Dusty Springfield - Dusty In Memphis

Released - March 1969

Genre - Soul

Producer - Jerry Wexler; Arif Mardin & Tom Dowd

Selected Personnel - Dusty Springfield (Vocals); Gene Orloff (Conductor/Arranger); Reggie Young (Guitar/Sitar); Tommy Cogbill (Guitar/Bass); Bobby Emmons (Piano/Organ); Bobby Wood (Piano); Gene Chrisman (Drums)

Standout Track - Son Of A Preacher Man

Up until Dusty In Memphis, the underground music scene - from the psychedelic to the progressive to the art-rock scene - had not been kind to Dusty Springfield. She had risen to prominence in the early 60s as one of the most popular blue-eyed soul singers in the world and even managed to achieve chart success in the US before the British invasion spearheaded by the Beatles in 1964, which was a singular achievement for an English singer. She had never turned her hand to songwriting with any particular dedication, preferring to interpret the songs she heard on the radio and fell in love with and achieve success that way. Nor should she have felt compelled to write her own material - there are some voices that are so unique and powerful, it doesn't matter where the material they're singing came from, it will still sound unlike any other rendition, and the soulful, breathy sensuality of Springfield's voice is a fine example. She had also been responsible for introducing the Motown soul scene to the UK, having fallen in love with the sound of the music during her time in the US and feeling it deserved more exposure back at home. But by the late 60s, her rather twee pop music and backward-looking soul influences had begun to make her look unfashionable and tame in comparison to the explosion of radical new music being produced in the UK. Springfield's response to the situation was an admirable one - rather than attempting to update her sound by turning her unique voice to more progressive and modern styles of music, she decided to stick to what she loved, but this time to commit to it whole-heartedly and to perfect it in a way that nobody had done before, certainly not a white English girl.

So it was that Springfield signed with Atlantic Records in 1968, the label that represented her idol Aretha Franklin. She then relocated to Memphis to work with legendary R&B and soul producers Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin and Tom Dowd, as well as backing bands and session musicians who had worked with the likes of Elvis Presley and King Curtis, and set about recording the album that would define her entire musical career, as well as becoming a pinnacle in the field of soul music as a whole. I'll confess to being fairly ignorant about soul music myself, as anyone who's been following this blog religiously (just me) will have picked up on. The likes of Aretha Franklin and Diana Ross are a bit of a blind-spot for me, though some of their music has certainly crept into the peripheries of my awareness. If Dusty In Memphis ends up being the gateway that helps me to get into more music that sounds as good as this, then I'll be delighted, because this album, based on the little I know already about the genre, is superlative. For an old-fashioned R&B record, recorded as a deliberate homage to the musical styles of the late 50s and early 60s, it stays admirably clear of the pitfalls of the era, such as the dreaded "Wall of Sound" that I've spoken distastefully of before. Here, Dusty's voice is rightly foregrounded, but enough space and attention is also given to the instrumental parts that support it, so the end result isn't just a voice blaring over an indeterminate mess, but rather a rich and nuanced experience that really feels like genuine care has been put into every note.

Springfield's voice has never sounded better either before or since. There are voices like Astrud Gilberto's that can really nail intimacy or vulnerability, and there are voices like Aretha Franklin's that can nail strident bombast and power, and it's not often that a singer appears who can do both so effortlessly. From the empowered urgency of "Don't Forget About Me" through the quiet, sassy cool of "Son Of A Preacher Man" to the gentle fragility of "No Easy Way Down," this is a voice that's utterly in control of everything it's doing. That said, the apparent ease and effortlessness with which Springfield commands the material was actually the result of a hard-fought battle with her own perfectionism and problems with self-confidence. Whether the reports by Jerry Wexler and the other producers about her inferiority complex during the recording of the album were issues that had dogged her throughout her career but had never reached the public before, or whether they surfaced here as a result of the pressure she had placed upon herself to make a genuinely great record, as well as the intimidation of working with such legendary figures, can't be said, but all that can be certain is that, judging purely on the end product, they were entirely unfounded. Ultimately, Springfield was reportedly unhappy with all the final mixes of the songs, even after re-recording her vocals in New York, but the test of time must surely have caused her to reassess her position, as her voice here is just phenomenal.

Unlike much of Springfield's earlier work, which had achieved a few good fun highlights but had been, to my ears, patchy and overly reliant on filler material, Dusty In Memphis really doesn't include anything that's remotely difficult to listen to. The highlights are the sultry opener "Just A Little Lovin'" and the simply gorgeous "No Easy Way Down," while the enormous appeal of timeless classic "Son Of A Preacher Man," one of the coolest songs ever recorded, isn't even worth mentioning in any detail, so obvious are its virtues. Springfield also includes a cover of the occasionally irritating and oft-covered "Windmills Of Your Mind" that renders it as a sparse and genuinely affecting number rather than the vague nuisance it can become in other, less capable hands.

Dusty In Memphis should have been the album that relaunched Dusty Springfield as an international superstar, as the artist more capable than any other of keeping the flame of soul music burning throughout the seventies. Sadly, though it was critically adored, it failed to sell well in the constantly evolving and forward-thinking musical climate of 1969, and perhaps its under-performance affected Springfield's commitment to her future work, which dwindled in consistency, quality and popularity as the years went by. She was never to regain any of her 60s acclaim, and this album stands as the ultimate monument to her talent, and as a shining example of a musical genre I really ought to give more time to.

Track Listing:

1. Just A Little Lovin' (Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil)

2. So Much Love (Gerry Goffin & Carole King)

3. Son Of A Preacher Man (John Hurley & Ronnie Wilkins)

4. I Don't Want To Hear It Any More (Randy Newman)

5. Don't Forget About Me (Gerry Goffin & Carole King)

6. Breakfast In Bed (Eddie Hinton & Donnie Fritts)

7. Just One Smile (Randy Newman)

8. The Windmills Of Your Mind (Alan Bergman; Marilyn Bergman & Michel Legrand)

9. In The Land Of Make Believe (Burt Bacharach & Hal David)

10. No Easy Way Down (Gerry Goffin & Carole King)

11. I Can't Make It Alone (Gerry Goffin & Carole King)