Cilla Black

The 1968 U.K. compilation called The Best of Cilla Black (which, to distinguish it from other subsequent albums of the same name, was released on the EMI subsidiary Parlophone Records with the catalog number 7065) was a 14-track LP that contained 11 of the 14 chart hits Black had scored in Britain since 1963, including the chart toppers "Anyone Who Had a Heart" and "You're My World," but excluding the Top Ten hit "Don't Answer Me" and the Top 20 hits "I've Been Wrong Before" and "A Fool Am I." The 2002 Special Edition CD reissue of the album picks up from where the original version left off, following Black's recording career to the end of her EMI contract by adding 11 bonus tracks, among them the Top Five hits "Surround Yourself with Sorrow" and "Something Tells Me." It does not feature the missing hits left off the first version, and, in fact, it continues the pattern of inexplicable omissions by failing to include the 1969-1970 Top 20 hit "If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind." Eight of the 11 new tracks, while released as A- or B-side singles, never charted for Black. Among them are successive theme songs to her BBC TV series Cilla, "Baby We Can't Go Wrong" and "It's Now," and covers of such songs as Jim Croce's "I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song" and Stevie Wonder's "I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever)." On this '70s material, Black, who could sound like Dusty Springfield in the '60s, sounds a lot like Olivia Newton-John, employing a similar breathy, soft tone in contrast to the sometimes strident belting of her early years. This collection is imperfect, but it contains most of her career highlights as a recording artist. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide