Dusty in Memphis

Springfield, Dusty

album cover

Soul of a Different Stripe, via London

Shortly after she arrived in Memphis to record this album, British singer Dusty Springfield found herself overwhelmed. Producers Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin, and Tom Dowd had brought her to the famed American Studios, where they intended to record, and casually pointed out where Wilson Pickett stood to do his vocals. She was awestruck. "You know, you kind of freeze at that point," Springfield recalled later. "Being English, it's very hard to explain how we love and worship these people."

As a result of her jitters, Springfield found it impossible to work in Memphis. So she recorded the lead vocals of Dusty in Memphis in New York. For the first and only time in her career, she sang with just the basic rhythm tracks to guide her—the string parts and other sweetening hadn't been recorded yet. She seized the Memphis band's steady, nothing-fancy backing, and paid more attention to rhythm than she had before. This helped her get something almost paramusical onto the tape, a smoldering fire that distinguished the ballads (the wise Carole King–Gerry Goffin "No Easy Way Down") and the assertive, whiplashing grooves ("Son of a Preacher Man") and every song in between.

Dusty in Memphis isn't a soul album in the strict sense. It's an album of great pop songs done soulfully. And make no mistake: The eleven selections on the original (the Deluxe Edition contains a bunch of less satisfying bonus tracks) are all great songs, among them a poignant Randy Newman ode about a spat overheard through thin walls ("I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore"). Despite the top-shelf material and Springfield's spacious, sometimes mysterious vocal performances, the album wasn't a hit when it came out—it peaked at number 99 on the Billboard Albums chart, and sold fewer than 100,000 copies its first year. Only much later, when the dust of 1969 cleared, did this delicate marvel find its audience.

Genre: Vocals
Released: 1969, Atlantic
Key Tracks: "No Easy Way Down," "Son of a Preacher Man," "I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore".
Catalog Choice: A Brand New Me.
Next Stop: Norah Jones: Feels like Home.
Book Pages: 732–733

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