Ray Ellis facts for kids

Ray Ellis (born July 28, 1923, died October 27, 2008) was an American musician. He was a record producer, who helps make music albums. He was also an arranger, conductor, and saxophonist. He helped create the music for Billie Holiday's famous album, Lady in Satin, in 1958.

About Ray Ellis

Raymond Spencer Ellis was born in Philadelphia. He became famous for arranging many hit songs. These songs were popular in the 1950s and 1960s. Some of these classic songs include "A Certain Smile" by Johnny Mathis. He also arranged "Broken Hearted Melody" by Sarah Vaughan. In 1970, he produced Gliding Bird, the first album by Emmylou Harris.

Ellis worked on all kinds of music projects. This included records, movies, and TV shows. In the early 1960s, he made his own easy-listening albums. These albums were released with record companies like RCA Victor and Columbia. One of his most popular albums was Ellis in Wonderland.

Music for TV Shows

Ray Ellis also created music for television. He wrote the theme music for NBC News At Sunrise. He also made background music for the first season of the original Spider-Man cartoon.

He composed two long theme songs for The Today Show. The first one was in 1971. It was used as the show's main theme for many years. Later, he created a second theme for The Today Show. This theme was based on the well-known NBC chimes. It was the show's signature music from 1978 to 1985.

Cartoon Music

Ray Ellis also wrote music for the cartoon studio Filmation. He worked on this from 1968 to 1982. He often used different names for his work. Sometimes he used "Yvette Blais," which was his wife's name. He also used "Spencer Raymond" and "George Blais." For The Hardy Boys in 1969, he used his son's name, Marc Ellis. Marc later became a composer too.

Ray Ellis was credited with his real name for music in some cartoons. These included The Archie Show and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. He also composed music for Star Trek: The Animated Series.

Game Show Music

Ellis lived in Los Angeles. He composed music for many game shows in the 1980s. He wrote the theme song for the US version of Sale of the Century. He also created music for Scrabble and Scattergories. He worked with his son Marc Ellis on some of these projects.

His Final Years

Ray Ellis passed away on October 27, 2008. He was 85 years old. He died from health problems related to melanoma. He was survived by his two sons, Marc and Jeffrey.

Selected Music Works

Here are some of the albums Ray Ellis helped create as an arranger or conductor:

• Mood Jazz, Joe Castro (1956)
• Lady in Satin, Billie Holiday (1958)
• Chris Connor Sings the George Gershwin Almanac of Song, Chris Connor (1961)
• The Third Album, Barbra Streisand (1963)
• Soul, Lena Horne (1966)
• There Is a Time, Liza Minnelli (1966)
• And I Love Him!, Esther Phillips (1965)
• Seven Letters, Ben E. King (1965)
• Herbie Mann Plays The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd, Herbie Mann (1965)
• A Lazy Afternoon, Harold Land (1995)
• The Christmas Album, Johnny Mathis (2002)