Dusty in Memphis

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Dusty in Memphis
Dusty in Memphis cover
Studio album by Dusty Springfield
Released January 13, 1969
Recorded American Studios, Memphis
September 1968
Genre Soul, Pop
Length 33:31
Label Atlantic Records
Producer Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin, Jeff Barry, Tom Dowd
Professional reviews
Dusty Springfield chronology
Dusty... Definitely
(1968)		 Dusty in Memphis
(1969)		 From Dusty With Love
(1970)

Dusty in Memphis is a white soul album by Dusty Springfield, released in 1969. It was produced by Jerry Wexler and Arif Mardin and engineered by Tom Dowd. "So Much Love", "Son of a Preacher Man", "Breakfast in Bed", "Just One Smile", "I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore", and "Just a Little Lovin'" are some of the album's songs.

Contents

[edit] Background

Hoping to reinvigorate her career and boost her credibility, Dusty Springfield turned to the roots of soul music. She signed with Atlantic Records, home label of one of her soul music idols, Aretha Franklin. Although she had sung R&B songs before, she had never released an entire album solely of R&B songs. She began recording an album in Memphis, Tennessee, where some notable blues musicians had grown up. The Memphis sessions at the American Studios were recorded by the A team of Atlantic Records. It included producers Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd and Arif Mardin, the back-up singers Sweet Inspirations and the instrumental band Memphis Cats, led by guitarist Reggie Young and bassist Tommy Cogbill.[1] The Memphis Cats had previously backed Wilson Pickett, King Curtis and Elvis Presley. Terry Manning, a writer for the New Musical Express attended the recording sessions. He ended up assisting Tom Dowd. The songs were written by, among others, Gerry Goffin & Carole King, Randy Newman, and Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil.[2]

[edit] Recording

The recording was a challenge for Wexler. He was not used to working with an artist who was in such habitual pursuit of perfection. In his book Rhythm and the Blues, Wexler wrote that out of all the songs that were initially recorded for the album, "she approved exactly zero." For her, he continued, "to say yes to one song was seen as a lifetime commitment."[3] Springfield disputes this, saying she did choose two: "Son of a Preacher Man" and "Just a Little Lovin'".[4] He was surprised, given Dusty's talent, by her apparent insecurity. Dusty Springfield later attributed her initial unease to a very real anxiety about being compared with the soul greats who had recorded in the same studios. Eventually Dusty's final vocals were recorded in New York.[5] Additionally, Springfield stated that she had never before worked with just a rhythm track and the first time she had worked with outside producers, having self-produced her previous recordings (although she never took credit for that).[4]

During the Memphis sessions in November 1968, Dusty suggested to the heads of Atlantic Records to sign the newly-formed Led Zeppelin. She knew the band's bass player John Paul Jones, who had backed her in concerts before. Without having ever seen them and largely on Dustys advice,[6] the record company signed a deal of $200,000 with them. For the time being, that was the biggest deal of its kind for a new band.[7]

[edit] Personnel

  • Dusty Springfield - Vocals
  • Arif Mardin - Producer, arranger, strings arranger, horns arranger
  • Tom Dowd - Producer, arranger, horns arranger, engineer
  • Jerry Wexler - Producer
  • Jeff Barry - Producer (relates to bonus materials on 1999 Deluxe Rhino version)
  • Jim Pierson - Compilation producer, liner notes
  • Gene Orloff - Conductor, arranger
  • Thom Bell - Arranger (relates to bonus materials on 1999 Deluxe Rhino version)
  • The Sweet Inspirations - Backing vocals
  • Reggie Young - Guitar, sitar
  • Tommy Cogbill - Guitar, bass guitar
  • Bobby Emmons - Organ, piano, electric piano, congas
  • Bobby Wood - Piano
  • Gene Chrisman - Drums
  • Mike Leach - Congas
  • Terry Manning - Assistant engineer
  • Ed Kollis - Harmonica
  • Dan Hersch - Remastering
  • Jim Feldman - Liner notes
  • Haig Adishian - Design
  • Rachel Gutek - Reissue design
  • David Redfern - Photography

[edit] Track listing

Side one:

  1. "Just a Little Lovin'" (Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil) – 2:18
  2. "So Much Love" (Gerry Goffin, Carole King) – 3:31
  3. "Son of a Preacher Man" (John Hurley, Ronnie Wilkins) – 2:29
  4. "I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore" (Randy Newman) – 3:11
  5. "Don't Forget About Me" (Goffin, King) – 2:52
  6. "Breakfast in Bed" (Eddie Hinton, Donnie Fritts) – 2:57

Side two:

  1. "Just One Smile" (Randy Newman) – 2:42
  2. "The Windmills of Your Mind" (Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, Michel Legrand) – 3:51
  3. "In the Land of Make Believe" (Burt Bacharach, Hal David) – 2:32
  4. "No Easy Way Down" (Goffin, King) – 3:11
  5. "I Can't Make It Alone" (Goffin, King) – 3:57

In 1999, Rhino Records released a remastered Deluxe Edition of Dusty in Memphis, containing the following bonus tracks:

  1. "What Do You Do When Love Dies" (Mary Unobsky, Donna Weiss) – 2:42
  2. "Willie & Laura Mae Jones" (Tony Joe White) – 2:49
  3. "That Old Sweet Roll (Hi-De-Ho)" (Goffin, King) – 2:59
  4. "Cherished" (Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff) – 2:38
  5. "Goodbye" (Roland Chambers, Leonard Pakula) – 2:33
  6. "Make It With You" (David Gates) – 3:12*
  7. "Love Shine Down" – 2:22*
  8. "Live Here With You" (Gil Slavin, Michael F. Soles) – 2:44*
  9. "Natchez Trace" (Neil Brian Goldberg, Slavin) – 2:58*
  10. "All the King's Horses" – 3:10*
  11. "I'll Be Faithful" (Steven Soles) – 3:01*
  12. "Have a Good Life Baby" – 3:09*
  13. "You've Got a Friend" (King) – 5:28*
  14. "I Found My Way" – 3:12*

(*These songs were from the intended Faithful album produced by Jeff Barry. The album was shelved when its pilot singles failed to perform. Master tapes for this album were destroyed in a fire, but Barry had kept reference copies of the intended final mixes)

[edit] "Son of a Preacher Man"

The standout track of the album is "Son of a Preacher Man". Released as a single, it reached #10 in the United Kingdom, United States and internationally. The Billboard year end chart placed the single at #96.[8] It was placed #77 among The 100 Best Singles of the Last 25 Years by the writers of the Rolling Stone magazine in 1987, and #43 of the Greatest Singles of All Time by the writers of New Musical Express in 2002. "Son of a Preacher Man" encapsulates an irony of Dusty Springfield's career and her self-perception.[citation needed] The song had originally been turned down by Aretha Franklin.[4] When Franklin recorded it a year later, Dusty felt Franklin's version as superior and thereafter adopted some of Franklin's phrasing.

A sample from "Son of a Preacher Man" was used on Cypress Hill's cult-classic stoner-culture song "Hits from the Bong" on their album Black Sunday (1993). A year later the song was featured in a scene of the film Pulp Fiction. In the movie, the song was a background for Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman) and Vincent Vega (John Travolta) talking over an intercom. The soundtrack reached No. 21 on the Billboard 200, and at the time, went platinum (1,000,000 units) in Canada alone.[9] "Son of a Preacher Man" helped to sell over 2 million units of the album[10] and to reach #6 on the charts according to SoundScan.[11]

[edit] Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year Chart Position
1969 Pop Albums 99

Singles - Billboard (North America)

Year Single Chart Position
1969 "Breakfast in Bed" Pop Singles 91
1969 "Don't Forget About Me" Pop Singles 64
1969 "Willie & Laura Mae Jones" Pop Singles 78
1969 "The Windmills of Your Mind" Adult Contemporary 3
1969 "The Windmills of Your Mind" Pop Singles 31

[edit] Reviews

Rolling Stone (1969) - "Most white female singers in today's music are still searching for music they can call their own. Dusty is not searching—she just shows up, and she, and we, are better for it."[4]

Rolling Stone (12/11/03, p.146) - Ranked #89 in Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" - "...the result was blazing soul and sexual honesty...that transcended both race and geography."

Rolling Stone (4/11/02, p.106) - Ranked #9 in Rolling Stone's "50 Coolest Records". "...London's fabbest pop starlet takes her big voice and fire-hazard bouffant to Memphis and becomes a born-again soul diva..."

Rolling Stone (10/31/02, p.135) - Ranked #3 in Rolling Stone's "Women In Rock: The 50 Essential Albums" - "...[A] British soul masterpiece..."

VH1 - Ranked #58 in VH1's "100 Greatest Albums of Rock & Roll" "...Not only is this Dusty's finest work, it is unanimously acknowledged as one of the great soul albums...a faultless record on which we have, thankfully, now recognized she was far too ahead of her time for her own good..."

Entertainment Weekly (3/12/99, p.71) - "...It's her shining moment and just might be one of the all-time great pop albums." - Rating: A

New Musical Express (10/2/93, p.29) - Ranked #54 in its list of the "Greatest Albums Of All Time."

Dusty In Memphis was ranked 87th in a 2005 survey held by British television's Channel 4 to determine the 100 greatest albums of all time.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Dusty In Memphis. The Rolling Stone magazine.
  2. ^ Greil Marcus. Dusty in Memphis. The Rolling Stone magazine site.
  3. ^ Chin, Brian (1999). Album notes for The Best of Dusty Springfield (The Millennium Collection) by Dusty Springfield [Inset]. USA: Mercury Records (314 538 851-2).
  4. ^ a b c d Feldman, Jim (1992). Album notes for Dusty In Memphis by Dusty Springfield [Inset]. USA: Rhino Entertainment (R2 75580).
  5. ^ 89) Dusty in Memphis Rolling Stone site
  6. ^ Welch, Chris (1994) Led Zeppelin, London: Orion Books. ISBN 0-85797-930-3, p. 31.
  7. ^ Mick Wall (2005). "No Way Out": 83. 
  8. ^ Chareborneranger presents the Billboard Top 100 for 1969
  9. ^ Billboard; 1/28/95, Vol. 107 Issue 4, p62, 1/2p
  10. ^ Billboard, 00062510, 4/20/96, Vol. 108, Issue 16
  11. ^ Christian Science Monitor, 08827729, 9/8/97, Vol. 89, Issue 198

[edit] External links