Percy Faith (April 7, 1908 – February 9, 1976) was a Canadian-American

bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues o ...

, orchestrator,

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

and conductor, known for his lush arrangements of pop and

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

standards. He is often credited with popularizing the "

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, ...

" or "mood music" format. He became a staple of American popular music in the 1950s and continued well into the 1960s. Though his professional orchestra-leading career began at the height of the Swing 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.

Biography

Faith was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was the oldest of eight children. His parents, Abraham Faith and Minnie, née Rottenberg, were

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. He played violin and piano as a child, and played in theatres and at

Massey Hall Massey Hall is a performing arts theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1894, it is known for its outstanding acoustics and was the long-time hall of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. An intimate theatre, it was originally designed to sea ...

. 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 to

Great Neck Great Neck is a region on Long Island, New York, that covers a peninsula on the North Shore and includes nine villages, among them Great Neck, Great Neck Estates, Great Neck Plaza, Kings Point, and Russell Gardens, and a number of unincorp ...

, New York and became a U.S. citizen. Beginning with stations CKNC and CKCL, Faith was a staple of the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the governmen ...

's live-music broadcasting from 1933 to 1940, when he resettled in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

. In the early 1940s, Faith was orchestra leader for the Carnation Contented program on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

. From 1948 to 1949 he also served as the orchestra leader on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

radio network program ''The

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance bar, temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pembe ...

Hour'' (also called ''The Pause That Refreshes''). The orchestral accordionist John Serry Sr. collaborated with Faith in these broadcasts. In 1945, he became a

naturalized citizen Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. He made many recordings for

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the State media, state-owned news network and International broadcasting, international radio broadcaster of the United States, United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international br ...

. After working briefly for

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American Decca's president. ...

, he worked for

Mitch Miller Mitchell William Miller (July 4, 1911 – July 31, 2010) was an American choral conductor, record producer, record-industry executive, and professional oboist. He was involved in almost all aspects of the industry, particularly as a conductor ...

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...

, where he turned out dozens of albums and provided arrangements for many of the pop singers of the 1950s, including

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birt ...

Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, " Sent ...

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum s ...

for Mathis's 1958 Christmas album titled ''

Merry Christmas The Christmas season or the festive season (also known in some countries as the holiday season or the holidays) is an annually recurring period recognized in many Western and other countries that is generally considered to run from late Novemb ...

'', and

Guy Mitchell Guy Mitchell (born Albert George Cernik; February 22, 1927 – July 1, 1999) was an American pop singer and actor, successful in his homeland, the UK, and Australia. He sold 44 million records, including six million-selling singles. In the fa ...

for whom Faith co-wrote with

Carl Sigman Carl Sigman (September 24, 1909 – September 26, 2000) was an American songwriter. Early life Born in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York to a Jewish-American family, Sigman graduated from law school and passed his bar exams to practice in th ...

Mitchell's number-one single, " My Heart Cries for You". His most famous and remembered recordings are " Delicado" (1952), " The Song from ''Moulin Rouge''" (1953) and " Theme from ''A Summer Place''" (1959), which won the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

for

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...

in 1961. Faith remains the only artist to have the best selling single of the year during both the pop singer era ("Song from ''Moulin Rouge''") and the rock era ("Theme from ''A Summer Place''"); and he is one of only three artists, along with

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

and

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

, to have the best selling single of the year twice. The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of "

Song from the Moulin Rouge "It's April Again" (also known as "The Song from Moulin Rouge" and "Where Is Your Heart") is a popular song that first appeared in the 1952 film ''Moulin Rouge''. It became a No. 1 hit in the UK Singles Chart when recorded by Mantovani. The music ...

" was "

Swedish Rhapsody Swedish Rhapsody No. 1 ( sv, Svensk rapsodi) is the subtitle of ' ('),Full score. Wilhelm Hansen. ca.1906. a symphonic rhapsody by the Swedish composer Hugo Alfvén (1872–1960). Although it is only the first of three similarly named works, i ...

" by

Hugo Alfvén Hugo Emil Alfvén (; 1 May 18728 May 1960) was a Swedish composer, conductor, violinist, and painter. Career Violinist Alfvén was born in Stockholm, Sweden, and studied at the Royal College of Music (Kungliga Musikhögskolan) from 1887 ...

. In 1961 his fame in Sweden rose exponentially as his work ''Mucho Gusto'' became the

theme music Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

for the sports broadcasts of

Sveriges Radio Sveriges Radio AB (, "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcaster. Sveriges Radio is a public limited company, owned by an independent foundation, previously funded through a licensing fee, the level of which is d ...

. Though 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. His ''Themes 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-mate

Ray Conniff Joseph Raymond Conniff (November 6, 1916 – October 12, 2002) was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s. Biography Conniff was born November 6, 1916 in Attleboro, Massachusetts, United St ...

'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 albums ''Leaving on a Jet Plane'' and ''I 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 the MOR (Middle of the Road)

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 album ''Love Theme from 'Romeo and Juliet'.'' Though 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 the

musical feature, '' Love Me or Leave Me''. His other film scores included romantic comedies and dramatic features such as ''

Tammy Tell Me True ''Tammy Tell Me True'' is a 1961 American Eastmancolor comedy film directed by Harry Keller and starring Sandra Dee and John Gavin, Charles Drake, Virginia Grey and Julia Meade. The film was based on Cid Ricketts Sumner's 1959 novel of t ...

'' (1961), ''

I'd Rather Be Rich ''I'd Rather Be Rich'' is a 1964 romantic comedy film with musical aspects directed by Jack Smight, produced by Ross Hunter and starring Sandra Dee. The film focuses on a dying man who wishes to meet his granddaughter's fiancé, but he is unavaila ...

'' (1964), ''

The Third Day ''The Third Day'' is a 1965 suspense thriller film directed by Jack Smight and starring George Peppard and Elizabeth Ashley. It was based on a novel by Joseph Hayes. Plot Steve Mallory has been involved in a car crash, and it appears he has k ...

'' (1965) and ''

The Oscar The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

'' (1966). Faith also composed the theme for the NBC series '' The 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 as ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with ...

'' and ''Black 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 of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

in Encino, California, and was interred in the

Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery The Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary is a Jewish cemetery located at 6001 West Centinela Avenue, in Culver City, California. Many Jews from the entertainment industry are buried here. The cemetery is known for Al Jolson's elaborate tomb (desig ...

Culver City, California Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most ...

. 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.

Discography

Albums

Percy Faith placed 21 albums on the ''Billboard'' Hot 200 best sellers chart through 1972, making him one of the more successful easy listening acts sales wise. 1963's ''Themes 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".

Singles

Faith produced the following singles: *I Cross My Fingers US #20, 1950 * All My Love (US #7, 1950) *

Christmas in Killarney "Christmas in Killarney" is an Irish-American Christmas song written by John Redmond, James Cavanaugh and Frank Weldon, copyright 1950. This song has been performed by many artists. Two recordings made the ''Billboard'' retail chart in 1950: ...

US #28 – December 1950 *

On Top of Old Smokey "On Top of Old Smoky" (often spelled "Smokey") is a traditional folk song of the United States. As recorded by The Weavers, the song reached the pop music charts in 1951. It is catalogued as Roud Folk Song Index No. 414. History as folk song ...

US #10, 1951 *

When the Saints Go Marching In "When the Saints Go Marching In", often referred to as simply "The Saints", is a traditional black spiritual. It originated as a Christian hymn and is often played by jazz bands. This song was famously recorded on May 13, 1938, by Louis Armstron ...

/ (US #29 – September 1951) *I Want to Be Near You (US #30 – September 1951) * Delicado (US #1, 1952) * Swedish Rhapsody (Midsummer Vigil) / (US #21, 1953) * Moulin Rouge Theme US #1, 1953 *Return to Paradise (US #19 – June 1953) *Many Times (US #30 – December 1953) *Dream, Dream, Dream (US #25 – May 1954) *The Bandit (US #25 – October 1954) *Valley Valparaiso (US #53, 1956) *We All Need Love (US #67, 1956) * With a Little Bit of Luck (US #82, 1956) *

Till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...

(US #63, 1957) *

Theme from A Summer Place "Theme from ''A Summer Place''" is a song with lyrics by Mack Discant and music by Max Steiner, written for the 1959 film ''A Summer Place'', which starred Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue. It was recorded for the film as an instrumental by Hugo W ...

(US #1, 1960) *Theme for Young Lovers (US #35, 1960) *Theme from "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs" (US #101 – November 1960) *Sons and Lovers (US #111 – September 1963) *The Sound of Surf (US #111 – September 1963) *Yellow Days (AC #13, 1967) *

Can't Take My Eyes Off You "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" is a 1967 song written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio. It was recorded as a single by Frankie Valli. The song was among his biggest hits, earning a gold record and reaching No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for a we ...

(AC #24, 1967) *For Those in Love (1968) *Zorba (AC #36, 1969) *Theme from A Summer Place (instrumental) US #111 – July 1969 – AC #26, 1969 *The April Fools (1969) *Airport Love Theme (1970) * Everything's All Right (AC #31 – February 1971) *Theme from Summer of '42 (1971) *Bach's Lunch (1972) *

Crunchy Granola Suite "Crunchy Granola Suite" is a pop rock song written and recorded in 1971 by Neil Diamond. Release The song was released on the album '' Stones'' and included as a B-side on the single for the album's title track. The song appears on a number of D ...

(AC #16, 1973) *Hill Where the Lord Hides (AC #44, 1974) *Theme from "Chinatown" (AC #35, 1974) *Summer Place '76 (AC #13, 1976)

References

External links

All About Percy Faith
discography and reference
Percy Faith PagesAlan Bunting, "Percy Faith Discography"Percy Faith discography, general information (Music City)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Faith, Percy 1908 births 1976 deaths 20th-century American composers 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century Canadian composers 20th-century Canadian Jews American conductors (music) American male composers American male conductors (music) American music arrangers Burials at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery Canadian bandleaders Canadian conductors (music) Canadian emigrants to the United States Canadian male composers Canadian music arrangers Columbia Records artists Deaths from cancer in California Easy listening musicians Grammy Award winners Jewish Canadian musicians Jewish composers Male conductors (music) Musicians from Toronto Orchestra leaders