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Who was the second biggest-selling music star to come out of Liverpool after the Beatles? It wasn't Gerry & the Pacemakers or Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas, nor was it the Searchers. It was Cilla Black, a one-time coat-check girl from the Cavern Club who was still learning to sing with confidence, forget developing a technique, just about the time that the Beatles were cutting their first EMI record.
Cilla Black holds a unique position in the history of pop music, and the British Invasion. As Brian Epstein's discovery and protégé, she was the first and only important female performer to emerge from Liverpool in the heyday of the British beat boom. In conjunction with Epstein's management and George Martin's production skills, she became a formidable ballad singer, her hits lasting longer than any Epstein clients other than the Beatles. And she became one of the most beloved pop/rock performers in England during the late '60s and '70s, and one of the country's most popular television stars.
She was the third Brian Epstein-managed performer to emerge from Liverpool in the wake of the Beatles' success. Her name was Priscilla White when she worked at the Cavern Club on lunch breaks from her job as a typist. She began singing as a nervous amateur on a Liverpool underground scene in which the Beatles, with Pete Best still on drums (and Brian Epstein a long way removed from knowing them), were considered one of the more promising bands. By the summer of 1961, she gotten good enough to appear as a guest singer with such established local talent as the Big Three Trio and Rory Storm & the Hurricanes, and was a favorite of Bill Harry, the publisher of the music paper Mersey Beat.
Brian Epstein's discovery of the Beatles and the Cavern Club opened him up a whole world of new music and performers. On Priscilla White, still a very gawky semi-professional, he lavished almost as much attention as he did on the Beatles, but for different reasons.
The Beatles were a revelation to Epstein, with their youthful exuberance and uninhibited fun. Gerry & the Pacemakers were a talented band that helped prove his golden touch extended beyond Lennon, McCartney, et al.
Cilla Black, as Epstein rechristened her, was none of these things. Rather, she was a non-distinct female persona -- virtually a tabula rasa, with a girl-next-door look -- onto whom the sexually ambiguous Epstein could project his ideas of style and beauty. Neither was she a natural singer, or performer. She did try hard, however, and, with the right look and presentation, and the right song and producer, had a chance for success. All of those things Epstein secured for her, either directly or in the guise of George Martin at Parlophone Records.
Martin initially had his doubts about Cilla Black, but he did his best and, with Epstein's help and some carefully orchestrated press that broke just at the point when any five milkmen from Liverpool could get a hearing, her career was launched successfully. Ironically, given his initial doubts, Martin became Black's producer for the next 11 years, and along with the Beatles, she was among the few EMI acts that he continued to produce after he left the company in 1966 to set up AIR Studios.
Black was never going to be a rival to Dusty Springfield, lacking the latter's power or subtlety. On the other hand, she did have a fairly distinctive and identifiable -- and attractive -- delivery, and she got better as she gained experience. Her debut single, a Lennon-McCartney leftover called "Love of the Loved," was not one of the prime examples of even the second-rate Lennon-McCartney that ended up in the hands of Kramer, Peter & Gordon et al. It peaked at number 35, the most disappointing debut of any post-Beatles Epstein act in 1963.
Black had much greater success with her next song, a ballad that showed her real strengths and potential as a singer, called "Anyone Who Had A Heart"-- the Burt Bacharach-Hal David song had previously been cut by Dionne Warwick, but Black quickly eclipsed Warwick's version. Issued on the final day of January, 1964, it became the biggest-selling single by a female artist in the history of popular music in England, bringing her to number one on the British charts three weeks later. It sold over 800,000 copies in England, and another million internationally. Even greater success was in store for Black three months later with the release of "You're My World," an English version of a song originally written in Italian. What "I Only Want to Be with You" is to Dusty Springfield, "Shout" is to Lulu, and "Always Something There to Remind Me" is to Sandy Shaw, "You're My World" is to Cilla Black -- a signature song that stands astride her whole career.
After "You're My World," Black's career was made. At her worst, as a pop singer of uncertain range and instincts, she was almost a throwback to Helen Shapiro, a major female pop star of the pre-Beatles era. At her best, as on "You've Lost That Loving Feeling," she had an intense soulful quality, akin to Tom Jones as a ballad singer -- indeed, she might've been Britain's answer to Dionne Warwick. She displayed a surprisingly adventurous nature, as with "It's for You," a waltz-like number that Paul McCartney personally selected for her from among his best non-Beatles-destined originals. She covered it in a jazz arrangement and the resulting single reached number seven in England. McCartney remained close to her for years, although Black's closest musical confidant was songwriter Bobby Willis, whom she later married. She also made her film debut in late 1964 with the release of Ferry Cross the Mersey, starring Gerry & the Pacemakers, in which Black sang "Is It Love."
Black maintained a full schedule of concert, radio, and television appearances in 1964-1965. Like every other Epstein client, she was also busy in America as well, appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show and such non-rock & roll venues as The Tonight Show. She was also a featured performer on a late 1965 British television special, The Beatles: The Music of Lennon and McCartney. By that time, she was, along with the Beatles, one of only two acts still personally managed by Brian Epstein, who regarded her as one of his two most precious musical discoveries -- and, indeed, after the Beatles she was the most successful artist to come out of Liverpool.
Black had two additional major hits in 1966, "Alfie" and "Don't Answer Me," both of which made the British Top Ten. Up to that point, her career had been handled by Brian Epstein, in whose hands she'd become a star. She began having doubts about his management in 1966, however, and considered -- but initially abandoned -- plans to leave him in favor of Robert Stigwood. At the time of Epstein's death in the summer of 1967, she was one of his two remaining clients.
Her hits subsided in 1967, partly because of Epstein's death and her involvement in a feature film, Work Is a Four-Letter Word, in which she starred with David Warner. A science-fiction tale set in the future, and involving the use of hallucinogenic mushrooms (all based on a play by Henry Livings), the movie proved a misstep when it finally came out.
In 1968, she was back on form, reaching the Top Ten twice, with "Step Inside Love," a Lennon-McCartney song, and "I Couldn't Take My Eyes Off You," and the following year was back up there again with "Surround Yourself with Sorrow" and "Conversations." These successes were assisted by Black's British television variety series, Cilla, which featured some of the top pop/rock musical talent of the period. After 1969, Black's days of charting singles were over. That same year, she married songwriter Bobby Willis.
Black's recording career with EMI continued into the mid-'70s, but much of her career activity by that time was centered on television, rather than the recording studio. She still released singles and albums, including a notable collection of songs from her past entitled In My Life. She subsequently worked in two popular and critically successful series, Blind Date and Surprise Surprise -- the former also earned her an award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. In 1993, to commemorate her 30 years as a show business professional, she cut an album, released a retrospective video, published a book, and presented an anniversary special, each of which was entitled Through the Years. Cilla Black remains one of the most popular entertainers in England.
Wikipedia:
Cilla Black OBE (born Priscilla Maria Veronica White, 27 May 1943) is an English singer, actress, entertainer and media personality, who has been consistently popular as a light entertainment figure since 1963. She is most famous for her singles "Anyone Who Had A Heart", "You're My World", and "Alfie". After a successful recording career and a brief time as a comedy actress, she became the highest-paid female presenter in British television history. In May 2010, new research published by BBC Radio 2 claimed that Cilla Black's version of Anyone Who Had a Heart was the UK's biggest selling single by a female artist in the 1960s.. In 2013, Cilla Black celebrates 50 years in show business, as a prelude to this landmark anniversary EMI (the record label which launched her career in 1963) release on 23 April 2012 Completely Cilla: 1963-1973 - a 5CD set containing 139 recordings (all produced by George Martin) and a bonus DVD of rare BBC TV music performances .
Early life and career
Priscilla White was born in the Scotland Road area of Liverpool, England, during World War II, to a Protestant father and a Catholic mother.. Determined to become an entertainer, she got a part-time job as a cloakroom attendant at Liverpool's Cavern Club, best known for its association with the Beatles. Her impromptu performances impressed the Beatles and others. She was encouraged to start singing by Liverpool promoter, Sam Leach, who gave her her first gig at the Cassanova Club, where she appeared as "Swinging Cilla". She became a guest singer with the Merseybeat bands Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes and, later, with the Big Three. She was also, meantime, a waitress at the Zodiac coffee lounge, where she was to meet her future husband Bobby Willis. She was featured in an article in the first edition of the local music newspaper Mersey Beat; the paper's publisher, Bill Harry, mistakenly referred to her as Cilla Black, rather than White, and she decided she liked the name, and took it as a stage name.
She originally signed her first contract with long time friend and neighbour, Terry McCann, but this contract was never honoured because it was signed when she was under-age, and her father signed her with Brian Epstein.
Brian Epstein had a portfolio of local artists. At first he showed little interest in Black. She was introduced to Epstein by John Lennon, who persuaded him to audition her. Her first audition was a failure, partly because of nerves, and partly because the Beatles (who supported her) played the songs in their vocal key rather than re-pitching them for Black's voice. In her autobiography What's It All About? she writes:
But after seeing her another day, at the Blue Angel jazz club, Epstein contracted with Black as his only female client on 6 September 1963. Epstein introduced Black to George Martin who signed her to Parlophone Records and produced her début single, "Love of the Loved" (written by Lennon and McCartney), which was released only three weeks after she contracted with Epstein. The single peaked at a modest number 35, a failure compared to début releases of Epstein's other artists.
Her second single, released at the beginning of 1964, was a cover of the Burt Bacharach-Hal David composition Anyone Who Had a Heart which had been written for Dionne Warwick. The single scored #1 in Britain and sold 800,000 copies there. Her second UK #1 success, You're My World, was an English language rendition of the Italian popular song Il Mio Mond. She also enjoyed chart success with the song in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, South Africa and Canada. Both songs sold over one million copies, and were awarded gold discs.
This was followed by another Lennon–McCartney composition, "It's for You". Paul McCartney played piano at the recording session and the song proved to be another major international success for Black.
Black belonged to a generation of British female singers which included Dusty Springfield, Helen Shapiro, Petula Clark, Sandie Shaw and Lulu. These artists were not singer-songwriters but interpreters of 1960s contemporary popular music by song writers/producers. Black recorded much material during this time, including songs written by Phil Spector, Randy Newman, Tim Hardin and Burt Bacharach. All were produced by George Martin at Abbey Road Studios.
Black's version of You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' reached no. 2 in the UK charts and was stopped from going to no. 1 by the original version of the same song, performed by the Righteous Brothers. This was the first of only three occasions in the history of the British Top 40 where the same song, recorded by two different artists, held the top two positions in the chart in the same week.
Being so closely associated with the Beatles, Black became the first artist to cover many Lennon–McCartney compositions. Her recordings of "Yesterday", "For No One" and "Across the Universe" were acclaimed critically and became radio favourites. McCartney said Black's 1972 interpretation of "The Long and Winding Road" represented for him how he always intended the song to be sung.
Black's career in the United States, although begun enthusiastically 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 a success with You're My World, which made it to #26 on the Billboard chart. The song was to be her only stateside 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 just as she was starting to become popular in the US.
During 1966, Black recorded the Bacharach-David song Alfie, inspired by the film, Alfie. While the song was not included on the UK film version, Cher sang Alfie on the closing credits of the US version. Alfie went on to become a success for Dionne Warwick in the States and it was a major success for Black in the UK, scoring #9 on the British charts. Black's version of "Alfie" was arranged and conducted by Bacharach himself at the recording session at Abbey Road. Bacharach insisted on several takes, and Black cited the session as one of the most demanding of her recording career. For Bacharach's part, he said "...there weren't too many white singers around, who could convey the emotion that I felt in many of the songs I wrote but that changed with people like Cilla Black..."
By the end of 1966, Black had guested on Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's Not Only... But Also, appeared in a Ray Galton-Alan Simpson revue in London's West End — Way Out In Piccadilly — alongside Frankie Howerd, made notable appearances on The Eamonn Andrews Show, and starred in her own television special (the first of its kind to be shown in colour), Cilla at the Savoy.
Brian Epstein's attempts to make Black a film actress were less successful. A brief appearance in the "beat" film Ferry Cross the Mersey and a leading role alongside David Warner in the 1968 psychedelic comedy Work Is a Four-Letter Word were largely ignored by film critics. In a 1997 interview with Record Collector magazine, Black revealed she was asked to appear in the 1969 film The Italian Job, playing the part of Michael Caine's girlfriend, but negotiations fell through between producers and her management over her fee.
Brian Epstein died of an accidental drug overdose during August 1967, after negotiating a contract with the BBC for his only female artist to appear in a series of her own. Relations between Epstein and Black had somewhat soured during the year prior to his death, due largely to the fact that Epstein was not paying her enough attention, and due partly to his public admission that he had taken LSD. In her autobiography, Black claimed that Epstein had tried to pacify her by negotiating a deal that would see her representing the UK in the 1968 Eurovision Song Contest. However, Black refused on the basis that Sandie Shaw had won the previous year's contest, and that the chances of another British female artist winning were improbable.
After the death of Epstein, her boyfriend and songwriter Bobby Willis assumed management duties. Further recording successes followed: "Conversations", "Surround Yourself With Sorrow", "If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind" (all 1969), "Something Tells Me (Something's Gonna Happen Tonight)" (1971) and "Baby We Can't Go Wrong" (1974).
The Beatles association continued. At a Cannes Film Festival during the 1970s, Black joined George Harrison, Ringo Starr and popular music star Marc Bolan to attend a screening of the John Lennon-Yoko Ono experimental film Erection. She also holidayed with them on a trip aboard a yacht chartered by Ringo. "Photograph" was written on this trip — originally intended for Black to record — but Starr decided to record it himself. George Harrison also wrote two songs for Black: "The Light that has Lighted The World" and "I'll Still Love You (When Every Song Is Sung)". The latter she recorded during 1974 with her then producer David Mackay, but it was not heard publicly until 2003, when it re-surfaced on a retrospective collection entitled Cilla: The Best of 1963-78.
She shows an increasing reluctance to sing nowadays, though there have been two returns to the recording studio in recent times; during 1993 Black released Through the Years, an album of new material featuring a number of duets with Dusty Springfield, Cliff Richard and Barry Manilow. Ten years later, she released the album Beginnings... Greatest Hits and New Songs.
In his 1969 study of popular music history Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom, the rock music journalist Nik Cohn wrote prophetically:
Black was one of the best-selling female recording artists in Britain during the 1960s. To date, she has released 15 studio albums and 37 singles. During 2006–07, Black's 1971 single "Something Tells Me (Something's Gonna Happen Tonight)" was used as the soundtrack to a new British advertising campaign for Ferrero Rocher chocolates.
During the 2008-09 pantomime season, Black returned to live musical performance in the pantomime "Cinderella", appearing as the Fairy Godmother. Black was part of an all-Scouse cast assembled in this three hour stage spectacular to mark the end of Liverpool's year as European Capital of Culture. The show incorporated a number of Black's successes, which she performed live, including "You're My World", "Something Tells Me (Something's Gonna Happen Tonight)", "Step Inside Love" and "Sing a Rainbow". Black received rave reviews for her singing and overall performance.
On 7 September 2009, a total of 13 original studio albums (the first seven produced by George Martin) recorded by Black between 1963 and 2003 were released for digital download. These albums were all digitally re-mastered and featured an array of musical genres. Also released by EMI at the same time was a double album and DVD set, The Definitive Collection (A Life In Music), featuring rare BBC video footage; a digital download album of specially commissioned re-mixes Cilla All Mixed Up; a remixed single on digital download of "Something Tells Me (Something’s Gonna Happen Tonight)".
For the winter 2010 pantomime season, Black appeared in Cinderella at the Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.
Television career
BBC TV
Black was offered her own show on the BBC by Bill Cotton, then Assistant Head of Light Entertainment. The first series of Cilla was broadcast on Tuesday 30 January 1968. On the first show her guest was Tom Jones. The two popular music stars sang a duet together. Paul McCartney (without Lennon) wrote the theme tune - another chart success for Black - entitled "Step Inside Love". This song was later covered by Madeline Bell. Henry Mancini, Ringo Starr, Donovan, Georgie Fame and Dusty Springfield were among the artistes who appeared in the first series of Cilla. But many programmes were later wiped. Her BBC show was relatively successful and paved the way for a lengthy television career which continued intermittently until 2003. Black began the 1970s by appearing on the BBC's highly rated review of the sixties music scene Pop Go The Sixties, performing "Anyone Who Had A Heart" live on the show broadcast across Europe and BBC1, on 31 December 1969. Black recorded her performance for this show separately, in a different studio without an audience, although she did sing live.
Like so many of her contemporaries, during the 1970s her musical career declined, although she toured often. Increasingly thought of as a television "personality", she found herself experimenting with situation comedy for ITV. Her BBC series, Cilla, continued successfully until 1976, recessing during 1970, 1972 and 1975. The theme songs from the Cilla series were also successful. Step Inside Love opened the series in both the 1968 and 1969 runs and reached number 8 in the UK singles chart on its release. Something Tells Me (Something's Gonna Happen Tonight) was the theme for the 1971 and 1973 shows, reaching number 3 and becoming Black's last top ten success. "Baby, We Can't Go Wrong" was used for the 1974 series and was a minor success, reaching number 36, Black's last UK chart song until 1993. "It's Now" was the final theme from the 1976 series and failed to reach the charts, though it was released as a "B" side.
The UK's Eurovision Song Contest entry selection process was part of the Cilla show in both 1968 and 1973, when her close friend Cliff Richard was the featured artist performing all the songs shortlisted in the A Song For Europe segment. Black was originally asked to sing for the UK in 1968 and was asked again for the 1970 contest, but declined because she was pregnant at the time.
In 2007 Black took part in the BBC Wales programme Coming Home about her Welsh family history.
Comedy actress
On 15 January 1975, Black performed as main entertainer of the first of six half-hour situation comedy plays. The series which was broadcast on ITV was entitled Cilla's Comedy Six and written by Ronnie Taylor. During May 1975, the Writers' Guild of Great Britain named Black as Britain's Top Female Comedy Star. The following year, ATV was commissioned to film six more plays as the initial series had accrued healthy viewing figures and remained constantly among the best scoring three shows of the week. During August 1976, Black reprised her role as a comedy-actress in Cilla's World of Comedy which featured her theme song and new single "Easy In Your Company".
London Weekend Television
By the beginning of the 1980s, Black was performing mainly in cabaret and concert and absent from television since a 1978 Thames Television special. In 1983, she appeared on the BBC's Wogan programme. Her appearance on this peak-time talk show was a major success, and her career in television was resurrected.
She signed a contract with London Weekend Television, becoming the host of two of the most popular and long-running evening entertainment shows of the 1980s and 1990s—Blind Date (1985–2003) and Surprise, Surprise (1984–2001). She also presented the game show The Moment of Truth (1998–2001). All programmes were mainstream ratings winners and consolidated her position as the highest-paid female performer on British television.
Her TV appearances have made her spoken mannerisms ("Lorra lorra laughs", for example) and her habit of referring familiarly to her fellow presenters ("Our Graham") well known.
Recent TV work
Notable television performances since her resignation from LWT have included Parkinson, So Graham Norton, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, Room 101 and a one off show titled Cilla Live! for Living TV. Black was a judge on the first series of the reality TV series Soapstar Superstar, has featured in an episode of the series Eating with... and has guest presented editions of The Paul O'Grady Show and The Friday Night Project for Channel 4 in 2006 and 2007 respectively.
Black filmed a pilot dating show for Sky One during 2008. The project referred to as Loveland was to be a ten-part "21st century" dating programme for the channel for the next year. Unlike on Blind Date, which Black hosted for 18 years, contestants would not sit in front of a studio audience but would be 'hidden' behind real-time animations as they date each other. Each episode concludes with the contestant picking their preferred animated character before meeting that person in real life. Production costs, however, were too high and it was terminated.
On 10 October 2009, Black appeared as a guest on Piers Morgan's Life Stories.
In October 2009, Black guest anchored Loose Women and between September 2010 and June 2011, Black made guest panellist appearances.
On 28 November 2009, she appeared on the channel Sky 1 to present TV's Greatest Endings.
She also appeared as herself in the first episode of series 4 of ITV comedy-drama Benidorm in 2011.
She has also appeared as the guest host of Never Mind the Buzzcocks on 5 December 2011.
On 7 April 2012, she appeared on Keith Lemon's new Saturday night ITV show Keith Lemon's Lemonaid.
Personal life
She attended St. Anthony's School, which was behind St. Anthony's Church in Scotland Road, and Anfield Commercial College.
She was married to her manager Bobby Willis for more than 30 years until his death from lung cancer on 23 October 1999. They had three sons: Robert (now her manager, born in 1970), Ben (born in 1974), and Jack (born in 1980). Her daughter, Ellen (born in 1975), was 13 weeks premature and died two hours after birth.
On 4 August 2004, Black became a grandmother when her eldest son, Robert, and his wife, Fiona, had their first child, Max. Her second grandchild, Alana, was born on 6 February 2007.
Black is a supporter of the British Conservative Party. During 1992 she made prominent calls for the party's re-election. She was very supportive of Margaret Thatcher and said on Radio 1 in 1993 that Margaret Thatcher made Britain great again.
