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Dusty in Memphis
by Rhino / Wea
| List Price: |
$11.98 |
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$10.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. |
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$0.99 (8%) |
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Audio CD
Springfield
Publisher: Rhino / Wea
Format: Extra tracks, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
Dusty Springfield never claimed to be a soul singer, but Dusty in Memphis effects a unique and deeply moving synthesis of her brand of stylish pop and the Southern R&B of the late '60s. Her soft tones and hushed, confessional readings make for definitive versions of everything from "Son of a Preacher Man" (a later version by Aretha Franklin is good but less thrillingly sensual than this one) to Randy Newman's ballads "I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore" and "Just One Smile" to a swirling take on "The Windmills of Your Mind." The soul obscurity "Breakfast in Bed" even gives a knowing spin to a line from an earlier Springfield classic: "You don't have to say you love me." This expanded edition features vastly improved sound and a number of bonus tracks not on the earlier CD. --Rickey Wright
| Customer Reviews: |
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| Dusty's Greatest |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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In terms of how respected she was by so many female singers of her day and beyond, the late Dusty Springfield has probably had a greater impact on America than any other British singer of the entire rock era. From the very moment she came to this country via the Beatles-led British Invasion in 1964 with "I Only Want To Be With You", she showed a great deal of diversity in the material she recorded, including the Bacharach/David classics "Wishin' And Hopin'" and "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself", and the Phil Spector-influenced "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me." But maybe her biggest artistic impact was when she took a chance and made an album in the heart of the Southern R&B scene in 1968. That album was DUSTY IN MEMPHIS.
Even though Dusty's final vocals were actually recorded in New York, the basic tracks on this album were recorded with the same group of musicians (including guitarist Reggie Young) who had been featured on hits by the Box Tops and Wilson Pickett, and who would also aid and abet local boy Elvis Presley's 1969 comeback sessions. The relaxed vocal style that Dusty had bought to her previous recordings, minus the vocal showboating of so many divas past and present, aided her so extraordinarily well on this album, most notably on the epochal "Son Of A Preacher Man", which was a large hit for her, reaching #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1969, and on her version of the 1968 Oscar-winning song "The Windmills Of Your Mind" (from the film THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR). Incredibly, however, given its stature as one of the pre-eminent "blue-eyed soul" albums of its time, not to mention it being arguably Dusty's best album, DUSTY IN MEMPHIS barely even broke into the upper half of the Billboard Top 200 Album chart, peaking at a shockingly low #99. Time has clearly been the equalizer for this album in our time.
The Deluxe Edition of DUSTY IN MEMPHIS includes other tracks that she recorded between 1969 and 1971 that more or less fit in with the R&B groove of the original, although, with the exception of "What Do You Do When Love Dies?" (an outtake from the Memphis sessions), those were recorded in New York and Philadelphia. Again, however, Dusty's vocal acumen shines, notably on the swampy R&B excursions "Natchez Trace" and "Willie & Laura Mae Jones" (the latter written by Tony Joe White, of "Polk Salad Annie" and "Rainy Night In Georgia" fame), and "Hi-De-Ho" (the Carole King/Gerry Goffin composition that would be a Top 15 hit for Blood, Sweat, and Tears in the late summer of 1970).
Dusty, sadly, passed away in March 1999, just six weeks before her 60th birthday, and not long before she was justifiably enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But her legacy as the pre-eminent British female singer is undeniable, and the best proof of that is right here, in this essential 1969 album, one of the single greatest albums by any female singer of the rock era, period.
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| Dusty's best |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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It's a shame her life was so short. Beautiful, plaintive voice with just the right touch of irony. This is her best and one of the best vocal albums of all time. Wish I still had the original l.p. record
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| If an album could be heaven, this would be it. |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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"Dusty In Memphis" is an album you can get completely lost in, put it on, sit back, and forget about the outside world, all that exists for the time being is Dusty and Memphis accompanied by the wonderous rhythms and strings of the Memphis Cats, and the sweet soulful backings of the aptly named Sweet Inspirations who complemented Dusty's vocals so well. If heaven could be an album, this would be it.
Several songs will be familiar to even the newest of Dusty fans; "Son Of A Preacher Man" being one of her most famous and instantly recognisable songs, this is the one that stopped Aretha Franklin in her tracks, making her re-consider her decision not to record it, her version appeared a year after Dusty's. "Breakfast in Bed" was covered by UB40/Chrissie Hynde in 1988, twenty years after this album, Dusty's version gives an erotic lush over the vocals; amazingly beautiful, the same could be said for "Windmills Of Your Mind", i just love the slow build on this, i have never heard the original version by Noel Harrison that was used in the film "The Thomas Crown Affair", and don't really want to! No disrespect, but, once you have heard Dusty sing something, it seems almost akin to sacrilege to hear it covered by someone else.
Once again, a look through the list of songwriters may well reduce you to a state of constant drooling....before you have even put the CD on the stereo. Of the album proper (before the bonuses) the original 11 tracks crams in four by Goffin/King; "So Much Love"/"Don't Forget About Me"/"No Easy Way Down" and "I Can't Make It Alone", there are two by Randy Newman; "I Don't Want To Hear It Anymore", and the excellent "Just One Smile" which wasn't released as a single, but would surely have set the top 10 on fire. On Bacharach/David's "In The Land Of Make Believe" and on Mann/Weil's "Just A Little Lovin'(Early In The Mornin')", Dusty delivers them both with a smooth, sweet purity.
Of the three albums that Dusty signed up for in the US, two were released ("Memphis" and "From Dusty, With Love"), the third was shelved, as a result we have an unusual mixture of 14 bonus tracks, longer than the actual album! So many tracks, too numerous to mention them all, we have "That Old Sweet Roll (Hi-de-Ho)", from the magical pens of Goffin/King, "You've Got A Friend" (Carole King), and heck, "Make It With You" (David Gates), is completely and utterly out of this world. "Cherished", a Gamble/Huff song gives a tiny taste of things to come for Dusty's next album. More highlights, for me....amongst many...."Love Shine Down"/ "Live Here With You"/ "I'll Be Faithful"/ "Have A Good Life Baby"/ "Natchez Trace"....whoot!! Anybody out there wondering why we are such a fanatical lot, us Dusty Springfield fans, my advice is; listen to 'In Memphis', get knocked sideways....and wonder no more!
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| VERY VERY GOOD! |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Mostly a lot of good songs. Never knew she was this good.
Buy it and you will love it as much as I do.
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| Dusty In Memphis |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
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Dusty Springfield-Dusty In Memphis **1/2
To be honest Dusty In Memphis is not the blue eyed soul masterpiece it is hyped up to be. Sure she was a land mark and original in her time, of course she was influential, and yes those pipes are among some of the best to ever be laid to tape but that does not justify the massive hyperbole that accompanies this album.
'Son Of A Preacher Man' is the obvious classic, both sultry and soulful, a song that many have tried but just as many have failed, all except for the phenomenal Dusty. 'I Don't Want To Hear It Anymore' is almost heartbreaking, and 'I Can't Make It Alone' is where it's at. The rest of the album falls flat, and does so with a dull thud rather than a crash.
Dusty has made better.
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Just a Little Lovin'
So Much Love
Son of a Preacher Man
I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore
Don't Forget About Me
Breakfast in Bed
Just One Smile
Windmills of Your Mind
In the Land of Make Believe
No Easy Way Down
I Can't Make It Alone
What Do You Do When Love Dies (bonus track)
Willie & Laura Mae Jones (bonus track)
That Old Sweet Roll (Hi-De-Ho) (bonus track)
Cherished [*]
Goodbye [*]
Make It with You [*]
Love Shine Down [*]
Live Here with You [*]
Natchez Trace [*]
All the King's Horses [*]
I'll Be Faithful [*]
Have a Good Life Baby [*]
You've Got a Friend [*]
I Found My Way [*]
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