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Percy Faith | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | April 7, 1908 |
| Died | February 9, 1976(1976-02-09) (aged 67) Encino, California, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Bandleader,orchestrator,composer |
| Website | www |
Percy Faith (April 7, 1908 – February 9, 1976) was a Canadian–Americanbandleader,orchestrator,composer andconductor,[1] known for his lush arrangements of instrumental ballads andChristmas standards. He is often credited with popularizing the "easy listening" or "mood music" format. He became a staple of American popular music in the 1950s and continued well into the 1960s.[1] Although his professional orchestra-leading career began at the height of theswing era, he refined and rethought orchestration techniques, including use of large string sections, to soften and fill out the brass-dominated popular music of the 1940s.[2]
Faith was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[1] He was the oldest of eight children. His parents, Abraham Faith and Minnie, née Rottenberg, wereJewish. He played violin and piano as a child, and played in theatres and atMassey Hall. After his hands were badly burned in a fire, he turned to conducting, and his live orchestras used the new medium of radio broadcasting. He moved from Canada toGreat Neck, New York and became a United States citizen.[3][4]
Beginning with stationsCKNC andCKCL, Faith was a staple of theCanadian Broadcasting Corporation's live-music broadcasting from 1933 to 1940, when he resettled inChicago,Illinois.[1] In the early 1940s, Faith was orchestra leader forThe Carnation Contented Hour onNBC.[5] From 1938 to 1940 on theMBS radio network, and from 1948 to 1949 on theCBS radio network, he also served as the orchestra leader onTheCoca-Cola Hour (also calledThe Pause That Refreshes).[6] The orchestral accordionistJohn Serry Sr. collaborated with Faith in some of these broadcasts. Faith also led the orchestra onThe Woolworth Hour on CBS radio (1955–1957).[7]
In 1945, he became anaturalized citizen of theUnited States. He made many recordings forVoice of America. After working briefly forDecca Records, he worked forMitch Miller atColumbia Records, where he turned out dozens of albums and provided arrangements for many of the pop singers of the 1950s, includingTony Bennett,Doris Day,Johnny Mathis for Mathis's 1958 Christmas album titledMerry Christmas, andGuy Mitchell for whom Faith co-wrote withCarl Sigman Mitchell's number-one single, "My Heart Cries for You".[1]
His most famous and remembered recordings are "Delicado" (1952), "The Song fromMoulin Rouge" (1953) and "Theme fromA Summer Place" (1959),[1] which won theGrammy Award forRecord of the Year in 1961. Faith remains the only artist to have the best selling single of the year during both the pop singer era ("Song fromMoulin Rouge") and the rock era ("Theme fromA Summer Place"); and he is one of only three artists, along withElvis Presley andThe Beatles, to have the best selling single of the year twice. TheB-side of "Song from the Moulin Rouge" was "Swedish Rhapsody" byHugo Alfvén. In 1961 his fame in Sweden rose exponentially as his workMucho Gusto became thetheme music for the sports broadcasts ofSveriges Radio.
Although Faith initially mined the worlds of Broadway, Hollywood and Latin music for many of his top-selling 1950s recordings, he enjoyed popularity starting in 1962 with his orchestral versions of popular rock and pop hits of the day. HisThemes for Young Lovers album was a top seller during this era and introduced the Faith sound to a younger generation of listeners. With the success of Columbia record-mateRay Conniff's chorus and orchestra during this same time, Faith began using a chorus (usually all female in most of his recordings, but used a mixed chorus on his albumsLeaving on a Jet Plane andI Think I Love You, which were released in 1970 and 1971 respectively) in several popular albums from the mid-1960s on. Faith's first single with a female chorus, "Yellow Days", was a substantial hit in theMOR (Middle of the Road) easy listening radio format of the mid-1960s. Faith continued to enjoy airplay and consistent album sales throughout the early 1970s, and received a second Grammy award in 1969 for his albumLove Theme from 'Romeo and Juliet'.
Although best known for his recording career, Faith also occasionally scored motion pictures, and received an Academy Award nomination for his adaptation of the song score for theDoris Day musical feature,Love Me or Leave Me.[1] His other film scores included romantic comedies and dramatic features such asTammy Tell Me True (1961),I'd Rather Be Rich (1964),The Third Day (1965) andThe Oscar (1966).[1] Faith also composed the theme for the NBC seriesThe Virginian.
With the advent of harder rock sounds in the 1970s, Faith's elegant arrangements fell out of favour with the listening and record-buying public, although he continued to release albums as diverse and contemporary asJesus Christ Superstar andBlack Magic Woman. He released one album of country music and two albums of disco-oriented arrangements toward the end of his forty-year career, his last recording being a disco-style reworking of "Theme from a Summer Place", titled "Summer Place '76", which was a minor and posthumous hit. Faith died ofcancer inEncino, California,[1] and is interred in theHillside Memorial Park Cemetery inCulver City, California.
Faith had two children, Marilyn and Peter, with his wife Mary (née Palange), whom he married in 1928. She died in Los Angeles in 1997.
Percy Faith placed 21 albums on theBillboard Hot 200 best sellers chart through 1972, making him one of the more successful easy listening acts in terms of sales. 1963'sThemes for Young Lovers was by far his biggest seller, peaking at No. 32 on the chart and followed by three sequel albums "for young lovers". Throughout his career he was associated with Columbia Records. Occasionally he had albums released on the Columbia imprintHarmony Records.
Faith produced the following singles:[10][11]
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