Customer Reviews

Dusty in Memphis

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

DUSTY IN MEMPHIS

After the success of Dusty's single Some Of Your Lovin', Atlantic Records (Dusty's US label) decided to encourage her exploration of Soul music.

When Atlantic suggested to Dusty that she record with the legendary Memphis Sound production team (who had already worked with most of the 60's Soul Legends such as Aretha Franklin and Wilson Picket), they probably expected the result to be an extremely well sung and authentic reproduction of an Aretha Franklin-type album.

However, nobody could have predicted the unique result of teaming Dusty with the Memphis Sound; an amazing blend of classy compositions (from Goffin / King, Randy Newman and Bacharach / David) and authentic Southern R&B.

The famous Memphis Sound's rhythm and horn sections, coupled with intricate orchestral arrangements, give a lush, textured and "down-home Southern feel" to a lot of the album (on tracks such as Son Of A Preacher Man, So Much Love and Breakfast In Bed). ! Yet, tracks such as I Can't Make It Alone and I Don't Wanna Hear It Anymore have quite complex arrangements that show the Memphis Sound stretching into new musical territories. Commenting at the time, Dusty said that she was amazed the Memphis Sound musicians could extend their musical range so much further than the R&B sound they were renowned for.

There were certain Black artists of this era (the 60s) who regarded Dusty as a white singer who imitated the Black R&B vocal style. Jerry Wexler (one of the Dusty in Memphis producers) disagreed and has explained (in Lucy O'Brien's biography) that Dusty was not mimetic in any way - Dusty's voice had a naturally soulful quality of it's own which enabled her to enter the R&B arena in her own way.

Whatever the debate about her voice, the vocals on Dusty in Memphis are smoky, emotive and dynamic but also often express that unique vulnerability which became one of Dusty's vocal hallmarks (most evident on Just One Smile! ).

This album produced the US and UK Top Ten hit, Son Of ! A Preacher Man. Aretha Franklin was first offered the song by Jerry Wexler, but turned it down because she didn't approve of the song's risqué lyrics. However, after Dusty's success with the song, Aretha then decided to cover it !!

Dusty in Memphis is a timeless classic. This was the album that lead to Dusty being crowned (in Jerry Wexler's own words) the White Queen of Soul. Elvis Costello hails it as being one of the most important albums ever produced by Atlantic Records.

Best regards,

A Guy Called Michael

I would not recommend this pressing from '4 Men With Beards'. Sound quality is bad an there is extreme sibilance.

Find another pressing, as the songs are worth having!

Rated by everyone and his dog as among the finest albums of the whole of the 1960s, this CD set is quite magical in that it all adds up to much more than the sum of its parts. Take the Sweet Inspirations, add the Memphis Cats, sprinkle with a liberal dash of Gerry Wexler, Thom Dowd and Arif Mardin, then add the magic ingredient that is Dusty Springfield and you've got yourself a little piece of musical heaven.

I have it too they are not in business anymore they were simply called BOOTLEGGERS used cd's as their source what record company gonna give a company called 4 men with beards their master tape you can hear the hiss and the tinniness on it the vinyl is cheap and trashy and still selling sealed ...they are not legitimate ( Hoffman and Grey who I wonder about too are putting out a 45 rpm LP version which Analogue Productions who have the MASTER TAPE is manufacturing in their new record factory which I have been on back order for MONTHS for 50 dollars new ) of DIM and the bonus tracks are the same as the 1992 rhino cd I smell no tape...20 year old cd as their mastering source

No home, apartment or car should be without this CD. The best female singer since Peggy Lee and Ella Fitzgerald, Dusty Springfield put sex and sultriness back into pop music. This CD is Dusty at her peak. Working with the musicians and producers who made Aretha the Queen of Soul, "Dusty in Memphis" is the best music of Dusty's career and some of the best music by anyone, anywhere, anyhow. Get it!

A quote from the Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music:"Dusty In Memphis...the best white soul album of all time." I couldn't have put it better myself!

Does it make sense that the finest white soul singer of the 20th century was a pop singer from England? Certainly, when you acknowledge that irony is the master trope of the universe, which also comes into play when you understand that Dusty Springfield (born Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien) never sang a note in Tennessee when "Dusty in Memphis" was recorded. It seems the singer was so intimidated by the prospect of recording with the musicians who had made such great music with Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding that she ended up dubbing all of her vocals in New York City. But it should also be remembered that in 1965 it was Springfield who hosted a television special on "The Sound of Motown" in England.

By 1969 Springfield had already enjoyed her greatest chart success with the singles "Wishin' and Hopin'" (#6 in 1964) and "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" (#4 in 1966). But after the Summer of Love and the release of "Sgt. Pepper," female vocalists were no longer being taken seriously. Springfield had signed with Atlantic and journeyed to Memphis to make this album with producers Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd, and Arif Mardin. "Dusty in Springfield" blends pop and soul perfectly, but for some reason in 1969 the fact that this was a classic album, representing a diva in top form, was lost on everybody.

"Don't Forget About Me," a Gerry Goffin-Carole King song, made it to #64 on the singles chart, while the classic "Son-Of-A Preacher Man" only made it to #10. The final single from the ablum, "The Windmills of Your Mind" topped out at #31. But another Goffin-King song, "No Easy Way Down," is a classic torch song for which Springfield offers the definitive version. As long as we are talking Brill Building veterans add Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil on "Just a Little Lovin.'" But the album also contains songs by Randy Newman ("I Don't Want to Hear it Anymore" and "Just One Smile") and Burt Bacharach & Hal David ("In the Land of Make Believe"). The constant is Springfield's husky and sultry voice, which is why you have to own this album even if you already have a Dusty Springfield hits collection.

"Dusty in Memphis" sold less than 500,000 copies and only made it to #99 on the Billboard album chart. But "Son of a Preacher Man" and "Rolling Stone" magazine named "Dusty in Memphis" the 89th greatest album of all time (right between Johnny Cash's "At Folsom Prison" and Stevie Wonder's "Talking Book"). This remastered CD has a trio of bonus tracks consisting of "Willie & Laura Mae Jones" (#78 in 1969), "That Old Sweet Roll (Hi-De-Ho)," and an unreleased version of "What Do You Do When Love Dies," which was an interesting attempt to turn Springfield into a rock singer. But despite its lack of commercial success, "Dusty in Memphis" proved exactly what was Springfield's forte as a vocalist. The final irony is Dusty Springfield died in 1999 just ten days before she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

everyone rates this as a classic. It is great music from a period when rock was beginning to steal all of the great american music styles and re arrange them in a new way. On this one dusty starts to blend great american country and R&B with new Rock and soul stylings. The result was sweet, and mood- i-fying. The vinyl pressing and remaster is a little " hot " i.e. a little heavy on the mids and highs, unexpectedly sharp. What I mean is, from the view of a true music lover, but not a musician, the recording, arrangment , and the overall sound acheived in the studio way back when was smoooth, but not as sonically sultry as I would have done it if I was in the studio with Dusty at the time. Now, I too have listend to this great record that everyone raves about. Despite all of that, I never bought it. Until now. Good reviews ,accessability through I tunes, and a couple of rum and cokes will break a man down ... eventually. So I finally dusted off dusty, and I agree. its good, its fun , and its rock n roll.

From time to time albums like this one invites us to rethink the genius is not free at all.

And Dusty Springfield, with her velvet voice could - as few- evoke, decipher and refine with such splendor, class and eclat every one of these themes.

Son of a preacher man was a hymn during 1969 but when you listen her version of The Windmills of your mind you will understand why just this song justifies by itself the value of this album.

An album for hard collectors, for all those who know how to differentiate the gold against the tinsel.

At this time in 2007 most female singers are into overkill. Since Mariah Carey & Whitney Houston ( "I will always love you" gimme a break!) in the 80s this has sadly been the case. Girl singers shake their heads with unnecessary "attitude", they hold on to notes TOO LONG and bend them in the most weirdest and predictable manner that after about one minute you get bored. Everybody sounds the same today! Today they say it's to do with the gospel/church connection but i never ever heard Mahalia Jackson or Aretha adopt such 'cop out' gimmicks.
Here is a lady who is identifiable from the very first bars of any song she did. Like Aretha, Billie and Ella, Dusty is UNIQUE! She knew when to stop, when to use space and never overdid it. Amazing gifted lady.
"Son of a Preacher Man" goes down in history as being one of the most soulful, sensual and well produced singles of all time and can't be genderised. Recently during the TV series "Prime Suspect" they shot a scene where Helen Mirren went back to her fathers house and pretended to be a young girl again. She danced by herself to "Stay Awhile". This scene was so poignant and sad it nearly brought me to tears.
Dustys voice has this effect on one.
This CD is an essential addition to anyone who respects good vocals.
Every track is unbelievably arranged but then mostly everything that Dusty did in the 60s was.