United Kingdom Don Black’s From the Heart: Garrick theatre, London, 8.10.2026. (BF) *****
The lyricist is the forgotten man of modern popular music. We say ‘Elton John’s ‘Rocket Man’ or ‘Crocodile Rock’’, so often ignoring Bernie Taupin. And do we even know who wrote the words to ‘Diamonds are Forever’, or ‘Born Free’ or ‘Love Changes Everything’? In case like me you didn’t now – that was Don Black.
This From the Heart show is a celebration of Don Black, the boy from London’s East End who wrote the lyrics to almost every modern classic song hit you have ever heard of, to the music of almost every modern popular composer you have ever heard of. And it turns out; he wrote lots more you may not yet have heard of but will really love. He had an impressive range, writing in multiple genres, film, pop and musical, collaborating with all the big names in the music industry, sometimes with other lyricists too, helped by his warm, engaging personality and dry sense of humour, as evidenced in this show.
The programme, put together by Don’s son Clive Black, stresses the emotional core of Don’s writing – from the heart as the title says – linking the songs by the lyricist’s own recorded narration. The setting is an off-Broadway New York cabaret club, the kind of place where singers would drop in after giving a show and sing a song for the pure joy of it. Don, now aged 88, says he fell in love with this environment early on and that the songs he heard there ‘which made you laugh, cry and think’ inspired him to write some of his own most successful works.
Five excellent singers, two guys and three gals, plus a mystery guest, make the most of this treasure chest of material. Treacle-voiced, warm-hearted Clive Rowe is the standout singer, closely followed by Michael D. Xavier, Caroline O’Connor, Shona McGarty and Frances Mayli McCann. Together they take us, in the pretty little Garrick Theatre, on an intimate journey through the emotions: finding love, losing love, yearning for love, dealing with sickness, dealing with career problems (a performer’s career of course), and, movingly, dealing with the loved one’s death – that one based on Black’s loss of his beloved wife Shirley after 60 years of marriage. Many of the songs are funny: my personal favourite is ‘Doctors’ in which the singer receives all the sensible health advice, more exercise, stop drinking, stop smoking, etc and resolves to change…doctors. The lyrics are clever, deceptively simple and always with a satisfactory rhyme.
The finale is a film medley, majoring on the title songs to the James Bond movies, lyrics by Don Black. And Thursday evening’s mystery guest was Michael Ball, who gave us a belting version of ‘Love Changes Everything’ from Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s Aspects of Love, lyrics by Don Black. Further mystery guests are promised for other evenings, adding an extra fillip to this delightful show.
Black was born to Jewish immigrant parents in Hackney, London, starting his career in the music industry as an office boy in a music publisher’s firm. By his twenties he was writing English translations of foreign songs and managing and writing for singer Matt Monro. In 1965 he began his film music career with the lyrics to ‘Thunderball’ following this up in 1966 with the lyrics to ‘Born Free’, music by John Barry, which won the Oscar for Best Original Song. From then on it has been one hit after another.
Hurry up and catch this show – open your eyes and ears to this amazing and charming lyricist.
Barbara Ford
Featured Image: Don Black. For more about Don Black’s From the Heart click here.
Singers: Frances Mayli McCann, Shona McGarty, Caroline O’Connor, Clive Rowe and Michael D. Xavier
Instrumentalists: Joseph Church (musical director, keyboards), Oliver Copeland (bass)
Creatives: Don Black (Lyricist), Nick Barstow (Arrangements), Nick Winston (Director)