SHIRLEY BASSEY — Something (1970-1999) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Locked out of the singles charts for the past seven years, Shirley Bassey finally returned with this collection of "contemporary" standards, including her British Top Five single "Something." (Bassey, who first heard the song when Peggy Lee sang it, apparently didn't even know it was a Beatles tune until just before recording it.) To parallel the modern material, Johnny Harris' arrangements add an upfront electric bass and hang-loose drumkit to the heavy strings and brass. Of course, Bassey was never a jazz singer, so she makes the transition from traditional pop to contemporary rock with an ease more comparable to Barbra Streisand than Peggy Lee. There are a few jazzy rock standards ("Light My Fire," "Spinning Wheel," "Something") plus plenty of latter-day show tunes ("Easy to Be Hard," "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life,") and a few '60s vocal pieces ("The Sea and Sand," "My Way," "Yesterday When I Was Young"). Each tune that comes her way gets stamped with the irrepressible Bassey style, and ends up making a remarkably cohesive album of contemporary pop. John Bush
Tracklist :
1 Something 3:35
George Harrison
2 Spinning Wheel 3:08
David Clayton-Thomas
3 Yesterday I Heard the Rain 3:30
Gene Lees / Armando Manzanero
4 The Sea and Sand 4:02
Shirley Bassey
5 My Way 3:39
Paul Anka / Claude François / Jacques Revaux / Gilles Thibault
6 What About Today? 3:11
David Shire
7 You and I 3:47
Leslie Bricusse
8 Light My Fire 3:28
John Densmore / Robby Krieger / Ray Manzarek / Jim Morrison
9 Easy to Be Hard 2:41
Galt MacDermot / James Rado / Gerome Ragni
10 Life Goes On 2:41
Barbara Martin / Mikis Theodorakis
11 What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life? 2:59
Alan Bergman / Marilyn Bergman / Michel Legrand
12 Yesterday, When I Was Young 3:54
Charles Aznavour / Herbert Kretzmer
– BONUS TRACK –
13 The Fool on the Hill 3:23
John Lennon / Paul McCartney
 Credits :
Arranged By, Conductor – Johnny Harris
Bass Guitar [Uncredited] – Tony Campo
Drums [Uncredited] – Harold Fisher
Guitar [Uncredited] – Bill Parkinson
Other [Dress By] – Siki Milan

SHIRLEY BASSEY - Shirley (1961-1997) RM / FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Shirley Bassey's second album for EMI/Columbia is something of a letdown after her debut, The Fabulous Shirley Bassey. Producer Norman Newell again employs the services of Geoff Love & His Orchestra, who provide rather thick-textured accompaniment that sometimes seems out of sync with the singer's full abilities, which never get used on this LP. Bassey's singing is assured and rich-toned, whether she's doing straight pop or bluesy torch ballads like "For Every Man There's a Woman," and she does plumb some unexpected depths of emotion in a slow, impassioned "I'm in the Mood for Love," on which the orchestra is a little too busy for the good of the singer or the song. Love's accompaniments throughout are rather problematic -- the bandleader evidently favored the use of bongos on some of this repertory, but, as with all instruments with the least bit of exoticism, a little bongos go a long way. Generally, Bassey seems less comfortable with both the songs and the arrangements on this album than she did on her debut, although she does have a few beautiful moments here. This was reissued at the end of the 1990s as part of EMI's anniversary series in 24-bit sound. by Bruce Eder  
Tracklist:
1 In the Still of the Night 3:17
Cole Porter
2 Let There Be Love 3:10
Ian Grant / Lionel Rand
3 All at Once 3:30
4 For Every Man There's a Woman 3:51
Harold Arlen / Leo Robin
5 I'm in the Mood for Love 3:20
Dorothy Fields / Jimmy McHugh
6 So in Love 3:01
Cole Porter
7 If I Were a Bell 2:50
Frank Loesser
8 There Will Never Be Another You 4:20
Mack Gordon / Harry Warren
9 Hooray for Love 3:09
Harold Arlen / Leo Robin
10 Too Late Now 3:37
Burton Lane / Alan Jay Lerner
11 I'm Shooting High 1:31
Ted Koehler / Jimmy McHugh
12 Ev'rrtey Time We Say Goodbye 5:13
Cole Porter
Credits:
Shirley Bassey, Vocals with
Geoff Love and his Orchestra