Ave Maria was released as single with the B-side You’ll Never Walk Alone. (with special thanks to Andre for the sheet music) The song was re-released on The Complete EMI/Columbia Singles Collection. Dame Shirley Bassey also sang Ave Maria in a church in Jamaica on one of her 1979 BBC-shows with a children’s choir from Jamaica.
Ave Maria
Gratia plena
Dominus tecum
Benedicta tu in mulieribus
Et benedictus fructus ventris
Tui, Jesus
Sancta Maria
Mater Dei
Ora pro nobis peccatoribus
Nunc et in hora mortis nostrae
Amen.
Ave Maria lyrics in English: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
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Below some pictures from the amazing George Webb collection from 1962 of Shirley at the opening of her sisters record shop in London
Bassey’s fourth EMI/Columbia album is regarded as the magnum opus of her pre-Goldfinger career, bringing her together with conductor/arranger Nelson Riddle. (Ironically, it was Riddle’s still being under contract to Capitol Records, which prevented him from working with Sinatra on Reprise at the time, that made this record possible). Riddle approached this album from the standpoint that less is more, providing elegant and subdued accompaniment that emphasized the strings. Bassey’s voice comes across with a delicacy of nuance that is startling to hear, achieving new levels of subtlety on this album. One may disagree with the order of the songs -this reviewer finds the moodily expressive “I Should Care,” reminiscent of Judy Garland at her best, to be the ideal opener – but not with the overall content of this album. Throughout Let’s Face The Music, one gets almost a sense of Bassey slipping inside of these songs, becoming part of them and they her, rather than merely performing them. The interpretations are fresh in other respects as well, with works such as “Let’s Fall In Love” or “The Second Time Around” given unexpectedly slow tempos that work beautifully. Riddle is so careful and measured in his every orchestral nuance of this record, that he leaves us open to surprises at many points, perhaps most startlingly the sudden appearance of a harp glissando on “Spring Is Here,” after we’ve been lulled into the expectation that no part of this orchestra will play full out. Re-released in the late 1990’s as part of EMI’s anniversary reissue series, remastered in 24-bit sound.
Lyrics:
All of me
Why not take all of me Can’t you see I’m no good without you
Take my lips I want to loose them Take my arms I’ll never use them
Your goodbye Left me with eyes that cry How can I go on, dear, without you
You took the part That once was my heart So why not take all of me
Your goodbye Left me with eyes that cry How can I go on, dear, without you
You took the part That once was my heart So why not take all of me
The song Above All Others was released as the b-side of the single What Now My Love in 1962.
Lyrics:
Above all others You stand alone. The greatest miracle my world has ever known, Above all wonders I wonder can it be A love as great as your love belongs to me. Above all others There’s only you. Now that I know perfection No one else will do. Whenever you are near my eager heart discovers, True love above all others, I love you, Above all others. Whenever you are near my eager heart discovers, True love above all others, I love you, Above all others.
Dame Shirley Bassey Blog 
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