Main Index > Songs By Date > 1992 > Shirley Bassey Sings The Bond Collection
 
Shirley Bassey Sings The Bond Collection
 Album 1992: Icon CD 007

Also Released As


Bassey Sings Bond: 1992: Classic Artists/Tring, CD: JHD115, Cassette: MCJHD115
 

Cover Images


 

Track Listing

01. A View To A Kill
02. Nobody Does It Better
03. From Russia With Love
04. We Have All The Time In The World
05. You Only Live Twice
 06. Diamonds Are Forever
 07. Live And Let Die
08. Moonraker
 09. For Your Eyes Only
 10. All Time High
 11. Thunderball
 12. Goldfinger
 

Notes

These are all re-recordings of Bond songs, also including the three tracks Shirley Bassey had performed on the original soundtracks previously.

The recording session for this album was in 1987, shortly after The Rhythm Divine and it should have taken one week. The album was due for release 1987 to coincide with the 25th anniversary of "Dr No".

The "Woman" magazine from June 27th, 1987 (with Shirley Bassey on the cover) contained an interview with Shirley Bassey and wrote: ... Now Shirley is back on form and has just recorded an album of Bond songs to celebrate 007's 25th anniversary this month. "I jumped at the opportunity" she says "I loved doing Goldfinger again. We slowed it up and now it's got more bite, it's a little more sinister". "Diamonds are Forever is more sexy and Moonraker is prettier than it was, it's much gentler. There wasn't the freedom before because we were locked into a tempo to keep pace with the movie credits. Now I've been able to phrase them the way I want to."

In the "Record Mirror" from August 22nd, 1987 (also with Shirley Bassey on the cover) was an article about "The Rhythm Divine" and her return to the charts, but then they also talked about the Bond songs: Amazingly it turns out that Shirley was also to have sung the theme to Thunderball until it was given to Tom Jones. She recently recorded an entire album of Bond themes but amazingly hasn't yet found a record company to release it... Right now, Shirley says she'd like to record "all these contemporary songs and do them on an album". She stresses that she wants "something I can relate to. You know, like I Want To Know What Love Is by Foreigner. Now, that's wonderful." It's remarkable that this had been written more than three years before the Foreigner-song has been released on the album Keep The Music Playing.

These articles show that Shirley Bassey originally liked the songs and wanted to publish the album. She even plugged it on "Live At The Palladium" on May 3rd, 1987 when she mimed to "A View To A Kill" and did a Bond-medley.

But eventually Shirley Bassey decided not to publish the recording. I don't know exactly when and why this decision has been taken, but I heard that she did not like the "husky" quality of her voice. The singing is sometimes even embarrassing, like the warm-up in the wardrobe before a concert. Another problem is simply that not all Bond songs are suited to Shirley Bassey, and that her three original songs are much better in other versions.

But it's especially the orchestral backing and the recording quality which is very poor - it sounds like it has not been completed. Actually there's no orchestra, only a cheap one-man synthesizer-keyboard accompaniment. You can't believe that Shirley Bassey shall have sung along this "music" and liked it (maybe it has been played later over the recording of the vocals).

Five years after the recording in 1992, the album was released regardless and Shirley Bassey took legal action against these releases, so they have now been withdrawn and are very hard to find now.

Additionally in 1992 an official collection of James Bond songs had been released The Best Of James Bond – 30th Anniversary Limited Edition.

A new album "Bassey Sings Bond" with new recordings of Bond songs was due to be released at the end of 2002, this time with the full approval of Dame Shirley Bassey, however this album was never released as a result of a dispute over the recording. The album was removed from the schedule and I am lead to believe that the masters have now been destroyed.
 

Sleeve Note
From the Icon Release

Shirley Bassey has been one of the world's premier female vocalists for nearly thirty years. Her first hit was in 1957 with the 'Banana Boat Song' which reached number 8 in the UK charts. She continued to have a continuous level of success which included 11 top ten singles and 34 hit singles, altogether. Shirley was not only a prolific singles seller she also had 28 hit albums in the UK, this included six in the top 10.

In 1964 Shirley Bassey recorded the title song to the sensationally successful James Bond film Goldfinger. This was the third James Bond film that had been made. Although the record sold well in the UK, when issued in America it sold over a million by November 1964. The theme was written by John Barry who had written the previous two BOND themes, Dr No' and 'From Russia With Love', Barry also went on to write 'Thunderball, 'Moonraker', 'Diamonds Are Forever', 'You Only Live Twice", 'View To A Kill', 'All Time High' and 'We Have All The Time In The World'. Shirley Bassey went on to record the title track to the Bond film, 'Diamonds Are Forever' in 1972. Shirley Bassey was born in 1937 in the Tiger Bay area of Cardiff, she was the youngest of seven children. Her father died when she was two.

Although she had a hard upbringing, she taught herself music. In 1955 she met the impressario Jack Hylton at London's Astor Club, this meeting led to her becoming successful in many stage reviews. Her very first was 'Such Is Life' in London's West End. Shirley has a big international reputation and has appeared almost everywhere in the world, most notably in Las Vegas and Hollywood in America, Monte Carlo, Switzerland where she lives, and also in Australia and New Zealand.

Although she has recorded only two Bond themes, her fans feel that Bassey and Bond are two things that go together. This album has been recorded to highlight that Shirley Bassey is the only person who really can sing Bond. The twelve tracks on this album have been specially recorded and produced by Tony Clarke who produced hit albums and singles for The Moody Blues, The Four Tops and Clannad to name but a few. We hope you like it!
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