Thank You for the Years is a 2003 album by Welsh singer Shirley Bassey

Shirley Bassey

Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...

.

This album, a mix of new and previously released material, commemorated Bassey's 50 years in show business. Bassey marks the year 1953 as her official entry into show business, as that is the year, at the age of sixteen, she signed her first professional contract: to tour in a variety show

Variety show

A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...

 called "Memories of Jolson". The album reached #19 in the UK Albums Chart

UK Albums Chart

The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...

, and earned a silver disc.

In a 1999 interview with Nigel Havers

Nigel Havers

Nigel Allan Havers is an English actor. He is probably best known for his BAFTA-nominated role as Lord Andrew Lindsay in the 1981 British film Chariots of Fire, and for his role as Dr. Tom Latimer in the British TV comedy series Don't Wait Up...

 in her Monte Carlo

Monte Carlo

Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....

 apartment, Bassey pointed to a piece of paper framed on the wall and referred to it as her first contract, at a salary of £14 a week (a considerable sum for a sixteen-year-old in 1953). However, upon closer inspection of this document, dated December 17, 1953 (three weeks before her 17th birthday), it appears to be £10 for two performances.

Track listing

1. "Thank You for the Years"*
2. "Mi Amor"*
3. "Can I Turn it All Around"*
4. "I Only Want Some"*
5. "Please Don't Say Goodbye"*
6. "I Just Have To Breathe"*
7. "World in Union" (Gustav Holst
   Gustav Holst
   Gustav Theodore Holst was an English composer. He is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets....
   
   , Charlie Skarbek) (Duet with Bryn Terfel
   Bryn Terfel
   Bryn Terfel Jones CBE is a Welsh bass-baritone opera and concert singer. Terfel was initially associated with the roles of Mozart, particularly Figaro and Leporello, but has subsequently shifted his attention to heavier roles, especially those by Wagner....
   
   ) (1999 single release)
8. "History Repeating"
   History Repeating (song)
   "History Repeating" is a song written by Alex Gifford and originally performed by the Propellerheads featuring Shirley Bassey in 1997.-Single release:...
   
    (With Propellerheads
   Propellerheads
   Propellerheads were a British big beat musical ensemble, formed in 1995 and made up of electronic producers Will White and Alex Gifford. The term propellerhead is slang for a nerd, and when Gifford and White heard a friend from California use this in a conversation, they thought it the perfect name...
   
   ) (1997 single release)
9. "I Am What I Am"
   I Am What I Am (Broadway musical song)
   "I am what I am" is a song originally introduced in the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical La Cage aux Folles . The song is the finale number of the musical's first act, and performed by the character of Albin Mougeotte, first played by George Hearn...
   
    (Live version, taken from the 1997 album The Birthday Concert)
10. "Diamonds Are Forever"
    Diamonds Are Forever (film)
    Diamonds Are Forever is the seventh spy film in the Eon Productions James Bond series, and the sixth and final Eon Productions film to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film is based on Ian Fleming's 1956 novel of the same name, and is the second of four James Bond films...
    
     (Live version, taken from the 1997 album The Birthday Concert)
11. "Something
    Something
    "Something" is a song by The Beatles, written by lead guitarist George Harrison in 1969. It was featured on the album Abbey Road, and was also the first song written by Harrison to appear on the A-side of a Beatles' single...
    
    " (Taken from the 1970 album Something)
12. "Big Spender
    Big Spender
    "Big Spender" is a song written by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields for the musical Sweet Charity, first performed in 1966. It is sung, in the musical, by the dance hostess "girls"; it was choreographed by Bob Fosse for the Broadway musical and the film...
    
    " (Taken from the 1967 album And We Were Lovers
    And We Were Lovers
    And We Were Lovers is a 1967 album by Shirley Bassey. The album is the first appearance of Big Spender, and the single that was issued hit #21 on the charts.And We Were Lovers was recorded in America and in England...
    
    )
13. "Goldfinger"
    Goldfinger (song)
    "Goldfinger" was the title song from the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger. Composed by John Barry and with lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley, the song was performed by Shirley Bassey for the film's opening and closing title sequences, as well as the soundtrack album release...
    
     (1964 single A-side in Stereo/Soundtrack album track)
14. "I (Who Have Nothing)
    I (Who Have Nothing)
    "I " is a song originally released in English by Ben E. King in 1963."I " is based on the Italian song "Uno Dei Tanti," with music by Carlo Donida and lyrics by Giulio "Mogol" Rapetti. "Uno Dei Tanti" was released by Joe Sentieri in 1961...
    
    " (1963 single A-side in Stereo)
15. "What Kind of Fool Am I?
    What Kind of Fool Am I?
    "What Kind of Fool Am I?" is a popular song written by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley and published in 1962. It was introduced by Anthony Newley in the musical Stop The World - I Want To Get Off...
    
    " (1963 single A-side in Stereo)
16. "What Now My Love" (Taken from the 1962 album Let's Face the Music
    Let's Face the Music
    Let's Face the Music is the sixth Shirley Bassey studio album, released in 1962, and arranged by Nelson Riddle.Kenneth Hume, Shirley Bassey's husband and manager wrote the sleeve notes for this album, in which he gives an insight into how this album came to being: "When Vic Lewis booked Nelson...
    
    )
17. "Reach For The Stars"
    Reach for the Stars (song)
    Reach for the Stars is a song made popular by Shirley Bassey and written by Austrian pop singer/songwriter Udo Jürgens . As a double A-side single it went to #1 in the UK charts....
    
     (1961 single double A-side in Stereo)
18. "Kiss Me Honey, Honey (Kiss Me)" (1958 single A-side in Mono)
19. "As I Love You" (1958 single A-side in Mono)
20. "The Banana Boat Song"
    Banana Boat Song
    "Day-O " is a traditional Jamaican mento folk song, the best-known version of which was sung by Harry Belafonte. Although it is really Jamaican mento, the song is widely known as an example of calypso music. It is a song from the point of view of dock workers working the night shift loading bananas...
    
     (1957 single A-side in Mono)
21. "Burn My Candle (At Both Ends)
    Burn My Candle (at Both Ends)
    "Burn My Candle" was Shirley Bassey's first single. It was recorded in February 1956, when Bassey was nineteen years old, and released later that month on a 78 rpm shellac disc , with Stormy Weather on the B side. The record was produced by Johnny Franz, with Wally Stott and his Orchestra backing...
    
    " (1956 single A-side in Mono)
22. "Thank You for the Years (Anniversary Mix)"*

• *denotes new tracks exclusive to this release. Frank Gallagher, producer.