My Mother’s Records

Shirley Bassey’s cover of “Something” got to #4 in the UK charts in 1970, the same spot The Beatles’ original reached the year before. I never heard the Fab Four’s version at the time and didn’t for years, but my mother had a 45 of the Shirley Bassey which she loved so that was the version I knew growing up. I even heard it by Frank Sinatra before the original too.

As a result I thought of “Something” as an adult standard instead of a pop song, so to my ears George Harrison sounded too young to be singing it. The Beatles’ version is great of course, but it feels more about the happy rapture of young love while Shirley brings a grown-up sensuality to it which I prefer. Instead of lovey-dovey infatuation, she sounds like she’s singing about sex.

Download: Something – Shirley Bassey (mp3)