Customer Reviews

Country Bouquet: Disco Party

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The ***** rating for this music CD is ONLY for the "Country Bouquet" HALF of the two titles offered on this one music CD. [[ASIN: B00019PD91-Country Bouquet/Disco Party]] "Disco Party" is NOT one of Percy Faith's better efforts; the original LP album ("Disco Party") was produced in an effort to try to appeal to the younger crowd's tastes, in the changing music industry. It lacks the grace, class & sophistication that was a part of Percy Faith's superlative core music composing and arranging talent. I have 2 copies of the original "Country Bouquet" (Columbia #KC 33142 - Stereo); they are in excellent condition, but not without some unacceptable surface "ticks" and I needed a clean copy to install most of the tracks in my Mac's (iTunes) music library.

I listened to each track in "Disco Party" and had a difficult time in finding even one track which appealed to me. The reverse was true of "Country Bouquet;" the only track I was not totally taken by was "Orange Blossom Special." Perhaps I'm overly spoiled by James Last's (pronounced: "LOST") version of "Orange Blossom Special."

I feel that "Broadway Bouquet / Country Bouquet" should be again re-released by Sony / BMG music... this was an excellent pairing of these two excellent albums recorded by Percy Faith, and truely display his musical signature.

Along with Kostelanetz, Winterhalter, Riddle, Mantovani, Paramor, Kaempfert- et al, we have lost an outstanding composer / arranger / conductor... never to be replaced.

Collectables follows their previous formula of Columbia Record releases "Country Bouquet", originally released in 1975 (KC 33142) and "Disco Party", originally released in 1975 (KC 33549) ~ two more winners from Maestro Percy Faith featuring classic arrangements that leave his signature everytime.

For the country flavor we have composers and artists of "I DON'T SEE ME IN YOUR EYES ANYMORE" (Bennie Benjamin/George Weiss),"ANNIE'S SONG" (John Denver), "BEHIND CLOSED DOORS" (Kenny O'Dell), "FOR THE GOOD TIMES" and "HELP ME MAKE IT THROUGH THE NIGHT" (Kris Kristofferson), "EL PASO" (Marty Robbins), "ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL" (Ervin Rouse), "SNOWBIRD" (Gene MacLellan), "SUNDOWN" (Gordon Lightfoot), "THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL" (Norris Wilson/Billy Sherrill/Rory Bourke) ~ no matter the artist that made each song a classic, Percy Faith has put his brand of style through his brilliant arrangements and orchestrations.

The second half of the disc is for the Disco crowd with "CHERRY CHERRY" and "COLDWATER MORNING" (Neil Diamond), "CHOMPIN'" (Percy Faith), "EL BIMBO" (Claude Morgan), "HAVA NAGILAH" (traditional, arranged by Percy Faith), "THE KING IS DEAD" (Tony Cole), "LOVE MUSIC" (Dennis Lambert/Brian Potter), "7-6-5-4-3-2-1 (BLOW YOUR WHISTLE)" (Roger Cook), "MONGONUCLEOSIS" (James Pankow), "SUBSTITUTE" (Willie Harry Wilson) ~ the talent of this arranger with a large orchestra knows no bounds or limitation, sit back people and enjoy!

There is a special surprise with this unreleased bonus track of "SABRE DANCE" (Aram Khachaturian), has been recorded and released by many on the classical genre, but this track has never seen the light of day on compact disc before by Maestro Percy Faith.

Still Columbia Records man of the hour, Percy Faith sprinkles his magic over any and every piece of music he touches ~ orchestration over one gem then another is simply unforgettable ~ can never get enough and I'm still under his spell ~ reaching new heights and all because of the performances of Percy and the guys in his fabulous orchestra...gotta love it!

Total Time: 71:24 on 21 Tracks ~ Collectables 7606 ~ (4/13/2004)