Main Index > Songs By Date > 1972 > I Capricorn
 

I Capricorn Album 1972: United Artists UK: UAS 29246, US: UAS 5565 2000 UK CD Re-Issue: EMI 5258452. 2001 US CD Re-Issue 76681

Chart Positions

		Entered: Feb 19 1972 Highest: Albums: #13  Run: 8 weeks Re-Entry: May 27 1972  Run: 3 weeks
		Entered: Apr 1972 Highest: Pop Albums: #94

Cover Images

Cover Images: T. Timoleon
 

Track Listing

01. 4:28 - I Capricorn
02. 3:04 - The Look Of Love
03. 3:05 - The Way A Woman Loves
04. 3:22 - Love
05. 3:13 - Where Am I Going
06. 2:36 - I've Never Been A Woman Before
07. 2:43 - For All We Know
08. 3:26 - The Greatest Performance Of My Life
09. 3:33 - Where Is Love
10. 2:45 - Losing My Mind
11. 2:28 - One Less Bell To Answer
12. 2:46 - Lost And Lonely
 

Purchase This Item Using these links helps this site

EMI 2000 CD Release

Rare & Deleted CDs & Vinyl

Compare Prices

CD Sleeve Note  By Chris White, 2000

The release of Shirley Bassey's I Capricorn album on United Artists in February 1972 consolidated the musical mood of her two earlier albums of the fledgling decade, Something which had been released in 1970, and 1971's Something Else. This milestone album also benefited commercially by its inclusion of Shirley's hit single For All We Know, a UK Top 10 success in August 1971, and which had beaten the number l8 chart placing of the original Richard and Karen Carpenter recording.

I Capricorn was released at a time when Shirley's career was once again operating in full gear. The late Sixties had witnessed the Welsh diva taking a back seat to the more contemporary female singers of the era (not helped by the fact that for several years she lived abroad as a tax exile). Her 1970 'comeback' single Something had been her first British Top 10 success since I (Who Have Nothing) some seven years earlier.

The subsequent success of her Something album (a number 5 success and 28 weeks in the Top 50) had firmly restored her to the frontline. Shirley was once again back in favour, headlining at London's Talk Of The Town and the Royal Festival Hall, appearing on the Royal Variety Show at the London Palladium, and drawing capacity crowds at the legendary Batley Variety Club in the North of England.

She also appeared on all the top-rating TV light entertainment of the day, including This Is Your Life, Top Of The Pops and, of course, the legendary Morecambe & Wise show (and who could forget her hilarious rendition of Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, supported by the antics of the legendary comedy duo?).

Shirley's international popularity also continued to grow rapidly. Australia and New Zealand had long been favourite destinations for frequent concert tours, and the United States had continued to demand live appearances, Including at the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas, and New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel, as well as the prestigious Carnegie Hall. The 'tigress from Tiger Bay' could do no wrong.

1972, the year of I Capricorn's release, witnessed even more international success. Shirley completed a 12-city U.S. tour in April of that year with a sell-out performance at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles (venue of the annual Academy Awards).

Other American cities on the, 1972 tour included Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York (where she packed out the Lincoln Centre), Louisville, Toledo, Chicago, Dallas and Houston, as well as Toronto in Canada.

Several of Shirley's late-Sixties albums for United Artists had been recorded in the United States (mainly because of her tax exile status, preventing her recording in London). It was a situation that Ms Bassey did not find ideal but the situation had changed with the dawn of the new decade. Noel Rogers had been appointed executive producer of her recording career and he, in turn, had appointed Johnny Harris as arranger and producer for Shirley's studio sessions. The result had been a more contemporary musical approach, bringing Shirley's recordings to a much more diverse listening public than before. In essence, she became a song and pop stylist as opposed to the cabaret performer that many had previously perceived her as being.

In August 1971 Shirley's recording of For All We Know, from the film Lovers And Other Strangers, entered the British charts at number 46 but disappeared after just one week. It proved to be a false start however because the recording re-entered the Top 50, eventually nestling at number 6 and enjoying 23 weeks in the Top 50. For All We Know in fact proved to have, with the exception of 1960's As Long As He Needs Me (which spent 30 weeks in the Top 50), the longest chart duration of any of Shirley's many hit singles.

The single's runaway success paved the way for the I Capricorn album which hit the record shops just as For All We Know Was dropping out of the nation's pop charts. The 12-track album, which like its two immediate predecessors had been arranged, produced and conducted by Johnny Harris, swiftly sailed to number 13 and spent almost three months in the Music Week album chart.

I Capricorn featured a blend of contemporary pop songs and the show songs that Shirley Bassey has always performed so well.

The title track became a staple part of her live performances during the next 18 months -Shirley herself was born under the sign of Capricorn (January 8th) and thus the song took on a personal association. It also ideally showcased the dramatic Bassey singing style.

Three years earlier Shirley had recorded her first Hal David and Burt Bacharach song (I'll Never Fall In Love Again) and I Capricorn included two more Bassey interpretations of the prolific song writing duo's work. The Look Of Love had first been recorded by another of Britain's legendary female singers, Dusty Springfield, in 1967, and originally featured in the spoof James Bond film Casino Royale. One Less Bell To Answer had been a major American success earlier for the harmony group 5th Dimension. Both were given the unique Bassey vocal treatment.

Shirley also renewed her earlier association with Lionel Bart's stage and (subsequent) film musical Oliver! (As Long As He Needs Me had given her a worldwide hit in 1960) with a tender reading of Where Is Love, another show-stopper from the show. Two other stage songs she chose to include on I Capricorn were Where Am I Going from Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields' Sweet Charity (the show which had previously given her a substantial hit, and perennial crowd-pleaser, with Big Spender), and Stephen Sondheim's Losing My Mind, from the Broadway hit, Follies.

The Greatest Performance Of My Life wasn't a show song but suggested that Shirley could herself have made a considerable impact had she ever starred in a dramatic stage musical. It was rumoured in the late Sixties that she was in line for the role of Nancy in the film version of Oliver! but, sadly, this never happened. The Greatest Performance Of My Life certainly suggests that it was an opportunity wasted.

Four contemporary ballads were also included on I Capricorn. Producer Johnny Harris and assistant producer John Bromley penned The Way A Woman Loves, while Shirley delved into the John Lennon catalogue of songs to record Love. Completing the track listing were I've Never Been A Woman Before and Lost And Lonely, given the full emotive Bassey treatment.

I Capricorn remains a remarkable album in a long recording career that has been studded by many successes and musical highlights, and is well worthy of re-issue almost three decades after it first wowed Shirley Bassey's legion of fans.
 

Review From Billboard Magazine, Mar 11 1972

PICK: Miss Bassey's current LP should have added sales impact thanks to her current chart single, "Diamonds Are Forever." Although the single is not in the LP, there are exciting vocals of "Love," "Look of Love," "Losing My Mind," and the title song. Airplay is already huge and chart status should be immediate.

© Billboard Magazine 1972
 

Review From HMV Choice, Oct 2000

Shirley Bassey gives her all on this 1972 album. It sounds just like a live performance. Speaking of which, there's a highly emotive track called The Greatest Performance Of My Life, which is a winner for the Welsh Diva. Lush orchestrations enhance the show numbers and For All We Know had been a huge hit the year before. Ms Bassey chills out with purring versions of Lionel Bart's Where Is Love and John Lennon's Love.

© HMV Choice 2000

[Latest Updates] [Important Notice] [Contact Me] [Search Site]