Dusty in Memphis | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 31 March 1969 [1] | |||
Recorded | September 1968 [2] | |||
Studio |
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Genre | ||||
Length | 32:39 | |||
Label | Atlantic (US) Philips (worldwide) | |||
Producer | ||||
Dusty Springfield chronology | ||||
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Alternative cover | ||||
Dusty in Memphis is the fifth studio album by English singer Dusty Springfield, released on 31 March 1969 in the United States by Atlantic Records and by Philips Records internationally. Springfield worked on the album with a team of musicians and producers that included Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin, Tom Dowd, conductor Gene Orloff, backing vocalists the Sweet Inspirations, bassist Tommy Cogbill, and guitarist Reggie Young. Initial sessions were recorded at American Sound Studio in Memphis, while Springfield's final vocals and the album's orchestral parts were recorded at Atlantic Records' New York City studios.
Dusty in Memphis sold poorly upon its initial release despite featuring one of Springfield's top-10 UK hits "Son of a Preacher Man". It has since been acclaimed as her best work and one of the greatest albums of all time. Music critic Robert Christgau called it "the all-time rock-era torch record" [3] and included it in his "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981). [4] In 2001, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. [5]
In 2020, the album was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". [6] [7] In its official press release, the library stated that despite its modest sales when first released, "over time, Dusty in Memphis grew in stature to become widely recognized as an important album by a woman in the rock era." [6]
Hoping to reinvigorate her career and boost her credibility,[ citation needed ] Springfield signed with Atlantic Records, at the time the label of Aretha Franklin, one of her soul music idols. Springfield signed with Atlantic on the condition that she work with the label's chief producer and co-owner Jerry Wexler. For their initial album project, Wexler provided Springfield with dozens of song demo recordings, and the two decided on a program of 11 songs, primarily in the pop genre. Eight of the songs were composed by New York and Los Angeles-based songwriters who at the time were associated with the "Brill Building Sound". However, "Son of a Preacher Man", the album's best-known track, was not among these, and it was written with the idea of submitting it to Aretha Franklin. (Franklin cut her own version of the song in 1969 after Springfield's single reached the #10 position in the Billboard Hot 100.) "Preacher Man" was musically and thematically closer to classic Southern soul as was "Breakfast in Bed". Farthest from the soul genre on the album was Michel Legrand's "The Windmills of Your Mind", which Springfield resisted and Wexler insisted she do. Wexler's and Springfield's idea for the album was to record the pop compositions with Southern soul's rhythmic feel, a combination that other producers had tried successfully at American Sound Studios with acts like The Box Tops and Merrilee Rush.
The Memphis sessions were supervised by Wexler, fellow Atlantic producer Arif Mardin, and Atlantic engineer Tom Dowd. Performing with Springfield were back-up singers the Sweet Inspirations and members of an informal group of American Sound Studios studio musicians known as the Memphis Boys, which included guitarist Reggie Young and bassist Tommy Cogbill. [8] In addition to their pop session work, The Memphis Boys had previously backed soul musicians Wilson Pickett, Joe Tex, Bobby Womack, and King Curtis. Recording engineer Terry Manning, who was hired on assignment to write a piece on the sessions for the New Musical Express , attended and ended up assisting Dowd, along with Ed Kollis. The songs were written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, Randy Newman, and Burt Bacharach and Hal David. [9]
The recording was a challenge for Wexler. In his book Rhythm and the Blues, Wexler wrote that out of all the songs that were initially submitted to Springfield for consideration, "she approved exactly zero." For her, he continued, "to say yes to one song was seen as a lifetime commitment." [10] Springfield disputed this, saying she did choose two: "Son of a Preacher Man" and "Just a Little Lovin'". [11] He was surprised, given Dusty's talent, by her apparent insecurity. 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. [12] Additionally, Springfield stated that she had never before worked with just a rhythm track, and that it was the first time she had worked with outside producers, having self-produced her previous recordings (something for which she never took credit). [11]
During the Memphis sessions in November 1968, Springfield suggested to the heads of Atlantic Records that they should sign the newly formed Led Zeppelin group. She knew John Paul Jones, who had backed her in concerts. Without having ever seen them and largely on Dusty's advice, [13] the record company signed the group with a $143,000 advance. [14]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [15] |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [16] |
Entertainment Weekly | A [17] |
Music Story | [ citation needed ] |
MusicHound Rock | [18] |
Q | [19] |
Rolling Stone | [20] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [21] |
Uncut | [22] |
Dusty in Memphis was released by Atlantic Records in March 1969 in the United States and on 18 April by Philips Records in the United Kingdom. [23] The album was a commercial failure in both countries, reaching only number 99 on the American album charts and failing to chart altogether on the British Top 40. According to music journalist Peter Robinson, its failure stalled Springfield's career rather than revive it, although the record eventually became "a popcultural milestone [and] timeless emotional reference point" for listeners who discovered it in second-hand shops or purchased one of its several reissues years later. [24] Robert Christgau called it "a pop standard and classic", predicting in his 1973 column for Newsday it would be "the kind of record that will sell for years because its admirers need replacement copies, and it is the perfect instance of how a production team should work." [25] Greil Marcus was less enthusiastic in Rolling Stone, deeming some of the songwriting inconsistent on what was "a real drifting, cool, smart, sexually distracted soul album". [20]
Despite modest sales (the platter has sold 216,000 in the United States in the SoundScan era, per Luminate Entertainment Data) it was the first of a small wave of "in Memphis"-style albums that were recorded by pop singers at American Recording Studios. Three months after Springfield's album was released, Dionne Warwick's Soulful album was released, which had a similar mix of soul and pop and was recorded at American. In the summer of 1969, Elvis Presley's From Elvis in Memphis was released, featuring Presley recording at American with The Memphis Boys musicians. The following year, Petula Clark's Memphis album, also recorded at American, was released. These albums were all part of a larger 1960s and 1970s boom of soul and pop music production in Memphis (home to Stax Records, Hi Records, and other studios and labels), and nearby Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
Dusty in Memphis has been named one of the greatest albums of all time. NME named it the 54th greatest album ever in their 1993 list, [26] and it was voted number 171 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000). [27] In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked the record 89th on the magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, [28] a rating which the album maintained in a 2012 revised list, [29] before rising to number 83 in a 2020 reboot of the list. [30] According to Richie Unterberger of AllMusic, the album's reputation has improved significantly over time as the music is "deserving of its classic status". [15] Tony Scherman from Entertainment Weekly wrote Dusty in Memphis is a "pure gem", Springfield's greatest work, and perhaps one of the great pop records recorded. [17] Q took note of its balance between "R&B and sensitive pop dramas", [19] and Spin critic Chuck Eddy viewed it as one of the all-important blue-eyed soul records. [31] In The A.V. Club, Keith Phipps wrote that Springfield and her team of musicians and producers for Dusty in Memphis developed an elegant and distinct fusion of pop and R&B that predated the Philadelphia soul sound of the 1970s. [32] According to Eric Klinger from PopMatters, its sophisticated style of music influenced the sound of 1990s trip hop artists who sampled songs from the album and became a blueprint for British female singers of the 2000s, including Adele, Amy Winehouse, Duffy, Joss Stone, Paloma Faith and Rumer. [33]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Just a Little Lovin'" | Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil | 2:18 |
2. | "So Much Love" | Gerry Goffin, Carole King | 3:29 |
3. | "Son of a Preacher Man" | John Hurley, Ronnie Wilkins | 2:27 |
4. | "I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore" | Randy Newman | 3:07 |
5. | "Don't Forget About Me" | Goffin, King | 2:49 |
6. | "Breakfast in Bed" | Eddie Hinton, Donnie Fritts | 2:55 |
Total length: | 16:51 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
7. | "Just One Smile" | Newman | 2:39 |
8. | "The Windmills of Your Mind" | Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Michel Legrand | 3:49 |
9. | "In the Land of Make Believe" | Burt Bacharach, Hal David | 2:30 |
10. | "No Easy Way Down" | Goffin, King | 3:09 |
11. | "I Can't Make It Alone" | Goffin, King | 3:59 |
Total length: | 15:48 |
Dusty in Memphis was first released on compact disc by Philips Records/PolyGram and re-released in the UK/Europe in 1988. The second CD release was issued by Rhino Records (at the time independent, licensed from Atlantic) in the US in 1992, and included three bonus tracks. A Deluxe Edition with 14 bonus tracks, again released by Rhino (now a sublabel of Warner Music), followed in 1999. A fourth 24-bit digitally remastered CD with a third set of bonus tracks was issued by Mercury Records/Universal Music in the UK/Europe in 2002.
Among the additional materials featured on these re-releases are recordings from the Atlantic Records archives; outtakes and alternate mixes from the Dusty in Memphis sessions, two tracks from a cancelled second album with Jerry Wexler recorded in 1969, tracks from a shelved second album with Gamble & Huff recorded in 1970 (following A Brand New Me /From Dusty...With Love) and the intended Faithful album produced by Jeff Barry in 1971, which came to be Springfield's final recordings for the Atlantic label. The completed Faithful album was however left unreleased when its pilot singles "Haunted" and "I Believe in You" failed to perform. With the exception of a mono mix of the title track "I'll Be Faithful" all master tapes for this album were later destroyed in a fire – along with Springfield's unreleased recording of Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody" from the follow-up sessions with Wexler – but Jeff Barry had kept reference copies of the intended final mixes and these were digitally remastered and first released as part of Rhino's Deluxe Edition of Dusty in Memphis in 1999.
Bonus tracks 1992 re-issue, Rhino Records US
Bonus tracks 1999 Deluxe Edition, Rhino Records US
Bonus tracks 2002 re-issue, Mercury Records UK
|
|
Chart (1969) | Peak position |
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US Billboard 200 [34] | 99 |
New Musical Express | 14 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom (BPI) [35] 2002 release | Gold | 100,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
Atlantic Recording Corporation is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recordings in January 1948, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most important American labels, specializing in jazz, R&B, and soul by Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave, Ruth Brown and Otis Redding. Its position was greatly improved by its distribution deal with Stax. In 1967, Atlantic became a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, now the Warner Music Group, and expanded into rock and pop music with releases by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Led Zeppelin, and Yes.
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien, better known by her stage name Dusty Springfield, was an English singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano sound, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, pop and dramatic ballads, with French chanson, country, and jazz in her repertoire. During her 1960s peak, she ranked among the most successful British female performers on both sides of the Atlantic. Her image–marked by a peroxide blonde bouffant/beehive hairstyle, heavy makeup and evening gowns, as well as stylised, gestural performances–made her an icon of the Swinging Sixties.
Wilson Pickett was an American singer and songwriter.
I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You is the tenth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin, released on March 10, 1967, by Atlantic Records. It was Franklin's first release under her contract with the label, following her departure from Columbia Records after nine unsuccessful jazz standard albums, and marked a commercial breakthrough for her, becoming her first top 10 album in the United States, reaching number 2 on the Billboard 200. Two singles were released to promote the album: "Respect" and "I Never Loved a Man ". The former topped the Billboard Hot 100, while latter reached the top 10.
Gerald Wexler was a music journalist turned music producer, and was a major influence on American popular music from the 1950s through the 1980s. He coined the term "rhythm and blues", and was integral in signing and/or producing many of the biggest acts of the time, including Ray Charles, the Allman Brothers, Chris Connor, Aretha Franklin, Led Zeppelin, Wilson Pickett, Dire Straits, Dusty Springfield and Bob Dylan. Wexler was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and in 2017 to the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame.
Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music is a studio album by American singer and pianist Ray Charles. It was recorded in February 1962 at Capitol Studios in New York City and United Western Recorders in Hollywood, and released in April of that year by ABC-Paramount Records.
Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul is the third studio album by American soul singer and songwriter Otis Redding. It was first released on September 15, 1965, as an LP record through the Stax Records subsidiary label Volt.
"Son of a Preacher Man" is a song written and composed by American songwriters John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins and recorded by British singer Dusty Springfield in September 1968 for the album Dusty in Memphis.
A Brand New Me is the sixth studio album by English singer Dusty Springfield, released in 1970.
Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky) is the nineteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Aretha Franklin.
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"I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" is a 1967 single released by American soul singer Aretha Franklin. Released on Atlantic Records as the first big hit of her career and the lead single from her tenth studio album of the same name, it became a defining song for Franklin, peaking at number one on the rhythm and blues charts and number nine on the pop charts. The B-side was "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man". Before this Franklin had placed only two Top 40 singles on the pop chart during her modest tenure with Columbia Records.
See All Her Faces is the seventh studio album by singer Dusty Springfield, originally released on the Philips Records label in 1972. It contains a mixture of tracks from different recording sessions; some tracks were recorded with Jeff Barry for an aborted third album for Atlantic Records, other tracks were recorded for Philips in the UK between April and July 1970 – these came to be Springfield's final recordings with longtime producer and arranger Johnny Franz. Some, such as "Willie & Laura Mae Jones", recorded with Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd and Arif Mardin, had been previously released as singles in the US. See All Her Faces collects many of those tracks, recorded from 1969 to 1971, placing seven of the British recordings on Side A, while Side B comprises tracks recorded both in the UK and the US. As a result, the album has no cohesive sound, but offers many different styles of music. The album boasts eight producers, including Springfield herself. It has been suggested that See All Her Faces is best appreciated track by track, rather than as a whole stylistic statement, as her album Dusty in Memphis is often praised to be.
Where Am I Going? is the third studio album by singer Dusty Springfield, released on Philips Records in the UK in 1967. By now, firmly established as one of the most popular singers in Britain, with several hits in America as well, Springfield ventured into more varying styles than before and recorded a wide variety of material for this album. Rather than the straightforward pop of A Girl Called Dusty or the mix of pop and soul of Ev'rything's Coming Up Dusty, Springfield recorded a variety of styles from jazz to soul, to pop and even show tunes. While not the success that her previous two albums were, Where Am I Going? was praised by fans and critics alike for showing a mature and sophisticated sensibility, despite the many different styles of music.
The Look of Love is the fifth album by singer Dusty Springfield to be released in the US, issued on the Philips Records label in late 1967. It gathered seven tracks from Springfield's British 1967 album Where Am I Going? with both the A- and B-sides of the singles "Give Me Time"/"The Look of Love" and "What's It Gonna Be"/"Small Town Girl" and became Springfield's final release on the Philips label in the US. In early 1968 she signed with Atlantic Records in America and as a consequence her 1968 album Dusty... Definitely, recorded for Philips in the UK, was not issued in the US at that time. Her next LP to be released in the North American market instead became her keynote work Dusty in Memphis. The tracks from the entire Dusty...Definitely album, the British recordings on the 1972 release See All Her Faces as well as a series of A- and B-side singles recorded in the UK between the years 1968 and 1972, were all first issued in the US in 1999 on the Rhino/Atlantic Records compilation Dusty in London.
Boz Scaggs is the second studio album by American musician Boz Scaggs, released in 1969 by Atlantic Records. A stylistically diverse album, Boz Scaggs incorporates several genres, including Americana, blue-eyed soul, country, and rhythm and blues. The lyrics are about typical themes found in blues songs, such as love, regret, guilt, and loss. Scaggs recorded the album at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio with producer Jann Wenner, the co-founder of Rolling Stone magazine. The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section heavily contributed to the album, which included a young Duane Allman, before his rise to fame with the Allman Brothers Band.
Aretha Live at Fillmore West is a live album by American singer Aretha Franklin. Released on May 19, 1971, by Atlantic Records. It was reissued on compact disc in 1993 through Rhino Records. An expanded, limited edition 4-CD box set titled Don't Fight the Feeling: The Complete Aretha Franklin & King Curtis Live at Fillmore West was released by Rhino in 2005 that was limited to 5,000 numbered copies. In addition, there is a guest duet vocal by Ray Charles on "Spirit in the Dark".
"Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" is a song written by Bert Berns, Solomon Burke, and Jerry Wexler, and originally recorded by Burke under the production of Berns at Atlantic Records in 1964. Burke's version charted in 1964, but missed the US top 40, peaking at number 58.
The American Sound Studio was a recording studio located in Memphis, Tennessee which operated from 1964 to 1972. Founded by Chips Moman, the studio at 827 Thomas Street came to be known as American North, and the studio at 2272 Deadrick Street came to be known as American East or the Annex.
Jackie is an album by American pop singer and songwriter Jackie DeShannon, released in 1972 by Atlantic Records. It was recorded in Memphis with producers Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd and Arif Mardin.
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