Saturday, October 2, 2010: Dusty Springfield - Don't Forget About Me

As many have said before, the word Masterpiece has been far overused. I, too, am guilty of this.

Originally, a Master Piece was the work a craftsman or artisan made as an attempted to attain Master status in a Trade or Guild organization. Nowadays, a Masterpiece is more commonly is referred to the pinnacle of achievement by a person or group, something that is greatly praised, that stands out above and beyond most other works in that field.

Well, gentle reader, Dusty Springfield's album "Dusty In Memphis" is a Masterpiece. It is the finest of it's craft, it is a towering achievement, worthy of every accolade and applause given it. It is truly one of the greatest albums ever.

To paraphrase 1 John 4:20, If a man claims to love music, yet he doth not have Dusty In Memphis in his collection, then he is a liar.

Born in North London in 1939, Dusty Springfield became one of the brightest stars in music. She could sing Popular Music, Broadway and Showtunes, and move effortlessly from the complicated rhythms of Burt Bacharach to straight forward Rhythm & Blues. In 1965 she was the first British singer to top the New Musical Express readers' polls for Female Singer, and topped that poll again in 1966, 1967 and 1969. By 1966 she was the best selling female singer in the world.

However, by 1967, the whole world started to change.

Music was becoming a completely different animal than breezy pop of  "I Only Want To Be With You", her first single released in 1963.  Dusty Springfield was viewed as part of the Culture that the emerging 1960's Counter-Culture was rebelling against.  Rather than fight the tide, Dusty dedicated her career to exploring a new musical frontier, trying to push out the boundaries not only of her art, but her career which was stagnated by only touring hotels and dingy cabarets around Britain.  Of course, she did what any European does when wanting to start fresh, from scratch, with a clean slate.  She came to America.

Recorded in late 1968 at the American Sound Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, Dusty In Memphis is a tribute not only to American Music, but to the timelessness of music in general.  The themes explored on this album like love, loss, poverty, redemption, pleasure and hope, these are the very core foundations of who we are not just as Americans or Brits, but as societies.  Now, that may sound pretensious but, an here's the real deal, Dusty brings us all these without pretension, without fanfare, without anything but simple arrangements, a voice straight from the Heavens and some kick-ass horns.

On this track, when that horn section kicks in for the chorus, the guitar riffs like mad and the drums sound like a freight train clackety-clacking through the hot American night, I defy you to stand still, to not tap your toes, not pump your fist like a manic teenager at a rock concert, or not dance around whatever room your in, I dare you. I double dog dare you.

Dusty In Memphis solidified her place in the music pantheon. But, in her subsequent years, she never really reached for those heights ever again. For me, the low point of her later work is her woeful collaboration with The Pet Shop boys, "What Have I Done To Deserve This", a decidedly sub-par track. Listen to that opening Casio keyboard drum rhythm with chords and tell me I'm wrong.

But, even here, when Dusty's voice breaks through all that monotony, it really is like the bright shining sun breaking through the grey clouds.  Amazing.

Dusty Springfield died of cancer on March 2, 1999, at her home in Henley-on-Thames. She was aged 59.

And if you don't have Dusty In Memphis in your record collection, go out and buy it.  Right now.