hypersongs

Cilla Black

A Liverpool singer who worked the Cavern cloakroom, signed with Brian Epstein in 1963, and had two UK number ones in 1964 with Bacharach and David's "Anyone Who Had a Heart" and "You're My World"; her first single was a Paul McCartney song.

The Cavern

Priscilla Maria Veronica White was born on May 27, 1943 in Vauxhall, Liverpool, raised Roman Catholic in the Scotland Road area, and went to St Anthony's School and Anfield Commercial College. She worked as a clerk at British Insulated Calendar Cables and spent lunchtimes helping at the Cavern, cleaning and in the cloakroom, and later waited tables at the Zodiac. Her first gig was at the Zodiac as Swinging Cilla, backed by the Big Three, and she sang with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes and with the Beatles. The stage name came from a misprint: Bill Harry's Mersey Beat printed Cilla Black and she kept it, though one local-history account blames a local paper's spelling in her contract.

John Lennon introduced her to Brian Epstein, and her audition with the Beatles as her backing band went badly: she was nervous and the keys did not suit her voice. Sources disagree on when and where; The Arts Desk places it at the Majestic Ballroom in Birkenhead and Complete Music Update says a year before she signed. Epstein, who had seen her at the Blue Angel, contracted her on September 6, 1963, his only female client, and George Martin signed her to Parlophone.

1963 to 1971

Her debut single "Love of the Loved" came out on September 27, 1963 (Parlophone R 5065). "Anyone Who Had a Heart" went to number one in February 1964 with about 800,000 UK sales, and "You're My World" followed to number one in the UK and number 26 in the US. "It's for You" was recorded at Abbey Road on July 2, 1964 with Lennon and McCartney attending and McCartney on piano; it was released on July 31 and reached number seven, or the top ten, depending on the source. "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" reached number two in 1965, and Burt Bacharach arranged and conducted "Alfie" (1966, number nine), which took 31 takes.

McCartney wrote "Step Inside Love" (1968, number eight) as the theme for her BBC series Cilla, which ran from 1968 to 1976. "Surround Yourself with Sorrow" reached number three and "Conversations" number seven in 1969, and "Something Tells Me (Something's Gonna Happen Tonight)" number three in 1971. Her 1972 "The Long and Winding Road" was called the definitive version by McCartney. George Martin produced her first seven albums. Nik Cohn wrote in 1969 that she makes people glow and predicted she would grow into a pop Gracie Fields.

Television and legacy

She hosted Surprise Surprise (1984-2001), Blind Date (1985-2003) and The Moment of Truth (1998-2001) for ITV. She received an OBE in the 1997 New Year Honours, and a BAFTA Special Award and the first RTS Legends Award in 2014. Her 2013 compilation, issued for 50 years in showbusiness, was her first UK number one album, and the ITV drama Cilla, with Sheridan Smith, followed in 2014. She died on August 1, 2015, aged 72; The Very Best of Cilla Black reached number one the next day, and a statue by the Cavern was unveiled on January 16, 2017. Radio 2 research in 2010 named "Anyone Who Had a Heart" the UK's biggest-selling single by a female artist of the 1960s.

She wrote a memoir, What's It All About?, in 2003. Setlist.fm has 129 setlists from 1963 to 1983, the newest at the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham on April 9, 1983.

Albums

  • The Best of Cilla Black 1968 · compilation · Parlophone

    A 1968 collection of her Parlophone singles, the first track her debut.

Songs

  • Love of the Loved The Best of Cilla Black · 1963

    Her 1963 debut single, a Lennon and McCartney song mainly by McCartney that the Beatles themselves had played at their Decca audition.

Sources

  1. Cilla Black, Wikipedia
  2. Cilla Black 1943-2015, The Arts Desk (2015-08)
  3. It's For You, The Beatles Bible
  4. Cilla Black, Liverpool Footprints