"Burn My Candle" is the debut single by

Shirley Bassey Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey (; born 8 January 1937) is a Welsh singer. Best known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the theme songs to three James Bond films, Bassey is widely regarded as one of the most popular vocalists ...

. It was recorded in February 1956, when Bassey was nineteen years old, and released later that month on a 78 rpm

shellac disc A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts nea ...

(Philips PB 558), with " Stormy Weather" on the B-side. The record was produced by

Johnny Franz John Charles Franz (23 February 1922 – 29 January 1977) was an English record producer and A&R man at the Philips label. He was one of Britain's most successful producers in the 1950s and 1960s. While his recordings encompassed several forms of ...

, with Angela Morley and her Orchestra backing Bassey. The song was written for Bassey by Ross Parker (most notable for " We'll Meet Again") at the behest of Bassey's then-manager, Michael Sullivan, who was seeking a song to make Bassey stand out. The BBC banned the playing of the record, presumably due to its suggestive lyrics. In his 2010 biography of Bassey, John L. Williams writes that:

The song taken in isolation, is blatantly sexual but hardly convincing, as the double entendres of the title give way to single entendres in the bridge – ''There's "S" for Scotch, that's so direct / And for straight and simple sex / "I" for invitation to / A close relationship with you / "N" for nothing bad nor less / "S-I-N", that's sin, I guess.''...And that, right there, is the key to Shirley Bassey's early success: she was blatantly sexy and yet somehow, if not innocent, at least not too knowing.

Despite being popular with audiences, the record failed to chart. In a 2009 interview on the BBC series '' Imagine'', Bassey stated:

It was banned by the BBC, and I didn't know why. And I said, 'Why are they banning it?' And my manager said, well—the lyrics may have something to do with it—and I said, 'Yah? But what?' I didn't even know what it was about. I'd never sung a risqué song and I think they purposefully didn't tell me so that I could give it that innocence.

Its first appearance on an album was ''

The Bewitching Miss Bassey ''The Bewitching Miss Bassey'' is the second studio album by Welsh singer Shirley Bassey. Consisting of new and previously released material, this was the first album by Bassey to be issued on the 12" Long-playing record format. Tracks were take ...

'' in 1959. On subsequent appearances the song is sometimes listed as "Burn My Candle (At Both Ends)". Most recently, it appears on the CD compilation ''Burn My Candle - The Complete Early Years''. Bassey re-recorded the song in 1966, but it remained unreleased until 1975 when it appeared on the 2-LP set ''The Shirley Bassey Collection II''.

References

1956 songs 1956 debut singles Shirley Bassey songs Songs written by Ross Parker (songwriter) Philips Records singles Song recordings produced by Johnny Franz Songs banned by the BBC {{1950s-single-stub