Shirley Bassey - My Way (1974 TV Special)

1974 (Veteran vocal powerhouse, Shirley Bassey, puts her heart, soul, and dramatic singing style into this classic song on one of her many TV Specials. You will find mainly male singers (Among them, two of the greats, Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley) who perform this song, but this lady shows how powerful female vocalists sing this song their way!) Shirley Bassey knew both Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley. Mr. Sinatra paid Shirley a compliment many, many years ago when he said, ’Take Shirley Bassey, who has the greatest vocal pipes in the world.’ Now, one might say Frank was biased because of his friendship with Shirley, but most of her harshest critics will admit her powerfful vocal abilities don’t come around very often. I think the Chairman of the Board is right on, but I’m certainly favorably biased regarding anything he said! ABOUT this song: “My Way“ is a song with lyrics written by Paul Anka and popularized by Frank Sinatra. The melody is based on a French song “Comme d’habitude“ composed by Claude François and Jacques Revaux. Anka’s English lyrics are unrelated to the original French by Claude François and Gilles Thibaut and Anka is credited as a co-composer of “My Way“ because he largely re-wrote the song. “My Way“ is often quoted as the most remade song in history. Paul Anka heard the original 1967 French pop song, Comme d’habitude (as usual) performed by Claude Francois with music by Claude Francois and Jacques Revaux and lyrics by Claude Francois and Gilles Thibault, while on holiday in the south of France. He flew to Paris to negotiate the rights to the song.[1] In a 2007 interview, he said: “I thought it was a bad record, but there was something in it.“ He acquired publishing rights at no cost and, two years later, had a dinner in Florida with Frank Sinatra and “a couple of Mob guys“ at which Sinatra said he was “quitting the business. I’m sick of it, I’m getting the hell out“. Back in New York, Anka re-wrote the original French song for Sinatra, subtly altering the melodic structure and changing the lyrics: “At one o’clock in the morning, I sat down at an old IBM electric typewriter and said, ’If Frank were writing this, what would he say?’ And I started, metaphorically, ’And now the end is near.’ I read a lot of periodicals, and I noticed everything was ’my this’ and ’my that’. We were in the ’me generation’ and Frank became the guy for me to use to say that. I used words I would never use: ’I ate it up and spit it out.’ But that’s the way he talked. I used to be around steam rooms with the Rat Pack guys - they liked to talk like Mob guys, even though they would have been scared of their own shadows.“ Anka finished the song at 5am. “I called Frank up in Nevada - he was at Caesar’s Palace - and said, ’I’ve got something really special for you.’“[2] Anka claimed: “When my record company caught wind of it, they were very pissed that I didn’t keep it for myself. I said, ’Hey, I can write it, but I’m not the guy to sing it.’ It was for Frank, no one else.“ Dame Shirley Bassey recorded the song for her 1970 album Something. She also performed in live on numerous occasions notably the 1976 Royal Variety Performance. In the weeks following Sinatra’s death in 1998 , Bassey sang is as a tribute to him on her “Diamond“ concert tour. LYRICS: And now, the end is near; And so I face the final curtain. My friend, I’ll say it clear, I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain. I’ve lived a life that’s full. I’ve traveled each and ev’ry highway; But more, much more than this, I did it my way. Regrets, I’ve had a few; But then again, too few to mention. I did what I had to do And saw it through without exemption. I planned each charted course; Each careful step along the byway, But more, much more than this, I did it my way. Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew When I bit off more than I could chew. But through it all, when there was doubt, I ate it up and spit it out. I faced it all and I stood tall; And did it my way. I’ve loved, I’ve laughed and cried. I’ve had my fill; my share of losing. And now, as tears subside, I find it all so amusing. To think I did all that; And may I say - not in a shy way, “No, oh no not me, I did it my way“. For what is a woman, what has she got? If not herself, then she has naught. To say the things she truly feels; And not the words of one who kneels. The record shows I took the blows - And did it my way.