Cilla Black: The Abbey Road Decade - The Complete Single A&B Sides (1963-1973)

Who was the second biggest selling music star to come out of Liverpool after the Beatles? It wasn't Gerry & the Pacemakers or Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas, nor was it the Searchers. It was Cilla Black, a one-time coat-check girl from the Cavern Club who was still learning to sing with confidence, forget developing a technique, just about the time that the Beatles were cutting their first EMI record. She appeared as guest singer with various groups at the Cavern in 1963, and was brought to the attention of Brian Epstein, who during the next few years ably exploited her girl-next-door appeal. Her first single, under the auspices of producer George Martin, was a brassy powerhouse reworking of the Beatles’ unreleased 'Love of the Loved', which reached the UK Top 40 in late 1963. A change of style with Burt Bacharach’s 'Anyone Who Had a Heart' saw Black emerge as a ballad singer of immense power and distinction. 'You’re My World', a translation of an Italian lyric, was another brilliantly orchestrated, impassioned ballad that, like its predecessor, dominated the UK number 1 position in 1964. In what was arguably the most competitive year in British pop history, Black was outselling all her Merseyside rivals except the Beatles. For her fourth single, Paul McCartney presented 'It’s for You', a fascinating jazz waltz ballad that seemed a certain number 1, but it stalled at number 8. By the end of 1964, Black was one of the most successful female singers of her era and continued to release cover versions of superb quality, including the Righteous Brothers’ 'You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’'. A consummate rocker and unchallenged mistress of the neurotic ballad genre, Black was unassailable at her pop peak, yet her chosen path was that of an ‘all-round entertainer’. For most of 1965, she ceased recording and worked on her only feature film, Work Is a Four Letter Word, but returned strongly the following year with 'Love’s Just a Broken Heart' and 'Alfie'. The death of Brian Epstein in 1967 and a relative lull in chart success might have blighted the prospects of a lesser performer, but Black was already moving into television work, aided by her manager/husband Bobby Willis. Her highly rated television series was boosted by the hit title theme 'Step Inside Love', donated by Paul McCartney. Throughout the late '60s, she continued to register Top 10 hits, including 'Surround Yourself with Sorrow', 'Conversations' and the dreadful 'Something Tells Me (Something Is Gonna Happen Tonight)'. Like many of her contemporaries, Black wound down her recording career in the '70s and thenceforth she basically concentrated on television. The material on this 3-cd collection features all of the aforementioned Black's hits, B-sides, and album tracks; also, disc three is made up entirely of rarities, including some surprising demos like 'Step Inside Love', from 1968, with Paul McCartney accompanying her on acoustic guitar. There's also Black's original rehearsal cut of the Cavern-styled 'A Shot of R&B'; a surviving acetate of 'Fever,' accompanied by Gerry & the Pacemakers; plus her unissued versions of 'Heatwave' and 'Shotgun.' Coupled with some good arrangements and George Martin's crisp production, Cilla Black's music holds up astonishingly well and she displays a surprisingly soulful approach on songs such as 'Is It Love', 'For No One,' 'What Good Am I' and Randy Newman's 'I’ve Been Wrong Before'. http://www.allmusic.com/, http://www.oldies.com/
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Cilla Black with Burt Bacharach cutting 'Alfie' at Abbey Road, in 1965 :

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Cilla Black with Sounds Incorporated at the New Musical Express Poll Winners concert singing 'Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah', 1965:

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With Cliff Richard performing 'The Look of Love' and 'Walk on By', in 1969: