I'd like to introduce into the blog the first post of what I hope will be a continuing series entitled "Throwback Reviews". The series will take albums that are reviewed here might be personal favorites of ours. They might be getting very heavy play in our headphones. Or, perhaps most importantly, they might just be albums we really feel like writing about. And without further ado, I give to you an album that I definitely feel like reviewing, and, my first entry.
My introduction to Dusty Springfield actually spawned from a recording that first appeared on this album. Quentin Tarantino used the tune "Son of a Preacher Man" in his 1994 fan-favorite
Pulp Fiction. I'd be lying if I didn't tell you that literally every track on the
Pulp Fiction soundtrack didn't hold a special place in my heart. Neil Diamond's "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon", Kool & The Gang's "Jungle Boogie" and Chuck Berry's "You Never Can Tell" each evoke strong feelings of cinematic pleasure within me, and I have forever championed Tarantino's powerful soundtrack selection abilities. However, "Son of a Preacher Man" instantly stood out to me as a song worth buying the soundtrack for. And, it has since remained a personal favorite.
Dusty in Memphis, the 1969 recording that marked the first appearance of "Son of a Preacher Man" is a perfect introduction to not only Dusty Springfield, but also the "blue-eyed soul" genre. For me, blue-eyed soul was not again this interesting for almost 40 years, with the release of Duffy's
Rockferry. Of course, there would be no
Rockferry without Dusty Springfield, and, as such, this is where any curious listener should begin.
Springfield left England to record with the Memphis Cats, a band that had previously backed, among others, Elvis Presley and Wilson Pickett. The trans-Atlantic departure proved to be absolutely revolutionary for Dusty's sound, introducing previously unrealized levels of soul and blues musicianship to the album. The backup singers utilized on this album, the Sweet Inspirations added a key inflection to the Memphis Cats, assisting Dusty in creating some of the smoothest songs in history. Plus, with a fleet of A-list songwriters that included Randy Newman and Carole King, the blue-eyed songstress seemed to have surrounded herself with a team that was capable of delivering the components of a classic.
The album opens with "Just a Little Lovin". With its warm, rising and falling orchestral instrumentation, the accompaniment on this tune is a perfect compliment to Dusty's voice. And what a voice it is! I hate to fall back on the word "warm" again to describe another aspect of the song, but it's also easily the best descriptor of Ms. Springfield's vocals and the lyrics. The words in this song are just genuinely peachy. And Dusty's delivery is, after even hundreds of listens, consistently smile-worthy.
Another standout is "Just One Smile". The song starts out as a slow ballad with acoustic guitar accompaniment. The guitar sound is, to me, reminiscent of what would have appeared on similar ballads sang by the German singer Nico on her
Chelsea Girl album. This song exemplifies Dusty Springfield's vocal abilities. "Just One Smile" evidences both her dexterity as a singer, and her powerful, powerful emotive abilities. Dusty leaps from mournful to celebratory over the course of this one song, something that most vocalists can't achieve over the course of an entire album.
Dusty in Memphis is an absolute diamond. Period. It is a landmark in soul music, and an album that catapulted Dusty Springfield into the Pantheon of great singers. As a side-note, it is interesting to note that the album's highest charting single, the aforementioned "Son of a Preacher Man" was originally written for the Queen of Soul herself, Aretha Franklin. It wasn't until she heard Dusty's rendition that she was tempted to sing the song, but by that point, "Son of a Preacher Man" had already reached #10 in the US, relegating Franklin's version to a measly B-Side on her album
The Girl's In Love With You.
