Album Reviews |

Dusty Springfield

Goin' Back Box Set 8 ( 2011 )
I Only Want to Be With You [Mono] / Stay Awhile [Mono] / Wishin' & Hopin' / I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself [Mono] / All Cried Out [Mono] / Losing You [Mono] / Your Hurtin' Kinda Love / In the Middle of Nowhere [Mono] / Some of Your Lovin' / Little by Little [Mono] / You Don't Have to Say You Love Me / Goin' Back / All I See Is You / I'll Try Anything [Mono] / Give Me Time / The Look of Love [US Mono mix] / What's It Gonna Be? / I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten / Son-Of-A Preacher Man / Am I the Same Girl / A Brand New Me / How Can I Be Sure / What Have I Done to Deserve This? / In Private / Reputation

Can't We Be Friends (feat. Peter Miles) / Breakaway-Springfields [live] / Bambino-Springfields [live] / Goodnight Irene [alternate take] / Silver Dollar [alternate take] / I Only Want to Be With You [Stereo] / You Don't Own Me [Stereo] / Can I Get a Witness [Stereo] / Here She Comes [Mono] / Oh No! Not My Baby [alternate take] / That's How Heartaches Are Made [alternate take] / I Had a Talk With My Man [alternate take] / Chained to a Memory [alternate take] / I've Got a Good Thing [alternate take] / Sweet Ride [Previously Unreleased New Stereo mix] / What Do You Do When Love Dies [without orchestral Overdubs] / Something for Nothing / The Richest Girl Alive / Summer Love / Goodbye / I Believe in You / All the King's Horses / Goin' Back [Stripped Down mix by Tris Penna] / The Look of Love [Abbey Road vocal mix by Tris Penna]

/ Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa / I Don't Want to Go on Without You / Won't Be Long / I'll Never Stop Loving You / The Water Is Wide / Medley: Can't We Be Friends-Pick Yourself Up-Let's Get Away From It All / Don't Let Me Lose This Dream / Peel Me a Grape / I Wish You Love / It Was Easier to Hurt Him / (Love Is Like a) Heat Wave / Nowhere to Run / My Lagan Love / You Don't Have to Say You Love Me / Medley: It's Your Thing-Ain't No Mountain High Enough-Since You've Been Gone-To Love Somebody-People Got to Be Free / The Windmills of Your Mind / I Heard It Through the Grapevine / Angel of the Morning / (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher / I Say a Little Prayer / I'm Coming Home Again

/ If I Was Down and Out / Little Boats / The Corrupt Ones / The Look of Love ['Casino Royale' Soundtrack version] / Sweet Ride ['Sweet Ride' Soundtrack version] / Sea and Sky / Give Me the Night / Nothing Has Been Proved / Getting It Right-Wherever Would I Be? [Walter a mix] / Anyone Who Had a Heart [Mono] / Spooky / Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)? / Come Back to Me / Where Am I Going? / Time After Time / Second Time Around / Windmills of Your Mind / What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life? / It Goes Like It Goes / Someone to Watch Over Me

Mary O'Brien was born April 16th 1938 and given the nickname 'Dusty' as a child. She joined a couple of bands in the late fifties, early Sixties, the most notable being a folk trio 'The Springfields' form her her brother Dion. Visiting America she became entranced by American soul and her desire to explore this led her to go solo in 1963. Enjoying a string of hits throughout the Sixties, she helped redefine the role of female solo singer in the process but she couldn't escape that decade in terms of success, she only had 1 further top 40 hit from 1970 onwards until 1987 when she teamed up with electronic duo The Pet Shop Boys, enjoyed a couple of genuine latter day hit singles and also in 1990, a hit album. Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1994, she passed away in 1999. She suffered commercially throughout the more business oriented Seventies and Eighties perhaps because nobody knew quite how to pigeon-hole her. Was she R&B, Soul, Pop or Easy Listening or in fact none of these things? Listen back to the songs contained here on this 4 disc 'Goin Back' box set and you'll quickly notice one of her key assests, more so than the iconic image and the wigs, etc - her voice. Back in the Sixties we'd hear about these great American soul artists but they weren't exactly accessible to British shores. Dusty could evoke the feel of such artists extremely well, she had a versatile voice and really delved into the songs she had to perform. We may or may not have known who 'the real' Dusty Springfield was, which arguably did count against her during the Seventies in particular.

Back to the box. This set contains 92 tracks over 4 CD's including 22 previously unreleased tracks. 93 performances on 3 DVD's and 2 hardback books. My promo misses the DVDs and the books and of course the packaging but I can fully imagine Dusty devotees lapping up such a set, a fine gift for Xmas and beyond! Deserved PR out of the way, let's delve into things a little bit. The first discs contains all the hits, from her debut solo 'I Only Want To Be With You', 'I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself', 'Son Of A Preacher Man' - not much to say about disc one except that when given the right material Dusty really could present us with some of the finest ever Sixties pop. Disc Two contains hard to find songs, alternate takes etc. It's interesting and contains some good performances but for me the real gem of this box is disc three, which collects the best of her performances and recordings for the BBC. Hits of the day mix with versions of soul tunes from America and every time Dusty covered another hit song or US soul favourite she made it her own. 'Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa' opens the set but is surely better known as performed by Gene Pitney? Dusty covers 'I Say A Little Prayer', Aretha and Dionne Warwick set high standards for this song which Dusty rises to seemingly effortlessly, turning it into a stunning showcase for her own vocal abilities. Another favourite from this disc is 'Heatwave', the Motown classic.

Disc four picks out Dusty tracks that featured on TV and film, the best of which is surely the Pet Shop Boys assisted 'Nothing Has Been Proved', the song has an unsual structure for a Pet Shop Boys song. Well, The song is a story of course, it was written specifically for 1989 film 'Scandal', a story of a British political scandal in 1963. The chorus of 'Nothing Has Been Proved' lasts about 6 seconds interspersed between lengthy verses. Dusty sings huskily and the strings soar whilst the Pet Shop Boys electronic pop is placed in the background - this is all about that Dusty Springfield voice and this box is a fine place to start a journey.

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