With Wally Stott and his Orchestra.
 

 

The daughter of a West Indian seaman, Shirley Bassey first saw the light of day in Cardiff in 1937. Whilst very young she commenced her stage career as a chorus girl in touring revues but it was soon evident that this young girl possessed great talent.

Before long, she was booked to go on a variety tour as a solo artist and also appear in cabaret. Whilst carrying out a West End engagement in this latter sphere, she had the good fortune to be spotted by Jack Hylton who gave her her biggest break so far by including her in his production 'Such Is Life' at the Adelphi Theatre. Her great talent was immediately recognised by the audience and it is no exaggeration to say that she literally 'stopped the show'. The following day the press unanimously declared that a great new star had appeared on the show business horizon.

Some time after this, Shirley had the further good fortune to be spotted by Major Donald Neville-Willing, the impresario, whose responsibility it was at that time to secure the world's greatest stars to appear at the famous Cafe de Paris. He immediately contracted her to appear for him and this, in itself, was a great achievement for any artist so young in years. Once again, Miss Bassey 'stopped the show' nightly and was then booked for further cabaret in Las Vegas and Hollywood.

After this, a lengthy tour of Australia followed and at all these engagements she proved a sensation.

Shirley Bassey is an extraordinary artist who almost invariably dislikes every new song on sight and says so in no uncertain terms! Possibly this is because she hates learning new songs. Once learnt, however, the situation is entirely different. She readily agrees that she was wrong in the first place about the song concerned and then proceeds to give a performance of it which very few singers in the world today could equal.

Another extraordinary thing about this artist is that no matter whether she has a cold, is tired or even ill, it never appears to affect her singing and even at the end of a long session that lasts for hours, she never shows any signs of tiredness whatsoever.

One of the first numbers she sang on television was a blues number and from this came the idea to present her in an album of all the famous blues songs. We feel sure that the combination of Miss Bassey's consummate artistry and the world-famous songs contained herein will make this an album to be enjoyed for many years to come.
 

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Wally Stott / Angela Morley Biography

In the 50s, 60s and into the 70s, Wally Stott was a highly respected conductor, arranger and composer on the UK music scene. In the early 70s he underwent a sex-change operation, and was subsequently known professionally as Angela Morley. Stott was born in 1924 in Sheffield, England.

He attended the same Mexboro school as Tony Mercer, who went on to become one of the principal singers with the 'Black And White Minstrel Show'. Mercer sang and played the piano accordion, while Stott concentrated on the saxophone. On leaving school, they each spent some time with Archie's Juveniles and Oscar Rabin's Band. Stott's route to Rabin was via the bands of Billy Merrin and Bram Martin. By 1944, after some years with the Rabin Band, Stott was leading the saxophone section on alto, and had become the band's sole arranger: a great future was already being forecast for him.

Stott's next move was to Geraldo, with whom he stayed for about four years, leaving in late 1948 to 'pursue arranging and film music work, which he is to make his future career'. He still managed to find the time to play the saxophone for outfits such as Jack Nathan's Coconut Grove Orchestra.

In the early 50s Stott joined Philips Records, and soon became one of their key arrangers, along with Peter Knight and Ivor Raymonde. During the next 20 years he arranged and con-ducted for some of the UK's most popular artists, such as Frankie Vaughan ('Green Door', 'The Garden Of Eden' and 'The Heart Of A Man'), Anne Shelton ('Lay Down Your Arms' and 'My Heart Sings'), Harry Secombe ('This Is My Song'), the Beverley Sisters ('Somebody Bad Stole De Wedding Bell' and 'Happy Wanderer'), Roy Castle (Newcomer), Ronnie Carroll ('Say Wonderful Things' and 'Carroll Calling'), the Kaye Sisters ('Paper Roses'), Shirley Bassey ('Banana Boat Song' and As I Love You'), Muriel Smith ('Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me'), the Polka Dots (Nice Work & You Can Buy It) and many more, plus a few 'foreigners', too, as on 'Mel Torme Meets The British' (1959).

Stott also made several of his own instrumental albums, sometimes augmented by a vocal chorus. He began writing music early in his career, and his first significant piece came to light in November 1954, when Hancock’s Half Hour began. It proved to he one of BBC Radio's most popular programmes, later moving to television, and its opening theme, played on a tuba over Tony Hancock's stuttering introduction, was composed by Stott. He also wrote and arranged the show's instrumental links, and conducted the orchestra for many other radio programmes, including 'The Last Goon Show Of All'. Stott composed numerous pieces of mood music for London publishers, especially Chappell's, which included 'A Canadian In Mayfair' (dedicated to Robert Farnon, who gave Stott valuable advice on arranging and composition), 'Mock Turtles', 'Quiz', 'Travelling Along', 'Miss Universe', 'Flight By Jet', 'Casbah', 'Commonwealth March', 'Practice Makes Perfect', 'China', 'Focus On Fashion' and 'Skylight'.

In the late 60s and early 70s, Stott wrote the music for several films, including 'The Looking Class War', 'Captain Nemo And The Underwater City' and 'When Eight Bells Toll', and for television productions such as 'Hugh And I', and the 'The Maladjusted Busker'. Around that time, credits began to be given in the name of Angela Morley, and these include two Academy Award nominations, for her arrangements of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's score for 'The Little Prince' (1974), and Richard M. and Robert B. Shermans' score for 'The Slipper And The Rose' (1977). Morley> also composed for the animated feature 'Watership Down', the Italian production 'La Colina Dei Comali', and for television films such as 'Friendships, Secrets And Lies', 'Madame X', 'Summer Girl', 'Two Marriages and Threesome' (1984). Most of this work has been completed in the USA, where Morley is reported to have been living for most of the last 20 years.

External Link: Angela Morley Official Site

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