FEATURE:
Vinyl Corner
Dusty Springfield – Dusty in Memphis
__________
AS I say…
PHOTO CREDIT: Redferns
on a few of these Vinyl Corner features, there are some albums that will cost a little bit more on the format. You can buy it more cheaply but, if you are a fan of Dusty Springfield, then I would urge you to get her classic album, Dusty in Memphis, on vinyl. It is an all-time great album that sounds as astonishing and moving now as it always has. It is hard to believe that an album as timeless and astonishing as Dusty in Memphis only reached ninety-nine in the U.S. Springfield’s fifth studio album, the early sessions were recorded at American Sound Studio in Memphis; Springfield's final vocals and the album's orchestral parts were recorded at Atlantic Records' New York City studios. Even though the album did feature one of her best cuts, Son of a Preacher Man, Dusty in Memphis sold poorly. In 2020, the album was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. It is a case of an album growing over time and getting recognition long after it was released. It was released on 18th January, 1969. I am not sure why record buyers did not show Dusty in Memphis more love. It is an album that everyone needs to own and, if you can get it on vinyl, then it is well worth the money! There are a couple of reviews that I want to highlight.
First, back in March, Udiscovermusic.com told the strange story of an undeniable classic album that has been ranked as one of the best albums ever by so many different sources. It has not aged a day since it was released:
“The record that’s widely held to be the greatest album in the distinguished catalog of Dusty Springfield – in fact, for many, one of the greatest albums, period – was released on March 31, 1969. Despite being surprisingly unsuccessful at the time, Dusty In Memphis has thankfully become a monument to the unique soulfulness of one of Britain’s finest-ever voices.
The album was Dusty’s fifth, some five years into her hitmaking career. It marked a new era, as it was the first time that she had recorded an LP outside the UK. Masterfully overseen by three of the all-time giants of American soul and rock music production, Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin, and Tom Dowd, it had a famously difficult birth. Happily, what endures is the brilliant quality of the songs and performances.
After massive international success for Dusty in 1966 with “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me,” and despite her beloved status with her audience, the following year produced a blank in terms of UK Top 10 singles or albums. Dusty had been known for years as a vociferous UK champion of soul music, and of Wexler’s work at Atlantic in particular. Now she and her friend and future manager, Vicki Wickham, agreed that the time was right for a change of direction, both creatively and geographically.
And so to Memphis
Dusty remained on on Philips in the UK, but signed her dream deal for the US with Atlantic, and travelled to “Chips” Moman’s American Studios in Memphis. This was one of the two southern locations that Atlantic had been using, along with Muscle Shoals, in its great soul output of the day.
With Dusty’s usual meticulous attention to detail, a bespoke song list was drawn up. It included material from such A-list songwriters as Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil (“Just A Little Lovin’”), Randy Newman (“Just One Smile”), Burt Bacharach & Hal David (“In The Land Of Make Believe”), and no fewer than four songs by Gerry Goffin & Carole King (“So Much Love,” “Don’t Forget About Me,” “No Easy Way Down,” and “I Can’t Make It Alone”).
Recordings got under way with Wexler, Dowd and Mardin all in the control room at American. The great session players known collectively as the Memphis Cats added their studio expertise. But for all her vocal greatness, Springfield’s insecurities (and a certain uneasiness in these new surroundings) made the Memphis sessions difficult for all concerned. Notwithstanding the authentic Southern flavour of the tracks, the album’s title belied the fact that Dusty’s final vocals for it were recorded at later sessions in New York.
The upcoming LP release appeared to be given a great early boost by the release in November 1968 of the first single “Son Of A Preacher Man.” The fine lyric and memorable melody of writers John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins were matched by a great, slow-burning groove and suitably sensual vocals by Dusty. The result was a Top 10 single on both sides of the Atlantic.
An inexplicable anti-climax
Then came the album release — and a huge anti-climax. Dusty In Memphis struggled to No.99 on the US chart and, almost unimaginably, didn’t make the bestsellers back in her own country at all. One of its subsequent American singles, “The Windmills Of Your Mind,” did become a US Top 3 adult contemporary hit, but Noel Harrison had already bagged the UK glory with his version of this theme from the movie The Thomas Crown Affair the year before”.
I want to bring in Rolling Stone’s review of Dusty in Memphis. The reviewed the album in November 1969. It must have been quite an experience hearing the album fresh in a year that didn’t really have anything else like this:
“Dusty started out with a nice little rocker called “I Only Want to Dance With You,” her first hit, riding in on the heels of Beatle boots in 1964, and then scored with, some of us anyway, a monster, “Wishin’ and Hopin.'” As opposed to Leslie Gore’s great single, “You Don’t Own Me,” Dusty’s song was the ultimate anti-Women’s Liberation ballad: “Wear your hair, just for him …” We used to turn it up loud on double-dates. Dusty had this way with words, a soft, sensual box (voice) that allowed her to combine syllables until they turned into pure cream. “AnIvrything’inboutH’greeeaaate true love is …” And then a couple of years later she hit the top with “The Look of Love” and seemed destined to join that crowd of big-bosomed, low-necked lady singers that play what Lenny Bruce called “the class rooms” and always encore with “Born Free.”
It didn’t happen, and Dusty in Memphis is the reason why. This album was constructed with the help of some of the best musicians in Memphis and with the use of superb material written by, among others, Jerry Goffin & Carol King, Randy Newman, and Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil. Now Dusty is not a soul singer, and she makes no effort to “sound black” — rather she is singing songs that ordinarily would have been offered by their writers to black vocalists. Most of the songs, then, have a great deal of depth while presenting extremely direct and simple statements about love. Unlike Aretha, who takes possession of whatever she does, Dusty sings around her material, creating music that’s evocative rather than overwhelming. Listening to this album will not change your life, but it’ll add to it.
There are three hits on this LP, and they are representative of the rest of it. “Son of a Preacher Man” is as down-home as Dusty gets; it has an intro that’s funky, a vocal that’s almost dirty. The bass gives the song presence and Dusty doesn’t have to strain to carry it off. No one has topped her version of this yet and no one’s likely to. “Don’t Forget About Me” is to my ears the best cut here — it opens with a counterpoint between bass and vibrating guitar that’s tremendously exciting, and then Dusty enters, her voice almost like another instrument. The song picks up Gene Chrisman’s woodblock and the Sweet Inspirations and it’s a fast race home. Piano cues Reggie Young’s sizzling guitar (and it’s a crime that Atlantic mixed Young down from the version used on the single) toward the end, and it’s his show from then on. Better musicianship is not to be found, and I include Dusty as one of those musicians.
Finally, there’s “The Windmills of Your Mind,” a slick song that served as the soundtrack for the slickest movie of recent years, The Thomas Crown Affair. The rest of the album falls somewhere in between this cut and the other hits, but not to be missed are superb versions of “No Easy Way Down,” “So Much Love,” and “Just a Little Lovin”.
I will round off with the BBC’s take on an album with very few equals. Even if you are not a fan of her work or know too much about it, then Dusty in Memphis will still wow you. It is such a strong album that one cannot help but be affected and stunned by it:
“Despite its status as a classic record, Dusty in Memphis had less than auspicious beginnings. By 1968 La Springfield had scored a string of chart successes with what she called 'big ballady things' and her decision to make an album in Memphis, home of hard edged R 'n' B grooves, was viewed with puzzlement by many.
Teaming up with the crack production/arrangement team of Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd and Arif Mardin (responsible for Aretha Franklin's Atlantic classics) also proved a bit much initially for Springfield, whose confidence in her vocal abilities was never very high. Worried that the session musicians would think she was a sham and unnerved by singing in the same vocal booth as used by Wilson Pickett, Dusty's relationship with her producers became strained, with Wexler claiming he never got a note out of her during the initial sessions in Memphis.
You'd never know this from the recorded evidence though. Springfield unsurprisingly resists any temptation to do an Aretha, instead relying on understatement, timing and delivery rather than vocal firepower. The songs (all by Brill building denizens) are all top notch, and Springfield's interpretation of them is peerless, almost to the point that it's tempting to slap a preservation order on them to stop any attempts at future covers from the likes of Sharleen Spiteri. Likewise Mardin's sensitive blend of Bacharach poise and Memphis funk provides the perfect frame for Dusty's blue eyed soul.
'Son of A Preacher Man' and 'Breakfast in Bed' hum with a potent mix of vulnerability and knowing desire; though both songs are pretty much ingrained in the psyche of anyone of a certain age, they still retain a hefty emotional charge. On the other hand, Randy Newman's 'I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore' and 'I Can't Make It Alone' must rank amongst the finest ballad performances you're likely to hear, and Springfield even makes the cod psychedelic inanities of Michel Legrand's 'The Windmills of Your Mind" seem almost meaningful.
The cover boasts a sticker proclaiming that this record made it into Rolling Stone's Coolest records of All Time Top 10. Don't let that put you off; if you have ears, you need this album…”.
I hope that younger generations know about Dusty Springfield and albums like Dusty in Memphis. It is an essential purchase that everyone should have. If you are not familiar with the album or only listen via streaming, consider spending some money and getting this 1969 diamond release on vinyl! From start to finish, it is…
A breathtaking listen!