1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: 139. Dusty Springfield – Dusty in Memphis (1969)

 

After the serious workout of Led Zeppelin, now for a bit of soothing Dusty. My researches uncovered a surprising connection here, as well. John Paul Jones had played backing for Springfield and it was her suggestion that Atlantic Records sign up Led Zeppelin. How marvelous that the two are connected. Since I noticed how great her voice was on A Girl Called Dusty, it remains so on this album thankfully. I was expecting that it would maybe be some country covers, but actually it’s R&B, apart from a cover of the more chanson-style Windmills of Your Mind. (For context, The Thomas Crown Affair which heavily featured the Noel Harrison version of Windmills had been released in 1968).

A large number of these tracks are Goffin/King compositions, with a couple of Randy Newnams and a Bacharach/David, so she’s got some big guns behind her. The best known track, selling well at the time and revived by Quentin Tarantino, is Son of A Preacher Man, a gloriously laid-back soulful piece backed by Stax horns that typifies the rest of the album. It’s probably the best, and most memorable track on here. The rest are all good, but tune-wise nothing that stands out against other R&B tracks. But then, it’s probably my personal tastes showing through here since that style of music, broad though it is, tends to slide by me rather than make an impact.

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