You Are the Sunshine of My Life

by JT Griffith The kitsch enthusiast or novelty seeker will get a lot of pleasure from Ray Conniff's You Are the Sunshine of My Life. Known primarily for orchestral versions of contemporary songs, his recordings during the late '60s and early '70s as the Ray Conniff Singers included many straightforward recordings of current pop hits. This 1973 collection contains some of Conniff's most jaw-dropping covers, including "Dueling Voices (Dueling Banjos)" which most will remember from the soundtrack to the film Deliverance. If you "get" Ray Conniff and if you are adamant about the difference between him and Lawrence Welk then this track will be your latest musical addiction. The title track is from Stevie Wonder's 1972 album Talking Book, and other tracks include "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" popularized by Tony Orlando, Helen Reddy's "Peaceful," Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly," and Gladys Knight's "Neither One of Us." Another standout track is "Bah Bah Conniff Sprach (Zarathustra)"! This is a great easy listening disc to pick up. The versions are slightly watered down and "safer," but more true to the originals than you'd expect. A cheerful artifact of the early '70s. If you are going to revisit the Ray Conniff catalog, note that Collectables reissued this album on CD in 2005 as a two-fer with Laughter in the Rain.