PIZZICATO

One of the two songs from when I was a kid that stick with me is” Theme from “A Summer Place””. It was written by Max Steiner and performed by Percy Faith and his Orchestra. I can remember as a child being fascinated by the long smooth notes of the Strings coupled with the syncopated rhythm of a Piano playing what sounded almost like ‘Chopsticks” in the background.
If you think you do not know this tune click here for a really cheesy rendition that may jog your memory.
As soon as I was able to work the turntable on the Hi-Fi I would play this song over and over again. I was about 5 years old.
I did not really know what a Violin was, or who Max Steiner might be.
To this day I have never seen “A Summer Place” and can't name another Max Steiner tune.
But at the age of 5 I thought this was the most wonderful piece of music ever written.
It still falls into the top 20, and it is a pretty good song for makin' out.

The other song, from a little later in my childhood was “Can’t Get Over Losing You” by Andy Williams. I thought the vocals were good, and te melody real nice but what really got me was when the violin players would “Pluck” their strings. They call this “pizzicato” and when I was 8 years old and this song would come on the Hi-Fi I could hardly wait for that part of the song to come on and wished it would go on forever.

The 60’s were a wonderful time for Music, and I don’t think there is a period of time anywhere that music made such a transition.

Within a few years, that same Hi-Fi would be playing music very far removed from Messer’s Mancini and Williams.