#ray conniff

FULL YT PLAYLIST

AWOLNATION f. Midland - A music box on its last leg. It has the overlapping reverb quality AWOLNATION is fond of. Feels more like psychosis and less like grief.

Pet Shop Boys f. Elton John - Sounds exactly like what you'd think a collab between them would sound like. I like the high hat and the rain. I love Elton's voice. I also love that he sings the line "I was cheerful, bright, and gay."

Sarah Vaughn - Very lounge. Sad lounge. Genderflip for the first half. My BFF hates her voice, or rather her vocal arrangements. I don't share her sentiments.

Shirley Bassey - No genderflip. Not lounge. More like mid-seventies movie theme song. Is that a clarinet? Some versions really try to bring Big Band back for a minute. I'm always fascinated watching her sing, her gestures and the way she contorts her mouth...

Neil Diamond - A guitar diddy. His tone along with the cadence is almost matter-of-fact.

Ray Conniff & The Singers - How should I say…? Very "I was popular in the 60s but now it's the 70s" White? I mean that observation-ally, of course.

Andy Williams - A little Spanish guitar... and bongos. It's Andy Williams, so a variation on the very 70s White theme.

Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass - Maybe a little too happy? Jaunty? I think that's a marimba. But if I didn't know the lyrics, I'd say it was par for the Herb Alpert course.

Esther Phillips - That voice! Local bar singer. She put some soul on it. I like the strings. Better bongos, well better percussion all the way around. I can't help but think of her when I listen to early Erykah Badu.

Bobby Darin - They couldn't decide which flavor of lounge they were going for. From piano bar to wannabe bossa nova; they really ran the gamut. It has its merits, but the changes are somewhat distracting.

And then there's…

Nina Simone - She definitely put her stamp on it. Musings on her father's dying, their relationship while he was alive, pity for her mother who mourned him, and honesty with herself (if not with others) while in a child's grief after his passing. Leave it to Nina to inject a bridge that's reminiscent of a funeral dirge. And that slightly giddy piano phrase.