It Begins Again | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 10 February 1978 (UK) 12 February 1978 (US) | |||
Recorded | April–September 1977 | |||
Studio | Cherokee Recording Studios, Los Angeles, California | |||
Genre | Pop | |||
Length | 41:08 | |||
Label | United Artists Records UA-LA791-H (US) Mercury Records 9109 607 (UK) | |||
Producer | Roy Thomas Baker | |||
Dusty Springfield chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Christgau's Record Guide | B [2] |
It Begins Again is the tenth studio album recorded by Dusty Springfield and the ninth released. Recorded during the middle of 1977, It Begins Again was her first completed and released album since Cameo five years earlier. Two of the album's titles, "Turn Me Around" and "A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knocking Every Day)", were tracks from the abandoned 1974 Longing sessions and Springfield decided to record new versions of both songs for It Begins Again, placing Chi Coltrane's "Turn Me Around" as the opening track.
This section may be unbalanced towards certain viewpoints.(October 2020) |
It Begins Again, which was Springfield's debut album for the United Artists label in the US and Mercury Records in the UK, was recorded in Los Angeles and produced by Englishman Roy Thomas Baker, at the time best known for helping create the four first albums by Queen. Musically It Begins Again was however geared towards the American adult contemporary, pop and disco markets. Contributing on the album were some of the most renowned American session musicians of the era, such as Jay Graydon, Jeff Baxter, Joe Sample, Ed Greene and David Paich and it featured backing vocals by Pattie Brooks, Dianne Brooks and Brenda Russell – all acclaimed recording artists and composers in their own right. The songs on the album were also written by a number of notable composers and lyricists, among others Nona Hendryx, Lesley Gore, Ellen Weston, Dean Parks, Peter Allen and Carole Bayer Sager. Barry Manilow's "Sandra", often singled out as the highlight of the set[ citation needed ], is a gentle piano ballad that portrays the life of a suburban housewife who minutely details her daily chores, all the while assuring both herself and the listener that "I swear I love my husband and I swear I love my kids" – yet in the last verse she reveals that she one day found herself cutting her wrists "doing the dishes, quite by mistake. It was real touch and go for a while."
Containing a diverse range of styles, It Begins Again was seen as somewhat experimental by Springfield herself, as well as music critics, who generally gave it favourable reviews. Despite the critical reception, the hopeful album title, as well as a series of promotional performances made in both the US and the UK promoting the up-tempo singles "A Love Like Yours" and "That's the Kind of Love I've Got for You", It Begins Again only briefly made the charts in Britain, peaking at No. 41, and did not chart in the US. Springfield stated that she had wanted to try something different, but felt that she now needed to move into a different style, a commercial, lightweight R&B, which resulted in the following album Living Without Your Love .
In 2002, Mercury/Universal Music UK released the album on CD for the first time, then also including Tom Moulton's extended remix of "That's the Kind of Love I've Got for You", originally only released as a promotional 12" single, which took advantage of the popularity of disco at the time. The song which was the closing track on It Begins Again was, however, the only true disco song on the album. The 12" version was somewhat popular with US deejays and the track in fact managed to reach No. 31 in the US Hot Dance Club Play chart.
When the Pet Shop Boys in 2005 released their installment in the mix album series Back to Mine , they both included a Dusty Springfield track; Neil Tennant chose "Goin' Back" – and Chris Lowe, rather surprisingly, chose the ballad "I'd Rather Leave While I'm in Love".
Side A
Side B
Bonus track 2002 CD reissue
Earthbound is the twelfth album by American pop group the 5th Dimension, released in 1975 by ABC Records. It is the last album for the group's original line-up of Billy Davis Jr., Marilyn McCoo, Florence LaRue, Lamonte McLemore and Ron Townson. After touring with the 5th Dimension in support of this album, Billy Davis Jr. and Marilyn McCoo left the group to work as a duo and as solo artists.
White Heat is the twelfth studio album recorded by singer Dusty Springfield, and eleventh released. It was only released in the United States and Canada.
Thunder in My Heart is the fifth album by the English singer-songwriter Leo Sayer, released in 1977. In 2006, a remixed dance version of the track, entitled "Thunder in My Heart Again", was released, credited to Meck featuring Leo Sayer. It reached No. 1 in the United Kingdom, and No. 16 in Australia. Along with a follow-up single, "Easy to Love", the song reached the Top 40 in the US and Canada.
A Brand New Me is the sixth studio album by English singer Dusty Springfield, released in 1970.
Prisoner is the sixteenth studio album by American singer-actress Cher, released on October 22, 1979, by Casablanca Records. The album was a commercial failure and failed to chart. "Hell on Wheels" was released as the lead single and had a moderate success, peaking at number fifty-nine on the Billboard Hot 100.
"I Can't Hear You No More" is a composition written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. It was originally recorded as "I Can't Hear You" in 1964 by Betty Everett. The most successful version was the 1976 top 40 single by Helen Reddy.
The Way I Am is the fourteenth studio album by Billy Preston, released in 1981. The album was arranged by Bob Esty, David Blumberg, Arthur G. Wright, Marty Paich, Gene Page and Billy Preston.
Al's Big Deal – Unclaimed Freight is a compilation album by American musician Al Kooper. It was released as a double-LP in 1975.
Baby It's Me is the eighth studio album by American singer Diana Ross, released on September 16, 1977, by Motown Records. It peaked at No. 18 on the Billboard Top 200 and No. 7 on the R&B album chart. The album was produced by producer Richard Perry. The LP yielded one top 40 hit, "Gettin' Ready for Love", reaching number 27 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Other charting singles released from the album include "You Got It" and "Your Love Is So Good for Me", the latter receiving a Grammy nomination.
Gwendolyn Dianne Brooks, was an American soul, r&b and jazz singer. With the Three Playmates, Brooks recorded several songs in 1957. She moved to Toronto shortly thereafter. Her part in Canadian soul music history began when the group Diane Brooks, Eric Mercury and the Soul Searchers was formed. As a solo singer, she recorded two albums and several singles of her own. Her biggest solo hit was "Walkin' on My Mind" in 1969. She was also a prolific session singer. As a vocalist, she provided backing vocals on albums by a multitude of artists that include Anne Murray, Gino Vannelli and Richie Havens. She was also a song-writer.
A Very Fine Love is the fourteenth studio album recorded by singer Dusty Springfield, and thirteenth released. Recorded in 1994 with producer Tom Shapiro and released on 20 June 1995 in the US and six days later in the UK. It was a Columbia Records release in both countries, and Springfield's first such simultaneous release since Living Without Your Love in 1979.
Living Without Your Love is the eleventh studio album recorded by singer Dusty Springfield, and tenth released. The album was recorded in summer 1978 and released in early 1979.
Reputation is the thirteenth studio album by British singer Dusty Springfield, and twelfth released. Issued on the Parlophone Records label in the UK and the rest of Europe in June 1990, Reputation was not only Springfield's first studio album in eight years at the time but also her first album to be released in her native UK since 1979's Living Without Your Love. After a string of commercially overlooked albums through the late 1970s and early 1980s Reputation finally managed to resurrect Springfield's career and belatedly resulted in her being re-evaluated and recognised by both music critics and the general public as the UK's foremost 'blue-eyed soul' singer. Mainly produced by Pet Shop Boys and Julian Mendelsohn and recorded in the UK over a period of some eighteen months, Reputation became her highest charting and best-selling album in the UK since 1970's From Dusty with Love, peaking at No. 18 and selling 60,000 copies within two weeks of its release.
Longing is the unreleased ninth studio album by Dusty Springfield, recorded in 1974 and planned for release the same year as her second LP for the ABC Dunhill Records label. Most of the Longing recordings were mixed and released much later on the compilations Simply Dusty (2000) and Beautiful Soul: The ABC Dunhill Collection (2001).
I've Got You is the third album by vocalist Gloria Gaynor released in 1976. It was her first on Polydor Records, which had absorbed her previous label MGM Records and soon became a force in the disco genre. The album charted in the US Billboard at #107 in the US Pop chart and at #40 in the US R&B chart.
Solid Ground is the thirteenth studio album by American country music artist John Anderson. It was released in 1993 under BNA Records. The album includes the singles "Money in the Bank", I've Got It Made", "I Fell in the Water", and "I Wish I Could Have Been There". Also included is "Bad Love Gone Good", which was written by Dave Robbins, Van Stephenson, and Henry Paul, who comprised the band BlackHawk at the time. They later recorded this song on their 1995 album Strong Enough.
Cass Elliot is the fourth studio album released by Cass Elliot and the first album recorded for RCA Records, being released in January 1972.
Andy is the thirty-sixth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams, released in the fall of 1976 by Columbia Records. Williams is not as focused on covering pop hits and standards on this album and instead relies mainly on original or lesser-known songs. In the liner notes for the album's 2002 CD release, writer Richard M. Erickson explains that the album "was recorded at six different studios to accommodate Andy's touring schedule. One recording session was at a portable studio set up at a Marriott hotel."
What's That Sound? Complete Albums Collection is a box set of albums by the American rock band Buffalo Springfield. Released by Rhino Records in June 2018, the set contains the three original albums officially released by Atco—mono and stereo versions of the first two albums, Buffalo Springfield and Buffalo Springfield Again, and the stereo version of the last album, Last Time Around.
Yours Truly is the eighth studio album by American country music artist Earl Thomas Conley. It was released on July 9, 1991, by RCA Records. It was Conley's final album for RCA and his final to chart. "Shadow of a Doubt" was the first single released from the album and went to No. 8 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart on August 23, 1991. The second release, "Brotherly Love" peaked at No. 2 on the country singles chart on November 15, 1991.