I seem to be on a kind of 'easy listening' tear lately, spinning out a article about Frank Chacksfield a while back and a few others before that, so it seems - er - easy enough to continue down that road for a while. And even though Chackfield's name might have been a little unfamiliar to some, I'm willing to bet that Percy Faith will be remembered by almost everyone.
Although the Canadian-born star reached his biggest fame as a Grammy-winning arranger and musical director, he was a piano prodigy as a child, and by the time he reached his teens was playing professionally. Unfortunately, his hands were badly injured in a fire and that effectively ended his playing career — but it didn't keep him from moving into arranging and directing.
In the years leading up to World War II, the young musician managed to work his way up through the Toronto music scene via club and hotel orchestras and eventually radio. Along the way, he developed his pop-instrumental style, which helped make his radio show a hit for CBC. However, by 1940 Faith had become unhappy with the penny-pinching network and was ready to try his luck in the states.
He spent the next few years in New York, and by the end of the war had become a US citizen. He was also working regularly, arranging and conducting on NBC, while starting to make a name for himself in the recording industry. In 1950 he was named musical director at Columbia Records, which began a long period of successful collaboration.
Over the next two decades Faith worked with dozens of stars, including Johnny Mathis, Doris Day, Tony Bennett and others, and also sold a huge number of records as the leader of his own orchestra. His approach to music was a hit with listeners, but he continued to expand his repertoire. His fascination with Latin music led to his first number one single, "Delicado," in 1952, and he was soon looking at Broadway tunes and movie music too.
Article comments
1 - JANK
The arrangement on Summer Place is so superb. He evokes birds, shimmering hot glades and cooing breezes.
2 - Sterfish
Apart from "Theme From A Summer Place," the only other Percy Faith song I really like is a beautiful rendition of "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear" that's on one of my family's Christmas records. I have yet to find it on a modern format.
3 - Big Geez
Here are a couple of places to get two different CDs with that piece by Percy. HERE and HERE
4 - Marcia Neil
A retrospective about music-theme 'Percy Faith' is indeed appropriate, especially after the catastrophis results of Hurricane Katrina in New orleans, LA. Although some album themes also 'happen' to be the names of specific people, the music-theme as a whole refers to a different 'Percy' Deep-Southern-born (USA) who had faith that interest in the annual Mardi-Gras festivals would not cause possible harm to that ecosystem environment.