'S Wonderful!

May 2025 'S Wonderful! studio Ray Conniff 'S Wonderful! (album).jpg 1956 10 8 November 11, 1955 – June 18, 1956 Pop, easy listening 30 21 Columbia Mitch Miller Dance the Bop! 1957 S Wonderful! is a 1956 album by Ray Conniff, his orchestra and (wordless) chorus. It was his first album released under his name. The album was produced completely in mono by Mitch Miller at Columbia Records' 30th Street Studios in New York City. The album became a hit and Conniff recorded three more albums in a similar style. Overview With S' Wonderful, Conniff "combined a chorus of four men and four women with a traditional big band mix of 18 instruments".https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/composer-ray-conniff-dies-73850/ Composer Ray Conniff Dies Billboard October 14, 2002 August 22, 2025 The success of the album's format resulted in Conniff continuing the pattern over a number of subsequent albums (each starting with "'S" in its title), recording them in a similar style. Chart performance The album reached No. 11 on the Billboard Best Selling Pop Albums chart Whitburn Joel Top LPs, 1955–1996 1996 Record Research 35 https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstoplp00whit/page/52/mode/2up 2025-07-10 and No. 12 on the Cash Box pop albums chart, where it remained on the chart for 38 weeks. Hoffmann Frank W. Cash Box Pop Albums Charts, 1955–1974 Scarecrow Press 1988 78 https://archive.org/details/cashboxalbumchar0000hoff/page/78 2025-08-22 Ray Conniff's album entries and chart performance en The title track, a recording of "'S Wonderful", was released as a single and peaked at No. 73 on the Billboard Top 100 singles chart.https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/50s/1957/Billboard%201957-04-06.pdf The Billboard's Music Popularity Charts: The Top 100 April 6, 1957 The Billboard 69 14 42 August 22, 2025 worldradiohistory.com Critical reception AllMusic 4.5 5 AllMusic rated the album 4.5 stars while its review by William Ruhlmann stated, "Conniff updated the big band sound to the '50s, retaining its danceable tempos and building upon the unison section innovations of Glenn Miller...Employing standards with familiar melodies, the imaginativeness of his work became all the more noticeable."Ruhlmann William https://www.allmusic.com/album/s-wonderful%21-mw0000651925 Ray Conniff & His Orchestra – S Wonderfull!: Review AllMusic August 22, 2025 Track listing International editionhttps://www.amazon.com/S-Wonderful-Ray-Conniff/dp/B0000024OJ S Wonderfull! Information 1 May 2011https://music.apple.com/mx/album/s-wonderful/195006522 S Wonderfull! Information iTunes 1 May 2011 S Wonderful George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin 2:29 Dancing in the Dark Arthur Schwartz, Howard Dietz 2:46 Speak Low Kurt Weill, Ogden Nash 3:55 Wagon Wheels Billy Hill, Peter de Rose 3:15 Sentimental Journey Les Brown, Ben Homer, Bud Green 2:42 Begin the Beguine Cole Porter 2:42 September Song Kurt Weill, Maxwell Anderson 2:46 I Get a Kick Out of You Cole Porter 3:14 Stardust Hoagy Carmichael, Mitchell Parish 2:18 I'm an Old Cowhand (From the Rio Grande) Johnny Mercer 2:55 Sometimes I'm Happy Vincent Youmans, Irving Caesar 3:02 That Old Black Magic Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer 2:47 Recording dates Recording dates based on Ray Conniff's diaries:August 2025 November 11, 1955: Stardust/Begin the Beguine (to be released as a single first) March 26, 1956: Dancing in the Dark/That Old Black Magic June 15, 1956: September Song/Speak Low/I Get a Kick Out of You/Sometimes I'm Happy June 18, 1956: 'S Wonderful/Wagon Wheels/I'm an Old Cowhand/Sentimental Journey Charts Chart (1957) Peakposition US Billboard Best Selling Pop Albumshttps://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/50s/1957/Billboard%201957-05-13.pdf The Billboard's Music Popularity Charts: Best Selling Pop Albums May 13, 1957 The Billboard 69 20 43 August 22, 2025 worldradiohistory.com11 US Cash Box Best Selling Pop Albumshttps://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/50s/1957/CB-1957-01-26.pdf The Cash Box Best Selling Pop Albums January 26, 1957 The Cash Box XVIII 19 29 August 22, 2025 worldradiohistory.com12 References Category:1956 debut albums Category:Columbia Records albums Category:Ray Conniff albums Category:Albums produced by Ray Conniff Category:Albums recorded at CBS 30th Street Studio