Good, Bad but Beautiful

Last updated

Good, Bad but Beautiful
Shirley Bassey Good Bad but Beautiful.jpg
Studio album by
Released17 October 1975
Genre Vocal / MOR
Label United Artists
Producer Martin Davis
Shirley Bassey chronology
The Shirley Bassey Singles Album
(1975)
Good, Bad but Beautiful
(1975)
Love, Life and Feelings
(1976)

Good, Bad but Beautiful is a 1975 album by Shirley Bassey. In the first half of the decade, Bassey recorded nine albums, with three making the top ten. In March 1975, Bassey released a compilation that became her highest-charting album to date, The Shirley Bassey Singles Album (#2), and reflects the momentum Bassey had maintained since her 1970 "comeback". Good, Bad but Beautiful, released in the autumn of 1975, spent seven weeks on the UK Albums Chart, peaking at #13, and earned a silver disc. [1] [2] The album reflects the formula that brought Bassey back to the charts: a combination of contemporary songs combined with her forte of standards, show tunes, and torch songs, featuring arrangements aimed squarely at the adult contemporary, or middle-of-the-road, audience. This was also achieved by modifying her backup orchestra to include electric guitars, a string and brass section with a more contemporary sound, and drumming that is more soft rock-oriented than jazz-oriented, while side two's opener, "Feel Like Makin' Love" displays a smooth jazz style.

Contents

This was Bassey's seventh album of the 1970s to make the Billboard 200, peaking at #186. It also reached #54 on the US R&B chart. In the UK the album was awarded a silver disc six weeks after it was released. The original release was in stereo on vinyl and cassette. In 2005, BGO Records issued a remastered Good, Bad but Beautiful, together with the 1973 album Never Never Never , on a 2-CD set.

Track listing

Side One

  1. "Emotion" (Patti Dahlstrom, Véronique Sanson) - 4.17
  2. "Send in the Clowns" from the Musical Show A Little Night Music (Stephen Sondheim) - 3.22
  3. "Good, Bad but Beautiful" (Clive Westlake) - 3.24
  4. "Sing" (Joe Raposo) - 3.27
  5. "The Way We Were" from the Film The Way We Were (Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, Marvin Hamlisch) - 2.48
  6. "I'll Be Your Audience" (Becky Hobbs, Lewis Anderson) - 3.05

Side Two

  1. "Feel Like Makin' Love" (Gene McDaniels) - 3.38
  2. "All in Love Is Fair" (Stevie Wonder) - 3.55
  3. "Run on and on and On" (Mercia Love) - 3.24
  4. "The Other Side of Me" (Neil Sedaka) - 3.42
  5. "Jessie" (Janis Ian) 3.53
  6. "Living" (Gilbert Bécaud, Pierre Delanoë, Marcel Stellman) - 3.41

Personnel

Related Research Articles

Shirley Bassey Welsh singer (born 1937)

Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey, is a Welsh singer. Best known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the theme songs to many James Bond films, Bassey is widely regarded as one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain.

Arthur Greenslade was a British conductor and arranger for films and television, as well as for a number of performers. He was most musically active in the 1960s and 1970s.

<i>Something</i> (Shirley Bassey album) 1970 studio album by Shirley Bassey

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.

"Grande grande grande" is a 1972 Italian song, written by Alberto Testa and Tony Renis. It was a No. 1 hit for Mina in Italy and for Shirley Bassey released as "Never Never Never" in the U.K., U.S. and Australia. The 1973 Shirley Bassey single achieved sales of over 50,000 copies in Australia, being eligible for the award of a Gold Disc.

<i>Something Else</i> (Shirley Bassey album) 1971 studio album by Shirley Bassey

Something Else is a 1971 album by Shirley Bassey.

<i>I Capricorn</i> 1972 studio album by Shirley Bassey

I Capricorn is a 1972 album by Shirley Bassey.

<i>Never Never Never</i> 1973 studio album by Shirley Bassey

Never Never Never is a 1973 album by Shirley Bassey. It features the hit single title track, which was a UK top 10 hit, which became one of Bassey's best-known songs. The album also became a top 10 hit in the UK and was a moderate hit in the US.

<i>The Shirley Bassey Singles Album</i> 1975 compilation album by Shirley Bassey

The Shirley Bassey Singles Album is a compilation album released in 1975 by British singer Shirley Bassey.

<i>Shirley</i> (album) 1961 studio album by 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.

<i>Shirley Bassey</i> (album) 1961 studio album by Shirley Bassey

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.

<i>The Fabulous Shirley Bassey</i> 1959 studio album by Shirley Bassey

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.

<i>Four Decades of Song</i> 1996 compilation album by Shirley Bassey

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.

<i>Bassey – The EMI/UA Years 1959–1979</i> 1994 box set by Shirley Bassey

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>Thoughts of Love</i> 1976 compilation album by Shirley Bassey

Thoughts of Love is a compilation album released in 1976 by singer Shirley Bassey. A themed compilation of love songs, selected from material recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the album sold well in the UK and Germany, reaching the Top 20 in the UK Albums Chart and achieved Gold status. Thoughts of Love was re-issued on CD in 2011 by BGO Records, together with the 1979 album The Magic Is You.

<i>Keep the Music Playing</i> 1991 studio album by Shirley Bassey

Keep the Music Playing is a 1991 album by Shirley Bassey. The album was recorded in the UK at the Westgreen Studios and in the Netherlands at Wisseloord Studios, Hilversum. The album is a mixture of contemporary pop ballads, such as "I Want to Know What Love Is" from Foreigner, the Jennifer Rush power ballad "The Power of Love", and the more gentle "Still" from Lionel Richie, combined with standards from the field of jazz and pop, such as "He Was Beautiful", the sweet jazz ballad from Cleo Laine. Several of the song arrangements reflect an operatic pop style influence, which may have roots in her 1984 album I Am What I Am, which she recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra, and the fact that in the latter mid-1980s she started working with a vocal coach, a former opera singer. Bassey returned to the Beatles with "Yesterday", as she had previously covered "Something" and "Fool on the Hill" successfully in the 1970s, and had performed "Hey Jude" frequently live. Another previously successful formula was used for the closing track "Dio, Come Ti Amo " an Italian original in the tradition of "This is My Life" and "Natalie"..

<i>And We Were Lovers</i> 1967 studio album by Shirley Bassey

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.

<i>Nobody Does It Like Me</i> 1974 studio album by Shirley Bassey

Nobody Does It Like Me is a 1974 album by Shirley Bassey. Bassey's recordings had been selling well since 1970, scoring three top ten singles and three ten top albums. Nobody Does It Like Me was recorded with a new producer, George Butler, and brought a partial return to the traditional pop sound of Bassey's pre-1970s career. Here, the title track "Nobody Does It Like Me" and "When You Smile" harken back to the big band era. Bassey's soaring vocals on Paul Anka's "I'm Not Anyone" and the slightly funky "Morning in Your Eyes" contrast with a delicately rendered "Davy". The duet "Davy", recorded with the song's composer Benard Ighner, is one of the rare occasions that Bassey would share the credits with another vocalist; it was also issued as a single and hit #44 on the US Adult Contemporary chart. The album closes with Bassey's reading of Stevie Wonder's "You Are the Sunshine of My Life". This album failed to chart in the UK, and peaked at #142 in the US. Her next two studio albums would be top 15 albums in the UK.

<i>Does Anybody Miss Me</i> 1969 studio album by Shirley Bassey

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.

<i>Love, Life and Feelings</i> 1976 studio album by Shirley Bassey

Love, Life and Feelings is the 21st studio album from Shirley Bassey, released in 1976 on the United Artists label. The album peaked at #13 in the UK album chart, and charted at #149 in the Billboard 200. Love, Life and Feelings was awarded silver record status by the British Phonographic Industry, with sales of more than 60,000 copies. Features covers of contemporary pop songs from the late 1960s and early 1970s, such as "Alone Again (Naturally)" the 1972 UK #3 single from Gilbert O'Sullivan and "The Way I Want to Touch You" from Captain & Tennille alongside "What I Did for Love", from the musical A Chorus Line written by Marvin Hamlisch.

<i>25th Anniversary Album</i> 1978 compilation album by Shirley Bassey

25th Anniversary Album is a compilation album by Shirley Bassey. Released in 1978 to mark her 25th year in show business, the album was a double set, comprising 40 tracks. The songs included span just 20 of the 25 years from 1957 to 1976, however, her first professional contract is dated 1953. Bassey had toured extensively throughout 1978 to mark her 25 years. This collection, including her biggest hits and some lesser-known recordings, became one of her biggest in the UK, where it reached No.3 and spent 12 weeks on the album chart.

References