Percy Faith
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 for the Canadian Broadcasting Company. At the end of the decade his radio show, Music by Faith, was also being aired within the United States.
Upset with CBC slashing the budget of his program, Faith moved to Chicago in 1940. Shortly afterward, he relocated to New York; by 1945, he had become an official U.S. citizen. Working for NBC in New York, he arranged and conducted for a number of shows and singers, including Coca-Cola's radio show and Buddy Clark. During the late '40s, he recorded for both Decca and RCA Victor.
Faith joined Columbia Records as musical director and a recording artist in 1950. While he arranged traditional pop songs, as well as show tunes, folk songs, and traditional pop songs for the label's vocalists, Faith became a pioneer of easy listening "mood music" with his own albums. In addition to popularizing the light, orchestrated pop, he was the first to record albums solely consisting of songs from Broadway shows; he also was one of the first mainstream composers/arrangers to experiment with Latin rhythms.
Faith had his first number one single, "Delicado," in 1952. In the mid-'50s, he began composing film scores, beginning with the Oscar-nominated collaboration with George Stoll, Love Me or Leave Me. But he scored his biggest hit of the 1960s with a piece of music written by another film composer. His late-1959 recording of Max Steiner's "The Theme From 'A Summer Place'" became a number one hit in 1960 and earned Faith his first Grammy. As rock & roll took over popular music in the early '60s and his work became more schlocky in format (easy listening arrangements of Beatles and pop/rock songs, etc.), the musical quotient remained high, thanks in large part to Faith's arranging skills and penchant for picking good material. Faith slowly withdrew from a professional career in the late '60s, but continued recording until just before his death in 1976.
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine & Cub Koda /TiVo
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Presenting Percy Faith
Lounge - Released by Universal Digital Enterprises on 26 May 1944
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Ultimate Hits
Pop - Released by Master Series, Inc. on 6 Dec 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Essential Collection
Latin America - Released by Essential Collection on 8 Dec 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Percy Faith Plays Continental Music (Remastered 2020)
Lounge - Released by jjjedizionimusicali on 23 Apr 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sleigh Ride
Christmas Music - Released by Kenzo Records on 23 Dec 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rocking Chair Blues
Christmas Music - Released by Chair Blues on 13 Dec 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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It's So Peaceful in the Country
Jazz - Released by Music Manager on 31 Aug 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Strange Days are Coming Soon
Pop - Released by love loove music re on 7 Nov 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Best of Percy Faith
Pop - Released by Vintage Jukebox on 17 Jan 2020
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Blue Jeans
Jazz - Released by nature oldies again on 10 Mar 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Faithful Summer
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Excess Music on 20 Jun 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Romantic Classics 1958-1962
Jazz - Released by Stardust Records on 1 Aug 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Right as the Rain
Lounge - Released by Chord Concept on 30 Apr 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tu Sabes
Lounge - Released by Black Marlin Records on 18 Apr 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -