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Editorial Reviews

One looks for something complementary when two LPs are put together on a single CD reissue, but the Percy Faith albums Angel of the Morning and Black Magic Woman are quite different and don't really belong together. A superficial examination might suggest that both consist largely of Faith's interpretations of pop music from, respectively, the late '60s and the early '70s, and that should make them a good pair, but a listen disproves that assumption. Angel of the Morning, originally released in 1968, was an album on which Faith employed a female chorus in addition to his usual orchestra, resulting in some odd versions of 1968 pop hits, such as the gender-rearranged death ballad "Honey" and the title song. (Somehow, hearing a whole chorus of women bitterly acknowledge a one-night stand is much stranger than just hearing just one. And, of course, in this rendition it's only the lyrics that are bitter, not the peppy singing.) Black Magic Woman, released three years later, was something else altogether, an intelligently programmed, enthusiastically performed instrumental record keyed by two Santana hits, the title song and "Oye Como Va," and investigating other aspects of Latin music, a particular interest of Faith's. There were some becalmed versions of pop hits like Bread's "If," but also some intriguing light jazz and strains of Mexican and Brazilian pop. Black Magic Woman was one of the best albums of the later part of Faith's career, far better and stylistically discontinuous from the dull and dated Angel of the Morning. If this two-fer sounds like standard-issue Percy Faith at first, wait until the 12th track kicks in, or, better yet, program your CD player to start there. William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

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