From the very start of her solo career, it was Dusty Springfield’s intention to make records in the style of the black American artists that she admired, both professionally and personally. She recorded her version of a soul song at her first solo session and was still recording soul songs on all of her albums, singles and EPs throughout the 60s and into the 70s.
“Dusty Sings Soul” is a long overdue and carefully curated collection of recordings from Dusty’s 60s singles and albums, designed to demonstrate that she was not only the UK’s finest female singer but also its finest soul singer of her era and, for many, of all time. There is no shortage of Dusty compilations out there, but this is the first one to exclusively concentrate on this particular side of this great artist’s work.
These are not ‘covers’, in that Dusty never directly covered any record until the original had run its course. Dusty simply recorded songs that she loved herself, and that she hoped her fans would love. Dusty was a big fan of many of the artists whose songs she recorded, and helped to raise their profile in the UK through her interpretations of their work.
For soul fans who love Dusty but who only want to hear her singing soul, rather than the show tunes and/or pop ballads that she was equally at home with, this will be every bit as essential as her “Dusty In Memphis” album and the records she made in Philadelphia at the very end of the 60s with Gamble & Huff.
The booklet is generously illustrated and copiously annotated.
Tony Rounce
