For those not in the know, Cilla Black was an much beloved English singer, television presenter, actress and author.

Championed by her friends the Beatles, she began her career as a singer in 1963, and her singles 'Anyone Who Had a Heart' and 'You're My World' both reached number one in the UK in 1964. Black had eleven Top Ten hits on the British charts between then and 1971; and an additional 8 hits that made the top 40.

In May 2010, new research published by BBC Radio 2 showed that her version of 'Anyone Who Had a Heart' was the UK's biggest-selling single by a female artist in the 1960s. 'You're My World' was also a modest hit in the US, peaking at No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Along with a successful recording career in the 1960s and early 1970s, Black hosted her own variety show, Cilla, for the BBC between 1968 and 1976. After a brief time as a comedy actress in the mid-1970s, she became a prominent television presenter in the 1980s and 1990s, hosting hit entertainment shows such as Blind Date (1985–2003), The Moment of Truth (1998–2001) and Surprise Surprise (1984–2001).

In 2013, Black celebrated her 50 years in show business. British television network ITV honored this milestone with a one-off entertainment special which aired on 16 October 2013. The show, called The One & Only Cilla Black, featured Black herself and was hosted by Paul O'Grady.

Sadly, Cilla Black died on August 1st, 2015 after a fall in her villa in Estepona, Spain. The day after her funeral, the compilation album The Very Best of Cilla Black went to number one on the UK Albums Chart and the New Zealand Albums Chart; it was her first number one album.

This latest release in the Cilla Original Album Series comes, as ever, with a richly illustrated 28 page photo booklet with introductory sleeve notes and quotes from a 2009 interview with Cilla herself.

The release is produced with the full support and input of the Cilla Black Estate.

In this package we first get Cilla Sings A Rainbow which spent 15 weeks on the British album chart peaking at #4. This, her second ever LP, remains to this day Cilla’s biggest-selling studio album.

That's paired with Cilla’s seventh studio album, 1973’s Day by Day with Cilla, and which was also her final LP to be recorded with her long-time producer Sir George Martin (Sir George had been the architect of Cilla’s best-loved and biggest-selling music releases since her debut in 1963).

CD 1: Cilla Sings A Rainbow
1. 'Love's Just a Broken Heart'
2. 'A Lover's Concerto'
3. 'Make It Easy on Yourself'
4. 'One Two Three'
5. '(There's) No Place to Hide'
6. 'When I Fall in Love'
7. 'Yesterday'
8. 'Sing a Rainbow'
9. 'Baby I'm Yours'
10. 'The Real Thing'
11. 'Everything I Touch Turns to Tears'
12. 'In a Woman's Eyes'
13. 'My Love Come Home'
Bonus Tracks
14. 'I Don't Want to Know' [Mono]
15. 'Don't Answer Me' [Alternate Take]
16. 'A Fool Am I' [Take 18 - 2009 Orchestral Mix]
17. 'Love's Just a Broken Heart' [Mono]
18. 'A Lover's Concerto' [Mono]
19. 'Make It Easy on Yourself' [Mono]
20. 'One Two Three' [Mono]
21. '(There's) No Place to Hide' [Mono]
22. 'When I Fall in Love' [Mono]
23. 'Yesterday' [Mono]
24. 'Sing a Rainbow' [Mono]
25. 'Baby I'm Yours' [Mono]
26. 'Everything I Touch Turns to Tears' [Mono]
27. 'In a Woman's Eyes' [Mono]
28. 'My Love Come Home' [Mono]

On Cilla Sings A Rainbow, Cilla was actually originally inspired to cover the title track having seen Peggy Lee singing the number in a dramatic scene in her musical film ‘Pete Kelley’s Blues’.

It could be seen, as a song choice, as a statement of intent to move in the direction of a family entertainer, foreshadowing her soon to be parallel career as a much loved television personality!

The song was memorably showcased, alongside the album’s lead single, Top 5 hit ‘Love’s Just A Broken Heart’ on the top rating TV variety show Sunday Night At The London Palladium in early 1966.

The album further expanded Cilla’s immensely popular big ballad repertoire by finding songs in this vein from the worlds of pop, soul and rock.

Opening with the forthright, orchestrated pop vibe of 'Love's Just a Broken Heart,' she backs that up with the upbeat, soaring majesty of 'A Lover's Concerto,' the full orchestra greatness of 'Make It Easy on Yourself,' and then the finger-snappin', horn-backed exuberance of 'One Two Three.'

She next slows things down with the jazzy, late night club feel of '(There's) No Place to Hide' which is followed by an enormous sounding, almost theatrical version of 'When I Fall in Love.'

Her passionate rendition of 'Yesterday' is one of my own personal favorites here and is backed by the beautifully delicate 'Sing a Rainbow,' and then the mid-tempo hipsway of 'Baby I'm Yours.'

Bringing the original album to a close, we get the pounding dancefloor jive of 'The Real Thing,' the passionate outreach of 'Everything I Touch Turns to Tears,' and then it rounds out with the layered brilliance of 'In a Woman's Eyes' and the Latin-flavored resonance of 'My Love Come Home.'

The newly added bonus tracks feature a complete Mono version of the whole album, along with tracks such as the gentle finger-snap delight of 'I Don't Want to Know' [Mono], the gentle outreach of 'Don't Answer Me' [Alternate Take], and a completely brilliant version of 'A Fool Am I' [Take 18 - 2009 Orchestral Mix].

CD 2: Day By Day With Cilla
1. 'Without You'
2. 'Thank Heavens I've Got You'
3. 'Help Me Jesus'
4. 'The Long and Winding Road'
5. 'I Hate Sunday'
6. 'I Don't Know How to Love Him'
7. 'Day By Day'
8. 'I've Still Got My Heart Joe'
9. 'Sleep Song'
10. 'Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves'
11. 'Winterwood'
12. 'Oh My Love'
Bonus Tracks
13. 'The Long and Winding Road' [Take 1 Without Fade - 2009 Mix]
14. 'Without You' [Take 1 Outtake - 2009 Mix]
15. 'Without You' [Take 2 - 2009 Mix]
16. 'Day By Day' [Take 1 - Without Fade - 2009 Mix]
17. 'Silly, Wasn't I?'
18. 'I Don't Know How to Love Him' [David Lee Marks Extended Mix]

Very much seen, by 1973, as predominantly a television celebrity, rather than the pop princess of the decade previous, Cilla’s final collaboration with Sir George, nonetheless, marked a notable change of approach, featuring a more sophisticated and mature song selection.

She sang challenging big musical theatre numbers ‘Day By Day’ (from "Godspell") and ‘I Don’t Know How To Love Him’ (from “Jesus Christ Superstar”), her version of which is lyricist Tim Rice’s favorite.

The album also includes a wealth of more delicate singer-songwriter creations that demonstrate Cilla’s great tenderness in her storytelling; Cook and Greenaway’s ‘I’ve Still Got My Heart Joe’ and opening number ‘Without You’.

Another album highlight is Cilla’s cover of the Sonny And Cher classic ‘Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves’ of which Cilla said, “It was for me, a modern day Judy Garland number. If there was ever a modern day Garland, I would say, at that time, Cher was it with that song!”.

Cilla opens up this quite stunningly orchestrated album with a magical rendition of Nilsson's infamous 'Without You,' and backs that with the elegance of 'Thank Heavens I've Got You,' the soaring orchestrations and jangly guitar work of 'Help Me Jesus,' and then both the lo-fi subtle majesty of 'The Long and Winding Road' and the tender reveal of 'I Hate Sunday.'

The temperature turns back up for the rapturous 'I Don't Know How to Love Him' which is backed by the soft piano work of 'Day By Day,' the soft horn section excellence of 'I've Still Got My Heart Joe,' and then the graceful tenderness of 'Sleep Song.'

The original album then rounds out with her note-for-note perfect tribute to Cher on 'Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves,' a delightful, free flowing 'Winterwood,' before coming to a close on the breathy yearning of 'Oh My Love.'

The bonus tracks here include a non-fade out version of 'The Long and Winding Road,' two more 2009 versions of 'Without You,' a new 2009 'Day By Day' without fade, a song of pure, unadulterated delight in 'Silly, Wasn't I?', before itself coming to a close on 'I Don't Know How to Love Him' [David Lee Marks Extended Mix].

Cilla Black @ Facebook!

Official 2CD Purchase Link

www.CillaBlack.com