The Fabulous Shirley Bassey | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1959 | |||
Recorded | 1959 | |||
Genre | Vocal | |||
Label | EMI/Columbia | |||
Producer | Norman Newell | |||
Shirley Bassey chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
The Fabulous Shirley Bassey is the third studio album by Welsh singer Shirley Bassey and her first for Columbia Records. It was recorded with Geoff Love and his orchestra and peaked at #12 in the UK album chart in early 1961. [2] 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.
The album was issued in mono and stereo. In 1997 the Dutch company Disky Records issued a two-CD set entitled Original Gold, four tracks from the album "A Foggy Day in London Town", "April In Paris", "The Man That Got Away" and "They Can't Take that Away from Me" were included, all were previously unavailable on CD at this time. EMI at Abbey Road, London provided the mono masters, instead of stereo, for this release. Unlike other artists, such as Cliff Richard and the Beatles, EMI has not re-issued any complete Shirley Bassey album in mono on CD. The stereo version of this album was issued on CD in 1999 by EMI.
Side One.
Side Two.
Chart (1961) | Peak position |
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UK Albums (OCC) [2] | 12 |
Songs for Young Lovers is the seventh studio album by Frank Sinatra and his first on Capitol Records. It was issued as an 8-song, 10" album and as a 45rpm EP set, but it was the first Sinatra "album" not to have a 78rpm multi-disc-album release. In 2002, it was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Song Book is a box set by American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald that contains songs by George and Ira Gershwin with arrangements by Nelson Riddle. It was produced by Norman Granz, Fitzgerald's manager and the founder of Verve Records. Fifty-nine songs were recorded in the span of eight months in 1959. It is one of the eight album releases comprising what is possibly Fitzgerald's greatest musical legacy: Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Complete American Songbook, in which she recorded, with top arrangers and musicians, a comprehensive collection of both well-known and obscure songs from the Great American Songbook canon, written by the likes of Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hart, Irving Berlin, Duke Ellington, George and Ira Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Jerome Kern, and Johnny Mercer.
I Love to Sing is Alma Cogan's first album, released in 1958 on the His Masters Voice an EMI Records label. All the tracks on the album were arranged by Frank Cordell.
Hooray for Hollywood is a two-album set recorded by Doris Day, released by Columbia Records. Frank De Vol arranged and conducted the orchestra for the recordings. All but one of the songs were recorded between October and November 1957. The collection was to originally feature Day's recording of "A Very Precious Love", but this was released as a single and replaced on the album with the 1952 re-recording of "It's Magic".
MTV Unplugged is a live album by Tony Bennett that was released in 1994. Backed by the Ralph Sharon Trio, Bennett appeared on the TV show MTV Unplugged to showcase the Great American Songbook with guest appearances by Elvis Costello and k.d. lang.
Sinatra '57 in Concert is a 1999 live album by the American singer Frank Sinatra. It is a complete recording of a concert performed at the Seattle Civic Auditorium on June 9, 1957. Arranger Nelson Riddle conducted the 26-piece orchestra at the event.
Songs for Distingué Lovers is an album by jazz singer Billie Holiday, released in 1958 on Verve Records. It was originally available in both mono and stereo. It was recorded at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles from January 3 to January 9, 1957, and produced by Norman Granz.
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 be: "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.
Shirley is Shirley Bassey's fourth studio album and her second for Columbia Records. Featuring music from Geoff Love and his orchestra, it was her first to enter the top ten of the UK Albums Chart and last until Something in 1970. It was printed in mono and stereo versions, the latter reissued on CD in 1997.
Shirley Bassey is a 1962 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.
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.
Show Boat is a studio recording of the 1927 musical Show Boat by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II. The album was recorded in the summer of 1959 at the No.1 studio, Abbey Road, London, and issued by the 'His Master's Voice' label, a subsidiary of EMI, which was run at this time by Norman Newell. It features a cast that was formed for this recording only; this cast did not perform the show live in any theatre production.
The Bewitching Miss Bassey is the second studio album by Welsh singer Shirley Bassey. Consisting of new and previously released material, this was the first album by 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.
This Is My Life is a 1968 album by Shirley Bassey. The mid to late sixties was a period of declining popularity for traditional pop. How much the changing tastes in popular music directly affected Bassey's record sales is difficult to quantify; but her record sales had been faltering since the latter part of the mid 1960s, and the album failed to chart.
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.
'S Marvelous is an album by Ray Conniff and His Orchestra. It was released in mono in 1957 on the Columbia label and in stereo in 1958.