Percy Faith - Chinatown featuring The Entertainer & Summer Place ‘76 (2003)

Jerry Goldsmith's haunting theme from "Chinatown" is featured in this album from 1974, along with pop songs and movie music. Yes, Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer" done by the orchestra, even "Tubular Bells." Summer Place '76, Percy Faith's final album, features a hard-driving disco version update of "Summer Place." There are two stunning vocals by Leslie Kendall, "The Saddest Thing of All" and most importantly, "Maybe September," widely thought to be Faith's most beautiful original composition. (Bill Halvorsen)

Two albums from the end of Percy Faith's recording career are paired together on this release. The first, Chinatown Featuring the Entertainer, from 1974, contains Faith's arrangements of popular film themes. The cumbersome title comes from a sudden last-minute revision that replaced one track on the album with "Theme From Chinatown." The original track, "Bend Me, Shape Me," is included here as a bonus track. Summer Place, from 1976, was Faith's last album, released a few months before his passing. ~ Wade Kergan