What would Christmas be like without Ray Conniff And The Ray Conniff Singers?  Can you even have Christmas without Ray Conniff And The Ray Conniff Singers ?  The answer to the first question is “bleak”.  The answer to the second question is an emphatic “NO!”

Ray Conniff, his Orchestra and The Ray Conniff Singers released 4 Christmas albums from 1959 to 1999.  I am not familiar with the last one, ‘S Christmas from 1999.  Discogs.com has a copy of it and it has a note describing that 11 of the songs were recorded in Los Angeles in 1999 and are re-recorded versions of songs from earlier in his career.  It was released in Brazil.  (I’ll need to investigate that further).  I’d rather have an old album during the artist’s best years than something they recorded later in life and are re-recordings of earlier hits.  I like the original artists performing the original songs.

Ray Conniff’s Christmas Album : Here We Come A-Caroling is the third Christmas album The Singers recorded, originally released in 1965.

Ray Conniff was born in Massachusetts in 1916.  After serving in World War II, he played in Artie Shaw’s big band.  In 1954, Mitch Miller, who had just become the head of Columbia Records, hired Ray to be the house arranger for Columbia.  At the time, Columbia Records was a very big label and had some of the best singers under contract.  Ray Conniff worked with all of them; Rosemary Clooney, Johnny Mathis, Johnny Ray and Marty Robbins, amongst others.

Ray Conniff formed The Ray Conniff Singers in 1959 and right away produced top selling albums.  In many ways, The Ray Conniff Singers helped define the 60’s and 70’s.  They released albums that covered the popular Rock hits of the day and made them pleasant to listen to for the older generation.  Throughout their career, Ray Conniff And The Singers released over 90 albums.

The Ray Conniff Singers’ Christmas albums sold especially well and this release from 1965 was the last one they recorded.  Many other Christmas albums and CDs were released in the 1970’s and on up, but all were repackages of previous Christmas songs.

This reissue comes to us from Columbia Legacy Recordings / Sony Music.  There were originally two different album covers issued.  One is a drawing of a Christmas tree with the words Ray Conniff Here We Come A-Caroling in giant red letters surrounded by a green holly berry border around the complete cover. That cover belongs to the version released on Columbia.

The other cover belongs to the Columbia Limited Edition version and that is the cover that this CD reissue comes with.  (I actually have another copy of this very CD released by Sony Legacy in 1996.  It has a completely different cover unlike either of the original albums.  For all practical purposes, we will focus on this reissue by Columbia because the two CDs are identical except for the covers).

Columbia Legacy used the exact same image for this reissue as was used for the Columbia Limited Edition in 1965.  It features an A frame cabin tucked into the woods while everything is covered in deep snow.  There is a small group of people gathered in front of the cabin, and they appear to be caroling.  Upon closer reading on the back of the original album, the picture was taken at Big Bear Lake, California, sometime in 1964 I presume.  The cover of the CD does have a green festive border around the front which the original album does not have.

Unfortunately, the back of the CD does not resemble the back of the LP in any manner whatsoever.  The original was very plain with simple lettering with the title in big bold letters and a simple numerical track listing.  The back of the CD is similar.  It features Ray Conniff’s name at the top, and below is a short testimonial from Ray’s daughter, Tamara Conniff.  Below is a numerical track listing only, no writer or publishing credits.

The CD cover comes out and opens along a single fold-out.  On the left side is a longer testimonial from Tamara Conniff talking about what Christmas was like growing up in the Conniff household, especially for being the daughter of the man who made so many people’s Christmases brighter.  Opposite to this, on the inside cover, are original album and reissue production notes.  Also included is a list of other Ray Conniff compilation CDs from Columbia.

The back of the cover is similar to the back of the CD.  It has Ray Conniff’s name at the top just as on the back, and below it is a numerical track listing.  But here there are more details.  Included next to the song titles are the time signatures. Below each song title are the original recording dates and mix numbers.  At the bottom of the page are some legal notes on the original recording and the reissue.

The original album had 12 songs, and the CD has the same 12 songs, in the original order.

The CD begins with the title song, Here We Come A-Caroling.  It has a wonderful, verbose, BIG sound.  The Ray Conniff Singers typically contained 12 women and 13 men.  Their harmonies are wonderful.  The Ray Conniff Singers had a unique sound all their own.  I speak of many choral groups on this blog.  The Anita Kerr Singers, Harry Simeone Chorale, Singers Unlimited, etc.  Most have a great sound, but there is nothing that is like The Ray Conniff Singers.

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen is the third song.  It opens with the male part of the chorus, followed by the women.  It is an upbeat, bright rendition of an old Christmas carol that is usually performed in a somber mood.

11 of the 12 songs included are old Christmas carols and hymns.  Only one, The Real Meaning Of Christmas, is not and it is a Ray Conniff original.

Ray Conniff directs the orchestra that plays along with The Singers, but it is The Singers that make the songs.  Away In A Manger is, once again, arranged in an up-tempo, bright style.  Much different than most of the somber, softer arrangements found in other artists’ works.

Joy To The World may not appeal to a lot of people, but I like it.  It is one of the standout songs on here.  It has a grandiose, loud and vibrant interpretation.  It has a rocking, mid-60’s feel to it.  There is not another version of Joy To The World out there that resembles this.  It is the definitive Ray Conniff Singers style.

The pace slows down considerably with Adoramus Te, an unknown carol to most people.  The full voices are here but in a much softer, somber mood accentuated by single bell tolls.  I believe it to be sung in Latin.

The original song on here, The Real Meaning Of Christmas, has a folk driven arrangement accentuated with a flugelhorn and primarily sung by the women.  It speaks of the real meaning of Christmas as the giving of love every day.  Very 1965; peace and love.

One of my favorite Christmas songs, What Child Is This? is presented in a soft somber arrangement that has the women and then the men trading verses.  It is a terrific version of this carol.

It Came Upon The Midnight Clear is arranged in a wonderful waltz tempo.  Once again, the women sing first, then the men, while they sing together on the second half of each verse.  It was the Ray Conniff formula.

I did not talk about every song on here.  This review is already running long, but each song showcases the Ray Conniff Singers sound.  After listening to the whole CD in one sitting, by the end, you have become familiar with the Ray Conniff Singers.

With Christmas albums released in 1959, 1962 and this one from 1965, and all being big sellers, which means they were in a lot of peoples’ homes and played at Christmas yearly, The Ray Conniff Singers came to define many Christmases in the 60’s and the 70’s.  Mine was one of them.  Not a Christmas would go by without hearing The Ray Conniff Singers.

Listeners will be familiar with most of the selections here, except possibly Adoramus Te and the original Christmas song, The Real Meaning Of Christmas.  The arrangements are bright, cheerful and fun.  Most arrangements, if even somber by most other artists, are presented in an upbeat, swinging tempo.

To tell you how much I like Ray Conniff And The Ray Conniff Singers, and how much they define the sounds of Christmas for me, I have 17 of their songs in my Top 500 Classic Christmas Recordings, more than any other artist.

I give this CD :

*****