Percy Faith Corazon/My Love CD

This discount-priced two-fer combines two Percy Faith albums originally released in 1973, sequenced in reverse chronological order. Nine of the 11 tracks making up My Love (numbers 12-22 here) were Faith interpretations of pop hits from the first half of 1973, including songs associated with Paul McCartney, Roberta Flack, and the Carpenters. My Love was the first Faith album in many years to earn no chart recognition at all; by the early '70s, there were enough soft rockers out there that his brand of easy listening music no longer serviced an audience looking for more palatable arrangements of the hits they were hearing on the radio. And when he tried his hand at something more up-tempo, such as Paul Simon's "Kodachrome," the results could be laughable. My Love, though, was at least consistent. Corazón (tracks 1-11 here), which followed it, drew from each of Faith's several approaches to record-making over the years, including pop hits like the Carole King-penned title track, movie themes (Lalo Schifrin's "Enter the Dragon"), foreign imports ("Vado Via"), remakes of old Faith songs ("My Heart Cries for You"), and even jazz (Freddie Hubbard's "First Light"). The album didn't work at the time -- Corazón did not restore Faith on the charts -- and nearly 30 years later it sounds random as a collection of tracks, which means that the two-fer seems to meander for its first half, then comes into focus as a restatement of early-'70s pop in its second half. ~ William Ruhlmann

Originally released on Columbia.

"2 LP's On One CD" B/W "My Love"

2 LPs on 1 CD: CORAZON (1973)/MY LOVE (1973).

Adapter: Percy Faith.

Personnel: Percy Faith (piano); Pete Christlieb (tenor saxophone); Bill Mays (electric piano, organ); Clark Gassman (electric piano).

Audio Mixer: Ed Barton .

Liner Note Authors: Mark Marymont; Irving Townsend.

Recording information: A&M Studios, Hollywood, CA.

Photographer: McGowan.

Unknown Contributor Role: McGowan.

Arranger: Percy Faith.