Customer Reviews

Clair: New Thing

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Let's go back to the early '70s, to be exact 1973 for "Clair" (originally released as Columbia KC 32164) and 1974 for "New Thing" (originally released as Columbia KC 32803), consisting of the music that was popular at that time ~ many can remember the original recorded songs from Acker Bilk, Darrell Crofts, Neil Diamond, Marvin Hamlisch, Michael Legrand, Curtis Mayfield, Chuck Mangoine, Johnny Nash, James Taylor and Mikis Theodorakis, yes and even Richard Strauss with "2001 (ALSO SPRACH ZARATHUSTRA)"(adapted by Percy Faith) getting into the groove with the award winning Percy Faith Orchestra.

Following the formula of previous Columbia Record releases, two original LP's on one compact disc with 23 classic tracks inclusive ~ featuring the classic style of sweeping strings, compelling brass and signature arrangements from the man himself ~ Maestro Percy Faith. The master of arranging easy listening from "rock" to "film score" cues, keeping the material fresh and new with his distinctive style and pen in hand, tapping his baton, let the magic begins.

Faith's orchestrations on "BEN(From The Motion Picture, "BEN")"(Scharf/Black), "I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW" (Johnny Nash), "SUMMER BREEZE" (Seals/Crofts), "HAPPY(love theme from "Lady Sings The Blues")" (Legrand) restores the original freshness and warmth, sprinkling Faith's touch of magic over the orchestration is unforgettable ~ "WE WERE HAVIN' SOME FUN AT THE CONSERVATORY, WHEN..." (Percy Faith), female voices, strings, percussion and the finishing touch of a harpsichord, has the Percy Faith touch with our seal of approval.

The above was the first half, let's take a closer look at the second half with "HILL WHERE THE LORD HIDES" (Mangione), "WASHINGTON SQUARE" (Goldstein/Shire), "SERPICO" (Theodorakis), "LAND OF A THOUSAND DANCES" (Kenner/Domino Jr), "SKYBIRD" (Neil Diamond) and "PELICAN DANCE" (Estardy)(this has to be one of Faith's greatest fun accomplishments in arranging and performing, quite unique) with wonderful themes and overtones spread evenly through each cue, pure Faith arrangements that seem to reach out to you.

Now for the lush strings of the Faith Orchestra "STRANGER ON THE SHORE" (Mellin/Bilk), "EUTERPE" (Bill Mayes), "THE WAY WE WERE" (Hamlisch/Bergman), "ERES TU" (Calderone/Hawker) and "ANGELICA" (Mann/Weil) this arranger (Faith) has his pulse on every note, wonderful and miraculous arrangements with unforgettable performances ~ Percy once again weaves his musical talent into a beautiful and listenable experience ~ gotta love it!

Total Time 78:24 on 23 Tracks ~ Collectables 7561 ~ (9/16/2003)

Looking back on the illustrious and prolific output from Percy Faith, one can see how in tune this man was with his times. He approached all of his albums with the dedication and artistry of his times. These two albums, two of his best of the 70s, contain a wonderful array of songs. Whether he was going "disco" with "2001" or "Superfly"; whether syrupy but beautiful ballads such as "Way We Were" or "Happy", his arrangements and orchestrations were brilliant. My personal favorites on this double album set: "The Hill Where the Lord Hides," a Chuck Mangione infused with power and grace; "Euterpe" a beautiful Spanish guitar-led number and the hauntingly beautiful "Angelica" penned by those great 60s-70s writers Barry Mann and Cynthia Weill.
Percy's been gone for almost thirty years, and yet with each of these reissues, we can embrace this man's talents and artistry.
You gotta have Faith!

CD contains some of my favorite songs arranged by Percy Faith. Music would sound better if CD had been remastered; but still very enjoyable to listen to.

Here is two of Percy Faith's latter albums that he done in the 70's.These are both great albums.Here is the song list and other info.

Clair-1973 All Orchestra Except For 1 Song No Liner Notes
Also called Dueling Banjos
1)Clair-Brassy(Wordless Chrous)Chrous Comes In At The End This Song Got A Lot Of Airplay On Beautiful Music Stations
2)Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight-Lush
3)Ben-Lush This Is The Most Beautiful Version Of This Song I've Ever Heard.This Got A Lot Of Airplay On Beautiful Music Stations.This Is One Of My Favorite Songs.
4)Sweet Surrender-Lush
5)I Can See Clearly Now-Lush Got A Lot Of Airplay On Beautiful Music Stations
6)2001(Zarathustra)Brassy With A Touch Of Disco
7)Nights In White Satin-Lush Got Played On Beautiful Music Stations
8)Summer Breeze-Light Strings
9)Superfly-Brassy
10)Happy(Love Theme From Lady Sings The Blues)Lush Got Played On Beautiful Music Stations
11)We Were Having Some Fun At The Conservatory When-Brassy
12)Dueling Banjos-Banjos This Song is Just What It Says It Is Nothing But 2 People Playing Banjos.Faith Might Be Playing One Of Them.This Is One Of My Favorites.

New Thing-1974 All Orchestra No Liner Notes Included
13)Hill Were The Lord Hides-Light Strings
14)Washington Square-Brassy(Wordless Chrous)
15)Theme From Serpico-Lush
16)Stranger On The Shore-Lush Got Played On Beautiful Music Stations.
17)Land Of A Thousand Dances-Brassy(Wordless Chrous)
18)Euterpe-Lush
19)The Way We Were-Lush Got Played On Beautiful Music Stations
20)Pelican Dance-Brassy This Song Has A Beat To It And Will Make You Feel LIke Tapping Your Toes
21)Eros Tu(Touch The Wind)Lush Got Played On Beautiful Music Stations.One Of My Favorites
22)Skybird-Lush
23)Angelica-Lush

I Highley Recommend This Cd For True Percy Faith Fans Or People Who Love Beautiful Music.

IT'S SO NICE TO HEAR THE SERENE MUSIC OF PERCY FAITH. WHEN I BOUGHT THIS CD I DID NOT EXPECT ANY SONGS THAT I REALLY CARED FOR. BUT WAS I SUPRISED! I ABSOLUTLY FELL IN LOVE WITH "HAPPY(THE LOVE THEME FROM LADY SINGS THE BLUES)". ALSO "BEN", THE "THEME FROM SERPICO" AND "ANGELICA". RECALLING THAT THESE SONGS WERE ON EASY LISTENING RADIO STATIONS IN THE 70'S AND 80'S.

This is pretty awesome, but I'm not afraid to say that the only reason I bought this was for the Ben song, as I did a solo of it, and just plain like the song itself. So, I recommend that IF you like the slow type of music, and Michael Jackson (maybe, or just any of the others) I'd say get it, it's pretty good but Ben is the only song I listen to on here. Well, overall it's good, so like I said, if you like a song, buy it

Me encanta la música de Percy Faith. Afortunadamente han reeditado gran parte de sus albumes, y éste es excelente.
Percy Faith tuvo diferentes épocas en su música, la mejor, para mi gusto personal, es la de los 60's y 70's, desde cuando cambió a "Theme's for young lovers" hasta cuando adicionó coros femeninos.
Acá en Colombia aparecieron muchos de sus albumes en esa epoca (lamentablemente yo era estudiante y no podia comprarlos). Ahora he aprovechado para completar mi colección, gracias a Collectables y Amazon.com.

Through the 50s and 60s, Faith shaped instrumental music by providing standards and pop hits in an easy listening style with his signature strings and lush orchestrations. Unfortunately, Faith abandons his style for this rocky outing from the early '70s and it is a difficult listen. This disc is filled with bombastic arrangements filled with guitar licks and blaring brass. An easy listening version of the theme from 2001 would have been wonderful to listen to, but Faith interprets in a style that any rocker would find annoying. And why decide to reinterpret Superfly, Dueling Banjos. Oddly enough the best track is the theme from Ben. Go figure!