The Bewitching Miss Bassey
Encyclopedia
The Bewitching Miss Bassey is a studio album from Shirley Bassey
. Consisting of new and previously released material this was the first album from Bassey to be issued on the 12" Long-playing record format. Tracks were taken from sessions recorded between 1956 and early 1959. All the songs were recorded in the UK with Wally Stott and his Orchestra, with production by Johnny Franz
. The only exception was "The Wall" which was recorded in New York with Jimmy Carroll and his orchestra and produced by Mitch Miller
. Featuring Bassey's first five hit songs, including Bassey's 1958 number one single "As I Love You" and the huge hit "Kiss Me, Honey, Honey, Kiss Me". The album showcases the best of the early career of Shirley Bassey.
All the songs were only recorded in mono, no stereo versions are known to exist. In the 1970s Philips did re-issue them in an "electronically enhanced" stereo (also known as "pseudo-stereo"). The album was re-issued in the US on the Epic
label with different artwork.
To date (October 2009) there has been no complete CD re-issue of the album, it remains the only UK released album from Bassey not to have had a CD release. Philips
did re-issue several tracks on compilations in the 1990s, and several more have been released since the material fell under public domain
laws.
Side Two.
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"...
. Consisting of new and previously released material this was the first album from Bassey to be issued on the 12" Long-playing record format. Tracks were taken from sessions recorded between 1956 and early 1959. All the songs were recorded in the UK with Wally Stott and his Orchestra, with production by Johnny Franz
Johnny Franz
Johnny Franz was a UK record producer and A&R man at the Philips label. Although his name is not recognized by many Americans, Franz was one of Britain's most successful producers in the 1950s and 1960s...
. The only exception was "The Wall" which was recorded in New York with Jimmy Carroll and his orchestra and produced by Mitch Miller
Mitch Miller
Mitchell William "Mitch" Miller was an American musician, singer, conductor, record producer, A&R man and record company executive...
. Featuring Bassey's first five hit songs, including Bassey's 1958 number one single "As I Love You" and the huge hit "Kiss Me, Honey, Honey, Kiss Me". The album showcases the best of the early career of Shirley Bassey.
All the songs were only recorded in mono, no stereo versions are known to exist. In the 1970s Philips did re-issue them in an "electronically enhanced" stereo (also known as "pseudo-stereo"). The album was re-issued in the US on the Epic
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
label with different artwork.
To date (October 2009) there has been no complete CD re-issue of the album, it remains the only UK released album from Bassey not to have had a CD release. Philips
Philips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
did re-issue several tracks on compilations in the 1990s, and several more have been released since the material fell under public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
laws.
Track listing
Side One.- "Burn My Candle" (Ross Parker) (Previously released in 1956)
- "Night and DayNight and Day (song)"Night and Day" is a popular song by Cole Porter. It was written for the 1932 musical play Gay Divorce. It is perhaps Porter's most popular contribution to the Great American Songbook and has been recorded by dozens of artists....
" (Cole PorterCole PorterCole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
) - "Crazy RhythmCrazy Rhythm"Crazy Rhythm" is a thirty-two-bar swing show tune written in 1928 by Irving Caesar, Joseph Meyer, and Roger Wolfe Kahn for the Broadway musical Here's Howe. It has since become a jazz standard, inspiring at least 15 jazz albums named Crazy Rhythm, often with the song itself included...
" (Irving CaesarIrving CaesarIrving Caesar was an American lyricist and theater composer who wrote lyrics for "Swanee," "Sometimes I'm Happy," "Crazy Rhythm," and "Tea for Two," one of the most frequently recorded tunes ever written. He was born and died in New York.Caesar, the son of Morris Keiser, a Romanian Jew, was...
, Joseph MeyerJoseph MeyerJoseph Meyer was a German industrialist and publisher, most noted for his encyclopedia, Meyers Konversations-Lexikon.-Biography:...
, Roger Wolfe KahnRoger Wolfe KahnRoger Wolfe Kahn was an American jazz and popular musician, composer, and bandleader ....
) - "The WallThe Wall (1957 song)"The Wall" is a popular song, written by Oramay Diamond, Clyde Otis, and Dave Dreyer.It was most successfully popularized by Patti Page in 1957....
" (Oramay Diamond, Clyde OtisClyde OtisClyde Otis, born in Prentiss, Mississippi, , was an American songwriter and producer best known for his collaboration with singer Brook Benton, and for being one of the first African American A&R executive for a major label.According to the music licensing organization Broadcast Music Inc., Otis is...
, Dave DreyerDave DreyerDave Dreyer is a composer and pianist born on September 22, 1894 in Brooklyn, New York. He died on March 2, 1967 in New York City. He started off as a pianist with vaudeville greats such as Al Jolson, Sophie Tucker, Belle Baker, and Frank Fay. In 1923 he worked for the Irving Berlin Music Company....
) - "The Banana Boat Song" (Traditional) (Arrangement: Erik DarlingThe TarriersThe Tarriers were an American vocal group, specializing in folk music and folk-flavored popular music. Named after the folk song "Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill", and founded in 1956 by Erik Darling, Alan Arkin, and Bob Carey, the group had two hit songs during 1956-57: "Cindy, Oh Cindy" and "The...
, Bob CareyThe TarriersThe Tarriers were an American vocal group, specializing in folk music and folk-flavored popular music. Named after the folk song "Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill", and founded in 1956 by Erik Darling, Alan Arkin, and Bob Carey, the group had two hit songs during 1956-57: "Cindy, Oh Cindy" and "The...
, Alan ArkinThe TarriersThe Tarriers were an American vocal group, specializing in folk music and folk-flavored popular music. Named after the folk song "Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill", and founded in 1956 by Erik Darling, Alan Arkin, and Bob Carey, the group had two hit songs during 1956-57: "Cindy, Oh Cindy" and "The...
) (Previously released in 1957) - "The Gypsy in My SoulThe Gypsy in My Soul"The Gypsy in My Soul" is a popular song written for the 50th anniversary of the University of Pennsylvania Mask and Wig show in 1937 by two Penn graduates, Clay Boland and Moe Jaffe. Boland wrote the music and Jaffe the lyrics...
" (Clay Boland, Moe JaffeMoe JaffeMoe Jaffe was a songwriter and bandleader who composed more than 250 songs. He is best known for six: "Collegiate" , “The Gypsy in My Soul", “If I Had My Life to Live Over", “If You Are But a Dream", “Bell Bottom Trousers”, and “I'm My Own Grandpa".-First success:Jaffe was born into a...
) - "Love for Sale" (Porter)
Side Two.
- "From This Moment OnFrom This Moment On (Cole Porter song)"From This Moment On" is a 1951 popular song written by Cole Porter, for his musical Out of This World, where it was dropped, but included in MGM's Kiss Me Kate of 1953...
" (Cole PorterCole PorterCole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
) (Previously released in 1958) - "Kiss Me Honey Honey Kiss Me "(Peter Warne as Michael Julien)
- "You, You Romeo" (Fred Elton) (Previously released in 1957)
- "My Funny ValentineMy Funny Valentine"My Funny Valentine" is a show tune from the 1937 Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart musical Babes in Arms in which it was introduced by former child star Mitzi Green...
" (Richard RodgersRichard RodgersRichard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
, Lorenz HartLorenz HartLorenz "Larry" Milton Hart was the lyricist half of the famed Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart...
) - "How About You?How About You?"How About You?" is a popular song composed by Burton Lane, with lyrics by Ralph Freed. It was introduced in the 1941 film Babes on Broadway by Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney and has also featured in The Fisher King with Robin Williams. The music of the song appears in the film All About Eve...
" (Burton LaneBurton LaneBurton Lane was an American composer and lyricist. His most popular and successful work is the musical Finian's Rainbow, "the score for which Lane will always be most remembered."-Biography:...
, Ralph Freed) - "Fire Down Below" (Ned WashingtonNed WashingtonNed Washington was an American lyricist.-Biography:Washington was nominated for eleven Academy Awards from 1940 to 1962...
, Lee Lester) (Previously released in 1957) - "As I Love You" (Jay LivingstonJay LivingstonJay Livingston was an American composer and singer best known as half of a songwriting duo with Ray Evans that specialized in songs composed for films. Livingston wrote the music and Evans the lyrics....
, Ray EvansRay EvansRaymond Bernard Evans was an American songwriter. He was a partner in a composing and songwriting duo with Jay Livingston, known for the songs they composed for films...
) (Previously released in 1958)
Personnel
- Shirley BasseyShirley BasseyDame 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"...
– vocalSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - Wally Stott and his Orchestra – arrangerArrangementThe American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
, conductorConductingConducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble... - Jimmy Carroll and his orchestra - arrangerArrangementThe American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
, conductorConductingConducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...