Shirley Bassey - Everything's Coming Up Roses "From Gypsy" (1976 Shirley Bassey Show)

Shirley Bassey is performing on an oil rig? You bet, and there's a reason for it! Shirley performs the Jule Styne/Stephen Sondheim song, 'Everything's Coming Up Roses' from the musical "Gypsy". Shirley boards the oil-rig (Zapata Ugland) in the North Atlantic to perform this song.

This Rig was one of the first oil platforms to successfully be stationed in these rough seas after oil had been discovered in the north Atlantic. Back in 1976, with such an achievement, everything indeed was coming up roses for the United Kingdom and for many other parts of the world; it was a time of celebration. Shirley, the musical volcano powerhouse compliments very nicely with the hard working men employed from around the world who perform the grueling work on that rig and all other oil rigs every day! The day this was filmed happened to be relatively pleasant, but nice weather in this area doesn't come along very often. For those not aware, one of the founders of Zapata Co. was former USA President, George H.W. Bush Sr.

Note: Shirley and the show director Morris Stewart had a love/hate relationship. They worked together for decades, and Shirley always asked for him to direct her TV series and specials. Shirley was willing to do the crazy stunts that Morris came up with on her show, but there were limits to her patience. In this clip, in the scene with Shirley in the cage, Morris said she and the worker were to be lifted only two feet above the ground ON the platform. Suddenly, Morris said to swing the cage out into the ocean hundreds of feet in the air. Needless to say, Shirley let him have it, but only AFTER the scene was complete!!! When Morris said he saw RED in Shirley's eyes he knew he had gone too far. But, shortly after Shirley had calmed down and was ready for the next scene.

Shirley recorded and released this song on her 1965 LP titled, 'Shirley Bassey - Belts The Best'.

ABOUT this song:
'Everything's Coming Up Roses' is a song from the 1959 Broadway musical Gypsy: A Musical Fable, with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and music by Jule Styne. It was most famously sung by Ethel Merman. It is notable for its ironic placement in the show, as well its unusual use of musical triplets in the melody. It was introduced in the show's inaugural production by Ethel Merman, "Everything's Coming Up Roses" and became one of her signature songs.

LYRICS:
(1st 3 lines - Studio Recording Only)
I had a dream, a dream about you, baby.
It's gonna come true, baby.
They think that we're through, but baby,

Things look swell! Things look great!
Gonna have the whole world on the plate!
Starting here, starting now,
honey, everything's coming up roses!

Clear the decks! Clear the tracks!
We've got nothing to do but relax.
Blow a kiss. Take a bow.
Honey, everything's coming up roses!

Now's your inning. Stand this world on it's ear!
Set it spinning! That'll be just the beginning!
Curtain up! Light the lights!
We've got nothing to hit but the heights!
We'll be swell. We'll be great.
I can tell. Just you wait.
That lucky star I talk about is due!
Baby, everything's coming up roses for me and for you!

You can do it, all you need is a hand.
You can do it, Shirley is gonna see to it!
Curtain up! Light the lights!
We've got nothing to hit but the heights!
We'll be swell, we'll be great
I can tell, just you wait

That lucky star I talk about is due!
Baby, everything's coming up roses and daffodils!
Everything's coming up sunshine and Santa Claus!
Everything's gonna be bright lights and lollipops!

Everything's coming up roses....
For me... and for... YOU!

ABOUT Zapata Oil, and USA President George H.W. Bush:
The company traces its origins to Zapata Oil, founded in 1953 by future-U.S. President George H. W. Bush, along with his business partners John Overbey, Hugh Liedtke, Bill Liedtke, and Thomas J. Devine. Bush and Thomas J. Devine were oil-wildcatting associates. Their joint activities culminated in the establishment of Zapata Oil. The initial $1 million investment for Zapata was provided by the Liedtke brothers and their circle of investors, by Bush's father and maternal grandfather—Prescott Bush and George Herbert Walker, and his family circle of friends. Hugh Liedtke was named president, Bush was vice president; Overbey soon left. The classic Everything's Coming Up Roses features Bassey on the Zapata Ugland, a mobile offshore drilling rig, crooning away like a disco queen while workers got filthy extracting oil. Meanwhile, Bassey is amazingly unscathed, looking like a doctor and then a circus performer as she gets hoisted into the air above the Ugland and then soars above a tanker.

A few years later, the Zapata Ugland rig was in the news when its crew was dispatched to another mobile drilling unit, the Ocean Ranger, which sank in the Grand Banks area off of Newfoundland--all 84 crew members, however, were tragically lost in that February 1982 accident.