Longing (Dusty Springfield album)

Last updated

Longing
LongingAlbumCover.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedUnreleased
RecordedJuly – September 1974
Studio 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, New York
Genre
Length32:38
Label ABC Dunhill
Producer Brooks Arthur
Dusty Springfield chronology
Cameo
(1973)
Longing
(Unreleased)
It Begins Again
(1978)

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).

Contents

Longing was recorded in Blauvelt, New York and produced by Brooks Arthur, best known for his work as a sound engineer for Phil Spector and Bert Berns through most of the 1960s and later as a composer and producer in his own right for among others Neil Diamond, Bette Midler, Van Morrison and Janis Ian. Elements was the working title of the album but it was re-titled and advertised as Longing in the music press near the end of 1974 and had at that stage also officially been given a catalogue number: DSD-50186. Springfield complained in interviews later in the seventies that some producers of her previous album, Cameo , had not even asked: "what key I wanted to sing in". Not used to being so uninvolved in her own work (owing partly to her own reported perfectionist tendencies), suffering from self-esteem issues due to her rapidly declining career, and enduring problems with substance abuse, Springfield abandoned the Longing album altogether late in the year.

The only track from the Longing sessions to be given an official release in the 1970s was "I Am Your Child", though only the instrumental track (featuring the song's writer, Barry Manilow) was used. Springfield recorded new lead vocals over the original backing track and the song was released as the B-side of her 1977 US single "Let Me Love You Once Before You Go" on the United Artists label. In 1980 the re-recorded version was in turn issued as the B-side of the Philips Records UK single "Your Love Still Brings Me to My Knees" and "I Am Your Child" subsequently found its way onto the compilation album Love Songs released by Phonogram in Europe in the late 1980s. The song is also of special significance in the history of Manilow's own career as he claims it is the first song he ever wrote.

When Springfield, after a time in her life often described as her 'wilderness years', returned to the music scene for the recording of the 1978 album It Begins Again with fellow Briton Roy Thomas Baker she re-recorded two further tracks originally included in the Longing set; the Motown classic "A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knocking Everyday)" and Chi Coltrane's "Turn Me Around", both with slightly updated and different arrangements.

The year 2000 saw the debut of three original recordings from the Longing sessions; Janis Ian's "In the Winter", Melissa Manchester and Carole Bayer Sager's "Home to Myself" and Colin Blunstone and David Jones' "Exclusively for Me", all of which had been mixed and digitally remastered as early as 1995. These three titles were finally released as part of Mercury/Universal Music UK's 4 CD boxed set Simply Dusty, a project which was commissioned with Springfield's full approval before her death in 1999.

In 2001 Universal Music's American sublabel Hip-O Records released the compilation Beautiful Soul: The ABC Dunhill Collection which besides the 1973 album Cameo also contained nine of the ten titles intended to be used on Longing, including the original versions of "I Am Your Child", "A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knocking Every Day)" and "Turn Me Around". In addition, some of the tracks used incomplete or 'practice' vocals, done to enable a release of the album in any form; the track "Corner of the Sky" being the best example. Springfield completed some vocals on the track, but never sang a whole verse. Thus, it was the only track not included in the Beautiful Soul set as it was too incomplete to arrange any sort of commercial release. It was however completed and released in 2007 after fellow British singer Petula Clark added her own vocals and released the song as a duet on her album Duets.

As was the case with many of Springfield's albums released and/or recorded in the '70s, Longing, though unreleased, contained some of Springfield's most critically acclaimed work. The track "In the Winter", written and also recorded by Janis Ian, is often singled out from the recording sessions as an example. Ian said that after hearing Springfield sing the song she (Ian) could "no longer do the piece justice" herself. Melissa Manchester has also been quoted as saying she was "over the moon" upon hearing Springfield sing "Home to Myself" during the recording session, on which Manchester also played the piano.

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Official releaseLength
1."Exclusively for Me" (Recorded on 9 July 1974)David Jones, Colin Blunstone Simply Dusty2:42
2."Beautiful Soul" (Recorded on 9 July 14 August, 4 & 5 September 1974) Margie Adam Beautiful Soul: The ABC Dunhill Collection2:54
3."Home to Myself" (Recorded on 15 July 1974) Melissa Manchester, Carole Bayer Sager Simply Dusty2:50
4."Angels" (Recorded on 15 July 1974)Arthur Resnick, Christie ThompsonBeautiful Soul: The ABC Dunhill Collection3:25
5."Corner of the Sky" (Recorded on 22 July 1974) Stephen Schwartz Unreleased.3:37
6."In the Winter" (Recorded on 22 July 1974) Janis Ian Simply Dusty3:03
7."Make the Man Love Me" (Recorded on 23 July 1974) Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil Beautiful Soul: The ABC Dunhill Collection3:32
8."I Am Your Child" (Recorded on 23 July 1974) Barry Manilow, Marty Panzer Beautiful Soul: The ABC Dunhill Collection2:42
9."Turn Me Around" (Recorded on 23 July 1974) Chi Coltrane Beautiful Soul: The ABC Dunhill Collection4:11
10."A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knocking Everyday)" (Recorded on 23 July 1974) Lamont Dozier, Edward Holland Jr., Brian Holland Beautiful Soul: The ABC Dunhill Collection3:42

Personnel and production

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dusty Springfield</span> British singer (1939–1999)

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.

<i>Three Dog Night</i> (album) 1968 studio album by Three Dog Night

Three Dog Night is the debut album by American rock band Three Dog Night. The album was originally released by Dunhill Records on October 16, 1968. The album is known for featuring the band's Top 5 hit single, their cover of Harry Nilsson's song "One".

<i>Suitable for Framing</i> 1969 studio album by Three Dog Night

Suitable for Framing is the second studio album by American rock band Three Dog Night. The album was released on the Dunhill record label on June 11, 1969 and was the first of two albums released by the band that year.

<i>Dusty in Memphis</i> 1969 studio album by Dusty Springfield

Dusty in Memphis is the fifth studio album by English singer Dusty Springfield. 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. The album was released in March 1969 in the United States by Atlantic Records, and Philips Records distributed the record outside the U.S. 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.

<i>The Collection</i> (Amy Grant album) 1986 compilation album by Amy Grant

The Collection is a compilation album by Christian music singer Amy Grant, released in 1986.

<i>Dusty... Definitely</i> 1968 studio album by Dusty Springfield

Dusty... Definitely is the fourth studio album by singer Dusty Springfield, recorded and released in the UK in 1968. Production credits go to both John Franz, and for the first time, Springfield herself. The songs on this album were chosen because Springfield "liked them", as stated in the liner notes. Like the vast majority of her LPs, the album shows a diverse range of styles ranging from soul, pop, folk to lounge.

<i>A Brand New Me</i> (Dusty Springfield album) 1970 studio album by Dusty Springfield

A Brand New Me is the sixth studio album by English singer Dusty Springfield, released in 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Can't Hear You No More</span>

"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.

<i>Cameo</i> (album) 1973 studio album by Dusty Springfield

Cameo is the eighth studio album released by singer Dusty Springfield, released in 1973.

<i>A Very Fine Love</i> 1995 studio album by Dusty Springfield

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.

<i>Living Without Your Love</i> 1979 studio album by Dusty Springfield

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.

<i>Reputation</i> (Dusty Springfield album) 1990 studio album by Dusty Springfield

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.

<i>It Begins Again</i> Album by Dusty Springfield

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 ", 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.

<i>A Girl Called Dusty</i> 1964 studio album by Dusty Springfield

A Girl Called Dusty is the debut studio album by English singer Dusty Springfield. It was released on 17 April 1964 in the United Kingdom by Philips Records. The album peaked at No. 6 on the UK Album Charts and No.5 on NME charts in May 1964.

<i>Stay Awhile/I Only Want to Be with You</i> 1964 studio album by Dusty Springfield

Stay Awhile/I Only Want to Be with You is the first album of the singer Dusty Springfield to be released in the USA. It was issued on the Philips Records label in 1964 and includes Springfield's hit singles "I Only Want To Be With You", "Stay Awhile" and "Wishin' and Hopin'".

<i>Just a Little Lovin</i> 2008 studio album by Shelby Lynne

Just a Little Lovin' is the tenth studio album by Shelby Lynne, released in the United States and Canada on January 29, 2008. The album is a tribute to British singer Dusty Springfield, and features covers of nine songs popularized by her, in addition to "Pretend", an original song written by Lynne. In contrast to the more fully instrumented original versions Dusty Springfield recorded, Lynne's remakes featured sparse arrangements, favoring acoustic guitars and pianos rather than a string or horn section.

<i>Cass Elliot</i> (album) 1972 studio album by Cass Elliot

Cass Elliot is the fourth studio album released by Cass Elliot and the first album recorded for RCA Records, being released in January 1972.

<i>On the Line</i> (Gary U.S. Bonds album) 1982 studio album by Gary U.S. Bonds

On the Line is an album released by Gary U.S. Bonds in 1982, the second of two on which he collaborated with Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, the first being Dedication, released the previous year, 1981.

Artie Kaplan is an American recording artist, songwriter and a session musician. He has also been a music contractor where he was hired to musicians for sessions. In the 1960s, he was casting musicians for sessions for Aldon Music. When musician Joe Delia was asked about the best advice he had ever had, he said it was from Kaplan, who said "Always show up on time and bring a pencil."

Beautiful Soul may refer to:

References

  1. "Longing ~ Dusty Springfield". AllMusic . Retrieved 8 August 2020.

Sources