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Cilla Black: Surround Yourself With Cilla / It Makes Me Feel Good, 2 Disc Expanded Edition-
This is the first release in a series of deluxe 2CD re-issues of Cilla Black’s original albums that celebrate 55 years since her recording debut. To showcase Cilla’s versatility as a recording artist, this set pairs her “Surround Yourself With Cilla” album, one of her top pop productions of the sixties, with “It Makes Me Feel Good” from her seventies soft rock recording era. The latter album is released for the very first time, in complete form, on CD.
The lead single from Cilla’s classic George Martin produced 1969 album, “Surround Yourself With Cilla”, was the UK #3 hit ‘Surround Yourself With Sorrow’, with its powerful pop theme continuing apace throughout the album. To great impact, Cilla took on some of the strongest pop anthems of the day which included the Gibb Brothers’ ‘Words’ (Bee Gees), Bacharach & David’s ‘You’ll Never Get To Heaven’ (Dionne Warwick), Nilsson’s ‘Without Him’, Paul Simon & Bruce Woodley’s ‘Red Rubber Ball’ (The Cyrkle) and the dramatic ‘Aquarius’ from Cilla’s favourite musical “Hair”.
Another highlight of the album is the fan favourite ‘Liverpool Lullaby’ ; a fine example of Cilla using her expressive softer voice to great emotive impact!
Her ninth studio album, “It Makes Me Feel Good”, was released in 1976 and was Cilla’s second album to be produced by David Mackay who had previously worked with The New Seekers, Blue Mink and Cliff Richard. Recording sessions began in Los Angeles away from the pressure of Cilla’s hectic British TV and concert schedule and this enabled Cilla to be more involved in the creative process than ever before. Four songs from those American recording sessions made the album’s finished cut: ‘Lovin’ Land’, ‘One Step From Your Arms’, ‘September Love Affair’ and Cilla’s rendition of the Phil Spector classic ‘To Know Him Is To Love Him’.
The album’s only UK single, ‘I’ll Take A Tango’ was featured on Cilla’s BBC TV variety show Cilla. The bonus tracks for this CD release include Cilla’s US-only single ‘Fantasy’, which was a #15 hit on America’s Billboard Dance Music Singles Chart, alongside Cilla’s opening theme songs to her two new TV series for 1976; BBC TV’s Cilla and ITV’s sitcom Cilla’s World Of Comedy. ‘It Makes Me Feel Good’ remains one of her fans’ all-time favourite Cilla Black album releases.
The two albums are issued on a 2-disc set with a 32 page booklet richly illustrated with photographs and including an interview with Cilla. Her eldest son Robert Willis, the Executive Producer of this series of re-issues, has taken great care to ensure that these releases are the ultimate celebration of his Mother’s legacy as a British pop music icon.
Available Here: https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/cilla-black-surround-yourself-with-cilla-it-makes-me-feel-good-2-disc-expanded-edition/
Cilla Black: Cilla All Mixed Up / Beginnings: Revisited, 2 Disc Expanded Edition
This is the second release in a series of deluxe CD re-issues of Cilla Black’s original albums that celebrate 55 years since her recording debut. It is also the first time on CD for these two final albums that were released by the legendary Cilla Black; Cilla’s only dance remixes album “Cilla All Mixed Up” and the 2009 edition of her “Beginnings” album.
“Cilla All Mixed Up” was, in 2009, a digital only release intended to be a fun way to celebrate Cilla’s 45th show business Anniversary. Cilla was thrilled about this initiative, stating of the new found dancefloor visibility that the remixes afforded her that, “I’m in the clubs! The club remixes are great! I’m incredibly flattered that they’ve done this…. They’ve used all the original tracks. I’ve not gone in and done any voice-overs or anything. It’s all down to the producers…. I’m very grateful to them for what they’ve done to my songs!”
“Cilla All Mixed Up” is an upbeat compilation of club re-interpretations of Cilla Black songbook classics that span the breadth of her record breaking recording career from the 1960s to the 2000s. The celebratory collection includes no less than 4 productions by the preeminent club remix team Almighty who were renowned for their work with Cher, Jennifer Lopez, Pink, Elton John, Whitney Houston and Kylie. These remixes sit alongside a stellar cast of other top club DJ re-workings from across the UK and as far afield as India, USA and the UAE.
“Beginnings: Revisited” is the re-versioned 2009 re-issue of Cilla Black’s 2003 album “Beginnings…(Greatest Hits and New Songs)” that had marked Cilla’s 40 years as a singer by augmenting a bouquet of all-new recordings with the best known of her back catalogue hits.
In 2009, producer Ted Carfrae had the opportunity to re-sequence, re-mix and focus solely on just Cilla’s new recordings from that earlier compilation. No one would know, however, that he’d be shaping what would be Cilla’s final album of new recordings before her untimely death in 2015; “Beginnings: Revisited”.
Ted Carfrae expands, “Cilla was immensely proud of the ‘Beginnings’ album; she loved recording all the new songs but, like me, always saw these songs as a stand-alone project. In 2009, we got our chance to do this as we released, on download, the ‘Revisited’ edition of the album…. We removed the hit singles and instead created the album as it should have been. I decided to mix all of the 2003 recordings again to give them a more contemporary sound… During the process, I also created alternate mixes and acoustic versions where Cilla’s vocals are more exposed so you can hear just how strong and brilliant her voice is.”
All of these re-worked versions of Cilla’s final recordings, alongside the alternate versions of these songs, have never before appeared on CD. Also included is Cilla’s re-recording of her Lennon & McCartney hit ‘Step Inside Love’. DJ Tommy Sandhu had coaxed Cilla into Ronnie Woods’ recording studio to record new vocals which he then produced celebrated remixes of. These included the ‘All Burnt Out Remix’ which, to everyone’s surprise, became a No. 3 smash on Music Week’s British club chart!
The two albums are issued on a 2-disc set with a 32 page booklet richly illustrated with photographs and including an interview with Cilla. Her eldest son Robert Willis, the Executive Producer of this series of re-issues, has taken great care to ensure that these releases are the ultimate celebration of his Mother’s legacy as a British pop music icon.
Available Here: https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/cilla-black-cilla-all-mixed-up-beginnings-revisited-2-disc-expanded-edition/
