We acquired a gem last weekend [I pre-ordered], and for the first time last night we listened to it - Dame Shirley Bassey's final (sniff! sniff!) album I Owe It All to You.
I don't really need to say it, but...
...it is FAB!!
Already Britain’s most successful female artist of all time, with this album crashing into the Top Ten she has broken a new chart record and has become the first to have a UK Top 40 album in seven consecutive decades!
Among a smattering of original songs and cabaret standards, the Dame covers numbers originally recorded by Barry Manilow, Queen, John Miles, Elvis and Liza Minnelli. Unafraid of a challenge, she also covers GaGa and Beyonce(!) - and in doing so, shows both of them exactly how a song should be sung...
By way of a teaser before you all troll off to purchase your copy, here are just two of the tracks - starting with the title song, written especially for her by fellow retiree and longtime collaborator Don Black. As the review in the Financial Times put it:
Bassey’s songs have always had a different outlook. Their world is one of glitz and glamour and ornate vocal power. A swish of thick red velvet curtains, and the spotlight picks out a sumptuously robed figure at the microphone stand. “You have kept me centre stage,” she sings, arms outstretched, voice ringing out to all corners.
Indeed. How life should be.
...and then, this...
There is, and never will be, anyone else like her!
I Owe It All to You is available from Decca Records and Amazon.
Oh christ I thought she'd died when I saw your headline. Don't do that again
ReplyDeleteI think we'd all be wearing black armbands if that were the case. She's actually younger than fellow Dames Joan Collins, Julie Andrews, Judi Dench and Maggie Smith, Sophia Loren, Petula Clark, Chita Rivera and Shirley MacLaine, to name but a few... Jx
DeleteWere on the same page again! My friend a week ago sent me the info for the new cd, which of course is on pre order. I have a post coming also. And she loves that white marabou jacket. I have two other albums where she has it on.
ReplyDeleteThe only two bright spots in 2020. Dame Shirley and Princess Kylie's new albums.
If I had a white marabou jacket like that, I'd love it too! We also took delivery of Princess Kylie's album on the weekend, and will be listening to that later... I might well treat myself to Sophie Ellis-Bextor's Kitchen Disco as well! Jx
DeleteI love her new single - I will come back and listen to these two, when I can play them loud :-)
ReplyDeleteSx
Dame Shirl needs very little in the way of amplification! Jx
Delete"I'd like to play a little game with you..."
ReplyDeleteLoved her 'way back then and still do.
"Don't care even if I blow my top
DeleteBut, honey, honey, don't stop!"
I bet when she sang that song at 22 years old, she never thought she'd only be "stopping" sixty-one years later..! Jx
A pretty good innings.
DeleteThere aren't many left who've had longer musical careers - Tony Bennett, Cliff Richard, The Isley Brothers (if they're still recording, of course)... Jx
DeleteMy Auntie used to sing that song in the front room as a small child, dancing round waving a handkerchief
Deletei'm waiting for the deluxe edition in january!!
ReplyDeleteThe Deluxe edition's already in her Decca records shop, but there is absolutely no information on what difference there is between the two versions... jx
DeleteDeluxe CD with expanded booklet featuring archived material & career highlights. (per amazon)
DeleteNot a huge difference then. I did note, however, that everyone who buys a copy, in whatever version, is entered into a draw to win a replica of the Dame's gold facemask - so I am keeping my fingers crossed on that score! Jx
DeleteI do love her, very much. Partly because she knows how to belt out a song like a song needs to be sung. That, and you never hear about her licking donuts in the case, or other untoward things. And she's a survivor.
ReplyDeleteI very much doubt Dame Shirley has come into contact with a doughnut in her life - it's all caviare and champagne for her! But seriously, it's true her life - despite some of the salacious details that hot the gossip columns early on, and were covered in her biopic - remains a carefully protected mystique... That's why she remains at the top of her game, and remains adored, even to the last. Jx
DeleteWow! She's still got it. Best to go out on high - and dripping in gold!
ReplyDeleteI shall have that on my headstone. Jx
DeleteAfter 70 years in the biz to finish on a high like that is awesome.
ReplyDeleteThe GaGa woman and Beyonce should both hang there heads in shame and never sing a note again.
In an ideal world... Jx
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