Conniff was born November 6, 1916, in Attleboro, Massachusetts, United States,[1] and learned to play the trombone from his father.

[2] After serving in the U.S. Army in World War II (where he worked under Walter Schumann), he joined the Artie Shaw big band and wrote many arrangements for him.

In these early years Conniff produced similar-sounding records for Columbia's Epic label under the name of Jay Raye (which stood for "Joseph Raymond"), among them a backing album and singles with the American male vocal group Somethin' Smith and the Redheads.

He played live with his orchestra and eight-person chorus in large football stadiums as well as in Viña del Mar.

Conniff commented, "One time I was recording an album with Mitch Miller – we had a big band and a small choir.

The lyrics of the album's title track were sung to the music of "Lara's Theme" from the film Doctor Zhivago, and it became a US top 10 single.

Musically different highlights in Conniff's career are two albums he produced in cooperation with Billy Butterfield, an old friend from earlier swing days.

[citation needed] In 1979, Conniff was hired to re-arrange and record a new version of "Those Were The Days" and "Remembering You", the opening and closing themes to All in the Family for Carroll O'Connor's new spin-off, Archie Bunker's Place on CBS with a small ensemble, trombone solo, and honky-tonk piano.

In 2004, a memorial two-CD compilation set, The Essential Ray Conniff, was released, featuring many rare and previously unreleased tracks.

From 1962 through 2001, membership in the Ray Conniff Singers included: Bass and Baritone Soprano Alto Ray Conniff was one of the most successful easy listening artists on the Billboard magazine album chart, placing 30 albums on their Billboard Hot 200 charts to 1973.

Since many radio stations in the US adopt a format change to Christmas music each December, many holiday hits have an annual spike in popularity during the last few weeks of the year and are retired once the season is over.