this next one.

[Music: The Way You Look Tonight]

The Way You Look Tonight,
a song from the 1936 film Swing Time that was performed by Fred Astaire
Written-By – Dorothy Fields and Jerome Kern

Now let me tell you about my dad’s vinyl I am spinning for this episode.

Ray Conniff And His Orchestra – ‘S Marvelous
Label: Columbia – CL 1074
Format: Vinyl, LP, Repress, Mono
Released: 1958
Genre: Jazz, Pop
Style: Easy Listening, Space-Age

We’ll hear 6 of the 12 songs on this record.

The liner notes are long and extensive so I am only going to read the first paragraph because the rest of them have to do with Ray’s biography and each of the tunes that was chosen for this record.

‘S Conniff too, with a companion volume, although in no sense a sequel, to his best-selling S’Wonderful! This time the music is slightly moodier, the arrangements a little more subtle, but there is still the same irresistible beat, the same imaginative use of wordless voices to add new sounds to the orchestra. Anyone who has danced to the earlier volume, or listened to some of the Ray Conniff backgrounds on any one of a dozen hit records, will have some idea of what is in store, but with or without that prior knowledge, everyone is in for a treat.

Let’s see what prices this record is being sold at on discogs dot com.

$5.99 High
$1.03 Low

$2.89 Average
$1.50 Median

Last sold on May 22, 2024 for $4.95

My dad’s record is in pretty good condition. Not even much crackle or hiss at the needle drop of each side.

The surface itself is in pretty good shape too. Although you can see those markings that make it look like my dad used this album on the automatic spindle I’ve talked about in previous episodes.

The cover is in good condition as well, although his Posted stamp, check mark and ever-present address labels are on the front and back cover.

Yes, I said labels. There’s a newer one on top of a much older one, but I’m pretty sure they both belong to the same address.

So I’ll value my dad’s vinyl at two dollars.

Next up is one of the only songs from the album I was unfamiliar with.

[Music: I’ve Told Ev’ry Little Star]

I’ve Told Ev’ry Little Star introduced in the 1932 musical Music in the Air.
Written-By – the writing team of Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern.

We’ve already talked in great detail about the life, music and musical style of Ray, so let’s summarize.

Ray Conniff was a famous American orchestra leader, arranger, and trombone player known for creating a unique sound that combined voices and instruments. Born on November 6, 1916, in Attleboro, Massachusetts, Ray grew up in a musical family. His father played the trombone, and his mother was a pianist. After studying music, Ray joined big bands in the 1930s and 1940s, working with famous bandleaders like Artie Shaw. In the 1950s, he became a staff arranger for Columbia Records, where he developed his signature style, blending wordless vocal harmonies with orchestral arrangements.

Ray Conniff’s music became incredibly popular in the 1950s and 1960s, with hits like ‘Somewhere My Love’ and albums like ‘S’ Wonderful!. His smooth, easy-listening sound appealed to audiences worldwide, and his recordings sold millions of copies. Ray also won a Grammy Award and continued to record and perform for decades. He passed away on October 12, 2002, but his music remains a classic example of the easy-listening genre, bringing joy and nostalgia to listeners even today.

Ray Conniff was 85.

Here’s another song I was not familiar with. But it’s by Cole Porter, so you can’t go wrong.

[Music: You Do Something To Me]

You Do Something To Me from the 1929 musical Fifty Million Frenchmen
Written-By – Cole Porter

Time now for this episode’s interesting side note and it has to do with what else is on the back cover.

Recording labels were incessed with talking about quality of recordings, record pressing, and the final record itself. Alway hinting that you should be using a new needle or a specific brand of record player.

Well, of course Columbia had its own playback system, and that’s what they’re selling on this album cover.

Here’s what that portion says.

Listening in depth. a new experience in 360 High Fidelity exclusive with columbia.

From a low priced portable with a lively tone to a superb radio phonograph tape recorder combination which presents sound at its noblest… you get the world’s widest choice of the world’s finest sound in 1958 Columbia phonographs.

Not since America First turned on the world famous 360 has there been an advance in sound reproduction so meaningful to music lovers. The same Laboratories which brought you the original 360 and the LP record are proud to announce D-E-P. Directed Electromotive Power which seals The Sound Chamber for tonal balance throughout the entire listening range. This exclusive feature, a product of Columbia sound laboratory research, makes it possible for you to enjoy listening in depth.

Choose from more than 35 new 1958 Columbia phonographs in a wide price range. Hear D E P, the exciting new principle in sound reproduction. We invite you to inspect these Portables, consoles and combinations at your Columbia phonograph showroom today.

It goes on to list one of their top models and I thought you would like this description.

Model 535 High Fidelity AM FM radio phonograph console.

Push pull, High fidelity, 12 watt amplifier capable of 17 watt Peaks built into a cabinet available in mahogany, blonde mahogany, or walnut with a striking antique white interior. fully automatic with two jeweled Styli. Equipped with Columbia’s D-E-P, a super bass-powered AM/FM tuner with complete broadcast band for high sensitivity am reception and full FM band from 88 to 108 Mega cycles. automatic frequency control for positive, no drift simplified FM tuning. flywheel station selector.

Ahhh…AM radio. Static no matter where or when you’re listening to it.

[Music: Where Or When]

Where Or When from the 1937 musical Babes in Arms.
Written-By – The writing team of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart

Well, I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I enjoyed bringing it to you.

I think I remember this album cover from my growing up days in the house.

Something about the way the first characters in the title of the album are an apostrophe and S to signify the possessive of what comes before, then on to the word marvelous. It’s as if anything can be considered marvelous, or wonderful in the case of the original title to the song.

The letters themselves are in a colorful font. Underneath the title are three men and one woman hugging poles with the name Ray Conniff and his Orchestra on all of them as if they were pencils.

So, there’s something about that cover that rings a bell.

Ain’t THAT ‘s wonderful?

And to finish up the show, one of my all time favorite melodies.

[Music: As Time Goes By]

As Time Goes By
written by Herman Hupfeld in 1931. It became famous when it was featured in the 1942 film Casablanca, performed by Dooley Wilson as Sam.

And there you have selections from the originator of the lyric-less choral vocals.

So thanks for tuning into Volume 213: Ray’s Marvelous

however you did. If you want more information about this SHOW, head over to spinning my dad’s vinyl dot com.

I’ll be back next week with all my skips, scratches, and pops

FOR Volume 214: Badlands

Until then,
Go with the flow my friends.

 

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