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I just read she died last year. I had no idea. I read she was considered to have some soul in her singing . Curious what you all from U.K think. She never really made it in US but is she in Dusty tradition or straight on pop and more Helen Reddyish who had the bigger hit of this in USA.?Cilla also had huge hit in UK with Dionne's Anyone Who Had. Heart. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OBZTNV...jsnNPj1-fk4IYB
I think there was some discussion at the time. I am not sure if there is a way for you to search back and find it. Is there Ralph?
Would like to know what people think of her voice and lack of success in US
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cilla_Black
Black's career in the United States, although enthusiastically supported by Epstein and his PR team, was limited to a few television appearances [[The Ed Sullivan Show among them), a 1965 cabaret season at the Plaza Hotel in New York, and success with "You're My World", which made it to No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100.[18] The song was to be her only American Top 30 chart success, and Elvis Presley had a copy on his personal jukebox at his Graceland home. Black herself recognised that to achieve popular status in the USA she would need to devote much time to touring there. But she was plagued by homesickness and a sense of loneliness and returned to the UK.[19]
Cilla had a pretty decent range and great volume to her voice IMO but soul?....I never heard it
in her material. Even when singing you could hear her British accent so what does that tell you?
There have been a number of white female vocalists who could and have been mistaken for
being black, Teena Marie and Phoebe Snow immediately come to mind but Cilla isn't
one of them. No disrespect and I didn't know she had passed either....
Like most artists, Cilla has a mixture of supporters and haters depending on what part of her career that is being discussed. The haters can be quite nasty about her singing. That's a bit sad because Cilla wanted to be remembered as a singer.
She was very popular as a TV presenter when she moved on from her singing career. Her voice changed when she had her nose sorted out in the late 60's but by this time, she didn't have Brian Epstein as a manager and her hits were not as plentiful.
I knew Cilla - not terribly well but i met her on a handful of occasions. To these ears she was not a good singer. She had an infectious personality and could be good company when the mood suited her. In the 60's the big 5 Homegrown female vocalists were Dusty, Shirley Bassey, Lulu, Sandie Shaw and Cilla. They tended to cover each others songs as well as other peoples. Cilla became a very successful singer for a few years, but she is probably best remembered in the UK for her TV Variety and Entertainment shows from the 80's. Dionne detested her for covering ANYONE WHO HAD A HEART and getting a UK no.1 out of it. Her version was nowhere near as good as Dionne's. I am not too surprised she did not register much success in the USA. As a previous post says she suffered from homesickness and was not prepared to put in the time and effort to break the American market. With all due respect i don't think my American friends missed out on anything special. I was saddened by her death because i had kind of grown up with her but i never bought any of her music and never will.Quote:
Originally Posted by luke
Her death was pretty well publicised here in the UK, I've never known or taken to much of her singing but for some reason I have heard this song before:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZJrhtwvoKo&app=desktop
"Something Tells Me [[Something's Gonna Happen Tonight)" - apparently it was a big UK hit
She did TV presenting as well, think it was game shows and stuff. I think she did a programme with a guy called Paul O'Grady all about her life [[shortly before she died)
Oh yes, a random fact I remember being told by my parents: her real name is actually Priscilla White [[a much better name than Cilla Black, LOL!)
She was also from Liverpool, and was managed by the guy who managed The Beatles [[think she was friends with them too!)
FSR I was never impressed with Cilla and I'm definitely Team Dionne. Her [[Dionne's) version should've been a bigger UK hit. But it's all good. Cilla lived a long life. May she RIP.
I suspect your grandparents will know even more about Cilla than your parents. Whatever one might think of her talent, she became a British icon.Quote:
Originally Posted by TomatoTom123
Here was her first song, here performing it on Thank Your Lucky Stars. [[You might need to ask your grandparents about that show!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agYMr1sjFVs
Cilla was well suited to this song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpdjHE24KGQ
Thanks for info. I must say her version of you're my world gives me goose bumps but it's also that kind of song. Dusty and Lulu were certainly the biggest in USA. What do you all think of Sandie Shaw? [[Weren't the Beatles big supporters of Cilla?)
Hehe, I remember my Nan telling me about her too. It did seem that she was well loved in the UK. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by theboyfromxtown
Well, Bluebrock, you are perfectly entitled to your opinion. Personally I think Cilla's version absolutely wipes the floor with Dionne's. It was and perhaps still is the biggest selling single by any female artist in the U.K. So I'm not the only one who prefered it to Dionne's.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluebrock
I think Cilla was incredibly soulful. of course it depends on your definition of soul, but so many of her 60's recordings give me goosebumps. She truly put her heart and soul into those classic George Martin productions. Even the unreleased tracks like 'Only you can free my mind' are incredible.
I used to play this much more than the top side You're My World. Love this. Her hubby Bobby wrote it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlIeEeAvS6E
Maybe Dionne detested her for this too!! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IDF_taQnoXk
Interesting, I brought Cilla's name up last night thinking she was still around. I remember Dion saying that if she coughed during a recording session, Cilla would have coughed also while recording her version of the same song.
Oh Miss Warwick. Such bitterness.Quote:
Originally Posted by mr_june
I seem to recall Dionne had a go at covering Cilla's 'You're My World' too. So she wasn't above a rip off either.
I saw a nice photo of Dionne and Cilla together, at what looked like some sort of party. They seemed to be in an intense conversation. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall.Quote:
Originally Posted by lakedistrictlad1
Re ANYONE WHO HAD A HEART, depending on who's telling the story, either Cilla's manager Brian Epstein or her producer George Martin heard Dionne's original and had Cilla immediately record and rush out a cover version. Both versions debuted on the charts within weeks of each other, with Cilla's eventually emerging as the winner in the UK.
By comparison, Dionne's version of YOU'RE MY WORLD came out five years after Cilla's and was only an album track.
IMO Cilla can't touch Dionne on Anyone who Had a Heart.
I watched a documentary on her a while back. She had a long and varied career. She was a true star!
Cilla and the Beatles shared the same manager, and it is true to say that the Beatles kind of took her under their wing for a short while.Quote:
Originally Posted by luke
Sandie Shaw was and remains a very attractive lady. She never relished the spotlight and never really believed in her own talent. She was not a great singer but she was a pleasant one, but she hated much of the material she was forced to record as indeed did Lulu. She retired early but made a few brief comebacks over the years. I last saw her around 3 years ago and she was the same polite respectful person she had always been. I far prefered Sandi to Cilla in every respect, but i acknowledge that my opinion may not be shared by everyone here.
Sandie Shaw is the president of my school Alumini Association at Robert Clack Dagenham. Although all of us at school knew she was famous, it was considered "not cool" to like her.
In those days, we used to pass down text books each year and I had Sandie's English books. I wished I had kept it - might have earned a pretty penny for it!
Just looked her up and she was the first Briton to win the Eurovision Song Contest, with her [[number-one) song "Puppet On A String". I don't know about you but to me the Eurovision Song Contest isn't the height of "coolness", LolQuote:
Originally Posted by theboyfromxtown