Will the three K’s in the girl group K3 ever find fame beyond Belgium and the Netherlands? I suspect not, with language being the reason why. Do any American network television producers even know about K3? Oh, yes. As of yesterday I am 100% sure of that.
But now let’s go back to 1965, when Petula Clark had a string of hit records that was perhaps unprecedented for any solo female singer. Certainly no other British woman has met with such success before or since. Julie Andrews specialized in musicals, of course.
Dusty Springfield broke onto the U.S. charts some months before Petula, and she was quite successful, although she never had a #1 hit here. But there was also another female English solo singer seeking success in America. Cilla Black was, like the Beatles, from Liverpool, and she was likewise discovered and managed by Brian Epstein.
Cilla Black provides an interesting contrast to Petula Clark. They’re both petite, with strong voices, but where Cilla’s appeal was being cute and coy, Petula’s primary charm was sexiness. With great popularity in England, Brian Epstein behind her, and George Martin producing her records, Cilla had the necessary advantages to succeed in America. But it didn’t happen.
Cilla Black made one appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. It was on September 12, 1965, the same night the Beatles made their last live appearance for Sullivan. I featured a bit of it at this link eighteen months ago. And this is Cilla on that night.
[flv:/Video/2008/JUN/CillaBlackEdSullivan.flv 440 330]
In the recording studio, Cilla had the benefit of not only George Martin, but several songs written by Paul McCartney.
The first is “Love of the Love,” from 1963, which I think should have been done in a more laid back style.
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/JUN/LoveOfTheLoved.mp3]Then there’s “It’s For You,” from 1964, which I think has Martin making Cilla sound conspicuously like Shirley Bassey, who he had recorded recently singing the famous “Goldfinger” theme.
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/JUN/ItsForYou.mp3]… and “Step Inside Love” from much later, in 1968, with production values that point towards George Martin’s work with McCartney on “Live and Let Die.”
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/JUN/StepInsideLove.mp3]
Yes, that’s a cute picture of Cilla, but her coyness is different than Pet’s way with men. I have a brief video promo of Petula with Dean Martin, who was obviously smitten with her. I’ll post it and maybe you’ll see what I mean.
Hi! I cracked up laughing at the description Jefferson gave about Cilla’s vocal range. Can’t get more forthright than that!
P.S. I love that picture of Cilla and George. It’s coy and sexy. It’s more like what you’d expect from Pet!
As I said, Cilla is an interesting comparison to Petula, who always sounds “right” when adjusting her range.
Actually, I always kind of liked that weird, deep part of her voice,
Ouch, Jefferson! That’s one way of putting it, but I feel it’s an unfair analogy.
My opinion is that Epstein and, especially, George Martin somehow managed to fail Cilla. “It’s For You” is lovely until she gets to, “they say….” What you’re objecting to is the way she threw her voice to the back of her throat to project it and raise the dynamics. They do the same thing yet again years later with the recording of “Step Inside Love,” but when it gets loud there are backup singers, wisely added to reinforce the sound.
Soft and sweet. That was Cilla’s sound. So why did Martin let her do bold and brassy?
Doug generously sent us the full set of Ed Sullivan/Beatle shows, which also include some other great acts, including Mr. Acker Bilk, Morty Gunty, young Davy Jones (my almost-neighbor here in central PA) in “Oliver,” and of course, Cilla. We sat up till 1 a.m., even though it was a school night. Molly especially liked Cilla, because she was “different,” and thought her dresses were “cool.” However, she said Cilla was wearing a wig. Was she? D.J. Rogers, can you help out?
She has a pretty nice website: cillablack.com
There’s THIS:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=rlsp6mteApI
And, for an added bonus, it’s subbed in French!
You really don’t have to look any further than these two songs on Ed’s show to see [and HEAR] why she never took off in The States!
Cilla always sounded to me like cats screwing on someone’s back fence!