Shirley Bassey - Hands Across The Sea (1958 Recording)

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1958 (Young Shirley Bassey recorded this Philips PB845 single, Hands Across the Sea (Side A), with Side (B) being the song, As I Love You. (Note: I indicated this song was Side (B) on the cover picture...sorry! Anyway, this 45 single, mainly due to the song, As I Love You, went to the top of the charts at #1, and it stayed there for 4 months!

I personally think if Shirley had performed this song, live, it might have had a bigger splash, just as 'As I Love You' did. On a side note, many people compared Shirley to the great French singer, Edit Piaf when Shirley was starting out, and the vocal resemblence is very noticeable when you listen to Hands Across the Sea.

ABOUT Shirley's early Beginnings in the Business:
In 1953, Bassey signed her first professional contract, to sing in a touring variety show Memories of Jolson, a musical based on the life of Al Jolson. She next took up a professional engagement in Hot from Harlem, which ran until 1954. By this time Bassey had become disenchanted with show business, and had become pregnant at 16 with her elder daughter, Sharon—the father has not been identified so she went back to waiting tables in Cardiff.

In 1955, a chance recommendation to Michael Sullivan, a booking agent, put Bassey firmly on course for her destined career. He saw talent in Bassey, and decided he would make her a star. She toured various theatres until she was seen by Jack Hylton whose interest in her put her firmly on the road to stardom. He invited her to star in Al Read's Such Is Life at the Adelphi Theatre in London's West End. During the show's run, Philips A&R and record producer Johnny Franz spotted her on television, was impressed, and offered her a recording deal. Bassey recorded her first single, entitled "Burn My Candle", and Philips released it in February 1956, when Bassey was 19. Owing to the suggestive lyrics, the BBC banned it, but it sold well nonetheless, backed with her powerful rendition of "Stormy Weather". Further singles followed, and in February 1957, Bassey had her first hit with "The Banana Boat Song", which reached No. 8 in the UK Singles Chart. During that year, she also recorded under the direction of American producer Mitch Miller in New York for the Columbia label, producing the single "If I Had a Needle and Thread" b/w "Tonight My Heart She Is Crying". She then travelled to Las Vegas to make her American stage début at El Rancho Vegas. In mid-1958, she recorded two singles that would become classics in the Bassey catalogue. "As I Love You" was released as the B-side of another ballad, "Hands Across the Sea"; it did not sell well at first, but after a chance appearance at the London Palladium things began to pick up. In January 1959"As I Love You" it reached No. 1 and stayed there for four weeks. It thus became the first number 1 single by a Welsh artist. Bassey also recorded "Kiss Me, Honey Honey, Kiss Me" at this point, and while "As I Love You" raced up the charts, so too did this record, with both songs being in the top three at the same time. A few months later, Bassey signed to EMI's Columbia label, and the second phase in her recording career had begun.

LYRICS:
If I could reach out
With my hands across the sea
I'd take you in my arms
And never set you free
How I'd hold you and hold you
Forever more in my heart

My love would be there
With my hands across the sea
To tell you what I feel
And what you mean to me
I'd then hold you and hold you
And never more would we part

But you're much too far
For my hands to reach out
For my heart to remind you of me
Too long is the distance between us
Too wide and too deep is the sea

Now, I can't reach out
With my hands across the sea
But there's one thing I can do
I can hope, I can pray
I can wait.....
For you....

Special Thanks to Pieter, Astrid and others from the Shirley Bassey blog, Tal from the Diamond Bassey website, and all those who have contributed wonderful pictures of Shirley!