Shirley Bassey Sings the Songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber by Shirley Bassey

Sings the Songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber is a studio album by Shirley Bassey, released in 1993. This album saw Bassey briefly return to her old label EMI (which also owns her United Artists recordings); the album was issued by EMI on the Music For Pleasure Premier label. All songs on this album are from the pen of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. This is the first, and to date the only Songbook album that Bassey has recorded and released. In her early recording career she had recorded many songs from the Great American Songbook, but unlike Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and many other artists, she had never recorded a complete album of songs by one composer. The songs on the album are all taken from the popular musicals of Andrew Lloyd Webber, that he wrote with various lyricists. The oldest song found on the album is from the 1971 musical Jesus Christ Superstar which originally opened on Broadway in October of that year. Bringing it up to date the album also includes two songs from Sunset Boulevard which had recently premiered on July 12, 1993 in London's West End. Four songs had previously been recorded by Bassey: "I Don't Know How To Love Him" in 1972 for the album And I Love You So, "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" in 1978 for the album The Magic Is You, "Memory" in 1984 for the B-side of the European single "That's Right" and "All I Ask of You" in 1991 for the album Keep the Music Playing. Several TV performances and interviews were made by Bassey to promote this album. The album entered the UK Albums Chart on December 4, 1993 and peaked at No. 34.