Main Index > Songs By Date > 1961 > Shirley Bassey (With The Williams Singers)
 
Shirley Bassey
 Album 1961: CD Re-Issue 1997: EMI Digipak 8564732

With The William Singers & Geoff Love and his Orchestra. This album was voted 'Album of the Year' along with 'Judy at Carnegie Hall'.
 
Chart Positions
Official British Chart   Entered: Feb 15 1962
Highest: Albums: #14  Run: 8 weeks
 Re-Entry: Jun 07 1962  Run: 3 weeks
Cover Images


 
Track Listing

01. 2:54 - Love Is A Many Splendored Thing
02. 4:20 - The Nearness Of You
03. 2:51 - Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear To Tread)
04. 4:13 - Who Are We?
05. 3:02 - Angel Eyes
06. 3:58 - Till
07. 3:21 - A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening
08. 3:06 - This Love Of Mine
09. 2:39 - You're Nearer
10. 3:52 - Goodbye Lover - Hello Friend
11. 3:24 - Where Or When
12. 3:16 - Where Are You?
13. 3:10 - Climb Ev'ry Mountain
 
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Sleeve Note
By Pauline Grant

"A heavenly body appearing as a luminous point ... having an influence over a person's life" is the dictionary definition of the word 'star'. The legions of Shirley Bassey admirers are not likely to challenge this description. Shirley is an undoubted and undisputed star, and rightly enjoys an incomparable status. She stands outside and above any ordinary category of 'pop' singer, projecting her instinctive and dynamic talent on her own terms.

She possesses provocative beauty, intelligence, and abundant personal magnetism, and discharges it all with cross shots of fire and casual elegance which make her an electrifying stage presence, and peerless recording artist.

She opens the first side with an exultant performance of the Webster-Fain Love Is A Many Splendored Thing, which is probably one of the most perceptive and impassioned interpretations ever given of this beautiful song; throughout this record it is her original and distinctive approach which emphasises Shirley Bassey's versatility, and her easy supremacy over her colleagues. Another highlight on this side is the world of estrangement and loss which she extracts from the lovely Angel Eyes - moods in which Geoff Love supports her admirably.

The second side sustains, and sometimes exceeds, the high level of the first. Starting with A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening, she purrs, caresses and lilts her way through This Love Of Mine and You're Nearer, and reaches a thrilling peak in the haunting Newell / Carr Goodbye Lover - Hello Friend. This is one of the loveliest compositions in the history of modern popular songs, with it's pure melody and the heartbreaking understatement of it's lyric - and Shirley handles it with love and finesse.

The climax of this side is reached in the Rodgers / Hammerstein II hit, Climb Ev'ry Mountain, from their last hit, "Sound Of Music", with which Shirley finishes the record.

The backing of the Rita Williams Singers introduces a refreshing and stimulating texture to both sides of this disc.

The inspired choice of songs and the dexterity and refinement of their direction is designed to illuminate the range of Shirley's accomplishments - and she would be the first to agree that in Geoff Love she has found an arranger and accompanist of virtuoso qualities to match her own. Geoff displays her blade-sharp awareness of every change in Shirley's mood and style and helps to make this disc and outstanding achievement; it's a supreme example of "oneness" between Artist, Musical Director and Recording Producer, and ranks high among EMI successes.

But, oh, it is Shirley - lithe, lilting, lovable Shirley - who in this fusion of style, mood and performance, wins the triple crown.
 

Review
 By Bruce Eder, All Music Guide

Bassey's third album is a pleasing if momentarily uneven collection of 13 songs, accompanied by Geoff Love and his orchestra with the Rita Williams Singers. Once one gets past the most questionable track here (the opener, no less), a version of "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing" that Bassey belts out to a too-loud accompaniment, everything is a winner. The best cut here, and one of the highlights of her early recording career, is "The Nearness of You," a dark and moody, totally sensual experience in which her voice gently washes over the listener, like a female analogue to Nat King Cole at his most subtle. "Fools Rush In" isn't far behind, though on that particular cut the orchestra may even be a little under-recorded — the Rita Williams Singers are very tastefully used on that track, however, in a successful, understated manner. They're a little more prominent but still most effective on the beautiful "Who Are We?." "This Love of Mine" and "A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening" are sung by Bassey solo, the former with a hauntingly beautiful held note on the fade-out. She also acquits herself well on the bluesy "Angel Eyes," which breaks up the pacing and mood around all of this charmingly ethereal pop. Producer Norman Newell also bolsters the song writing department with "Goodbye Lover — Hello Friend," which Bassey turns into a beautifully dramatic vehicle for her voice — she might even be a little too dramatic on Rodgers & Hart's "Where or When," but is so overpowering in her intonation that the slight excess can be forgiven. In all, this is a delightful and rewarding release from her early career, and is worth tracking down, particularly in the 1997 reissue as part of EMI's 100th anniversary CD series.

Review text © All Music Guide
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