PERCY FAITH

b. 7 April 1908, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, d. 9 February 1976, Ericino, California, USA. During the 30s Faith worked extensively on radio in Canada, and moved to the USA in 1940 to take up a post with NBC. During the 50s he was musical director for Columbia Records, for whom he made a number of popular albums, mostly of mood music. He worked with Tony Bennett, with whom he had three million-selling singles, and, from 1950, also had several hits in his own right, including “Cross My Fingers”, “All My Love”, “On Top Of Old Smoky” (vocal by Burl Ives), “Delicado”, “Song From The Moulin Rouge (Where Is Your Heart)” (US number 1 in 1953), “Return To Paradise” (1953), and “Theme From A Summer Place”, which reached number 1 in the US and number 2 in the UK charts in 1960. In Hollywood in the 50s Faith had composed several background film scores, including Love Me Or Leave Me (1955), the highly acclaimed biopic of singer Ruth Etting, which starred Doris Day. His film credits in the 60s included Tammy Tell Me True (1961), I'd Rather Be Rich (1964), The Third Day (1965) and The Oscar (1966). For The Love Goddesses, Faith wrote the title song with Mack David. His other compositions included “My Heart Cries For You” (with his main collaborator Carl Sigman), which was a big hit for Guy Mitchell, Dinah Shore, Vic Damone and others in 1951. Faith died of cancer in February 1976. In the mid-90s there has been a renewed interest in Faith's work, particularly in Japan, where many of his albums have been reissued. New performances of his arrangements have been conducted by Nick Perito for a series of CDs.

Discography: Continental Music (Columbia 1956)***, Passport To Romance (Columbia 1956)****, Music From My Fair Lady (Columbia 1957)****, Touchdown! (Columbia 1958)***, North & South Of The Border (Columbia 1958)***, Music Of Victor Herbert (Columbia 1958)***, Viva! (Columbia 1959)***, Hallelujah (Columbia 1959)***, Porgy And Bess (Columbia 1959)***, Music Of George Gershwin (Columbia 1959)*****, A Night With Sigmund Romberg (Columbia 1959)***, Malaguena (Columbia 1959)***, Bouquet (Columbia 1959)****, Music From South Pacific (Columbia 1960)**, Bon Voyage! (Columbia 1960)***, Continental Souvenirs (Columbia 1960)***, Jealousy (Columbia 1960)****, A Night With Jerome Kern (Columbia 1960)***, Camelot (Columbia 1961)****, Carefree (Columbia 1961)***, Mucho Gusto! More Music Of Mexico (Columbia 1961)**, Tara's Theme (Columbia 1961)***, Bouquet Of Love (Columbia 1962)***, Subways Are For Sleeping (Columbia 1962)***, The Music Of Brazil! (Columbia 1962)***, Hollywood's Themes (Columbia 1963)****, American Serenade (Columbia 1963)***, Exotic Strings (Columbia 1963)***, Shangri-La! (Columbia 1963)***, Great Folk Themes (Columbia 1964)***, More Themes For Young Lovers (Columbia 1964)***, Latin Themes (Columbia 1965)***, Broadway Bouquet (Columbia 1965)****, Themes For The “In Crowd” (Columbia 1966)***, The Academy Award Winner And Other Great Movie Themes (Columbia 1967)****, Today's Themes For Young Lovers (Columbia 1967)***, For Those In Love (Columbia 1968)***, Angel Of The Morning (Hit Themes For Young Lovers) (Columbia 1968)**, Those Were The Days (Columbia 1969)**, Windmills Of Your Mind (Columbia 1969)**, Love Theme From “Romeo And Juliet” (Columbia 1969)***, Forever Young (Columbia 1970)**, Leaving On A Jet Plane (Columbia 1970)**, Held Over! Today's Great Movie Themes (Columbia 1970)***, The Beatles Album (Columbia 1970)**, A Time For Love (Columbia 1971)***, I Think I Love You (Columbia 1971)**, Black Magic Woman (Columbia 1971)**, Jesus Christ, Superstar (Columbia 1971)**, Joy (Columbia 1972)***, Day By Day (Columbia 1972)***.

Compilations: Moods (Ditto 1983)***, Images (Knight 1990)***, Music From the Movies (1994)***.