Good, Bad but Beautiful
Encyclopedia
Good, Bad but Beautiful is a 1975 album by Shirley Bassey
. In the first half of the decade, Bassey recorded nine albums, with three making the top ten. In March 1975, Bassey released a compilation that became her highest-charting album to date, The Shirley Bassey Singles Album
(#2), and reflects the momentum Bassey had maintained since her 1970 "comeback". Good, Bad but Beautiful, released in the autumn of 1975, spent seven weeks on the UK Albums Chart
, peaking at #13. The album reflects the formula that brought Bassey back to the charts: a combination of contemporary songs combined with her forte of standards, show tunes, and torch songs, featuring arrangements aimed squarely at the adult contemporary, or middle-of-the-road, audience. This was also achieved by modifying her backup orchestra to include electric guitars, a string and brass section with a more contemporary sound, and drumming that is more soft rock-oriented than jazz-oriented, while side two's opener, "Feel Like Makin' Love"
displays a smooth jazz
style.
This was Bassey's seventh album of the 1970s to make the Billboard 200
, peaking at #186. It also reached #54 on the US R&B
chart. In the UK the album was awarded a silver disc six weeks after it was released.
The original release was in stereo on vinyl and cassette. In 2005, BGO Records issued a remastered Good, Bad but Beautiful, together with the 1973 album Never Never Never
, on a 2 CD set.
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"...
. In the first half of the decade, Bassey recorded nine albums, with three making the top ten. In March 1975, Bassey released a compilation that became her highest-charting album to date, The Shirley Bassey Singles Album
The Shirley Bassey Singles Album
The Shirley Bassey Singles Album is a compilation album released in 1975 by British singer Shirley Bassey.Having seen a sales dip in the latter half of the 1960s, Shirley Bassey enjoyed a successful comeback in the 1970s, beginning with the single and album hits, "Something"...
(#2), and reflects the momentum Bassey had maintained since her 1970 "comeback". Good, Bad but Beautiful, released in the autumn of 1975, spent seven weeks on 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...
, peaking at #13. The album reflects the formula that brought Bassey back to the charts: a combination of contemporary songs combined with her forte of standards, show tunes, and torch songs, featuring arrangements aimed squarely at the adult contemporary, or middle-of-the-road, audience. This was also achieved by modifying her backup orchestra to include electric guitars, a string and brass section with a more contemporary sound, and drumming that is more soft rock-oriented than jazz-oriented, while side two's opener, "Feel Like Makin' Love"
Feel Like Makin' Love (Roberta Flack song)
"Feel Like Makin' Love" was covered by American R&B and neo soul musician D'Angelo for his second studio album Voodoo . It was released April 8, 2000, on Virgin Records as the album's fifth and last single. His cover version features a quiet storm sound and heavy use of multi-tracking for vocals....
displays a smooth jazz
Smooth jazz
Smooth jazz is a genre of music that grew out of jazz fusion and is influenced by R&B, funk, rock, and pop music styles ....
style.
This was Bassey's seventh album of the 1970s to make the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
, peaking at #186. It also reached #54 on the US R&B
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999...
chart. In the UK the album was awarded a silver disc six weeks after it was released.
The original release was in stereo on vinyl and cassette. In 2005, BGO Records issued a remastered Good, Bad but Beautiful, together with the 1973 album Never Never Never
Never Never Never
Never Never Never is a 1973 album by Shirley Bassey. Released in May 1973, this album saw a peak in the Shirley Bassey career revival that she was experiencing during the early 1970s...
, on a 2 CD set.
Track listing
Side One.- "Emotion" (Patti DahlstromPatti DahlstromPatti Dahlstrom is a widely respected singer/songwriter, recording artist and teacher. Born in Texas, she cut four albums in the seventies, and co-wrote the Helen Reddy hit "Emotion", before enjoying a renaissance and renewed visibility in 2010.-Early life:...
, Véronique SansonVéronique SansonVéronique Sanson is a two-time Victoires de la Musique Award-winning French singer-songwriter, musician, and producer with an avid following in her native country.She brings a very personal vocal style to the singing of French pop songs: Her voice has a very strong vibrato.Unlike...
) - 4.17 - "Send in the ClownsSend in the Clowns"Send in the Clowns" is a song by Stephen Sondheim from the 1973 musical A Little Night Music, an adaptation of Ingmar Bergman's film Smiles of a Summer Night. It is a ballad from Act II in which the character Desirée reflects on the ironies and disappointments of her life. Among other things, she...
" (Stephen SondheimStephen SondheimStephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
) - 3.22 - "Good, Bad but Beautiful" (Clive Westlake) - 3.24
- "Sing" (Joe RaposoJoe RaposoJoseph Guilherme Raposo, OIH was a Portuguese-American composer, songwriter, pianist, television writer and lyricist, best known for his work on the children's television series Sesame Street, for which he wrote the theme song, as well as classic songs such as "Bein' Green" and "C is for Cookie"...
) - 3.27 - "The Way We WereThe Way We Were (song)"The Way We Were" is the title song to the 1973 movie The Way We Were, starring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford. The song was written by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman, scored by Marvin Hamlisch and performed by Streisand...
" (Alan BergmanAlan BergmanAlan Bergman is an American lyricist and songwriter.-Life & career:Born in Brooklyn, New York, he studied at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UCLA. His involvement in the entertainment industry began in the early 1950s as a director of children's television shows...
, Marilyn BergmanMarilyn BergmanMarilyn Bergman is a composer, songwriter and author.She was born Marilyn Keith in Brooklyn, New York and studied psychology and English at New York University...
, Marvin HamlischMarvin HamlischMarvin Frederick Hamlisch is an American composer. He is one of only thirteen people to have been awarded Emmys, Grammys, Oscars, and a Tony . He is also one of only two people to EGOT and also win a Pulitzer Prize...
) - 2.48 - "I'll Be Your Audience" (Becky HobbsBecky HobbsBecky Hobbs is an American country music singer, songwriter and pianist. She first attracted critical attention from rock journalist Stann Findelle, who also wrote the liner notes on her debut MCA album, "Becky Hobbs." She has recorded seven studio albums, and has charted multiple singles on the...
, Lewis Anderson) - 3.05
Side Two.
- "Feel Like Makin' LoveFeel Like Makin' Love (Roberta Flack song)"Feel Like Makin' Love" was covered by American R&B and neo soul musician D'Angelo for his second studio album Voodoo . It was released April 8, 2000, on Virgin Records as the album's fifth and last single. His cover version features a quiet storm sound and heavy use of multi-tracking for vocals....
" (Gene McDanielsGene McDanielsGene McDaniels was an American singer and songwriter, who had his greatest recording success in the early 1960s.-Biography:...
) - 3.38 - "All in Love Is Fair" (Stevie WonderStevie WonderStevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
) - 3.55 - "Run on and on and On" (Mercia Love) - 3.24
- "The Other Side of Me" (Neil SedakaNeil SedakaNeil Sedaka is an American pop/rock singer, pianist, and composer. His career has spanned nearly 55 years, during which time he has sold millions of records as an artist and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collaborating mostly with lyricists Howard...
) - 3.42 - "Jessie" (Janis IanJanis IanJanis Ian is an American songwriter, singer, musician, columnist, and science fiction author. Ian first entered the folk music scene while still a teenager in the mid-sixties; most active musically in that decade and the 1970s, she has continued recording into the 21st century...
) 3.53 - "Living" (Gilbert BécaudGilbert BécaudGilbert Bécaud was a French singer, composer and actor, known as "Monsieur 100,000 Volts" for his energetic performances. His best-known hits are "Nathalie" and "Et Maintenant", a 1961 release that became an English language hit as "What Now My Love"...
, Pierre DelanoëPierre DelanoëPierre Delanoë , born Pierre Leroyer, was a French songwriter/lyricist who wrote for dozens of singers such as Edith Piaf, Charles Aznavour, Petula Clark, and Johnny Hallyday....
, Marcel Stellman) - 3.41
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"...
– vocal - Arthur GreensladeArthur GreensladeArthur Greenslade was a British conductor and arranger for films and television as well as for a number of performers. In the 1950s he was pianist and arranger with the Oscar Rabin Band. He has arranged for Jack Jones, Chris Farlowe, Serge Gainsbourg, Genesis, Cat Stevens, Diana Ross and Dusty...
- arranger, conductor - Del Newman - arranger, conductor ("The Way We Were")