Percy Faith Summer

Percy Faith was one of the most popular easy listening recording artists of the '50s and '60s. Not only did he have a number of hit albums and singles under his own name, but Faith was responsible for arranging hits by Tony Bennett, Doris Day, Johnny Mathis, and Burl Ives, among others, as the musical director for Columbia Records in the '50s.
Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Faith was a child piano prodigy, giving his first recital at Massey Hall at the age of 15 and playing various movie theaters, providing the soundtrack to silent films. His career as a concert pianist was cut short when he injured his hands in a fire when he was 18. Faith moved into arranging, beginning with local, hotel orchestras but quickly moving to radio. It was here where he developed his lush pop-instrumental style. For most of the '30s, he worked on Canadian Broadcast Company. At the end of the decade his radio show, Music by Faith, was also being aired within the United States.

Two albums from the end of Percy Faith's recording career are paired together on this release. The first, Chinatown Featuring the Entertainer, from 1974, contains Faith's arrangements of popular film themes. The cumbersome title comes from a sudden last-minute revision that replaced one track on the album with "Theme From Chinatown." The original track, "Bend Me, Shape Me," is included here as a bonus track. Summer Place, from 1975, was Faith's last album, released a few months before his passing.

With the exception of the title cut on the first album, Those Were The Days (which is given a rather stodgy treatment), this CD is vintage Percy Faith. The second LP, Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet, came out in 1969, when Faith's new sound of orchestra with female chorus had just hit its stride. The trademark harpsichord is there, too. I had this album on LP when I was eight years old, and am pleased to discover that it is absolutely delightful all these years later. The two tunes from Hair are highlights of the album, brimming with energy and delicacy at the same time. Faith also commemorates the tenth anniversary of his big instrumental hit, Theme from A Summer Place, by writing a new version with female chorus. It doesn't displace memories of the original, but it is a welcome piece on this album. If you like your '60's music in a form that is evergreen, this Percy Faith CD is for you.
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Percy Faith was one of the most popular easy listening recording artists of the '50s and '60s. Not only did he have a number of hit albums and singles under his own name, but Faith was responsible for arranging hits by Tony Bennett, Doris Day, Johnny Mathis, and Burl Ives, among others, as the musical director for Columbia Records in the '50s.

Joy/Day by Day pairs two Percy Faith albums recorded for Columbia in 1972. Joy throws some timely oddities into Faith's patented Broadway interpretations, including Isaac Hayes' "Theme From Shaft." Day by Day follows the same pattern, but without the contemporary reach of Joy.

Through his soft, lush instrumentals of the 1950s and '60s, he essentially created what became known as easy listening.
Percy Faith was one of the most popular easy listening recording artists of the '50s and '60s. Not only did he have a number of hit albums and singles under his own name, but Faith was responsible for arranging hits by Tony Bennett, Doris Day, Johnny Mathis, and Burl Ives, among others, as the musical director for Columbia Records in the '50s.

One of several two-fer reissues of Percy Faith's classic Columbia LPs on the Collectables reissue label, TARA'S THEME/JEALOUSY combines two of the Toronto-born orchestra leader/arranger/producer's best-selling albums on one disc. Tara's Theme from Gone with the Wind Jealousy CD music TARA'S THEME, from 1961, is most notable for containing the original version of Faith's signature song, the gently swaying, instantly recognizable "Theme From A Summer Place," his biggest hit. Tara's Theme from Gone with the Wind Jealousy music CDs The rest of the album, which is primarily composed of movie themes, is equally remarkable. Tara's Theme from Gone with the Wind Jealousy songs JEALOUSY is a darker and more brooding affair, featuring stately but dramatic renditions of a dozen classic love songs. Tara's Theme from Gone with the Wind Jealousy album .
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