by Greg AdamsOn Friendly Persuasion, Ray Conniff, with the help of his orchestra and chorus, interprets a variety of songs with brassy arrangements that at times include trombone solos played by Conniff himself. Conniff experimented with new stereo setups on this album, and they are briefly addressed in his sleeve notes. The chorus is wielded exclusively as an instrument on this outing -- there are none of the Mitch Miller-style singalongs heard on many of Conniff's other albums. The title track and "April Love" are associated with Pat Boone, but from there the repertoire moves in unusual directions, from "High Noon" to the Original Dixieland Jazz Band's "Tiger Rag." Despite his undeserved reputation as a purveyor of Muzak, Ray Conniff's LPs covered a lot of ground and were not all aimed at the same market. Friendly Persuasion is for fans of orchestral pop and wide stereo recordings, and for those who prefer the trademark wordless vocals with which Conniff is identified.