I usually like to post details of CDs by Shirley as they are released or even in advance so fans know what is or about to be available. Unfotunately I have had problems with my pc which has prevented me from doing that so it’s catch up time! So far there has been 7 CDs released in 2010. I have already told you about ‘Easy To Love’, ‘The Hits’ and the 5CD set ‘Bassey’.
Early February saw the release of a CD called ‘Hands Across The Sea’ on the Pegasus label. This is a budget issue (I paid £2.99) and contains 25 tracks. Most are taken from the Philips catalogue but there are a couple of EMI Columbia tracks included. The quality is quite good also.
February also saw the release of a German CD on the Laserlight label called ‘Shirley Bassey ‘S Wonderful’. This CD also contains 25 tracks and is a mixture of Philips and EMI Columbis tracks. ‘The Wall’ is included on this one. I really like this CD very much but it’s proved difficult to get for some fans. On most sites it states discontinued but it’s still on Delta Music Germany site which is the company who issued it. Unfortunately they are trade suppliers and do not sell direct to the public. Alphamusic in Germany has it on their site and that is where I bought my copy. A very nice CD indeed.
‘I’ve Got You Under My Skin’ is a French release. This one is easily available. It’s on the Intense Music label and it contains 16 tracks. Once again a mixture of Philips and EMI Columbia recordings.
From Holland comes ‘Shirley Bassey – Vintage 2010’ on the Disky label. Vintage 2010 is nowhere to be seen on the CD or packaging but that is what it is listed as on all sites. It is easily available and features 20 tracks from Philips and EMI Columbia catalogues. Nicely presented CD.
Hopefully I will be able to keep up to date with any new releases in the future but at the moment there are no releases on the horizon.
Dame Shirley Bassey Blog 
After a few delays, I got my Bassey The EMI / UA Years 1959 – 1979 today. It was $33 (US). I had been looking forward for some time to get my hands on the 1964 Carnegie Hall concert! The booklet is really nice, it has two sections of track lists: The first has the song credits, and the second gives a sentence or two about the song. The liner notes by Chris White stretch for half a dozen pages, giving a nice overview of her life and career. (I did detect a stray error here and there, but still this is the most comprehensive liner notes I’ve seen on her.) I was delighted to hear her sing another Bread song, I love her cover of “Baby I’m-A Want You”, and here is a cover of “Everything I Own”. In addition to the Carnegie concert, there are 14 previously unreleased (as of 1994) recordings. (A couple of those have since been included as bonus tracks on the BGO re-issues.) Finally, I now have the version of “La vita” that appears on the album of that name (the Italian-only release that as far as I know has never been released on CD)! Of course there are many songs that I do already have, but no matter. Sometimes I just like to drop a compilation like this on and treat it like a greatest hits, hearing a few songs from one album, then going right into songs from the next album. Add the songs I don’t have, such as the aforementioned unrealesed tracks, and single releases (especially B – sides: I do not own vinyl), and I love this compilation! For more info, see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bassey_-_The_EMI/UA_Years_1959_-_1979
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