"THE ESSENTIAL CILLA BLACK, 1963-78" : Back in July when I reviewed "Cilla Black -- The Abbey Road Decade 1963-1973" (see July '99 section on this page), I noticed that set, though it had most of them, didn't have all of her Beatle covers. (Check out The World of Cilla Black website for a complete discography. It's a fan site, but it has the most info on her we've seen.) So along comes this Australian 2-CD issue that includes all the originally released Beatle covers: 10 in all (including one solo Lennon and McCartney each): "Step Inside Love", "Junk" (McCartney), "Love of the Loved," "For No One," "It's For You," "The Long and Winding Road," "Yesterday," "In My Life," "Oh My Love" (Lennon) and "Across the Universe." It does not include the rarities on "The Abbey Road Decade," however. Her cover of McCartney's "Junk" is especially beautiful. This set also has all of her Burt Bacharach covers, including the European megahit "Alfie", and her cover of "Baby It's You," plus two Bee Gees covers. Maybe "Essential" is the wrong term for it, but I find this a nice complement to "The Abbey Road Decade."