Ray Ellis

Quality 0.50 · 1 view · Updated 2 months ago

American record producer, arranger and conductor (1923–2008)

title: "Ray Ellis" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1923-births", "2008-deaths", "american-male-jazz-composers", "american-jazz-musicians", "american-music-arrangers", "record-producers-from-pennsylvania", "musicians-from-philadelphia", "mgm-records-artists", "filmation-people", "rca-victor-artists", "20th-century-american-jazz-composers", "deaths-from-melanoma-in-california", "american-male-conductors-(music)", "jazz-musicians-from-pennsylvania", "20th-century-american-conductors-(music)", "20th-century-american-male-musicians", "animation-composers"] description: "American record producer, arranger and conductor (1923–2008)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Ellis" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American record producer, arranger and conductor (1923–2008) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox producer discography"]

FieldValue
ProducerRay Ellis
Studio albumsBillie Holiday's Lady in Satin (1958)
::

| Producer = Ray Ellis | Image = | Caption = | Alt = | Studio albums = Billie Holiday's Lady in Satin (1958) | Internet albums = | Live albums = | Compilations = | EPs = | Singles = | B-sides = | Video albums = | Music videos = | Soundtracks = | Tribute albums = | Karaoke = | Holiday albums = | Box sets = | Gospel =

Ray Ellis (July 28, 1923 – October 27, 2008) was an American record producer, arranger, conductor, and saxophonist. He was responsible for the orchestration in Billie Holiday's Lady in Satin (1958).

Biography

Raymond Spencer Ellis was born in Philadelphia. He composed two extended themes for The Today Show, the first in 1971. It was used as the Friday closing theme (and eventually the show's full-time theme) until the end of the decade. However, in Herald Square Music v. Living Music, the District Court of the Southern District of New York "found the instrumental arrangement and harmonization of defendant's melody to be substantially similar to that of 'Day by Day,'" a Stephen Schwartz song from the musical Godspell. As a result, Ellis composed a second Today Show theme based on the trademark NBC chimes. That theme was the NBC show's signature from 1978 to 1985 and has appeared irregularly on the morning program ever since.

Work with Filmation

Using the name of his wife "Yvette Blais" as a pseudonym, Ellis and Norm Prescott, who used the pseudonym "Jeff Michael" after his sons Jeff and Michael) composed nearly all of the background music for cartoon studio Filmation from 1968 to 1982, according to DVD booklets for Ark II, Space Academy, and Jason of Star Command. This also included much of the music used in Star Trek: The Animated Series, which was re-released on November 29, 2016 as part of that franchise's 50th anniversary.

Death

Ellis died of complications from melanoma on October 27, 2008, at an assisted-living facility in Encino, California. He was survived by sons Marc and Jeffrey.

Selected discography

As arranger or conductor

References

References

  1. (October 31, 2008). "Composer Ray Ellis dies at 85".
  2. He composed, and performed much of the underscore music for the animated [[Spider-Man (1967 TV series)]].https://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2007/01/the_music_every.html
  3. {{cite court. (December 4, 1978). link
  4. Mangels, Andy; booklets for ''Space Sentinels/The Freedom Force'', ''Hero High'', ''The Ghost Busters'', ''[[Ark II]]'', ''[[Space Academy]]'', ''Jason of Star Command'', and ''The Secrets of Isis''
  5. (16 November 2016). "STAR TREK 50TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION - MUSICAL RARITIES FROM ACROSS THE STAR TREK UNIVERSE: LIMITED EDTION (4-CD SET)". La La Land Records.
  6. Thurber, Jon. (November 5, 2008). "Ray Ellis Dies At 85". [[Los Angeles Times]].
  7. "Ray Ellis {{!}} Credits {{!}} AllMusic".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

1923-births2008-deathsamerican-male-jazz-composersamerican-jazz-musiciansamerican-music-arrangersrecord-producers-from-pennsylvaniamusicians-from-philadelphiamgm-records-artistsfilmation-peoplerca-victor-artists20th-century-american-jazz-composersdeaths-from-melanoma-in-californiaamerican-male-conductors-(music)jazz-musicians-from-pennsylvania20th-century-american-conductors-(music)20th-century-american-male-musiciansanimation-composers