0:00:02 > 0:00:04MUSIC: "Big Spender"
0:00:08 > 0:00:11# The minute you walked in the joint... #
0:00:11 > 0:00:15Shirley Bassey has always been in your life.
0:00:15 > 0:00:20I think it was one night in '54... There isn't a time without Shirley Bassey.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23# Wouldn't you like to know what's going on in my mind? #
0:00:23 > 0:00:30This year, Shirley Bassey has taken on quite possibly her biggest challenge.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33I can't get into it, I can't give it a performance.
0:00:33 > 0:00:37She's confronting her life in song
0:00:37 > 0:00:40for the making of her new studio album,
0:00:40 > 0:00:41the first in 20 years.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44It's a matter of making it work for the record.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48But to make it work for the record, it has to work for me.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51It's a daunting project. Tonight we follow her
0:00:51 > 0:00:56throughout that process, and meet some of today's most accomplished songwriters,
0:00:56 > 0:00:59who've been set the task of writing new material
0:00:59 > 0:01:01especially for the dame.
0:01:01 > 0:01:05There are so few of these types of artists around now
0:01:05 > 0:01:09to write for. I think that's why everyone's been so excited about it.
0:01:09 > 0:01:16There's a real pressured weightiness about trying to write for Shirley Bassey,
0:01:16 > 0:01:20one of Britain's premier character singers, really.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22# This is my life. #
0:01:22 > 0:01:26She doesn't just use her voice to sing songs.
0:01:26 > 0:01:30It's real heart and soul when she sings.
0:01:30 > 0:01:38# This is my li-i-i-ife. #
0:01:38 > 0:01:39APPLAUSE
0:02:18 > 0:02:25# If I could reach out with my hands across the sea... #
0:02:25 > 0:02:30The girl from Tiger Bay now looks out across Monaco Bay,
0:02:30 > 0:02:33where she lives in semi-retirement.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36# I can hope, I can pray... #
0:02:36 > 0:02:40Despite having reached the pinnacle of success,
0:02:40 > 0:02:42and with nothing left to prove,
0:02:42 > 0:02:49at 72, Dame Shirley has decided to step back in the spotlight and into the studio.
0:02:49 > 0:02:54Sometimes you could sit here in this beautiful place
0:02:54 > 0:02:58and...you don't need to go and do that any more.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02But do you miss it? If you're not performing, is that something
0:03:02 > 0:03:07that's a part of your life that you would really miss if you didn't do it?
0:03:07 > 0:03:12No. No. No, I mean, I've not done a concert tour
0:03:12 > 0:03:15in...five years.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18Glastonbury was, what, three years ago.
0:03:18 > 0:03:22No, I'm quite content... not to do it.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26Given you didn't need to do it, you have this great success -
0:03:26 > 0:03:31looking around us, your career is all over the walls here -
0:03:31 > 0:03:33why did you take the risk?
0:03:33 > 0:03:37I think it was the fact that they were all famous
0:03:37 > 0:03:41and I said, "My God, what an honour."
0:03:41 > 0:03:44You know? "I can't turn this down,
0:03:44 > 0:03:50"I've got to find some way of getting my voice onto these songs."
0:03:52 > 0:03:56Guiding her through the album is Bond composer David Arnold.
0:03:56 > 0:04:01He was responsible for casting the songwriters, and approached artists
0:04:01 > 0:04:06as diverse as the Pet Shop Boys, Gary Barlow and the Manic Street Preachers.
0:04:06 > 0:04:10I wanted to make a credible record, which was to do with her,
0:04:10 > 0:04:16would be about her, and be authored by people who appreciated her
0:04:16 > 0:04:20for what she had done and for what she can still do as a singer.
0:04:20 > 0:04:26They are very simple songs, and yet each song seems to tell a story,
0:04:26 > 0:04:29a narrative that is somehow personal to you.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31It's like they got into my head.
0:04:31 > 0:04:36I mean, how did they know so much about me?
0:04:43 > 0:04:45# It was St David's Day
0:04:45 > 0:04:49# When we got in Tiger Bay... #
0:04:49 > 0:04:54Shirley Veronica Bassey was born in 1937 in Tiger Bay,
0:04:54 > 0:04:57a poor immigrant neighbourhood in Cardiff.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00She was the youngest of seven children.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04Her mother, a Yorkshirewoman, her father, a Nigerian sailor,
0:05:04 > 0:05:07who left the family when she was two.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10From an early age, she sought solace in singing.
0:05:12 > 0:05:18I grew up singing. My mother used to say I could sing before I could walk.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20I think she was joking.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22Why did you feel you needed to sing?
0:05:22 > 0:05:25Well, it was better than crying.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30It really was! Instead of crying, I used to sing.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34In the middle of the night, I was uncomfortable,
0:05:34 > 0:05:40um...sleeping in between two sisters, you know, coming in on top of me,
0:05:40 > 0:05:43and so I would start singing
0:05:43 > 0:05:45to make myself comfortable.
0:05:45 > 0:05:51And then my sister would shout, "Mum, Shirley's at it again!"
0:05:51 > 0:05:54Was it overcoming your shyness to some extent?
0:05:54 > 0:05:59Yes, I was terribly shy. And how I ever got to go on stage
0:05:59 > 0:06:01in front of...
0:06:01 > 0:06:06hundreds and then thousands of people, I'll never know.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11# Yes, many times I've wondered
0:06:11 > 0:06:15# Why I will always remain
0:06:16 > 0:06:24# In a place so full of mystery Bad alchemy and pain... #
0:06:24 > 0:06:28Fellow Welsh rockers, the Manic Street Preachers,
0:06:28 > 0:06:31took inspiration from Shirley's early life
0:06:31 > 0:06:35and the exotic stories they'd heard about her birthplace.
0:06:35 > 0:06:40More than anything, Tiger Bay had a bit of a looming presence in our mind
0:06:40 > 0:06:43because we remember our fathers saying stuff about Tiger Bay
0:06:43 > 0:06:45- when they were young. - Very un-PC stuff.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49Yeah, "Tiger Bay was amazing, full of wild women
0:06:49 > 0:06:54"and fights and knives and big bloody steaks in French restaurants."
0:06:54 > 0:06:58They talked about it as if it was party central
0:06:58 > 0:07:01- but somehow quite dangerous as well. - Quite exotic.- Yeah.- Yeah.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05And there's a resonance there, in the culture and in your mind.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08# I've bought a ticket of a lifetime... #
0:07:08 > 0:07:12I tried to get Tiger Bay in the song title a lot of times
0:07:12 > 0:07:16and it's always been quite crass, but this time it seemed perfect.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23# The girl from Tiger Bay... #
0:07:24 > 0:07:26I left so young.
0:07:26 > 0:07:30It will always be in my heart...
0:07:30 > 0:07:34but it's changed beyond recognition.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38There's no Tiger Bay any more. You know? They pulled it apart.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41They've made it Butetown.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45- So...now it lives on forever in that song.- Yes.
0:07:46 > 0:07:50- Let's just quickly do Girl From Tiger Bay.- Yeah.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52# I bought a ticket
0:07:52 > 0:07:56# Of a lifetime... #
0:07:56 > 0:08:01Dame Shirley is in there because... this is a very early rehearsal
0:08:01 > 0:08:04of the songs. I'm trying to make out which one this is.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08# There's no denying who I am... #
0:08:08 > 0:08:13'This is Shirley's opportunity to find the right key for her voice
0:08:13 > 0:08:16'and familiarise herself with the lyrics
0:08:16 > 0:08:19'with her musical director, Mike Dixon.'
0:08:22 > 0:08:23Then we have this bit.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31Sorry... Sorry, sorry.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34That's OK, that's "all the memories and all the scars..."
0:08:34 > 0:08:36# All the memories... #
0:08:36 > 0:08:41- Why not... # All the memories, all the scars. # Why "and"?- Why don't you do that?
0:08:41 > 0:08:45- There's too many words.- That would make more sense of the lyric.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48That is a line I've been trying to get in a lyric
0:08:48 > 0:08:52since, God, 2000, I think it was. 2001.
0:08:52 > 0:08:57But I do like the words of that - "All the memories and all the scars.
0:08:57 > 0:08:59"They dance away into the stars."
0:08:59 > 0:09:03As soon as I saw it in this lyric, I thought, "That's amazing,"
0:09:03 > 0:09:07cos I could see her hand going... # All the inevitable scars... #
0:09:07 > 0:09:12I could see her almost gesticulating the lyric itself.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14Three, four...
0:09:14 > 0:09:18# All the memories, all the scars
0:09:18 > 0:09:22# They dance away into the stars
0:09:22 > 0:09:26# They dance away into the stars... #
0:09:26 > 0:09:29I like it.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32It's easy to write that... Our own songs are usually miserable,
0:09:32 > 0:09:36but writing about Shirley Bassey, it felt easier to be uplifting.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39APPLAUSE
0:09:39 > 0:09:43She left Tiger Bay and became a cabaret singer,
0:09:43 > 0:09:48travelling round Britain in touring revues whilst still in her teens.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52'I love to travel. I didn't know, at the beginning,'
0:09:52 > 0:09:57if I sang so I could travel, you know, or the other way round!
0:09:57 > 0:10:02Is that because you're just, you like to see different places and be in different places?
0:10:02 > 0:10:04It's in my blood.
0:10:04 > 0:10:09My father went round the world, he was a merchant seaman,
0:10:09 > 0:10:14'and went round the world. My stepfather, the same thing.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17'And they'd come back with these stories,'
0:10:17 > 0:10:20you know, of these exotic places.
0:10:20 > 0:10:26And this little kid was listening, like, "Wonderful!"
0:10:26 > 0:10:31But I didn't know singing would get to take me to all these places.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37# When it comes to a question of sin
0:10:37 > 0:10:40# As Professor Jones would say
0:10:40 > 0:10:44# Well, it all depends on what you mean
0:10:44 > 0:10:48# By sin today. #
0:10:48 > 0:10:52At 17, she briefly quit the circuit to have her first child,
0:10:52 > 0:10:56but in 1955, she landed a recording deal.
0:10:56 > 0:11:00At 19, she released her first song, Burn My Candle.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04# Who's got a match for a-strikin'?
0:11:04 > 0:11:06# Don't say it all depends
0:11:06 > 0:11:12# Who wants to help me burn my candle at both ends?
0:11:12 > 0:11:15# Who's got a light he's hidin'
0:11:15 > 0:11:18# Under a bush or fence? #
0:11:18 > 0:11:22'Yeah, it was banned by the BBC!'
0:11:22 > 0:11:26And I didn't know why. I said, "Why are they banning it?"
0:11:26 > 0:11:31My manager said, "Well...the lyrics may have something to do with it."
0:11:31 > 0:11:34I didn't even know... what it was about!
0:11:34 > 0:11:39# Who doesn't mind a reaper after he's sewn wild oats?
0:11:39 > 0:11:45# Who wants to take a chance and help me burn my boats? #
0:11:45 > 0:11:47I'd never sung a risque song.
0:11:47 > 0:11:53And I think they purposely didn't tell me so that I could give it that innocence.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56'You know? Um...'
0:11:56 > 0:11:58They conned me!
0:11:58 > 0:12:01# Weaker than he pretends
0:12:01 > 0:12:04# Who has an urge to turn the handle
0:12:04 > 0:12:07# Open my door and spurn the scandal
0:12:07 > 0:12:16# Who wants to help me burn my candle at both ends? #
0:12:16 > 0:12:20This girl from a very poor background in Tiger Bay -
0:12:20 > 0:12:23what was her aspiration, as far as you could see?
0:12:23 > 0:12:29I mean, stardom was the instant word in her mind, and she achieved it.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32Total self-confidence. She knew who she was.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35She knew she had already arrived.
0:12:35 > 0:12:42And now I would like to sing for you the song that, er, introduced me
0:12:42 > 0:12:46to number-one position in the hit parade.
0:12:47 > 0:12:52# I will love you
0:12:52 > 0:12:59# As I love you all my life... #
0:12:59 > 0:13:02Whenever Shirley Bassey came down Denmark Street,
0:13:02 > 0:13:05which was Tin Pan Alley,
0:13:05 > 0:13:08the great days in the music business,
0:13:08 > 0:13:13publishers would say, "Shirley Bassey's down!" It was a big deal.
0:13:14 > 0:13:19# Just as you are
0:13:19 > 0:13:24# You are all I could pray for... #
0:13:24 > 0:13:27We hadn't heard a voice like that, ever, in this country,
0:13:27 > 0:13:32and I think the sheer power, energy and enthusiasm of her voice
0:13:32 > 0:13:34was irresistible.
0:13:37 > 0:13:42Shirley must have had hundreds and hundreds of songs submitted to her.
0:13:42 > 0:13:44Funny songs, sexy songs,
0:13:44 > 0:13:49cabaret songs. She wasn't the normal...just pop singer.
0:13:49 > 0:13:54It's just one of those gifts from God, a natural instrument.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57It's a virtuoso machine, you know?
0:13:57 > 0:14:05# More and more
0:14:06 > 0:14:15# And mo-o-o-ore. #
0:14:15 > 0:14:20Half a century on, the chance to be placed alongside these classics
0:14:20 > 0:14:23is still a challenge for today's songwriters.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26I think for any young writer,
0:14:26 > 0:14:30you know, I think we dream of being like those characters,
0:14:30 > 0:14:35to have a fantastic catalogue of standards...
0:14:35 > 0:14:39Standards are almost old-fashioned now.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42Ready to have a go?
0:14:43 > 0:14:45HE BEGINS PLAYING
0:14:45 > 0:14:48- Oh, wait. - Is this the one with loads of paper?
0:14:48 > 0:14:52Gary Barlow wanted to recall the standards of this bygone era
0:14:52 > 0:14:55to create his song for Shirley's voice.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59I don't believe this, I tell you. There's so many pages.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04- GARY BARLOW:- I was very excited to write for that voice,
0:15:04 > 0:15:07and instantly went on to research
0:15:07 > 0:15:12cos I just wanted to hear whether, over time, her range had reduced
0:15:12 > 0:15:17because she was always known for having the classic three-octave ability.
0:15:17 > 0:15:22Was that still there? I was interested cos that affects the composition.
0:15:22 > 0:15:27If you're working to a smaller range, that's going to affect the song in a massive way.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29I knew he would struggle with it,
0:15:29 > 0:15:35and I think he was struggling with it because he wanted it to be the best thing he could possibly do, ever.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37I had the verse and the chorus,
0:15:37 > 0:15:41and I kept getting calls from the label saying, "Can we hear the song?"
0:15:41 > 0:15:44I'd say, "I'm busy this week, can we do it next week?"
0:15:44 > 0:15:48I wasn't busy, I was trying to figure this section out.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51I was trying... I was trying TOO hard, actually,
0:15:51 > 0:15:55cos I was trying to go with the... # Dah-dah da! Dah-dah-dah... #
0:15:55 > 0:15:57And it didn't need it.
0:15:57 > 0:16:01He didn't send a demo - he came and played and sang for me.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04I don't know who was nervous...
0:16:04 > 0:16:09We were arguing there for about, like two minutes, who was more nervous!
0:16:09 > 0:16:12# Too much figuring out
0:16:12 > 0:16:16# Too much standing my ground
0:16:16 > 0:16:20# No pride left to be proud Only fear... #
0:16:20 > 0:16:24'When I sat at the piano, my hands were shaking a bit
0:16:24 > 0:16:27'because I think, playing in front of an audience is one thing,'
0:16:27 > 0:16:33but playing in front of an artist like her - I mean, she's a legend, you know?
0:16:33 > 0:16:37'So I was very nervous that day.'
0:16:38 > 0:16:43Gary's song was reminiscent of Rodgers and Hammerstein
0:16:43 > 0:16:47in keeping with the standards in Shirley's back catalogue.
0:16:47 > 0:16:51# I know this time's the time
0:16:51 > 0:16:53# The time for love
0:16:53 > 0:16:59# And it's right here in front of my eyes... #
0:16:59 > 0:17:05'You know what the key to this song was? Something I started figuring it out on the piano'
0:17:05 > 0:17:10was the 6th. And I don't want to get too boring, but the 6th then a chord...
0:17:10 > 0:17:13That's a straight chord... is this note.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19The 6th is a very old-fashioned note.
0:17:19 > 0:17:23It's not been used for years, really it hasn't.
0:17:23 > 0:17:28I thought if I could make this song all about the 6th, it would bring back the 6th.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31I've been wanting to do one for years.
0:17:33 > 0:17:35Also when you go up...
0:17:35 > 0:17:39# Dah, dah...dah... #
0:17:39 > 0:17:42It's such a romantic note
0:17:42 > 0:17:48and used heavily by the Beatles, Neil Sedaka, Burt Bacharach -
0:17:48 > 0:17:51big on the 6th, loved the 6th.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55# I know this time's the time
0:17:55 > 0:17:58# The time for lovin'
0:17:58 > 0:18:04# And it's right here in front of my eyes...
0:18:04 > 0:18:08# I know this time's the time
0:18:08 > 0:18:15# You only get once in your life... #
0:18:15 > 0:18:18Then we get to "left a lot of courage behind".
0:18:19 > 0:18:21HE LAUGHS
0:18:23 > 0:18:26- Do you want to... After... - We go from...
0:18:26 > 0:18:29- After you've got to...- Bridge two.
0:18:29 > 0:18:34- ..bridge two.- Go back to "I know this time's the time" - going back to the chorus?- Yes.
0:18:36 > 0:18:40Despite Gary attempting to work in the classic musical tradition,
0:18:40 > 0:18:43the sheer amount of lyrics is new to Shirley.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46I can't give it a performance, you know?
0:18:46 > 0:18:48I can't...
0:18:48 > 0:18:51It's words, words, words, words, words, words.
0:18:51 > 0:18:56Maybe there's some bits that we can take out, some things we can take out and release it.
0:18:56 > 0:19:00I mean, you can't do that on stage. I would...
0:19:00 > 0:19:04- I think we need...- I would bring it all in, like that.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07'I found a way at the end of rehearsal for her to understand the song.'
0:19:07 > 0:19:12We made a little trim of the very last chorus,
0:19:12 > 0:19:15we cut a bit out, which seemed to help the shape.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18# I know this heart... #
0:19:18 > 0:19:21'What was fascinating was watching the repetition.
0:19:21 > 0:19:26'Repetition caused some little cog to sort of go into place.'
0:19:26 > 0:19:30# I know this time's forever
0:19:30 > 0:19:33# For worse and for better
0:19:33 > 0:19:36# This ti-i-ime... #
0:19:36 > 0:19:40'And after about three or four times of singing it all the way through,
0:19:40 > 0:19:43'suddenly it became her song.
0:19:43 > 0:19:45'It stopped being Gary's song, if you like,
0:19:45 > 0:19:50'and it became her song. It seemed to just gel.'
0:19:50 > 0:19:59# This ti-i-i-i-ime. #
0:19:59 > 0:20:02SHE PANTS
0:20:02 > 0:20:06- What about that? We only got that today.- Yeah.
0:20:06 > 0:20:12I mean, I didn't know what to do with it until today, just...
0:20:12 > 0:20:14I found it!
0:20:14 > 0:20:16Ah, wow!
0:20:16 > 0:20:21I don't know who I left out there, but Shirley Bassey came in here.
0:20:22 > 0:20:26DRUMROLL Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Shirley Bassey.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32# I get too hungry for dinner at eight... #
0:20:32 > 0:20:36Shirley took her talent to the States,
0:20:36 > 0:20:42where, uniquely, as a British singer she ranked alongside the American elite.
0:20:42 > 0:20:44# That's why this lady is a tramp! #
0:20:46 > 0:20:54# I like the free, fresh wind
0:20:54 > 0:20:59# In my hair
0:20:59 > 0:21:01# Life without care... #
0:21:01 > 0:21:04My mother loved Shirley Bassey. Anybody who had
0:21:04 > 0:21:09that rich, big, honest sound
0:21:09 > 0:21:11and that's the one thing
0:21:11 > 0:21:13about Shirley Bassey - she's honest.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17You believe everything she says, you believe everything she sings.
0:21:18 > 0:21:22# Yes, I'm a tramp and I love it... #
0:21:22 > 0:21:27Shirley comes from an age where the first few syllables, you knew who the singer was.
0:21:27 > 0:21:32Obviously, there's a generation of singers who didn't write the songs, but who took ownership of them -
0:21:32 > 0:21:34people like Frank, Elvis, Shirley, you know.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37They didn't necessarily write the songs but, perhaps,
0:21:37 > 0:21:42it was just that feeling in their heads where they thought they had to make up the shortfall.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46"We're going to make them sound like no-one else can ever sing them again."
0:21:46 > 0:21:48MUSIC: Theme from James Bond
0:21:48 > 0:21:53The next target in Shirley's sights was Hollywood.
0:21:53 > 0:21:58Bond already had an iconic opening sequence,
0:21:58 > 0:22:01but when Bassey was added to the mix, she triggered a lethal cocktail
0:22:01 > 0:22:04of glamour, sex and danger.
0:22:05 > 0:22:12John Barry came to me one day and said, "I've written the music for the song for the next Bond -
0:22:12 > 0:22:14"Goldfinger - and I'd like you to hear the music,"
0:22:14 > 0:22:20and I said, "John, hearing music is no good to me. I'm a singer. I need to hear words."
0:22:20 > 0:22:22He said, "Well, they're not written yet."
0:22:22 > 0:22:25INTRO TO "GOLDFINGER" PLAYS
0:22:32 > 0:22:38I got goose bumps and I said, "John, I don't care what the words are like,
0:22:38 > 0:22:41"I'll sing it. I'll sing it."
0:22:41 > 0:22:44# Goldfinger... #
0:22:46 > 0:22:52I would say that her greatest quality was this...this conviction.
0:22:52 > 0:22:56In three notes, she convinced everybody they should be as interested as she is,
0:22:56 > 0:22:58and so you went along with the story.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02Well, it is one of the weirder lyrics I've ever written, it has to be said.
0:23:02 > 0:23:07"Goldfinger, he's the man, the man with the Midas touch,
0:23:07 > 0:23:09"a spider's touch.
0:23:09 > 0:23:14"Such a cold finger beckons you to enter his web of sin,
0:23:14 > 0:23:17"but don't go in."
0:23:17 > 0:23:22What was amazing was that she made this insane lyric make sense.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25You actually believed what she was singing.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28# Goldfinger
0:23:28 > 0:23:31# He's the man
0:23:31 > 0:23:34# The man with the Midas touch
0:23:37 > 0:23:40# A spider's touch... #
0:23:40 > 0:23:44From the opening notes to the closing notes,
0:23:44 > 0:23:46you just believe every word she says.
0:23:48 > 0:23:53# Beckons you to enter his web of sin
0:23:54 > 0:23:57# But don't go in... #
0:23:57 > 0:23:59I have this theory that Shirley should sing all of them -
0:23:59 > 0:24:04every Bond song - because they're just made for Shirley Bassey,
0:24:04 > 0:24:06you know, they're provocative, they're seductive,
0:24:06 > 0:24:09and she has a way with that kind of lyric.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15# Diamonds are forever
0:24:16 > 0:24:20# They are all I need to please me... #
0:24:20 > 0:24:24There is only Shirley Bassey who gives that kind of performance.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27I think everyone would probably sum it up in the word "drama",
0:24:27 > 0:24:28that there is a drama
0:24:28 > 0:24:30and a glamour and also a sort of...
0:24:30 > 0:24:34the reason why she's right for James Bond is there's sort of a danger.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41But Shirley Bassey's professional success was a sharp contrast
0:24:41 > 0:24:43to the dramas in her personal life.
0:24:43 > 0:24:48She had to deal with rumours that her first husband and manager Kenneth Hume was gay
0:24:48 > 0:24:50and not the father of her second child, Samantha.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54They divorced but remained friends
0:24:54 > 0:25:00and Shirley was devastated when he was found dead in 1967.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02# I don't need love
0:25:03 > 0:25:06# For what good would love do me?
0:25:07 > 0:25:11# Diamonds never lie to me... #
0:25:11 > 0:25:13I think she had to deal with the dramas and tragedies
0:25:13 > 0:25:17of her life, um, you know, we knew her first husband,
0:25:17 > 0:25:21we knew her in that era - the '60s, in London,
0:25:21 > 0:25:25when everything was going on, but she sailed through it all,
0:25:25 > 0:25:28like a battle cruiser, you know.
0:25:28 > 0:25:36# Diamonds are forever, forever, forever, forever
0:25:36 > 0:25:43# And ever-er-er-er! #
0:25:43 > 0:25:46APPLAUSE
0:25:46 > 0:25:50Alongside the younger admirers, current Bond composer David Arnold
0:25:50 > 0:25:55wanted to reunite the winning combination of Barry and Black.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58- PIANO PLAYS - No, it's only once.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02- OK, turn over that...- You're just doing the John Barry songs?- Yes.
0:26:02 > 0:26:07I've made a mistake because the repeat is not on there, it's on here.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09John likes a certain kind of lyric.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12I've been writing with him for 40 years, so I know what he likes.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14He likes the simplicity.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17It's a story about somebody who's waited
0:26:17 > 0:26:22quite a while to find love, erm, but...
0:26:22 > 0:26:25as if to say, you know, "it's never too late" type of thing.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28It's a kind of a September song, if you like.
0:26:29 > 0:26:34# Love has no season
0:26:34 > 0:26:38# There are no rules
0:26:38 > 0:26:44# Those who stop dreaming
0:26:44 > 0:26:47# Are fools... #
0:26:47 > 0:26:50'It was very interesting actually that we started playing
0:26:50 > 0:26:54'through the John Barry/Don Black song and her first instinct
0:26:54 > 0:26:58'was, "Oh, thank goodness, I've got a song,'
0:26:58 > 0:27:00"that's got a verse, a chorus,
0:27:00 > 0:27:03"a verse, a chorus, a bridge and an out. It's easy!"
0:27:03 > 0:27:06# Our time is now... #
0:27:06 > 0:27:12But the ease of working with her old partners only underlines the challenges for Shirley
0:27:12 > 0:27:14in coming to terms with new songs
0:27:14 > 0:27:17that sit rather less firmly in the tradition.
0:27:27 > 0:27:32While she's been in rehearsals, David Arnold and his conductor
0:27:32 > 0:27:35have been concentrating on taking the writers' demos
0:27:35 > 0:27:37and arranging them for the orchestra.
0:27:37 > 0:27:41The way that Shirley had always made records historically,
0:27:41 > 0:27:44they'd record her and the orchestra all in one go,
0:27:44 > 0:27:46two or three takes, moving on - that's what you'd do,
0:27:46 > 0:27:50and you'd record the whole album in two or three days, that would be it.
0:27:50 > 0:27:56The idea that everything would be done and she would come in at the end and sing on the top of it
0:27:56 > 0:27:58was something that didn't appear to be...
0:27:58 > 0:28:01she wasn't that comfortable with it to start with.
0:28:06 > 0:28:11It's the first opportunity for Dame Shirley to see what David Arnold has been up to,
0:28:11 > 0:28:14as she now enters his world.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19One, two, three...
0:28:19 > 0:28:24- Are you all right?- How are you, stranger?- I'm OK. We've been working hard.- Yeah?
0:28:24 > 0:28:29- We've been working hard too. - We've been working very hard. - Hi, sweetheart.- Hi.- Mwah!
0:28:29 > 0:28:32Nice to see you. This is sounding really good too.
0:28:32 > 0:28:34- Yeah?- Yeah.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37She must come to terms not only with new songwriters,
0:28:37 > 0:28:39but a new way of recording.
0:28:39 > 0:28:42All right, guys. Let's do this, please.
0:28:42 > 0:28:44Ralph, can you please start us off?
0:28:44 > 0:28:47A favourite song in rehearsal was After The Rain.
0:28:47 > 0:28:53Despite loving the melody, Shirley was uncertain of how to sing it.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56# After the rains have gone
0:28:56 > 0:28:58- # Something inside... # - SHE COUGHS
0:28:58 > 0:29:03# ..I know is dying for you
0:29:03 > 0:29:05# The sleet and the snow... #
0:29:05 > 0:29:10Richard Hawley's song was a world away from Bassey's usual style.
0:29:10 > 0:29:13The song I thought
0:29:13 > 0:29:14would be right
0:29:14 > 0:29:21was a bit more folky, in a way, than anything that she'd ever done.
0:29:21 > 0:29:25I thought cos it was kind of a new album
0:29:25 > 0:29:28that it would be OK to do that.
0:29:35 > 0:29:37# After the rains have gone
0:29:37 > 0:29:41# Something inside me I know
0:29:41 > 0:29:44# Is dying for you
0:29:44 > 0:29:46# The sleet and the snow
0:29:46 > 0:29:52# Just drifts me, I know, away
0:29:52 > 0:29:53# After the rains have gone
0:29:53 > 0:29:55# Something inside me cries
0:29:55 > 0:29:58# What's behind that door? #
0:29:58 > 0:30:01Life's about beginnings and endings, you know,
0:30:01 > 0:30:05about getting through one period in your life and just trying to carry on to another.
0:30:05 > 0:30:11# Well, I just can't fake it any more. #
0:30:11 > 0:30:14It is... You're quite right. It's quite tragic.
0:30:15 > 0:30:21# This girl just can't take it any more... #
0:30:21 > 0:30:24It isn't like a great, grand song. It's just a little...
0:30:24 > 0:30:29sliver of humanity - it's just a small thing, not anything grand or bold,
0:30:29 > 0:30:33and I thought it might be interesting for her to sing that.
0:30:34 > 0:30:40# This girl just can't take it
0:30:40 > 0:30:45# Any mo-o-o-ore... #
0:30:45 > 0:30:51- If we sing it like that, it'll be extraordinary.- Pretty.
0:30:51 > 0:30:55I wouldn't sing that out really that much more than that, a little, but...
0:30:55 > 0:30:58- Yeah, a little...- If we can get that sense of intimacy...
0:31:01 > 0:31:05Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to introduce Dame Shirley.
0:31:08 > 0:31:11'Ladies and gentlemen, let's meet Miss Shirley Bassey.'
0:31:11 > 0:31:13APPLAUSE
0:31:20 > 0:31:23- Shirley, I'm a great fan of yours. - Oh, really?- Yes...
0:31:23 > 0:31:27- Oh, yes, yes.- That's marvellous. - I've got every one of your records.
0:31:27 > 0:31:28- Except one.- Oh?- Yes.
0:31:28 > 0:31:31- Well, Ernie is very sensitive about the words, and...- Yes.
0:31:31 > 0:31:35- ..the words on this record make him cry.- Yes, they do.
0:31:35 > 0:31:37Which one of my songs makes him cry?
0:31:37 > 0:31:40- Hey, Big Spender. - LAUGHTER - He can't help it.
0:31:40 > 0:31:42# Hey, big spender
0:31:44 > 0:31:48# Spend a little time with me. #
0:31:48 > 0:31:51After Bond, Shirley Bassey's success was colossal.
0:31:51 > 0:31:55Long before Madonna, she was the original material girl.
0:31:55 > 0:31:57# To have fun
0:31:57 > 0:31:58# Fun
0:31:58 > 0:32:02# Fun! How's about a few laughs? Laughs... #
0:32:02 > 0:32:06She had her own TV programme and sell-out shows across the world.
0:32:06 > 0:32:08# Let me show you a...
0:32:09 > 0:32:10# Good time!
0:32:10 > 0:32:13# Hey, big spender
0:32:15 > 0:32:16# Hey, big... #
0:32:16 > 0:32:18But by the end of the '70s,
0:32:18 > 0:32:21the glamorous showbiz world Shirley had conquered
0:32:21 > 0:32:22was starting to fade.
0:32:22 > 0:32:25Now divorced for the second time,
0:32:25 > 0:32:27with few challenges left in her career,
0:32:27 > 0:32:31she went into semi-retirement, away from the public spotlight.
0:32:33 > 0:32:36Despite the fact that you're this performer who was on stage,
0:32:36 > 0:32:38and you inhabit the song on the stage,
0:32:38 > 0:32:41- you are a very private person, aren't you?- Yes.
0:32:41 > 0:32:44- So, it's a trial for you, even sitting here with me.- Mm-hm.
0:32:44 > 0:32:51- I'm lucky to be here.- Yes. - I know that, because I know you hate it really.
0:32:51 > 0:32:56I do. It's...it's that shyness, and talking...
0:32:56 > 0:33:04We're talking music, that's OK - to talk about me and my personal life is hell.
0:33:12 > 0:33:13# I...
0:33:13 > 0:33:15APPLAUSE
0:33:15 > 0:33:16# I don't know who
0:33:19 > 0:33:20# I
0:33:21 > 0:33:22# I don't know why... #
0:33:25 > 0:33:29Success, in a way, it ruins you, really.
0:33:29 > 0:33:34It ruins you, your personal life and relationships,
0:33:34 > 0:33:37especially for a woman.
0:33:38 > 0:33:40# I love you... #
0:33:40 > 0:33:47The success broke up my marriage and it didn't help my children any.
0:33:48 > 0:33:51In 1985, tragedy struck -
0:33:51 > 0:33:55the death of her daughter Samantha aged only 21,
0:33:55 > 0:33:58who died in mysterious circumstances.
0:33:58 > 0:34:04# ..the windowpa-a-a-ne
0:34:06 > 0:34:07# I... #
0:34:07 > 0:34:10She has had, in her personal life, a bumpy ride,
0:34:10 > 0:34:16but she has this inner drive that enables her to deal with it and move on
0:34:16 > 0:34:19without sacrificing her talent.
0:34:19 > 0:34:20# Must watch you
0:34:22 > 0:34:23# Go dancing by... #
0:34:23 > 0:34:25Having done everything that she's done,
0:34:25 > 0:34:30why would you want to back into a little studio and out there again to be judged, criticised,
0:34:30 > 0:34:33and wrung out as much as possible?
0:34:33 > 0:34:35# Love you... #
0:34:35 > 0:34:39I think it says a lot for her that... that she did that,
0:34:39 > 0:34:44because, you know, it's a very different world in terms of female artists,
0:34:44 > 0:34:47and it's a very different world in terms of the way records are made,
0:34:47 > 0:34:49you know, because she didn't have to.
0:34:53 > 0:34:54SHIRLEY VOCALISES
0:34:54 > 0:34:56SCALES PLAYED ON PIANO
0:34:58 > 0:35:02This is a key stage of the album.
0:35:02 > 0:35:07Shirley lays down her vocals and the producer, David Arnold, takes the opportunity
0:35:07 > 0:35:09to get to grips with his artist.
0:35:10 > 0:35:14# Forever young I will stay
0:35:14 > 0:35:17# The girl from Tiger Bay. #
0:35:25 > 0:35:29- Quite a few of these lines and phrases now are really beginning to change shape.- Yeah.
0:35:29 > 0:35:33On a boring, technical note, on "I bought a ticket of a lifetime" line,
0:35:33 > 0:35:37- I wonder if we could soften it, so rather than "bought"...- # Bought a ticket... #
0:35:37 > 0:35:41..the American "bought a ticket", so it's slightly less...
0:35:41 > 0:35:43Ah, but it's very Welsh, you see.
0:35:43 > 0:35:45"I BOUGHT a ticket."
0:35:45 > 0:35:48We pronounce our Ts.
0:35:48 > 0:35:51- You're just intuitively musical, aren't you, really?- Yes.
0:35:51 > 0:35:56- So there's no science to this or... - No, I mean, I don't read a note of music...
0:35:57 > 0:35:59# I bought a ticket... #
0:35:59 > 0:36:03..but I always insist on having the music there
0:36:03 > 0:36:08cos I can tell if I have to go up or down or stay on the same note, that's about it.
0:36:08 > 0:36:10# Forever young... #
0:36:10 > 0:36:15- And you never thought to yourself, "Yes, I think I'm going to learn to read music"?- I did.
0:36:15 > 0:36:20My throat specialist said, "I think it would change your naturalness,
0:36:20 > 0:36:24"because then you'll be singing the notes too perfect and too rounded.
0:36:24 > 0:36:27"Don't go there."
0:36:27 > 0:36:31# Forever young I will stay
0:36:31 > 0:36:34# The girl from Tiger Bay. #
0:36:36 > 0:36:39- That was perfect.- That was perfect. Absolutely dead-on.
0:36:39 > 0:36:41Another tricky one out the way.
0:36:41 > 0:36:44- Can I go now?- Nearly.- Nearly!
0:36:44 > 0:36:46Got one more.
0:36:46 > 0:36:50Some songs went smoothly but one song was proving a struggle.
0:36:50 > 0:36:54The producer David Arnold's own composition.
0:36:54 > 0:36:58# Where is the solace that I crave?
0:37:01 > 0:37:04# Will it still haunt me to my grave?
0:37:06 > 0:37:09# Too broken to forgive
0:37:10 > 0:37:14# Too painful to relive now... #
0:37:14 > 0:37:16Oh-h!
0:37:16 > 0:37:18It's not right, it's not right.
0:37:18 > 0:37:23# Where is the solace that I crave?
0:37:23 > 0:37:25# That I crave... #
0:37:25 > 0:37:31- You said this was one of those. - I knew it would be from the beginning.
0:37:31 > 0:37:33Spot these a mile off.
0:37:33 > 0:37:35It's going up and down.
0:37:35 > 0:37:40It doesn't... For me, to sing it, it doesn't make sense.
0:37:41 > 0:37:45- David, the other option... - It's in the wrong key. - ..is to change the tune.
0:37:45 > 0:37:49'It's too low. She can't reach the low notes, the high bits are too high.
0:37:49 > 0:37:54'I couldn't figure out that we sort of missed it in all that rehearsing.'
0:37:54 > 0:37:58- Just go in for that line. Just go for that line.- I... It's...- I know.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01- Oh-h!- Don't worry.- 'We're looking at each other and thinking,'
0:38:01 > 0:38:03"This might be the first casualty."
0:38:03 > 0:38:06I'm thinking, "That's a shame cos it's mine."
0:38:08 > 0:38:11# Where is the solace that I crave? #
0:38:11 > 0:38:14It's OK, it's in your head the wrong way.
0:38:14 > 0:38:17# Where is the solace THAT I crave? #
0:38:17 > 0:38:20David, what do you think about...?
0:38:22 > 0:38:23David!
0:38:26 > 0:38:28Yes.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31- Where do you want us to go from? - We'll just go from "there may be other arms".
0:38:31 > 0:38:33- SHE SIGHS - Yep?
0:38:33 > 0:38:35- It's going to be one of those. - I know.
0:38:36 > 0:38:38# There may be other arms
0:38:38 > 0:38:40# To hold... #
0:38:40 > 0:38:45'And she sings it again and again and again and all the time really pushes herself quite hard in the studio.'
0:38:45 > 0:38:49- Shall I...?- No. - Should I throw it?- No.
0:38:49 > 0:38:54'And sometimes I was thinking, "God, I wouldn't push my mum as hard as I'm pushing you." '
0:38:54 > 0:38:56I think we should just do one more.
0:38:56 > 0:38:59How can we save this? How can we save this?
0:38:59 > 0:39:02I'm just going to pop out to the piano.
0:39:02 > 0:39:06Oh, he's coming into our territory. No, no, you mustn't!
0:39:06 > 0:39:09No, producers mustn't come in. It's bad luck.
0:39:09 > 0:39:12- Bad luck!- All right. Stay there. Tell him to stay there.
0:39:12 > 0:39:14SHE LAUGHS
0:39:14 > 0:39:16HE LAUGHS TOO
0:39:16 > 0:39:21- No, stay... It's bad luck, apparently. You've got to go in the other room.- Now, what...?
0:39:21 > 0:39:25It's too low and then it's too high.
0:39:25 > 0:39:28It's a matter of making it work for the record.
0:39:28 > 0:39:31- To make it work for the record, it has to work for me.- I agree.
0:39:32 > 0:39:36'My ear was picking up'
0:39:36 > 0:39:43something else, and that's where not reading music comes into it,
0:39:43 > 0:39:47cos your ear wants to sing something else - it goes off somewhere.
0:39:47 > 0:39:54'David and Mike won't let me do that and I keep saying, "It's artistic licence.'
0:39:54 > 0:39:56"Give me artistic licence."
0:39:56 > 0:40:02- Try one more.- I will try one more. - One more time all the way through and we'll look at a few bits.
0:40:02 > 0:40:09'We'd readjusted the second half of the verse and I said, "Let's try that and see how we get on.'
0:40:09 > 0:40:13"If it doesn't work, it doesn't work." She sang it once and it was just like a different record
0:40:13 > 0:40:15and like she was a different person.
0:40:16 > 0:40:21# How long does a heart stay broken?
0:40:21 > 0:40:27# How long if the pain's unspoken?
0:40:27 > 0:40:29# No solace in a kiss
0:40:29 > 0:40:32# No comfort in a sigh
0:40:32 > 0:40:36# No good about goodbye. #
0:40:38 > 0:40:39Thank you very much.
0:40:39 > 0:40:42Nailed!
0:40:42 > 0:40:45- Congratulations.- Thank you. - Take your headphones off.- Right.
0:40:48 > 0:40:53The only woman to write a song for the album was KT Tunstall,
0:40:53 > 0:40:56who provided a folk song for Shirley to sing.
0:40:56 > 0:41:00# Night arrived in a shiny dress
0:41:00 > 0:41:02# The water calm and still
0:41:02 > 0:41:06# The only sound for miles around
0:41:06 > 0:41:09# Was a hungry cat on a windowsill
0:41:09 > 0:41:11# In amongst the quiet... #
0:41:11 > 0:41:15Her song, Nice Men, underwent the biggest transformation.
0:41:15 > 0:41:17# Where have all the nice boys
0:41:17 > 0:41:18# Where have all the good boys
0:41:18 > 0:41:21# Where have all the nice boys gone? #
0:41:21 > 0:41:24This is one that nearly didn't get done.
0:41:24 > 0:41:28- Yeah.- Is that because you couldn't find your way round it, or...?- Yeah.
0:41:28 > 0:41:30It was very difficult to...
0:41:30 > 0:41:34It was not me at all, and I had to make it me,
0:41:34 > 0:41:38cos I liked the song but I didn't think it was me.
0:41:38 > 0:41:43The way it's written, it's not... You can't make it sexy.
0:41:43 > 0:41:45It should be sexy.
0:41:45 > 0:41:46It should be slow and...
0:41:46 > 0:41:50You try it at the tempo you think it should go and I'll try and follow you.
0:41:50 > 0:41:53# Night arrived in a shiny dress
0:41:53 > 0:41:56# The water calm and still
0:41:56 > 0:42:01# The only sound for miles around
0:42:01 > 0:42:04# Was a hungry cat on a windowsill... #
0:42:04 > 0:42:06- It's a bit blues...- Yeah.
0:42:06 > 0:42:10You know, something like from Cats.
0:42:10 > 0:42:11- SHE GROWLS - Yeah.
0:42:11 > 0:42:13# Night arrived... #
0:42:13 > 0:42:16- Just...- I don't know what to do with it.
0:42:16 > 0:42:18When I'd first started writing it,
0:42:18 > 0:42:23my impulsive lyric was "boys" -
0:42:23 > 0:42:25"where have all the nice boys gone?"
0:42:25 > 0:42:29and I was thinking, "That would be so cheeky of her to sing that,"
0:42:29 > 0:42:33and I thought, "No, that's actually totally inappropriate.
0:42:33 > 0:42:34"She should sing 'men'."
0:42:34 > 0:42:37- Sorry.- It's all right. One more time...- P-p-p...
0:42:37 > 0:42:41In the studio, Shirley's natural instinct changed the lyrics even further,
0:42:41 > 0:42:44putting a Bassey spin on the song.
0:42:44 > 0:42:47- I took my eyes off them. - DEEP BREATH, THEN LAUGHTER
0:42:47 > 0:42:54'It was called Nice Men, but you didn't like "nice". You turned it into "bad".'
0:42:54 > 0:43:01- I don't recall, maybe I did change...- Don't give me you "don't recall". You changed it on purpose.
0:43:02 > 0:43:04# Where have all the nice men
0:43:04 > 0:43:05# Where have all the good men
0:43:05 > 0:43:08# Where have all the bad men gone? #
0:43:08 > 0:43:10We actually re-recorded it last week
0:43:10 > 0:43:13and I did a version of it which was sort of dirty,
0:43:13 > 0:43:16so it's done a slightly different way.
0:43:16 > 0:43:19# Where have they gone? Who knows? Where have they gone?
0:43:19 > 0:43:22# Nobody knows! #
0:43:23 > 0:43:24INSTRUMENTAL PLAYS
0:43:24 > 0:43:25Oh!
0:43:31 > 0:43:33That is dirty, David!
0:43:33 > 0:43:38That is down and dirty! Hey!
0:43:41 > 0:43:46The thing that Shirley Bassey has that many don't is that she's just so sexy.
0:43:46 > 0:43:50Sensual more than just sexy, I think.
0:43:50 > 0:43:53- Oh, no, at the start, it's more sexy. - And sensual.- Yeah.
0:43:53 > 0:43:57At the start, it's just unbridled and natural.
0:43:57 > 0:43:59It's just stunning.
0:43:59 > 0:44:03Well, the legs, I mean, you know. Greatest pair of legs you ever saw
0:44:03 > 0:44:04in the '70s.
0:44:04 > 0:44:06# Where have all the bad men gone? #
0:44:06 > 0:44:10There's not many women who are able to be very sexual
0:44:10 > 0:44:13and very popular across the board.
0:44:13 > 0:44:17I think it can be a very threatening figure -
0:44:17 > 0:44:20the predatory female diva -
0:44:20 > 0:44:26and she's just got the personality to handle it, where you just love her.
0:44:26 > 0:44:28# Where have all the nice men
0:44:28 > 0:44:29# Where have all the good men
0:44:29 > 0:44:32# Where have all the bad men gone? #
0:44:32 > 0:44:37- Whoo!- That's certainly... Fantastic! - That's going to be great.
0:44:37 > 0:44:42- She hasn't really heard any of these. - There's a great range to the songs.
0:44:42 > 0:44:46- I mean, that is so different to... - Absolutely.- ..After The Rain or something like that.
0:44:46 > 0:44:51Come on, then, David. That's where we heard that soft side.
0:44:51 > 0:44:57Dame Shirley was curious to hear how Richard Hawley's song After The Rain had turned out.
0:44:58 > 0:45:01# After the rains have gone
0:45:01 > 0:45:04# Something inside me I know
0:45:04 > 0:45:07# Is dying for you
0:45:07 > 0:45:09# The sleet and the snow
0:45:09 > 0:45:15# Just drifts me, I know, away... #
0:45:15 > 0:45:22'They brought out some nuances of my voice that I didn't know was there -
0:45:22 > 0:45:29'the softness, that I could sing soft, which answers my critics
0:45:29 > 0:45:31'that I am not a belter.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34'I hate that word anyway.'
0:45:34 > 0:45:41# This girl just can't take it any more... #
0:45:42 > 0:45:44It's great.
0:45:44 > 0:45:48It really is a Shirley Bassey song after all.
0:45:48 > 0:45:49HE CHUCKLES
0:45:49 > 0:45:51I love the key change - that was very subtle.
0:45:51 > 0:45:54Yeah, he knows what he's doing - Mr Arnold - doesn't he?
0:45:54 > 0:45:56That was great.
0:45:57 > 0:46:01# Oh, I just can't take
0:46:01 > 0:46:04# That my love don't want to fake... #
0:46:04 > 0:46:10I believe her as well. Do you know what I mean? It's not a 17-year-old kid faking it.
0:46:10 > 0:46:12It adds weight to it. Yeah, it's beautiful.
0:46:12 > 0:46:14Thank you, Shirley.
0:46:15 > 0:46:20# This girl just can't take it
0:46:20 > 0:46:24# Any mo-o-o-re. #
0:46:25 > 0:46:31- Never sung a song like that before. - That's the first time you've heard yourself like that, is it?
0:46:31 > 0:46:33- Yeah, I've never done a song like that.- No, I know.
0:46:35 > 0:46:39- Oh!- It's very exposed, isn't it? It really is gorgeous.
0:46:39 > 0:46:42# Shall we dance? Da-da-da! #
0:46:42 > 0:46:44THEY LAUGH
0:46:44 > 0:46:45# Shall we dance? #
0:46:47 > 0:46:49- Well done, well done. - Thank you very much.
0:46:49 > 0:46:56You'd better do a good job of the mixing now, otherwise you won't get any more petting.
0:46:56 > 0:46:58- Everything all right so far?- Yeah.
0:47:03 > 0:47:05# The word is about... #
0:47:05 > 0:47:09Shirley Bassey has come out of retirement for this album,
0:47:09 > 0:47:12and it's not the first time she's risen to a challenge.
0:47:12 > 0:47:15Over the years, she's been lured back onto the stage
0:47:15 > 0:47:19and into the charts by a new generation of performers and fans.
0:47:19 > 0:47:23# It's all just a little bit of history repeating... #
0:47:25 > 0:47:31In 2007, she played the coveted Sunday afternoon legend slot at Glastonbury.
0:47:31 > 0:47:35I loved the atmosphere of it. I got caught up with it.
0:47:35 > 0:47:40I didn't think I would. I thought, "What am I doing in all this mud? I don't do mud!
0:47:40 > 0:47:46"I do glamour, you know - gowns sort of trailing along the stage,
0:47:46 > 0:47:48"but not trailing in the mud."
0:47:48 > 0:47:50I said, "What are you going to wear?
0:47:50 > 0:47:52"It might be raining, there might be mud."
0:47:52 > 0:47:55She said, "I don't care. If they want Shirley Bassey,
0:47:55 > 0:47:57"I'll give them Shirley Bassey."
0:47:57 > 0:48:00CHANTING: Shirley! Shirley!
0:48:02 > 0:48:04CHEERING
0:48:06 > 0:48:08'This strange thing took hold -
0:48:08 > 0:48:12'this electricity in the air, you know.
0:48:12 > 0:48:16'I was away with it. I got caught up in it.'
0:48:17 > 0:48:20So, this song is for all you big spenders, OK?
0:48:20 > 0:48:21CHEERING
0:48:28 > 0:48:31# Well, when she walked in the joint... #
0:48:31 > 0:48:36She's 72 years old - Shirley. What's happened to her voice over the years?
0:48:36 > 0:48:39It sounds pretty much like it always sounded, doesn't it?
0:48:39 > 0:48:43I thought that when I saw her at Glastonbury. She's just so powerful.
0:48:43 > 0:48:46I mean, she stole the whole festival.
0:48:46 > 0:48:48# So let me get right to the point
0:48:49 > 0:48:53# I don't pop my cork for every man I see... #
0:48:53 > 0:49:00One of the great things about seeing her was knowing that she's still got her instrument completely intact.
0:49:00 > 0:49:04That must be very difficult because it's just a physical thing.
0:49:04 > 0:49:07It's a muscle and some people aren't lucky, as they get older,
0:49:07 > 0:49:09that they don't keep their voice.
0:49:09 > 0:49:12# A little time with me! #
0:49:12 > 0:49:16Frank Sinatra didn't have the vocal power as he got older,
0:49:16 > 0:49:18but replaced it with a sort of experience,
0:49:18 > 0:49:23but Shirley Bassey's still got the vocal power.
0:49:23 > 0:49:25'It really was phenomenal.
0:49:25 > 0:49:28'I will never ever forget that.'
0:49:28 > 0:49:33Has that changed things for you? Could this have happened if you hadn't had that experience?
0:49:33 > 0:49:40It may not have. I think perhaps these people suddenly saw, you know, me at Glastonbury,
0:49:40 > 0:49:42the granny, you know,
0:49:42 > 0:49:48and maybe... I'd like to think they said, "I'd like to write a song for her."
0:49:48 > 0:49:50So, how's it gone? How do you think it's gone?
0:49:50 > 0:49:55It's sometimes frustrating, sometimes exhilarating, when I got it.
0:49:55 > 0:49:59You know, when I didn't get it - "Aggh! I can't do this!"
0:49:59 > 0:50:02- She's very tough to work with, isn't she?- No.
0:50:02 > 0:50:04She's a pussycat, actually.
0:50:04 > 0:50:07You're kidding. They boss me around something terrible.
0:50:07 > 0:50:13- You've only knocked a couple of music stands over.- That's all.- Yeah. - I didn't hit anybody.
0:50:13 > 0:50:20When I threw a tantrum, they just didn't react.
0:50:20 > 0:50:24- You did have one, I suppose. There was one.- The stand?- Yeah.
0:50:24 > 0:50:28- There was one...- Stand and headphones.- And the headphones. - And ripping up the music.
0:50:28 > 0:50:31- I didn't rip it.- Now I know we've made a Shirley Bassey record.
0:50:31 > 0:50:38You know, the producer says, "Could we do that again? Could we do that again? Could we do that again?
0:50:38 > 0:50:39"Could we do that again?"
0:50:39 > 0:50:42And I must say I was very patient about it.
0:50:45 > 0:50:52No, because if he says, "Do it again," it means it isn't right, and I'm a perfectionist
0:50:52 > 0:50:55and I got angry at myself - nobody else.
0:50:57 > 0:51:01It's been three months since Shirley finished the album,
0:51:01 > 0:51:05and now, for one night only, thanks to these new songs,
0:51:05 > 0:51:07she's reborn again as the performer.
0:51:09 > 0:51:12So the Electric Proms are coming...?
0:51:12 > 0:51:14Oh-h! Aggh!
0:51:14 > 0:51:20The idea of going on a live stage is nerve-wracking
0:51:20 > 0:51:23and, as I get older,
0:51:23 > 0:51:25the shyness gets worse.
0:51:25 > 0:51:31I think for a lot of performers, performance is a matter of life and death,
0:51:31 > 0:51:35because if the performance isn't right, they're going to...
0:51:35 > 0:51:38this is what people say - "I died."
0:51:38 > 0:51:42Somebody once said to me, "It's a pity you can't see yourself
0:51:42 > 0:51:47"on a live stage," and I started to think about, you know.
0:51:47 > 0:51:50I suppose I should be analysed.
0:51:50 > 0:51:53- Have you never done that, then? - No, no, no.
0:51:53 > 0:51:56I don't think I want to hear why
0:51:56 > 0:52:01this shy person can go on stage in front of thousands of people.
0:52:01 > 0:52:04I'd rather not think about it.
0:52:04 > 0:52:06WHISTLING
0:52:09 > 0:52:13I love the idea of what she does is that she appears in front of you,
0:52:13 > 0:52:19the lights go down, the frock, the wig, the curtains, the orchestra...
0:52:19 > 0:52:21CHEERING
0:52:22 > 0:52:24..it's Shirley Bassey.
0:52:24 > 0:52:30You know that she's going to give the show of a lifetime cos that's all she can do.
0:52:31 > 0:52:37Shirley Bassey's performances have always been about triumph over tragedy,
0:52:37 > 0:52:40and she's kept her private scars well hidden,
0:52:40 > 0:52:44but tonight she's the diva at her most public and most private,
0:52:44 > 0:52:50confronting herself as never before with a song written by the Pet Shop Boys.
0:52:53 > 0:52:56It was written from the point of view of a diva,
0:52:56 > 0:53:01where you've got someone who goes through a lot of heartache,
0:53:01 > 0:53:05but is sort of fulfilled by her performance.
0:53:05 > 0:53:08# A brave face
0:53:10 > 0:53:11# Stiff upper lip
0:53:13 > 0:53:14# Will do the trick
0:53:16 > 0:53:20# Look, the mask is firm
0:53:21 > 0:53:23# The face is mine
0:53:24 > 0:53:27# It seems fine
0:53:29 > 0:53:33# Until the final day
0:53:33 > 0:53:37# I'll play this part
0:53:37 > 0:53:40# The only way I can
0:53:40 > 0:53:44# For to live
0:53:44 > 0:53:47# I have to give
0:53:47 > 0:53:50# The performance
0:53:50 > 0:53:57# Of my life...
0:53:57 > 0:53:59APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
0:53:59 > 0:54:00# What's the truth... #
0:54:00 > 0:54:05I think that there are performers
0:54:05 > 0:54:10who prioritise their performance and their career
0:54:10 > 0:54:13over their private life...
0:54:13 > 0:54:16# But you go on... #
0:54:16 > 0:54:21..but I think it is such a powerful thing to be such a powerful performer
0:54:21 > 0:54:26that the rest of your life exists in the shadow of that performance,
0:54:26 > 0:54:31and that, for many people, many performers like that,
0:54:31 > 0:54:34they're most truly alive on stage.
0:54:39 > 0:54:40# Right on cue
0:54:42 > 0:54:47# I fell in love with you
0:54:49 > 0:54:53# You cause many a tear
0:54:54 > 0:54:56# I had applause
0:54:56 > 0:54:59# I had a career
0:55:01 > 0:55:05# Until the final day
0:55:05 > 0:55:09# I'll play this part
0:55:09 > 0:55:13# The only way I can
0:55:14 > 0:55:17# For to live
0:55:17 > 0:55:19# I have to give
0:55:21 > 0:55:24# The performance
0:55:24 > 0:55:29# Of my
0:55:29 > 0:55:37# Li-i-i-i-fe! #
0:55:37 > 0:55:40- OFF-SCREEN: - # Until that final day
0:55:40 > 0:55:42# I'll play the part the only way I can
0:55:42 > 0:55:45# For to live, I have to give
0:55:45 > 0:55:51# The performance of my life. #
0:55:51 > 0:55:55'And that's how I went on stage -
0:55:55 > 0:55:58'every song was the performance of my life,'
0:55:58 > 0:56:02so that song really - aggh!
0:56:02 > 0:56:06'You know, it really hit home.
0:56:10 > 0:56:16'I thank them for bringing those emotions out in me,'
0:56:16 > 0:56:19and the love that they put into those songs
0:56:19 > 0:56:24and I hope I've done them justice, those writers justice.
0:56:26 > 0:56:29# I bought a ticket of a lifetime
0:56:29 > 0:56:35# There's no denying who I am
0:56:36 > 0:56:41# Forever young I will stay
0:56:41 > 0:56:45# The girl from Tiger Bay
0:56:45 > 0:56:51# The girl from Tiger Bay! #
0:56:51 > 0:56:53Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd