''Good, Bad but Beautiful'' is a 1975 album by

Shirley Bassey Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey (; born 8 January 1937) is a Welsh singer. Known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the James Bond music, theme songs to three James Bond films - the only artist to officially perform more than o ...

. In the first half of the decade, Bassey recorded nine albums (with three being live LPs ), three making the top ten. In March 1975, Bassey released a compilation that became her highest-charting album to date, '' The Shirley Bassey Singles Album'' (#2) and reflected the momentum Bassey had maintained since her 1970 "comeback". ''Good, Bad but Beautiful'', released in the autumn of 1975, spent seven weeks on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

, peaking at #13, and earned a silver disc.BPI (manual search)
The album reflects the formula that brought Bassey back to the charts: a combination of contemporary songs combined with her forte of standards, show tunes, and torch songs, featuring arrangements aimed squarely at the adult contemporary, or middle-of-the-road, audience. This was also achieved by modifying her backup orchestra to include electric guitars, a string and brass section with a more contemporary sound, and drumming that is more soft rock-oriented than jazz-oriented, while side two's opener, "Feel Like Makin' Love" displays a

smooth jazz Smooth jazz is commercially oriented crossover jazz music. Although often described as a "genre", it is a debatable and highly controversial subject in jazz music circles. As a radio format, however, smooth jazz radio became the successor to e ...

style. This was Bassey's seventh album of the 1970s to make the ''Billboard'' 200, peaking at #186. It also reached #54 on the US R&B chart. In the UK the album was awarded a

silver disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

six weeks after it was released. The original release was in stereo on vinyl and cassette. In 2005, BGO Records issued a remastered ''Good, Bad but Beautiful'', together with the 1973 album '' Never Never Never'', on a 2-CD set.

Track listing

Side One #"Emotion" (

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Véronique Sanson Véronique Marie Line Sanson (; born 24 April 1949) is a three-time Victoires de la Musique award-winning French singer-songwriter and record producer with an avid following in her native country. Ten years after Barbara, Véronique Sanson be ...

) - 4.17 #" Send in the Clowns" from the Musical Show ''

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'' (

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March22, 1930November26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. Regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, he is credited with reinventing the American musical. He received Lis ...

) - 3.22 #"Good, Bad but Beautiful" (Clive Westlake) - 3.24 #"

Sing Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

" (

Joe Raposo Joseph Guilherme Raposo, OIH (February 8, 1937 – February 5, 1989) was an American composer and songwriter. He is best known for his work on the children's television series ''Sesame Street'', for which he wrote the theme song, and several no ...

) - 3.27 #"

The Way We Were ''The Way We Were'' is a 1973 American romantic drama film directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford. Arthur Laurents adapted the screenplay from his own 1972 novel of the same name, which was based on his ...

" from the Film ''

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Alan Bergman Alan Bergman (born September 11, 1925) and Marilyn Keith Bergman (née Katz; November 10, 1928 – January 8, 2022) were an American songwriting duo. Married from 1958 until Marilyn's death, together they wrote music and lyrics for numerous celeb ...

Marilyn Bergman Alan Bergman (born September 11, 1925) and Marilyn Keith Bergman (née Katz; November 10, 1928 – January 8, 2022) were an American songwriting duo. Married from 1958 until Marilyn's death, together they wrote music and lyrics for numerous celeb ...

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) - 2.48 #"I'll Be Your Audience" (

Becky Hobbs Becky Hobbs (born Rebecca A. Hobbs, January 24, 1950) is an American country singer, songwriter, and pianist. She has recorded several studio albums and has charted multiple singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts, including the 198 ...

, Lewis Anderson) - 3.05 Side Two #" Feel Like Makin' Love" (

Gene McDaniels Eugene Booker McDaniels (February 12, 1935 – July 29, 2011) was an American singer, producer and songwriter. He had his greatest recording success in the early 1960s, reaching number three on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart wit ...

) - 3.38 #"All in Love Is Fair" (

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

) - 3.55 #"Run on and on and On" (Mercia Love) - 3.24 #" The Other Side of Me" (

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

) - 3.42 #"Jessie" (

Janis Ian Janis Ian (born Janis Eddy Fink; April 7, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter who was most commercially successful in the 1960s and 1970s. Her signature songs are the 1966/67 hit "Society's Child, Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)" an ...

) 3.53 #"Living" (

Gilbert Bécaud François Gilbert Léopold Silly (24 October 1927 – 18 December 2001), known professionally as Gilbert Bécaud (), was a French singer, composer, pianist and actor, known as "Monsieur 100,000 Volts" for his energetic performances. His best-know ...

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, Marcel Stellman) - 3.41

Personnel

*Shirley Bassey – vocal *

Arthur Greenslade Arthur Greenslade (4 May 1923 – 27 November 2003) was a British conductor and arranger for films and television, as well as for a number of performers. He was most musically active in the 1960s and 1970s. Early career Greenslade was born ...

– arranger, conductor *

Del Newman Derrick Martin "Del" Newman (5 October 1930 – 10 August 2020) was a British conductor, orchestral arranger and music producer. His orchestral arrangements appeared on songs by many rock and pop artists from the 1960s to the 1990s, including Ca ...

– arranger, conductor ("The Way We Were") *

Martin Rushent Martin Charles Rushent (11 July 1948 – 4 June 2011) was an English record producer, best known for his work with the Human League, the Stranglers and Buzzcocks. Early life Rushent was born on 11 July 1948 in Enfield, Middlesex. His fathe ...

– engineer *

Richard Avedon Richard Avedon (May 15, 1923 – October 1, 2004) was an American fashion and portrait photographer. He worked for ''Harper's Bazaar'', '' Vogue'' and '' Elle'' specializing in capturing movement in still pictures of fashion, theater and ...

– photography *

Bob Cato Robert G. Cato (September 5, 1923 – March 19, 1999) was an American photographer and graphic designer whose work in record album cover design contributed to the development of music and popular culture for five decades.Liner notes, London Phas ...

– art direction and design

References

{{Authority control Shirley Bassey albums 1975 albums Albums arranged by Arthur Greenslade United Artists Records albums