The Songs of Shirley Bassey

Shirley Bassey Album 1984:
I Am What I Am
with the London Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Michael Alexander
Towerbell Records, LP: UK: TOW LP7, France: Vogue VG409, 540 102, Germany: Hörzu/Ariola 206579
CD: France: CDTOW7, Vogue France: VG651600065, Germany: BMG Ariola 610 234-217

Tracklisting:

  1. 2:56 - What Now My Love?
  2. 3:28 - Something
  3. 3:48 - As Long As He Needs Me
  4. 3:37 - Kiss Me, Honey, Honey, Kiss Me
  5. 3:00 - As I Love You
  6. 1:59 - Big Spender
  7. 3:52 - Send In The Clowns
  8. 3:07 - I Am What I Am
  9. 2:48 - Goldfinger
  10. 2:51 - I (Who Have Nothing)
  11. 4:12 - Natali
  12. 4:31 - And I Love You So
  13. 4:26 - Never, Never, Never
  14. 2:33 - For All We Know
  15. 3:51 - This Is My Life
  16. 4:08 - If You Don't Understand


On the LP issue and on some CD releases (Towerbell TOW 7) the last track is missing.

This album has also been re-issued under different titles, like for example "This Is My Life" or "Something", and it is not always noted on the cover that it is from the recording session together with the London Symphony Orchestra. Compare the tracks with the album tracklisting, but they're not always in the original order on the re-issues. If You've the possibility to listen into the CD compare for example:

One re-issue being currently available is the Portuguese CD "Something", Intermusic Portugal 1994, SPA, Remember RMB 75079


Sleevenote
I am thrilled to have now been able to re-record the most important songs in my life, with some of the most talented people that I ever worked with. I hope my new album gives you many hours of listening pleasure.
Shirley Bassey

The recording sessions took place at Olympic Studios, Barnes, London, in July & August 1984.


Sleevenote
from a 1994 portuguese re-issue:

Hundreds of thousands of words have been written about her and countless tributes have been paid to her artistry. Nevertheless, it can all be summed up in one short sentence: there is just no one like her. To hear her sing for the first time is to joyously discover one of the finest singers of our day, the one and only Shirley Bassey.

With a voice of angelic purity, striking beauty, and a gentle but irresistible charisma, Shirley Bassey is an artist of many gifts. She has become the most singular success among contemporary popular entertainers and she is unique in the range of her huge international audiences. "All music", Shirley is convinced, "is related. And if you feel and believe in your music, that conviction carries over to the public." The degree to which Shirley Bassey's conviction does indeed carry over to her public was described recently by an american critic: "When she sings, you forget your ills, who you are, where you come from, and what you're going to do when the show is over."

Shirley Bassey, born in Cardiff, Wales, on January 8, 1937, is the daughter of a West Indian merchant seamen. Her first success in Britain came in 1957 with the Harry Belafonte hit "Banana Boat Song". She didn't break into the charts again for nearly two years, when a chance appearance on the London Palladium Show helped to break "As I Love You". In early 1959, both this song and "Kiss Me Honey, Honey Kiss Me" were in the Top Ten. Among her next chart successes were "As Long As He Needs Me" (from Oliver), "Goldfinger" (from the James Bond film), "Big Spender" (from Sweet Charity), "Something" (the Beatles' hit) and "For All We Know".

In the early 1960s, Shirley Bassey's dynamic singing and extravagant gestures established her as a live act in american show business. In 1969, she moved to switzerland, but all over the world her concert and cabaret appearances continued to be real sensations.

In her brilliant career, Miss Bassey has tackled just about every genre of song. She maintains her undiminishing popularity because she handles a thatre audience just as effectively as she holds the attention of fans grouped around a CD player, listening to her albums. This compact disc features Shirley singing sixteen of her greatest hits, accompanied by the London Symphony Orchestra, recorded (digitally) in 1984.

In popular singin there are great names, but few can equal the reputation and respect by Shirley Bassey. This collection is the perfect illustration of everything that makes her "divine". Whatever the song, there is no mistaking the voice or the temperament. "Something" proves that a singer who usually means business can also sing for the fun of it - and still siphon the truth out of every phrase.


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