#4: Oklahoma! by Ray Conniff Orchestra
City: Hull, PQ
Radio Station: CKCH
Peak Month: July 1959
Peak Position in Hull ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Cashbox Top 100 Best Sellers ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Oklahoma!”
Lyrics: “Oklahoma!”
Joseph Raymond “Ray” Conniff was born in Attleboro, Massachusetts, in 1916, long known as “The Jewelry Capital of the World” for all of its jewelry manufacturers. He studied music arranging from a course book. In 1938, he played trombone on “Livery Stable Blues”/”High Society” with Bunny Berigan And His Orchestra. This was the first of three singles he was in the recording studio with Berigan on in the late ’30s. In 1940, he wrote “Prelude in C Major” for Artie Shaw, and later the “Feather Merchant’s Ball” for Teddy Powell and His Orchestra. Conniff served in the U.S. Army in WWII, and joined the Artie Shaw and His Orchestra. In 1942, he wrote “Just Kiddin’ Around” for Shaw, which became at Top 30 hit. Ray Conniff played trombone on several sides for Art Hodes and His Chicagoans, Jerry Jerome and His Cats And Jammers, Yank Lawson’s Jazzband, Bob Crosby and His Orchestra, and the Cozy Cole Orchestra. He wrote songs for Ray Linn’s Hollywood Swing Stars, Harry Hayes And His Band, Sonny Burke and His Orchestra, and the Billie Rogers Orchestra. He also variously wrote, arranged and played on songs recorded by Harry James and His Orchestra.