Dusty Springfield: From Dusty with Love (1970) ... plus

In the fall of 1969, Dusty Springfield travelled to Philadelphia to record her second album with Atlantic Records. After the critical acclaim shown to Dusty in Memphis, the label decided to further Dusty Springfield's exploration of R&B stylings and suggested she worked with Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. From the start, Dusty loved the trademark sound of the team - a sound she referred to as “melodic R&B” and which would later dominate the ‘70s known as “Philly Soul.” On her Philadelphia album, A Brand New Me (US)/From Dusty with Love (UK), Dusty makes the most of her startling versatility as a vocalist. Indeed, with all tracks co-written by Kenny Gamble and consequently sharing a similar, smooth pop-soul flavor, Dusty had to rely more than ever on her vocal and interpretive resources to give the album a sense of variety. ‘The Star of My Show’ for instance, elicits from her a fine funky performance, with an abrupt orchestrated rift punctuating each refrain. ‘Let Me in Your Way’ finds her muted and ironic, adding a languid shading and toning to the flutey soul girl backing chorus, while ‘Never Love Again’ is a reflective ballad that has the trademark plangent Gamble and Huff bassline and emotive crescendo. Dusty sounds positively liberated ranging through the gospel pop closer ‘Let's Talk It Over,’ an Aretha-inspired ‘Silly, Silly Fool,’ and the Bacharach-styled ballad ‘Joe.’ These get topped off by the upbeat Jackson 5 knockoff ‘Bad Case of the Blues’ and Jerry Butler's ‘Lost’. Released in January 1970, A Brand New Me was at best a moderate transatlantic success, though it is generally regarded as one of Springfield's top-notch albums. This edition features 9 bonus tracks originally issued as A and B-side singles in the US in the years following the album's release, among them recordings made with both Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd, Arif Mardin and Ellie Greenwich, as well as tracks from a shelved second album with Gamble & Huff and one track recorded for Philips Records, but never released by Atlantic. If for no other reason, this album is a must for Dusty's rendering of ‘A Brand New Me’, which reached #24 in the top 40 Billboard charts when released. Aretha Franklin later recorded the song after hearing Dusty's version. Hers did not chart. When a white woman outsings the Queen of Soul, it's time to sit up and listen. So, let's do it! http://www.cpinternet.com/, http://en.wikipedia.org/, http://www.answers.com/

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Dusty singing 'A Brand New Me' live:

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... and 'I Wanna Be a Free Girl':

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