Cilla Black

b. Priscilla Maria Veronica White, 27 May 1943, Liverpool.   The only female performer under Brian Epstein's management began checking coats at the Cavern Club where bands sometimes let her sing with them. One of those bands, the Beatles, convinced Brian Epstein to audition her. Inexperienced, she flopped in the audition partly because the Beatles didn't think it necessary for her to rehearse and partly because she had not thought about a musical key. Black: I'd chosen to do "Summertime", but at the very last moment I wished I hadn't. I adored this song, and had sung it when I came to Birkenhead with the Big Three, but I hadn't rehearsed it with The Beatles and it had just occurred to me that they would play it in the wrong key. It was too late for second thoughts, though. With one last wicked wink at me, John set the group off playing. I'd been right to worry. The music was not in my key and any adjustments that the boys were now trying to make were too late to save me. My voice sounded awful. Destroyed — and wanting to die — I struggled on to the end. (What's It All About? )

1963

August 1963. After hearing Cilla White performing in a local club and after repeated nudging by John Lennon, Brian Epstein agreed to manage the singer. Epstein convinced George Martin to take her into Parlophone's growing roster of Epstein artists, which had been providing EMI with considerable success. In the fashion of other managers, Epstein decided to give her a stage name and called her "Cilla Black," possibly after a misprint in the local music paper, Merseybeat. Black, while never a strong singer, brought a familiarity to the songs she sang that was never pretentious and almost always charming. Moreover, Epstein carefully presented her as a Liverpudlian friend of his bands and played down any sexuality in her performances. Like Gerry Marsden, she came across as someone you might see at the local pub where you would have a casual chat and pint, but probably not a love affair. 28 August. Black records Paul McCartney's "Love of the Loved" at EMI's Recording Studios in London with George Martin producing. 27 September. "Love of the Loved" (Lennon-McCartney) / "Shy of Love" [Parlophone R 5065] released. [charts 17 October; UK #35]   Right: Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Cilla Black, and Gerry and the Pacemakers

1964

31 January. "Anyone Who Had a Heart" / "Just for You" [Parlophone R 5101] released. [UK #1]

1 May. "You're My World" / "Suffer Now I Must" [Parlophone R 5133] released. [UK #1]

31 July. "It's for You" / "He Won't Ask Me" [Parlophone R 5162] released. [UK #7]

1965

8 January. "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" / "Is It Love" [Parlophone R 5225] released. [UK #17]

Northerners	Schedule	Searchers
	13 February, 2012