Going from an album I have listened to hundreds of times to an album I had never previously heard, today I listened to “Dusty in Memphis”, by British pop and soul singer Dusty Springfield. Days like this make this entire process so fulfilling, hearing a new sound that I had somehow previously overlooked. This album is rated #83 on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Greatest Album of All Time.
One of my all-time favorite female singers is Harriet Wheeler from The Sundays. She is decidedly and
profoundly British as she sings. Good or not, Dusty Springfield sounds completely American on this collection, as she immerses herself in a mix of country and soul songs that are as equally American, featuring legendary songwriters such as Randy Newman, Carole King, and even Burt Bacharach. Her biggest hit from the album was “Son of a Preacher Man”, and it is probably my favorite song on the album. I also love “Breakfast in Bed”, “Just a Little Lovin’”, “Don’t Forget About Me”, and “I Can’t Make it Alone”.
The entire album is an easy and warm listen, and will be adding several of these tunes to my master playlist. After she died too young at 59 from breast cancer, Elton John said of her, “She is my favorite white singer of all time, every song she made her own”. Well said, Elton…
A Lifetime-Plus of Music 