Customer Reviews

Dusty in Memphis

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There's no need to extol the virtues of "Dusty In Memphis (DIM)". After more than 30 years of languishing in the public domain as a long neglected cult favourite, DIM has finally logged its rightful place in the annals of pop music history as a legendary album. An all-time classic by a female vocalist. It has set a high watermark which other female performers often aspire to but seldom reach.

Assuming I'm preaching to the converted and you're wondering whether you need to own YET ANOTHER CD reissue of DIM, the short answer is "YES", but please read on to know why. Dusty fans would likely already have two versions, Rhino's original 1992 release (with 3 bonus tracks) and the more recent 1999 deluxe reissue which includes multiple bonus tracks from unrelated Atlantic sessions. British diehards will have three versions, the original Philips release from 1990, Mercury's reissue with bonus tracks in 1995 and this, the ultimate and definitive reissue.

Until seven years ago, fans had to make do with the general hissiness of DIM. Sonically, there was little, in my opinion, that differentiated between the two earlier releases from both sides of the pond. Then in 1995, Mercury (UK) released a sonically superior version of DIM which had been subject to 20 bit digital remastering but foolishly played havoc with the track sequencing by flipping the order of "I Don't Want To Hear It Anymore" (originally Track 4 on Side 1) with "In The Land Of Make Believe" (originally Track 3 on Side 2). Insiders claim that this bizarre track sequencing was the exact one Philips had used in the original cassette release of DIM in 1969 to balance out the playing time on both sides of the cassette.....though this simply begs the question "why ?..when the CD medium poses no such constraint ?"

The 1999 deluxe reissue by Rhino isn't, to my ears, sonically superior to the earlier releases. The bonus tracks from Dusty's other Atlantic sessions are great or not great to have, depending on whether one is a purist and want ONLY the original album tracks or belongs to the "more is more" camp (like me) who are deliriously happy about finally getting the unreleased Philly and Jeff Barry produced tracks from the vault.

This current deluxe reissue on import from the UK has to be the reissue to end all reissues. Sonically, it's close to perfection. Even the three hissiest tracks ("I Don't Want To Hear It Anymore", "Breakfast In Bed" and "No Easy Way Down") are quiet. Thanks to the use of cutting edge technology, we get the best sound ever. Mercury (UK) shows alot of respect this time around. No bonus tracks. No monkeying around with the track order. Even the mono mixes (from US singles releases) are presented chronologically and in A side/B side order. Besides, you get a power packed booklet of rare b&w/colour photos and specially written and insightful liner notes by the three legendary producers (Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin & Tom Dowd) and admirer Elvis Costello. What more can a Dusty fan ask for ?

I promise you. This will be the last time you need to shell out for DIM if you buy this UK import. I own 5 CD versions of DIM. I won't be looking out for the sixth.

This version of DIM is the best sounding yet. All the hiss is gone. The Rhino version has a few extra tracks, but if you want to hear the original album sounding the way it should, then buy this one. A classic.

Hmm. The reviewer who found this remastering woefully flat must have somehow gotten ahold of a mid-90s version of this CD that had a similar cover. This remastering blows away every other version of the CD I've had (three to date) and the cassette I had before that. I always found the Rhino version lacked a bit of punch that is happily added back here.

Rolling Stone magazine recently rated "Dusty in Memphis" one of their "top 10 coolest records ever," and gave it a ranking of #89 in late 2003 in their review of the best 500 albums in history.

The "white queen of soul" recorded songs like "Breakfast in Bed," "I Don't Want to Hear it Anymore" and "Windmills of Your Mind" and the classic "Son of a Preacher Man." That song landed with Dusty because Aretha Franklin considered it to risque to record. (She changed her mind a year later and did an excellent version of her own.)

If you've gone to the trouble of reading about this new import version of the classic Jerry Wexler-Arif Mardin-produced album, your big question probably is "How does it sound?" The answer is: terrific.

The 24/96 mastering job is outstanding. This new version brings out every note and breath created by terrific musicians and the late Ms. Springfield.
There isn't a bad track on the album.

Liner notes are included on this release from admirer Elvis Costello, the original album producers, and the sound engineer. When you read Jerry Wexler's comments about how much work went into picking tracks for the album, it starts to become clear why this album is so special. Bonus tracks include mono versions of many of the classic tunes. Even if you own a prior "Dusty in Memphis," you'll want this version. It's the best out there until the inevitable SACD release of this timless classic.

Back in the day, I owned the original LP of Dusty In Memphis. I also put in on cassette, and had several of the songs on different tapes I custom made. I rediscovered this album almost two years ago after reading a piece about her in the New York Times Magazine a year or so ago. I had forgotten how much I loved her sound. One more time, kudos to Rhino for re-releasing it. This version sounds a bit warmer and has a few more cuts.

Dusty was maybe the most American sounding of the British Invasion, and she and Bill Medley were the personification of so-called Blue Eyed Soul. She was never better than she sounded on these cuts. To my ear, the seminal cut here is "Son of a Preacherman", and the breathless innocence with which she starts this cut turns quickly to an earthy sensuous power.

That sensuousness comes through loud and clear on "Breakfast in Bed" and "So Much Love", which are also classics which somehow never made it to Top 40 radio. "Windmills of Your Mind" was, to my thinking, the most under-appreciated song she ever recorded, and is as cool as the other side of the pillow. The bonus tracks include "That Old Sweet Roll" (Hi-De-Ho), made popular by Blood Sweat and Tears. She gives this her own personal stamp.

A needed addition to any collection. Just the thing to have on a sultry summer afternoon with either a pitcher of cold margaritas, or in front of a cozy fireplace in mid-winter.

Great stuff.

When I first heard "Son Of A Preacher Man", I knew that Dusty was climbing to new heights in her already brilliant recording career!!! Dusty's smooth soulful voice in a funky groove is a great contrast and a perfect balance. Next came this classic masterpiece of an album and you knew that this lady was an original and once in a lifetime classic!!! "Just A Little Lovin'-early in the morning" is seductive and inviting as is Carole King's "So Much Love". Dusty makes Randy Newman's "I Don't To Hear It Anymore" a haunting story of a love gone bad and takes you there with chilling realism that is unlike anything I had ever heard before and have never heard anything like it since!! A solid soul classic is what Dusty makes of Carole King's "Don't Forget About Me" plus the cooking guitar licks and hot rhythm track made this a standout!! "Breadfast In Bed" smolders with a sensual vocal which again finds Dusty at her soulful best!!! Another Randy Newman composition "Just One Smile" becomes a stirring experience and you know that nobody could match this great Dusty performance or even come close. This is what great singing is all about and it was obvious that Dusty was peerless and the greatest ever to come out of England!! I have heard the term "White Queen Of Soul" used to describe Dusty and agree that this is an accurate description!!! Where were the radio programmers when this classic came out? Michel Legrand must have been in seventh heaven when he heard what a haunting classic Dusty made of "The Windmills Of Your Mind" which get's my top honor for the best ever vocal on a Michel Legrand composition!!! Dusty takes the listener down through the tunnel and out to the other side and brilliantly changes tempos ever so smoothly!!! Smooth soulful classic is what becomes of Burt Bacharach's "In The Land Of Make Believe" in Dusty's hands as she gives one of the best ever vocal's on a Bacharach composition. Carole King has said that Dusty is the best interperter of her songs and if you ever wonder why, listen to the two closing Dusty-Carole classics "No Easy Way Down" and "I Can't Make It Alone" and you too will become a believer!!!! The passion and emotion in these works are peerless and incomparable and definitely "the" definitive version's of both!!! This landmark album should have been a huge success (it is considered a classic now) but I think the radio programmers at the time were blown out on drugs and could only get into the crap that they were pushing and this slipped through the cracks!! It didn't get by me at the time and everyone that I knew loved "Dusty In Memphis" and couldn't get enough of it!!! Thirty five years later I still can't get enough of it and recommend it to anyone who wants to hear the "finest" voice of all time captured at its peak!! This is truly vocal perfection in a sublime setting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Like the reviewer on this page who is disappointed with this remastering, I've loved this album; in fact since I was a child, when I had no idea what some of the songs were about. However, my nostalgia for the album ends with embracing the hiss. This remastering does reveal the shallow stereo of the master recordings, but stripped of the hiss, it also reveals intimate details of Dusty's magnificent vocals, the beautifully filigreed backup vocals and rhythm section that I NEVER HEARD before. In fact I had no hint of much of the fine detail of it and I have the earlier Rhino CD issue. If you want the hissy fake depth alluded to in the other review, find a vinyl copy; get the Rhino for the lengthy bonus cuts. Buy this CD for the truest and most beautiful issue of this great LP. It's way beyond pop and soul, it approaches the best Brian Wilson for it's sophistication, with a beauty and complexity that is usually associated with classical music.

Buying this album under the impression of "Son of a Preacher Man" may lead to slight disappointment. The other ten tracks may at first seem pretty mainstream pop with their heavily ( in some cases ) orchestred arrangements.

Give the album a second chance and soon more tracks will stand out. "Breakfast in Bed" was the second song that really appealed to me; great song and vocals and in fact the arrangement isn't really that different from "Preacher Man"

Songwriting team Jerry Goffin and Carole King supplied 4 of the eleven tracks, and apart from "So Much Love" they all stand out; especially the closing track "I Can't Make it Alone".

Other favourites are Randy Newman's Just One Smile" and the opener "Just a Little Lovin".

The album really deserves its status a classic!

"Dusty in Memphis," a 1968 release by Dusty Springfield, featured her soul-stirring rendition of "Son of a Preacher Man." The album, her first for Atlantic Records, was produced by Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd and Arif Mardin, who chose to back their artist with the Sweet Inspirations, and some of Memphis's best session hands. Their handiwork became an international hit that reached #10 in the United States and #9 in her native UK. The song "Son of a Preacher Man," was written by John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins, who had originally offered it to Aretha Franklin. The American Queen of Soul turned it down: only upon hearing Springfield's version did Franklin reconsider and record the song herself. By that time, however, Springfield's version had already become the hit. It was to be Springfield's last Top Ten chart hit for almost 20 years, until she teamed up with Pet Shop Boys for the single "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" in 1987.

Dusty was the childhood nickname of the tomboy Mary Catherine O'Brien, born in Ealing, West London on April 16, 1939. She began with, and left, the popular British folk group The Springfields early on, and was quickly dubbed the "White Queen of Soul." She was the first British soloist to break into the U.S. Top Ten with her 1964 hit, "I Only Want to Be with You," a pop classic that was followed by many other hits, including "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me." Today, many music historians simply include Dusty and her work under the umbrella of the Beatles-led "British Invasion" of the U.S. musical scene: but she was much more; for starters, the singer who introduced "soul" and gospel music to the British public, and who incorporated its tenets into her work. Furthermore, her studied appearance contributed to her iconic status, and to the generations of fans, and impersonators, who are involved with her to this day. She had big hair, raccoon eyes, and several British television shows. She was also relatively open, for her time, about her sexual ambidexterity. She was also surprisingly emotionally open -- for a Brit; perhaps as a result, her songs retain their emotional resonance still. She was once deported from South Africa for refusing to perform to a segregated audience. She had her emotional problems: the 1970's saw chronic drug and alcohol abuse, suicide attempts, and hospitalizations, as a result of which she was artistically inactive for a couple of decades. But when she came back, she came back big with the Pet Shop Boys. She died, unfortunately young, of breast cancer, on March 3, 1999, just about the time she was being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and being given the British honor, an OBE.

Springfield had a big strong sensual voice, great power, yet sensitivity. She was, as an artist, always very aware of what her American cohort was doing: in addition to monitoring Phil Spector's girl groups, she greatly admired the Motown girl groups, particularly Martha and The Vandellas. But she herself was unable to read or write music and therefore dependent on others for her material, and her arrangements: this led to some recording sessions of legendary frustration.

This may well be Springfield's finest album. She was arguably the greatest pop diva produced by the United Kingdom-- and the finest white, blue-eyed soul singer of her generation, the late 1960's-early 1970's.

The mastering on this cd does sound less hissy than the Rhino 99 edition. But this is far from the master copy. Tons of detail is missing but yes no hiss ...reason if you look carefully in the impressive booklet in 1985 they made another generation copy with Dolby A which was very popular those days but at the same time muted the high end, there is no detail in the sound on this. You want the (reel) way to hear this recording buy a perfect original vinyl American Atlantic Records copy. That's as close to the original 2 track mix as your going to hear. I have a sealed copy I bought for 60 bucks and believe it even with mold deposits that are deep in the grooves you can hear all the detail not like this one or Rhinos but the original 2 track tape in 1969 applied to the best format...vinyl.
Oh yes avoid 400 men with beards 2002 copy at all costs cause that aint it. It's the worst.
The most interesting edition is the fantastic booklet which blows rhinos and the mono bonus tracks too bad they couldn't find the 3 more missing mono songs which prob exist ...would of been a stereo mono release and would of fit on a 79 minute disc.

DIM is a masterpiece, but the Rhino reissues were extremely hissy--to the point of making listening to some tracks rather irritating. Phillips did a great job on this new reissue, cleaning up the hiss w/o losing the high end sounds.
And, don't fret about missing the Philly soul, etc. bonus tracks on the Rhino version, since they are very forgettable.