Dusty Meets The Memphis Cats Oct 23 '07    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet The Bottom Line This expansion of a classic album came before the even bigger expansion of Dusty In Memphis. As the 1960s came to an end, Dusty Springfield found herself on a new record label in the United States. Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun, in fact, had wanted the opportunity to work with Springfield for several years before she signed with his label in 1968. Ertegun believed that Springfield's style would be a perfect match for some of his staff musicians. Springfield, who was born Mary O'Brien in 1939, possessed a sweet, but powerful voice filled with pop sensibility and blue-eyed soul. On her first Atlantic album, she was teamed with the producers, arrangers, and musicians who helped launch the Atlantic Records career of Aretha Franklin. She recorded songs from writers of note, including the team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David, as well as the team of Gerry Goffin and Carole King. Both teams were among favorite writers of Springfield, as demonstrated on earlier songs like "Wishin' And Hopin'" and "Goin' Back." On Dusty In Memphis, Springfield not only recorded some pop, but she also sang songs with southern color in them. The house band for Atlantic in that city was a group of musicians known as the Memphis Cats, who also played on songs by artists such as Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding. Backing vocals came from a group in their own right called the Sweet Inspirations, whose membership included Cissy Houston, whose daughter, Whitney, would become a major singing star. In 1992, Rhino Records, who still releases selected classic Atlantic albums on their label, expanded Dusty In Memphis for the first time. The original album, which was released in 1969, had just eleven tracks. Tracks 12-14 of the 1992 CD were included on this title for the first time, including both sides of a single that was released between the four single releases from the original album. The final track was an outtake from the Memphis sessions that made its initial appearance on this expansion. Just two of the five singles from the expansion album, though, ever reached the Top 40. One of them was a cover of "The Windmills Of Your Mind," the Oscar-winning song performed by Noel Harrison in the 1968 film, The Thomas Crown Affair, and it was a hit in England for the son of Rex Harrison. Springfield, though, was the one who had any sort of hit with the song stateside. It's a song about a relationship that has ended badly, yet still evokes good memories. The concept of circular motion is key to the song. The song starts slowly, then gains speed to suggest a person's confusion about what went wrong, and why things ended. The gentle guitar playing of Reggie Young and the masterful string conducting of Gene Orloff complement Springfield's voice and emotion perfectly. In the end, Springfield's voice grows softer, just like a person who has grown worn out from the conflicting thoughts and emotions. The song is more in line with the material that Springfield recorded in England, such as the lushly orchestrated "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me." Another song in that vein is "Just A Little Lovin'," which opens Dusty In Memphis. This track takes listeners through the blissful moments of being with a special someone, and was written by another popular songwriting team of the time, the husband-and-wife team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. Springfield sings with unbridled joy, and the strings and horns help to create a joyous feeling. The Bacharach-David composition "In The Land Of Make Believe" tells the tale of how love can stay strong when miles separate a couple. Springfield goes on a happy journey through wishful thinking on this track. One of five Goffin-King songs on this CD is "So Much Love," another wistful song about finding a way to make love's most joyous moments last. The southern flavor of the recording's location, though, comes through most notably on the album's biggest hit, the Top 10 smash "Son Of A Preacher Man," which was composed by John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins, who teamed to write a number of country and gospel songs. It was the first single release from the album, and was released in advance of it, in late 1968. It's a nostalgic tale of southern ways that focuses on the friendship between a young girl and the son of the local minister. Young plays guitar with a twang, Bobby Emmons makes the electronic piano sound both joyous and reverential, and the Sweet Inspirations sound like a gospel choir. A section of horns plays with warmth and strength. For the length of the song, Springfield is not an English woman, but a southern belle. The same holds true for "Willie & Laura Mae Jones," a song that was written by Tony Joe White, who would have a hit of his own with another southern slice of life entitled "Pork Salad Annie." The song is about a family of migrant workers, and the family who befriended them. By day, the families worked side by side, helping with the harvesting. By night, they often ate together, and learned songs from one another. The song makes the point of showing that these people worried more about making a living, and had no concern about their different backgrounds. This CD, in addition to the songs, includes some memories of the recordings from Springfield and her trio of producers - Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd, and Arif Mardin, who were three of the biggest names on the label besides Ertegun and his co-founder brother, Neshui. This CD would prove to be just the first expansion of Springfield's best known album. In 1999, Rhino expanded Dusty In Memphis from fourteen tracks to twenty-five. Just weeks after the second reissue, Dusty Springfield and her marvelous voice fell silent following a prolonged battle with breast cancer. She was 59 years of age. While the original album was out of print long before the days of the compact disc, fans and critics hailed the title as one of her best works. It was through a listing of music critic favorites that I first became interested in Dusty In Memphis, and eventually acquired a second-hand copy on vinyl. When Rhino first released this album on CD, I did not hesitate to acquire it. There's no need to get it second-hand these days, unless someone is a Springfield collector who wishes to get the first expansion or the original release. Even though her relationship with Atlantic resulted in just one more album, Dusty Springfield ended the sixties in fine form musically. The creative exchange between Springfield and her musicians and producers flowed. The buying public may have been slow to catch up to this release, but once they did, they found the work of an artist who could take material and make it her own, in spite of living far from the studio that welcomed her to their fold. Tracks of the 1992 release: 1. Just A Little Lovin" 2. So Much Love 3. Son Of A Preacher Man 4. I Don't Want To Hear It Anymore 5. Don't Forget About Me 6. Breakfast In Bed 7. Just One Smile 8. The Windmills Of Your Mind 9. In The Land Of Make Believe 10. No Easy Way Down 11. I Can't Make It Alone 12. Willie & Laura Mae Jones 13. That Old Sweet Roll (Hi-De-Ho) 14. What Do You Do When Love Dies This has been an entry in the Breast Cancer Awareness Write-Off hosted by laurashrti. Please click on the hyperlink for rules and other entries. Thank you Laura.

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