Surprise, surprise...it's Cilla here!  Today's the day on which Cherry Red's Strike Force Entertainment has launched a new series dedicated to remastering and expanding Cilla Black's discography.  These deluxe, lavishly expanded reissues go a long way in upgrading the late superstar's catalogue on CD.  The first 2-CD set pairs 1969's George Martin-produced Surround Yourself with Cilla with 1976's It Makes Me Feel Good, produced by David Mackay (Cliff Richard, Blue Mink, The New Seekers).  The second set jumps ahead in time to offer Cilla's final two albums, both from 2009: the dance remix album All Mixed Up and Beginnings: Revisited.  Both of the 2009 albums were digital-only releases, and this release marks their CD debut.  Similarly, It Makes Me Feel Good is making its CD premiere.  Bonus tracks are drawn from various sources including the download-only bonuses from Black's digital reissue campaign that year.

Surround Yourself with Cilla was named for its U.K. top five hit single "Surround Yourself with Sorrow," but that was far from its only highlight.  The album also featured a return to the Bacharach/David songbook with the lilting "You'll Never Get to Heaven" and pop favorites from The Bee Gees ("Words"), The Cyrkle ("Red Rubber Ball"), Harry Nilsson ("Without Him," first recorded as "Without Her"), and The 5th Dimension via Broadway's Hair ("Aquarius").  Big European ballads were represented, too, with the Italian melodies of "Only Forever Will Do" and the dramatic "Think of Me."  A whopping 15 bonus tracks have been appended to the original album including ten mono mixes of album tracks, the non-LP B-side "London Bridge," the previously issued outtake "Your Heart Is Free (Just Like the Wind)," alternate takes of "Surround Yourself with Sorrow," and more.  The false start of "Surround Yourself with Sorrow" is just 25 seconds long but catches Cilla's on-microphone apology.  Unfortunately there's no explanation as to why, in such a comprehensive set, the mono mixes of the album's "It'll Never Happen Again" and "I Am a Woman" are missing.

Cilla's ninth studio LP and second with producer David Mackay, It Makes Me Feel Good, was a departure for Cilla in that it was partially recorded in the United States.  Four smooth tracks recorded in Los Angeles ("Lovin' Land," "One Step from Your Arms," "September Love Affair," and a cover of "To Know Him Is to Love Him") were cut in L.A. with personnel including American guitarist Lee Ritenour, keyboardist David Paich, bassist Lee Sklar, drummer Jim Gordon, and other members of the city's session cream of the crop.  The album also includes the U.K.-only single "I'll Take a Tango," a disco-flavored remake of The Four Tops' "Something About You," and Albert Hammond and Hal David's "Lay the Music Down."  Cilla even became one of the earliest artists to cover Tom Waits with her touching interpretation of his "San Diego Serenade."  Among the seven bonus tracks are the U.S.-only single "Fantasy" penned by Will Jennings and Barry Goldberg (a top 20 Dance hit) and the theme songs to the 1976 season of Cilla's BBC series Cilla ("It's Now!") and ITV program Cilla's World of Comedy ("Easy in Your Company").  All told, 13 tracks across these 2 CDs are new to the format.

The second two-fer jumps ahead to 2009.  The first disc is the CD debut of Cilla: All Mixed Up, a digital collection released in celebration of Black's 45 years in show business.  Its 12 tracks comprised Cilla's biggest and most beloved hits ("Step Inside Love," "Anyone Who Had a Heart," "Something Tells Me Something's Gonna Happen Tonight") in new dance remixes including four from the remix team Almighty.  The remixes were drawn from the U.K., U.S., and even India and the United Arab Emirates.  Two bonus tracks have been added - remixes of "Imagine" and "Black Paper Roses."  As with all remixes, one's mileage will vary, but by and large, the remixes affectionately honor Cilla's original vocals.

The second disc boasts the CD premiere of Beginnings: Revisited, but that album actually had its genesis in 2003.  That year, Beginnings: Greatest Hits and New Songs was released on EMI featuring eleven new recordings and nine classics.  In 2009, Beginnings producer Ted Carfrae resequenced, remixed, and reassembled the album sans the "greatest hits" portion to stand alone as an all-new album.  That's the version which is presented here.

The title track, "Beginnings," is notable as one of the final collaborations of Burt Bacharach and Hal David.  Originally written for the Broadway musical revue The Look of Love, it was cut from the show in previews, and survives only thanks to Cilla's beautiful recording.  Other tracks include re-recordings of Randy Newman's poignant "I've Been Wrong Before," Bacharach and David's "Anyone Who Had a Heart" (Cilla's signature tune) and Ringo Starr's infectious "Photograph" as a duet with Cliff Richard.  Black also gave a light dance treatment to Gordon Lightfoot's timeless "If You Could Read My Mind" and brought her signature style to the Faith Hill hit "This Kiss" and Exile's "Kiss You All Over."   A jazz-inflected rendition of the standard "Let There Be Love" underscored the eclectic nature of the album.   The 2009 mixes are joined by a further seven bonus tracks including Carfrae's acoustic, alternate, and stripped-down mixes emphasizing Cilla's still-powerful vocal instrument, DJ Tommy Sandhu's "Burnt Out Remix" of the Paul McCartney-penned "Step Inside Love" (which became a No. 3 hit on Music Week's British club play chart) and the radio edit of the Klubkidz Remix of "Beautiful Goodbye."  26 out of 32 songs are new to CD.

Both of SFE's two-fers boast thick, copiously illustrated 32-page booklets packed with rare photographs and liner notes drawing on interviews with the late artist.  Ted Carfrae has penned a vivid reflection of his time working with Cilla in the All Mixed Up/Beginnings Revisited set, and has also remastered both collections.  Cilla's son Robert Willis is executive-producing these packages, with Stephen Munns as the reissue producer.  The new packages reveal that the upcoming titles in the series will be:

• Sher-Oo! (1968)/Modern Priscilla (1978)
• Cilla (1965)/In My Life (1974)
• Cilla Sings a Rainbow (1966)/Day by Day with Cilla (1973)
• Sweet Inspiration (1970)/Images (1971)

These releases will complete Cilla's EMI catalogue on CD; hopefully rights issues can be managed to see reissues of 1980's Especially for You (last reissued in 2005 on Pickwick); 1985's Surprisingly Cilla (though some have reported that master tapes are lost); 1990's rare Cilla's World; and 1993's retrospective Through the Years.

Both Surround Yourself with Cilla/It Makes Me Feel Good and Cilla: All Mixed Up/Beginnings Revisited are available today from Cherry Red and SFE!

Cilla Black, Surround Yourself with Cilla/It Makes Me Feel Good (Cherry Red/SFE, 2018) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1: Surround Yourself with Cilla (Parlophone PMC 7079, 1969)

1. Aquarius
2. Without Him
3. Only Forever Will Do
4. You'll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart)
5. Forget Him
6. It'll Never Happen Again
7. Think of Me
8. I Am a Woman
9. Words
10. Red Rubber Ball
11. Liverpool Lullaby
12. Surround Yourself with Sorrow

Bonus Tracks

13. London Bridge
14. Your Heart is Free (Just Like the Wind)
15. Quando Si Spezza Un Grande Amore (Mono)
16. Surround Yourself with Sorrow (False Start)
17. Surround Yourself with Sorrow (Take 9 - 2009 Mix - Without Fade)
18. Aquarius (Mono) (*)
19. Without Him (Mono) (*)
20. Only Forever Will Do (Mono) (*)
21. You'll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart) (Mono) (*)
22. Forget Him (Mono) (*)
23. Think of Me (Mono) (*)
24. Words (Mono) (*)
25. Red Rubber Ball (Mono) (*)
26. Liverpool Lullaby (Mono) (*)
27. Surround Yourself with Sorrow (Mono) (*)

CD 2: It Makes Me Feel Good (EMI EMC 3108, 1976)

1. Something About You
2. I'll Take a Tango
3. September Love Affair
4. Lay the Music Down
5. San Diego Serenade (*)
6. Heartbeat
7. Running Out of World (*)
8. To Know Him Is to Love Him
9. It Makes Me Feel Good
10. Lay It All Down
11. One Step from Your Arms
12. Lovin' Land (*)

Bonus Tracks

13. Fantasy
14. It's Now
15. I Believe (When I Fall in Love, It Will Be Forever)
16. Easy in Your Company (*)
17. Little Things Mean a Lot
18. A Bad Case of Rock 'n' Roll
19. Slow Dance

(*) previously unreleased on CD

Cilla Black, Cilla: All Mixed Up/Beginnings Revisited (Cherry Red/SFE, 2018) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1: Cilla: All Mixed Up (EMI, no cat. no., 2009)

1. Step Inside Love (Almighty Radio Edit) (*)
2. Something Tells Me (Almighty Mix)
3. Anyone Who Had a Heart (Almighty Mix)
4. Baby We Can't Go Wrong (Almighty Radio Mix) (*)
5. I Don't Know How to Love Him (David Lee Marks Radio Edit) (*)
6. Beautiful Goodbye (Klubkidz Extended Mix) (*)
7. Faded Images (Tommy Sandhu's Ram Mix) (*)
8. Kiss You All Over (Tommy Sandhu's Big Bill Mix) (*)
9. A Fool Am I (Marley M Remix) (*)
10. Your Song (Pookadelic Remix) (*)
11. Step Inside Love (DJ Ronstar - Step In Da Club Mix) (*)
12. Something Tells Me (Dan Thomas Club Mix) (*)

Bonus Tracks

13. Black Paper Roses (2009 Chicken Feed Remix)
14. Imagine (Matt Pop Club Mix)

CD 2: Beginnings: Revisited (EMI, no cat. no., 2009)

1. Kiss You All Over (2009 Mix) (*)
2. Imagine - with Cliff Richard (2009 Mix) (*)
3. Beautiful Goodbye (2009 Mix - Full Version) (*)
4. Let There Be Love (2009 Mix) (*)
5. Beginnings (2009 Mix) (*)
6. This Kiss (2009 Mix - Extended Version) (*)
7. My Man (You've Changed My Tune) (2009 Mix) (*)
8. If You Could Read My Mind (2009 Mix) (*)
9. I've Been Wrong Before (2009 Mix) (*)
10. Photograph (2009 Mix) (*)
11. Anyone Who Had a Heart (Late Night Version) (2009 Remix) (*)
12. Step Inside Love (All Burnt Out Remix)
13. Kiss You All Over (2009 Acoustic Mix)
14. Imagine (2009 Acoustic Mix) (*)
15. Beautiful Goodbye (Klubkidz Remix - Radio Edit)
16. Imagine (2009 Orchestral Mix) (*)
17. My Man (You've Changed My Tune) (2009 Alternate Mix) (*)
18. Beautiful Goodbye (2009 Stripped Down Mix) (*)

(*) previously unreleased on CD