Dusty in Memphis

Hits from the Bong!

Fab

Hyvää menneen maailman RnB:tä. 3.5/5

Very sixties smokey bar with a cocktail vibe. Super smooth, beautiful voice.

This is fine, I guess. No strong feelings either way. It has its moments.

Dusty, surely dusty, her voice is air, gravel, and reality. She does it better than almost everyone. This album, like her, is a book I'll always be reading.

I used to put Dusty Springfield in a wrong corner, namely that of the stupid American pop song. I'm glad to have been proven wrong here. I've liked the song Son Of a Pracher Man at least since Pulp Fiction. And here, too, I realized while listening that I already knew and liked other songs by Dusty Springfield. The music is soft and the voice is great. 4/5

No denying there's a wonderful distinctive voice here - you know it as soon as you here it. "Windmills" is, to me anyway, one of the most distinctive songs of the 60s, "Preacher Man" one of the most overplayed and overrated. Wanted to give it 4 stars, but such is my loathing for Preacher Man, I had to knock off another star. Sorry.

I heard of Dusty Springfield as a blue-eyed soul singer with her distinct mezzo-soprano singing voice. Earlier this year, I listened to her cover of Classics IV's "Spooky" which was pretty well done. This album of hers Dusty in Memphis was about as good as that cover was.

Her voice carries throughout this album, elevating the songs with the lustrous instrumentation from the session musicians while Jerry Wexler cleaned up the sound nicely. Some of my favorite tracks were the ones that took more style deviations, particularly the anthemic Southern country tune "Son of a Preacher Man", and her cover of Michel Legrand's "The Windmills of Your Mind" which kicks up the tempo towards the end, and the sitar cadence of "In the Land of Make Believe".

I understand that not everyone is into this style of music, with the performance relying solely on the singer with the instruments serving as a backdrop for her not helped by the number of covers present on this album. But Dusty in Memphis was a good outing, and in some respects, I can see how this album and by extension, Dusty herself inspired later female singers such as Adele and Amy Winehouse. Give it a spin.

There are so many albums in the world. Surely there is something out there that could replace this one. I get that son of a preacher man was a hit but that doesn’t mean it was important. It’s a bad song, all the other songs on here are mediocre at best.

If Carol King and Joni Mitchell had a boring-ass baby.

There's so many musical references I get now. And did Annie Lennox just straight up steal her voice for much of the 90's? This needs to be on the list, I just personally like the people referencing her better.

What a fantastic voice. Knocked my socks off! She had a couple of hits in the 70's but I hadn't heard the whole album before. Mix of Motown and Blues. Well done.

Apart from Son of a Preacher Man, this is kinda meh. Bunch of thirsty woman songs.

First of all, "Son of a Preacher Man" is one of the greatest recordings of all time. Sadly, the rest of the album isn't near that standard. There are nice points and the band is great, but Dusty's voice is sometimes mildly unpleasant and the material veers sharply into schlock.

Good. White Aretha Franklin

Timeless classics, sultry lyrics, absolutely effortless.

A couple of standout tunes, and an overall unoffensive record.

Very enjoyable and a great voice. Glad I've finally heard it.

Amazing voice, good instrumentation, tons of passion, but really doesn't move
the needle for me. Nothing to dislike, but maybe an hour was a bit much.