Turn Around & Look At Me / I Love How You Love Me

by Ray Conniff

Well, these are two SPECTACULAR late 60's Conniff LPs....Ray Conniff was at the TOP of his GAME during the mid 60's to early 70's and these are some of the MOST original arrangements ever done by Ray Conniff.Turn Around was recorded the summer of '68 and I Love How You Love Me was turned out the winter (December) of '68...Can you imagine an artist putting out two LPs of this type of quality in such little time??? Mrs. Robinson, simply rocks.....What a percussion riff Ray establishes throughout the song which carries the singers and the instrumentation..Angel of the Morining is so TENDER, and what about Ray's take on Bacharach's Do You Know The Way To San Jose..?? These arrangements were NOT meant to mimick the originals, they were ORIGINALS as well..Gems also include the Vogues' Turn Around, Look At Me and Frankie Valli's CAN'T TAKE MY EYES OFF YOU....The SOLID, SOLID GEM here has to be Ray's reworking and trombone playing in THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY....Wow! what a collection... Then we move on to I Love How You Love Me....Look, Mary Hopkins' Those Were The Days was meant to be arranged EXACTLY with the PERFECTION that Ray Conniff presents it to us....With those "da...da..dada, da da..." yes!!! Perfect! My Special Angel is SPECIAL, SPECIAL , SPECIAL....Bobby Vinton's gorgeous I LOVE HOW YOU LOVE ME is presented with such grace and tenderness...Love that instrumental arrangement of Johnny Nash's Hold Me Tight....BTW, what happen with that chopped intro...? Collectibles should fix that and re-release this CD with that song fixed.....Go for it...We will buy this CD again if you do that...Make your money twice but fix that damm mistake.... Hey JUDE is lovely with that intoxicating piano riff which Ray re-addresses with his later in life IMAGINE arrangement..Sunny takes on a life of its own with that spectacular instrumental arrangement...BUT THE REAL METAMORPHOUS here is what he does to Paul Simon's Scarborough Fair...Ray Conniff strays so, so, so far from the original and gives us one of the most REFRESHING ARRANGEMENTS that anyone could ever concieve...You should buy this CD just to own this arrangement of Scarborough Fair.......These are just Spectacular late 60's arrangements when Ray Conniff was at the TOP of his CREATIVITY......Vietnam was in full gear, protests in the streets, Rock n Roll 60's style was in our face, and RAY CONNIFF was putting out these so HAPPY and POSITIVE full of LIFE recordings! Kudos and Kudos and more Kudos...

Two more great albums from Ray and his 25 Singers performing Contemporary songs of the day. Although these songs were made famous by other people, Ray makes them his own. The Singers and Orchestra put everything into these songs. Tracks vary from upbeat and rousing such as "Those Were The Days", "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", and "MacArthur Park" to warm and tender on "People", "Moon River", and "I Love How You Love Me". A special treat includes the Orchestra and Chorus on 3 tracks, "Do You Know The Way To San Jose?", "The Good The Bad and The Ugly", and "Sunny".

The only down side is that the intro is missing on "Hold Me Tight" which is a shame as it is on the LP!!

Having said that it is still a much welcomed release on CD. Well done to Collectables again.