You've Lost That Loving Feeling

Performed on the BBC Eammon Andrews Show in 1965. This recording of the Phil Spector song You've Lost That Loving Feeling reached Number Two in the UK singles charts, while the Righteous Brothers reached Number One. In a well-documented battle of the two recordings, Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham took out a full page advert in NME asking pop pickers to buy the Righteous Brothers version instead of the Cilla Black cover. Black has often stated that the superior version won in the end. George Martin: "Of course it was rather cheeky of us to re-record it... but it was such a good song".

(Note: Cilla re-recorded You've Lost That Loving Feeling exactly twenty years later on a piss-poorly produced studio album on the Towerbell label in her LWT days; over here at the Girl From Abbey Road site, we prefer not to think of it.)

The Abbey Road Decade: Black Reviewed

Black's output is far superior to the limited reputation the carries in the U.S.A., where she charted but a handful of songs. The material features all of Black's hits, all of her important B-sides and album tracks; also, disc three is made up entirely of rarities, including some surprising demos like "Step Inside Love" from 1968 with Paul McCartney accompanying her on acoustic guitar -- it's almost good enough to have been released, which also proves that McCartney could have been a top session player if he hadn't made it in any other area. There's also Black's original rehearsal cut of "A Shot of Rhythm and Blues," a full-blown, Cavern-style Merseybeat performance with a band; a surviving Dick James Music acetate of Black's cover of "Fever," plus her unissued versions of "Heatwave" and "Shotgun," both among the best records she ever made, and closing with her mid-'70s cover of Phil Ochs' "Changes." All of the relevant tracks that weren't originally released in stereo have been remixed that way, and a good job done of it, too. The surprise for most casual listeners will come from the non-hits -- even with her original vocal limitations, which she quickly overcame, Black had a distinctive sound that made her work eminently enjoyable and even impressive. Coupled with some good arrangements and George Martin's crisp production, her music holds up astonishingly well. And Black, as she gained confidence, displays a surprisingly soulful approach on songs such as "He Won't Ask Me" and "You've Lost That Loving Feeling".

(Review of "1963-1973 The Abbey Road Decade", Bruce Eder, All Music Guide)

After You're My World

Black captured in 1966 by Jane Bown

After "You're My World," Black's career was made. At her worst, as a pop singer of uncertain range and instincts, she was almost a throwback to Helen Shapiro, a major female pop-star of the pre-Beatles era. At her best, as on "You've Lost That Loving Feeling," she had an intense soulful quality, akin to Tom Jones as a ballad singer --indeed, she might've been Britain's answer to Dionne Warwick. She displayed a surprisingly adventurous nature, as with "It's For You," a waltz-like number that Paul McCartney personally selected for her from among his best non-Beatles destined originals. She covered it in a jazz arrangement and the resulting single reached No. 7 in England. McCartney remained close to her for years, although Black's closest musical confidant was songwriter Bobby Willis, whom she later married.

(Bruce Eder, All Music Guide)