It is sometimes hard to be sure how our taste in music is formed and developed. Among the most common denominators are family and peer influences, although now from a vantage point of forty-odd years hence, it would be difficult for me to deny the role the UK music press – particularly the New Musical Express – and BBC DJ John Peel played in shaping my partialities.
Through a series of NME articles in 1977 I formed the view there was more to some punk bands than the Who-copyists I perceived them to be, while the previous year on late night recommendation from Peel I had bought The Ramones debut album – and on the strength of a title-track he played to death, also sought out the Poco LP ‘Rose of Cimarron.’
Purchasing them together from the same record shop, looking back on that Saturday morning in October 1976, in all the time spent buying albums since I cannot recall another instance of carrying two more diverse records in the same polythene bag – New York new wave pioneers resting against compromised country rock that made Seals & Croft sound like Led Zeppelin.
Oh the open-mind of youth………..
Around the same time I was given as a present the NME Encyclopaedia of Rock (1977) which was devoured to such an extent several entries could be repeated almost word for word – the insight provided on the careers of others (Creedence Clearwater Revival and Randy Newman two that come to mind) later developing into a fascination with both.
One album extolled on those pages, but failing to ignite my interest, was ‘DUSTY IN MEMPHIS’ by Dusty Springfield – an LP described in such reverential terms that recorded by a rock band or Dylan-acolyte, purchase would have been immediate on reading it was considered a landmark recording.
But hold on – Dusty Springfield?
With her blonde bouffant hair and evening gowns wasn’t she just a mere pop singer from the 60s? Yet her aforementioned album was being acclaimed as ‘a pop cultural milestone and timeless reference point.’
Not even Bruce Springsteen was earning that level of praise.
Many years later when older and marginally wiser, I was reading a book by the writers of Rolling Stone magazine listing the best albums made in a particular year.
On digesting 1969, which most would agree was a none too shabby year for rock music, ‘Abbey Road,’ ‘Tommy,’ ‘Let It Bleed,’ and ‘The Band‘ each held down a lofty position – but ranked higher than ‘Led Zeppelin II,’ ‘Crosby Stills & Nash,’ ‘Beck-Ola,’ and ‘Bayou Country‘ was ‘Dusty in Memphis.’
Whether by 1989 it was curiosity or my latent snobbery that finally made me buy it hardly matters anymore – what was important is that a decade or so later than should have happened, I was finally in possession of the most soulful album ever made by a white singer.
Prior to making this record ‘the best female pop singer Britain has produced‘ (NME 1977, endorsed by SAMTIMONIOUS.com) had scored her first hit in 1963 with ‘I Only Want To Be With You,’ thereafter displaying her versatility by covering material not necessarily de rigueur for female pop vocalists of the time.
But it appears her long-hold desire was to interpret soul music – and as the album title suggests Springfield headed to Memphis to fulfil this ambition (she did, however re-record some of her vocals in New York).
The Memphis sessions were produced in a three way effort between Tom Dowd, Jerry Wexler and Arif Martin, all of whom deserve enormous credit not only for their subtlety but also restraint.
While the sensational horn arrangements alone are worth investment in the album, each producer allows room for her vocals to shape and guide the song.
Such is the serene interplay between the singer and The Memphis Cats session band (who had previously backed Wilson Pickett and Elvis Presley among others), her voice sounds emotional without ever sounding strained, vulnerable but never hollow – the performances only matched on record by Frank Sinatra leading the Nelson Riddle Orchestra on his ‘In The Wee Small Hours‘ album.
‘Dusty in Memphis‘ really is that good.
The near faultless choice of material incorporates superb songs, two in some cases, by renowned song-writers Mann/Weil, Goffin/King, Bacharach/David and the previously mentioned Randy Newman – creating a Great American Songbook album before anyone had thought of the title.
Tracks such as ‘In The Land Of Make Believe,’ ‘Don’t Forget About Me,’ ‘I Don’t Want To Hear It Anymore,’ ‘No Easy Way Down,’ and ‘I Can’t Make It Alone‘ suggest this is an album rooted in lost love and failed relationships.
But although these songs give Dusty opportunity to express a haunting loneliness, the cool sophistication of upbeat cuts like ‘Just A Little Lovin,’ ‘Breakfast In Bed‘ and a tremendous rendition of ‘Son Of A Preacher Man‘ (that eclipses even the version cut by Aretha Franklin), show her voice to have an effortless power that only Rod Stewart among male rock singers can match.
‘Dusty In Memphis‘ also contains a quirk or two that merely adds to its intrigue. The sitar evident on ‘In The Land Of Make Believe‘ provides melodic texture rather than sound a mid-60s throwback, while on first listen her plaintive reading of ‘The Windmills Of Your Mind‘ sounds incongruous amid all the soulful splendour – yet it provides fascinating contrast, the atmospheric string arrangement making the song essential in giving the album light and shade.
With Dusty doing her exquisite vocal work at front and centre of the mix, terrific support is at hand from background singers The Sweet Inspirations. Fresh from enhancing work by artists as diverse as Solomon Burke and Jimi Hendrix (making their mark also on ‘Brown Eyed Girl‘ by Van Morrison), their harmonies are captivating – elevating what is sophisticated pop into the realms of pop gospel.
On release in March 1969 ‘Dusty in Memphis‘ (her fifth album) met with mixed reviews, continued admiration for her vocal abilities offset by doubts in embracing of soul music. These assessments were later scoffed at by noted American critic Robert Christgau who described it as:
‘The kind of record that will sell for years because it’s admirers will need replacement copies. A pop classic – the perfect instance of how a production team should work.’
Sadly Christgau was wrong in predicting it an on-going commercial success, the album failing to land a significant chart position on either side of the Atlantic.
But those in the know were quick to catch on, early converts to the cause including Rod Stewart, Elkie Brooks, Kiki Dee and Elton John – under whose patronage Springfield made attempts to revive her stuttering career in the mid-70s. The renaissance finally came to pass in the late-80s when a collaboration with the Pet Shop Boys led in turn to new material, Dusty making a belated return to the singles and album charts.
Born Mary O’Brien in London on April 16 1939 to parents of Irish descent, Dusty Springfield died of cancer in March 1999. Twenty years have passed since her death, roughly the same amount of time between release of ‘Dusty in Memphis‘ and me finally investing in an LP that still stands as the most perfect fusion of pop and soul.
Now an obvious inclusion in any Greatest All-Time Albums list (number 89 when Rolling Stone last carried out the exercise), it is one of those rare records that transcends time and trends, never losing an ounce of poignancy throughout its fifty year existence.
Due to what was written about them in the NME Encyclopaedia Of Rock, I admit to never having listened to Uriah Heep or Ted Nugent. But my eternal thanks go to whoever contributed the Dusty Springfield entry – thus putting me on course for one of the greatest musical discoveries of my life.
DUSTY IN MEMPHIS – Dusty Springfield (Released January 18 1969):
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/The Windmills of Your Mind/In the Land of Make Believe/No Easy Way Down/I Can’t Make It Alone;
This article was first published on 21/3/2019.
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NEIL SAMBROOK is the author of MONTY’S DOUBLE – an acclaimed thriller now available in paperback and as an Amazon Kindle book.