The album features the debut recordings made by Shirley Bassey for EMI, here she performs two songs in the role of Julie LaVerne. Previously she had successfully recorded at Philips Records but in 1959 her partner and manager Kenneth Hume arranged a contract with EMI/Columbia. These are also her first recordings made and released in stereo. The album also features the actress Dora Bryan, who appeared in films from the mid-1950s. She was later frequently seen on British television, most recently in the BBC series Last of the Summer Wine.
The album was originally issued in two formats, a long-playing album in mono and stereo and as a two EP set, which featured highlights from the recording. A CD release was issued in mono by the Australian EMI company AXIS in the mid-1990s; it was finally issued in stereo in 2005 on the EMI label Classics For Pleasure where it appeared on a collection of Jerome Kern compositions such as Music in the Air and Roberta titled Kern - Show Boat etc..
Track listing
"Overture" orchestra - 6.08
"Make Believe" Marlys Watters and Don McKay - 4.48
Show Boat is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands and dock workers on the Cotton Blossom, a Mississippi River show boat, over 40 years from 1887 to 1927. Its themes include racial prejudice and tragic, enduring love. The musical contributed such classic songs as "Ol' Man River", "Make Believe", and "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man".
"Ol' Man River" is a show tune from the 1927 musical Show Boat that contrasts the struggles and hardships of African Americans with the endless, uncaring flow of the Mississippi River. It is sung from the point of view of a black stevedore on a showboat, and is the most famous song from the show. The song is meant to be performed in a slow tempo; it is sung complete once in the musical's lengthy first scene by the stevedore "Joe" who travels with the boat, and, in the stage version, is heard four more times in brief reprises. Joe serves as a sort of musical one-man Greek chorus, and the song, when reprised, comments on the action, as if saying, "This has happened, but the river keeps rolling on anyway."
Something is a 1970 album by Shirley Bassey. With her career having been in decline since the latter part of the mid 1960s, Something proved to be Shirley Bassey's comeback when it was released in August 1970. The title track single became her biggest UK hit for many years, reaching No.4 and spending 22 weeks on the chart. This was actually the second single featured on the album, "The Sea and Sand" having already been released earlier. The album was similarly her biggest hit for many years in the album charts, reaching No.5 and spending 28 weeks in the top 50.
Showboat or show boat, is a boat which serves as a floating theater.
John Alexander McGlinn III was an American conductor and musical theatre archivist. He was one of the principal proponents of authentic studio cast recordings of Broadway musicals, using original orchestrations and vocal arrangements.
"Bill" is a song heard in Act II of Kern and Hammerstein's classic 1927 musical Show Boat. The song was written by Kern and P.G. Wodehouse for their 1917 musical Oh, Lady! Lady!! for Vivienne Segal to perform, but withdrawn because it was considered too melancholy for that show. However, when Kern and Hammerstein were at work on the serious and somewhat tragic Show Boat, they decided that the song would be perfect for a nightclub scene in the show. Hammerstein revised Wodehouse's original lyrics somewhat, and the song was given to real-life nightclub singer Helen Morgan, who portrayed the mulatto Julie in Show Boat, to sing.
Let's Face the Music is the sixth Shirley Bassey studio album, released in 1962, and arranged by Nelson Riddle. Kenneth Hume, Shirley Bassey's husband and manager wrote the sleeve notes for this album, in which he gives an insight into how this album came to being: "When Vic Lewis booked Nelson Riddle for a tour with Shirley, we were all very excited; being great fans of Nelson Riddle's from way back...so when someone suggested them doing an LP together, we thought that this would not be possible, remembering that Nelson was under contract with another recording company." Nelson Riddle was under contract to Capitol Records at the time, so Bassey's producer Norman Newell went about to secure his services for an album. While on the tour, Bassey, Riddle, and Bassey's music director Raymond Long discussed what form the album should take. Shortly after the tour was completed, the recording sessions began.
Thank You for the Years is a 2003 album by Dame Shirley Bassey.
Shirley is Shirley Bassey's fourth studio album, her second for Columbia, and was recorded with Geoff Love and his orchestra. It was her first album to enter the top ten of the UK Albums Chart, a feat she would not duplicate until Something in 1970. This album was issued in mono and stereo. The stereo version of this album was issued on CD in 1997.
Shirley Bassey is a 1961 album by Shirley Bassey, her fifth studio album and her third with EMI/Columbia. Bassey was accompanied by Geoff Love and his orchestra and The Williams Singers. The album spent eleven weeks on the charts, beginning in February 1962, and peaking at #14. This album was issued in mono and stereo. The stereo version of this album was released on CD in 1997 by EMI.
Shirley Bassey at the Pigalle is Shirley Bassey's first live album, recorded on the opening night of an eight-week engagement at the Pigalle, a nightclub in the West End of London. This performance, on 12 September 1965, earned Bassey outstanding reviews. The album was released that same year. It was Bassey's final album for EMI's Columbia label.
The Fabulous Shirley Bassey is Shirley Bassey's third studio album, her debut for Columbia, and was recorded with Geoff Love and his orchestra. The album peaked at #12 in the UK album chart in early 1961. Released in 1959, this was the first studio album from Shirley Bassey with completely new material. Her two previous albums issued on the Philips label were collections of new recordings and previously released material, recorded between 1956 and 1958.
Four Decades of Song is a three-CD compilation from Shirley Bassey issued in 1996. This set features 54 songs recorded between 1959 and 1993. In 2008 EMI repackaged and retitled this boxset as Shirley Bassey The Collection; the new version had six extra tracks.
Shirley Stops the Shows is the seventh Shirley Bassey studio album, her 5th and final studio album recorded for the EMI/Columbia label in the UK. Released in 1965, this album is a mix of standards and showtunes. Shirley Bassey was at a high point in her career, with worldwide success of her single "Goldfinger", but the album failed to chart in the UK, a first for her Columbia albums. The album met with more success in the US, reaching number 85 in the US Pop charts. For the US market it was issued with an alternative running order, retitled Shirley Bassey Belts the Best! and "The Lady Is a Tramp" was replaced by "Goldfinger". Original release was in mono and stereo, both mono versions feature an alternative studio recording of "People" which has not yet been re-issued on CD. The stereo version, remastered, was issued on CD in 2008 together with 12 of Those Songs by BGO Records.
Bassey – The EMI/UA Years 1959–1979 is a 5-CD boxset compilation from Shirley Bassey issued in 1994, this set features 94 studio recordings on four CDs, recorded for EMI/United Artists between 1959 and 1979. Disc five features a previously unreleased live recording from Carnegie Hall. The boxset was reissued by EMI in 2010 in a standard jewel case set.
I've Got a Song for You is a 1966 album by Shirley Bassey. Bassey had left EMI's Columbia Label, and this was her first album for United Artists, a label she would remain with for approximately 14 years. This album and the following release And We Were Lovers were produced by Bassey's former husband, Kenneth Hume. The album entered the UK Albums Chart at #26, but only remained on the chart for one week, and failed to chart in the US, despite her having received outstanding reviews for live engagements in New York and Las Vegas that same year, and the fact that the album was recorded in New York. It was an inauspicious start for her at UA, as none of her albums would chart either in the UK or the US until 1970. In that year, 1970, Bassey would begin to produce more contemporary pop-oriented albums, but here in 1966, despite scoring her biggest hit with "Goldfinger" a year or so earlier, she was still firmly in the traditional pop genre.
And We Were Lovers is a 1967 studio album by Shirley Bassey. The album featured Bassey's first recording of "Big Spender', the single subsequently hit #21 on the charts.
Born to Sing the Blues is Shirley Bassey's debut album, released on a 10" LP in 1957 by the Philips Records label. Long-playing records were newly introduced in the mid-1950s and the 10" album was briefly introduced as an album format. Within a few years, the 12" album was the format offered to the record buying public, remaining so until the mid-1980s when the Compact Disc took the market by storm.
The Bewitching Miss Bassey is a studio album by Shirley Bassey. Consisting of new and previously released material this was the first album from Bassey to be issued on the 12" Long-playing record format. Tracks were taken from sessions recorded between 1956 and early 1959. All the songs were recorded in the UK with Wally Stott and his Orchestra, with production by Johnny Franz. The only exception was "The Wall" which was recorded in New York with Jimmy Carroll and his orchestra and produced by Mitch Miller. Featuring Bassey's first five hit songs, including Bassey's 1958 number one single "As I Love You" and the huge hit "Kiss Me, Honey Honey, Kiss Me". The album showcases the best of the early career of Shirley Bassey. All the songs were only recorded in mono, no stereo versions are known to exist. In the 1970s Philips did re-issue them in an "electronically enhanced" stereo. The album was re-issued in the US on the Epic label with different artwork. While this album has not been issued independently on CD, it was included in its entirety on the four-CD compilation titled Five Classic Albums Plus Bonus Singles in 2012.
Does Anybody Miss Me is a 1969 album by Shirley Bassey. In 1969 Bassey moved her home to Lugano, Switzerland, with her second husband Sergio Novak, whom she had married in Las Vegas in August 1968. Remaining as a tax exile prevented her from performing and recording in the UK. In this period she continued to perform and record in Italy and the US. This album was recorded in the US and produced by the American producer Dave Pell, with arrangements by Artie Butler. The tracks on this album are a selection of standards and show tunes. The title track Does Anybody Miss Me was issued as a single in the UK, backed with the non album track Fa Fa Fa, but this failed to make any impression on the chart. Does Anybody Miss Me has remained part of her live show and was recorded as the opening track of the album Live At Talk Of The Town in 1970. This album saw Bassey re-record her 1958 UK #1 hit single As I Love You which she had previously released on the Philips label.
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