Early fame – the Brian Epstein years Black signed her first contract with longtime friend and neighbour Terry McCann, but this contract was not binding as it was made when she was a minor (the age of majority was then 21), and her father subsequently signed her with
Brian Epstein. She was introduced to Epstein by
John Lennon, who persuaded him to audition her. Lennon was encouraged by his
Aunt Mimi to introduce Black to Epstein. Epstein had a portfolio of local artists, but initially showed little interest in her. Her first audition was a failure, partly because of nerves, and partly because the Beatles (who supported her) played the songs in their usual vocal key rather than re-pitching them for Black's voice. In her autobiography ''What's It All About?'' she wrote: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.But after seeing her another day, at the
Blue Angel jazz club, Epstein contracted with Black as his only female client on 6 September 1963. Epstein introduced Black to
George Martin who signed her to
Parlophone Records and produced her début single, "
Love of the Loved" (written by
Lennon and McCartney), which was released only three weeks after she joined Epstein. Despite an appearance on
ABC Weekend TV's popular
Thank Your Lucky Stars, the single peaked at a modest No. 35 in the UK, a relative failure compared to the débuts of Epstein's most successful artists (the Beatles,
Gerry and the Pacemakers and
Billy J. Kramer with
the Dakotas). '' advertisement, 29 August 1964 Black's second single, released at the beginning of 1964, was a cover of the
Burt Bacharach–
Hal David composition "
Anyone Who Had a Heart", which had been written for
Dionne Warwick. The single beat Warwick's recording into the UK charts and rose to No. 1 in Britain in February 1964 (spending three weeks there), selling 800,000 UK copies in the process. Her second UK No. 1 success, "
You're My World", was an English-language rendition of the Italian popular song "Il Mio Mondo" by composer
Umberto Bindi. She also enjoyed chart success with the song in America, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, South Africa and Canada. Both songs sold over one million copies worldwide, and were awarded
gold discs. Black's two No. 1 successes were followed by the release of another Lennon–McCartney composition, "
It's for You", as her fourth UK single.
Paul McCartney played piano at the recording session, and the song proved to be another success for Black, peaking at No. 7 on the UK charts.
In Canada it reached No. 39. Black belonged to a generation of British female singers which included
Dusty Springfield,
Helen Shapiro,
Petula Clark,
Sandie Shaw,
Marianne Faithfull, and
Lulu. Other than Clark, these singers were not songwriters. Black recorded much material during this time, including songs written by
Phil Spector,
Tim Hardin and Burt Bacharach. All were produced by George Martin at
Abbey Road Studios. Black's version of "
You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" (1965) reached No. 2 on the UK charts. A week later
the Righteous Brothers' original version of the same song went to No. 1 while Black's version dropped to No. 5. The single wasn't critically well received, however;
the Rolling Stones' manager
Andrew Loog Oldham took out an advert in the
Melody Maker to deride Black's efforts compared with the original. Being so closely associated with the Beatles, Black became one of a select group of artists in the 1964–65 period (the others being Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas and
Peter and Gordon) to record more than one Lennon–McCartney composition. The song was to be her only American Top 30 chart success;
Elvis Presley had a copy on his personal jukebox at his
Graceland home. Black recognised that to achieve popular status in the USA she would need to devote much time to touring there. But she was plagued by homesickness and a sense of loneliness and returned to the UK. For Bacharach's part, he said "... there weren't too many white singers around who could convey the emotion that I felt in many of the songs I wrote but that changed with people like Cilla Black". By the end of 1966, Black had been a guest on
Peter Cook and
Dudley Moore's show
Not Only... But Also, had appeared on
The Eamonn Andrews Show, and in a
Ray Galton–
Alan Simpson revue in London's
West End—
Way Out in Piccadilly—alongside
Frankie Howerd, and had starred in the television special
Cilla at the Savoy, which was one of the most watched music specials of the 1960s. Epstein's attempts to make Black a film actress were less successful. A brief appearance in the beat film ''
Ferry 'Cross the Mersey (1965) and a leading role alongside David Warner in the psychedelic comedy Work Is a Four-Letter Word (1968) were largely ignored by film critics. In a 1997 interview with Record Collector magazine, Black revealed she was asked to appear in the film The Italian Job'' (1969), playing the part of
Michael Caine's girlfriend, but negotiations fell through between producers and her management over her fee. Epstein died of an accidental drug overdose in August 1967, not long after negotiating a contract with the
BBC for Black to appear in a television series of her own. Relations between Epstein and Black had somewhat soured during the year before his death, largely because she felt he was not paying her career enough attention, and her singles "A Fool Am I" (UK No. 13, 1966) and "What Good Am I?" (UK No. 24, 1967) had not been big successes. In her autobiography, Black said that Epstein had tried to pacify her by negotiating a deal that would see her representing the UK in the 1968
Eurovision Song Contest. However, Black refused as
Sandie Shaw had won the previous year's contest, making it unlikely that another British female singer would win.
After Epstein Black's boyfriend and songwriter
Bobby Willis assumed management responsibilities after Epstein died. After the relatively disappointing performance of "I Only Live to Love You" (UK No. 26, 1967), Black hit a new purple patch in her recording career, starting with "
Step Inside Love" in 1968 (UK No. 8), which McCartney wrote especially for her as the theme for her new weekly
BBC television variety series. Other successes followed in 1969: "Conversations" (UK No. 7), "
Surround Yourself with Sorrow" (written by
Bill Martin,
Phil Coulter, UK No. 3), "
If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind" (No. 20). Black had a further big hit with "
Something Tells Me (Something's Gonna Happen Tonight)" (UK No. 3) in 1971. Writing in 1969, the rock music journalist
Nik Cohn wrote:
Later music career In 1993 she released
Through the Years, an album of new material featuring duets with
Dusty Springfield,
Cliff Richard and
Barry Manilow. Ten years later, in 2003, she released the album
Beginnings ... Greatest Hits and New Songs. During 2006–07, Black's 1971 single "
Something Tells Me (Something's Gonna Happen Tonight)" was used as the soundtrack to a new British advertising campaign for
Ferrero Rocher chocolates. During the 2008–09
pantomime season, Black returned to live musical performance in the pantomime
Cinderella, appearing as the
Fairy Godmother. Black was part of an all-
Scouse cast assembled in this three-hour stage spectacular to mark the end of Liverpool's year as
European Capital of Culture. The show incorporated a number of Black's successes, which she performed live, including "You're My World", "Something Tells Me", "
Step Inside Love" and "
I Can Sing a Rainbow". Black received rave reviews for her singing and overall performance. On 7 September 2009, a total of 13 original studio albums (the first seven produced by George Martin) recorded by Black between 1963 and 2003 were released for digital download. These albums featured an array of musical genres. Also released by EMI at the same time was a
double album and DVD set,
The Definitive Collection (A Life in Music), featuring rare BBC video footage; a digital download album of specially commissioned re-mixes
Cilla All Mixed Up; a remixed single on digital download of "Something Tells Me". For the 2010 winter pantomime season, Black appeared in
Cinderella at the
Waterside Theatre in
Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. In October 2013,
Parlophone (the record label which launched her career in 1963) released the career-spanning CD
The Very Best of Cilla Black—containing all 19 of her UK Top 40 singles, new club remixes plus a bonus DVD of her 1966 TV music special
Cilla at the Savoy. Black was the best-selling British female recording artist in the UK during the 1960s, releasing a total of 15 studio albums and 37 singles. ==Television career==