That Bad Eartha [Bonus Tracks]

About That Bad Eartha [Bonus Tracks]

That Bad Eartha is a 1954 studio album by American singer Eartha Kitt, her debut 12" vinyl album issued by RCA Victor. The album was recorded in four sessions between March and October 1953 with Henri Rene and His Orchestra. Long-playing records were introduced in 1948 by Columbia with 10" albums as the popular music format and the 12" album the format for classical music. RCA introduced the 45 RPM format shortly afterwards. In May 1953 RCA Victor released the 10" vinyl album RCA Victor Presents Eartha Kitt which reached No. 2 on the pop albums chart and featured 8 songs. By the mid-50s, 10” LPs were phased out, replaced by 12” ones for popular as well as classical music, and RCA Victor expanded and re-issued the album with 12 tracks. RCA released her second album in the 10” popular format and reissued it a year later in the now established 12” format with additional songs. It was also released in a 45 RPM extended play version with two songs on each side of a disk. That Bad Eartha spent 12 weeks on the pop albums chart, peaking at No. 5. Several singles were issued from this album, "Under the Bridges of Paris" charted in the UK singles chart in 1955 at #7. Many of the songs recorded for this album, such as "C'est si bon", "Uska Dara" and "I Want to Be Evil" became closely associated with Eartha Kitt and were performed live by her until one of her last concerts at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, shortly before her death in December 2008.  more »