Cilla Black's debut LP was an entertaining if uneven venture into pop-soul, along lines similar to what Dusty Springfield, Beryl Marsden, et al. were doing at the time, though -- not surprisingly -- her work isn't remotely in the same league with Springfield. Black has passion for the music, and evidently had learned the nuances necessary to make the attempt, but she sounds strained and mannered on a lot of this album, and simply lacks Springfield's range or her easy, naturalistic feel for the sounds she's reaching for. No one is going to complain of what they hear -- her performance of "Baby It's You" recalls the Beatles more than the Shirelles, but John Lennon did a credible job with the song, and she gives a respectable rendition of "Dancing in the Street"; she even throws herself with enough abandon into the one original by George Martin here to make it more than a space-filler, though not by too much. She also acquits herself well on another new song, "I'm Not Alone Anymore," where she's better than the material or the arrangement, but much of the rest is simply too routine -- "Whatcha Gonna Do About It" is an interesting but ultimately stiff exercise in overdubbing with herself; and Steve Marriott and the Small Faces had it all over Black on "Every Little Bit Hurts." Strangely enough, her version of Burt Bacharach and Hal David's "This Empty Place" is at the other end of the spectrum, a brilliant showcase for her range and one of the best of Black's early tracks, easily worthy of release at least as a single B-side. And she follows that up with a beautifully soulful rendition of Cole Porter's "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To." Nothing here is as satisfying as Black's singles of the same era, though her fans will obviously enjoy the album.
© Bruce Eder /TiVo