Ray Conniff - Sleigh Ride (1959)

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Ray Conniff - Sleigh Ride (1959)

"Sleigh Ride" is a popular light orchestral piece composed by Leroy Anderson. The composer had the original idea for the piece during a heat wave in July 1946 finished the work in February 1948. It was originally an instrumental piece; the lyrics, about a person who would like to ride in a sleigh on a winter's day with another person, were written by Mitchell Parish in 1950. The orchestral version was first recorded in 1949 by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra. The melody of the main strain of the tune was used (with no credit for Anderson) as the main theme of Victor Young's score for the 1949 western Streets of Laredo; it is notable that Mitchell Parrish worked with Young around this time, having recently written lyrics for Young's version of Hoagy Carmichael's previously instrumental number Stardust. Sleigh Ride was a hit record on RCA Victor Red Seal 49-0515 (45 rpm) / 10-1484 (78 rpm), and has become the equivalent of a signature song for the orchestra. The 45 rpm version was originally issued on red vinyl. The Pops has also recorded the song with John Williams, their conductor from 1979 to 1995, and Keith Lockhart, their current conductor. Over the years, the song has become a Christmas standard.
Leroy Anderson recorded his own version of "Sleigh Ride" in 1950 on Decca 9-16000 (45 rpm) / 16000 (78 rpm). The recording hit the Cashbox magazine best-sellers chart when re-released in 1952.
In 1950 The Andrews Sisters recorded the first vocal version.
Although "Sleigh Ride" is often associated with Christmas, and appears on Christmas compilation albums, the song's lyrics mention no holiday or religion (apart from certain recordings, such as those by the Carpenters, Walter Schumann and Air Supply, that substitute "Christmas party" for "birthday party" in the song's bridge). The song is noted for the sound of the horses' clip-clopping, as well as the sound of the whips used to get the horses moving. Toward the end of the piece, a trumpet makes the sound of the horse whinnying. The Ronettes' version makes use of the clip-clopping as well as the sound of a recorded horse whinnying, heard at the beginning and end of the song.
FROM WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleigh_Ride
Joseph Raymond "Ray" Conniff (November 6, 1916 - October 12, 2002) was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s.
In 1959 he started The Ray Conniff Singers (12 women and 13 men) and released the album It's the Talk of the Town. This group brought him the biggest hit he ever had in his career: Somewhere My Love (1966). The lyrics of the album's title selection were written to the music of "Lara's Theme" from the film Doctor Zhivago, and the result was a top 10 single in the US. The album also reached the US top 20 and went platinum, and Conniff won a Grammy. The single and album also reached high positions in the international charts (a.o. Australia, Germany, Great Britain, Japan). Also successful was the first of four Christmas albums by the Singers, Christmas with Conniff (1959). Nearly 50 years after its release, in 2004, Conniff was posthumously awarded a platinum album/CD. Other well-known releases by the Singers included Ray Conniff's Hawaiian album (1967), featuring the hit song "Pearly Shells;" and Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970), which included Coniff's original composition "Someone," and remakes of such hits as "All I Have to do is Dream," "I'll Never Fall in Love Again," and "Something."
FROM WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Conniff

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