Dusty Springield

Dusty Springfield
File:Dusty Springfield in 1966.jpg
Background information
Birth name	Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien
Born	April 16 1939(1939-04-16) (Hampstead, London, England)
Origin	Ealing, London, England
Died	March 2 1999 (aged 59) Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England
Genre(s)	Traditional pop, blue-eyed soul
Occupation(s)	Singer
Years active	1958—1995
Label(s)	Philips Records, Atlantic Records

Dusty Springfield (April 16, 1939 – March 2, 1999), was an English pop singer who, among the female artists of the British Invasion of the early 1960s, made the biggest impression on the U.S. market. Hit songs like "I Only Want to Be with You," "Wishin' and Hopin'," and "Son of a Preacher Man" established Springfield as international star.

Born as Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien, Springfield was a major fan of American soul music, and created a distinctive, female "blue-eyed soul" sound. From 1963 to 1970, Springfield had 18 singles in the Billboard Hot 100. She was voted the Top British Female Artist by readers of New Musical Express in 1964, 1965, and 1968.

Springfield kept recording until she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1995 and died in 1999. She was named among the 25 female rock artists of all time by readers of Mojo magazine (1999), editors of Q magazine (2002), and a panel of artists on the TV channel VH1 (2007). She is an inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the UK Music Hall of Fame.

Biography

Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien was born in West Hampstead to an Irish Catholic family, and was brought up in the West London borough of Ealing. The name "Dusty" was given to her when she was a child, as she had been a tomboy in her early years. She was brought up listening to a wide range of music: Gershwin, Rogers and Hart, Rogers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Glenn Miller, among others. She was a fan of American jazz and the music of Peggy Lee, and reported a desire to sound like her. At 11 she was a fan of Judy Garland.

First bands (1958–63)

After finishing school in 1958, Dusty responded to the advertisement to join an "established sister act," the Lana Sisters. With the vocal group, she developed the art of harmonizing, learned microphone technique, recorded, did some television, and played live both in the UK and at American Air Bases in Europe.

In 1960, she left the band and formed the pop-folk trio the Springfields with her brother Dion O'Brien (now known as Tom Springfield) and Tim Feild. The new trio chose The Springfields as their name during a rehearsal in a field in Somerset in spring. The group had several hits in the UK, and their version of "Silver Threads and Golden Needles" reached the US Top 20.

Intending to make an authentic American album, the Springfields traveled to Nashville to record the album Folk Songs from the Hills. During a stopover in New York City, Dusty , already a fan of black vocal groups such as the Shirelles, heard "Tell Him" by the Exciters and was especially inspired by its sound. She began seriously considering moving in the soul music field. In the spring of 1963, the Springfields recorded their last UK top-five hit, "Say I Won't Be There," before disbanding. They played their last concert in October 1963.

A Girl Called Dusty (1963–64)

Dusty Springfield's first single, the soul-tinged "I Only Want to Be with You," was released in November 1963. The soul-flavored song, which paid homage to Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound" production style, rose to number four in the British charts and number 12 on US Billboard Hot 100.

Her debut album A Girl Called Dusty was rushed through production and included mostly covers of her favorite songs by other performers. The album reached UK number six in May 1964. The modest hits "Stay Awhile," "All Cried Out," and "Losing You" followed the same year.

In 1964, Springfield recorded two Burt Bacharach songs: "Wishin' and Hopin'," a U.S. top-ten hit, and "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself," which reached UK number three.

Springfield's tour of South Africa was interrupted in December 1964, after she performed before an integrated audience at a theater near Cape Town and was deported for flouting the country's apartheid laws. The same year, she was voted Top Female British Artist in a New Musical Express poll. She also received the award again the following year.

1965 releases

Inspired by the Italian song "Io Che No Vivo (Senza Te)," Springfield recorded "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me," in 1965, featuring lyrics by Simon Napier-Bell and Springfield's friend and future manager, Vicki Wickham. It reached UK number one, and was number 35 song on the Billboard charts for the year 1966. The song listed among the All Time Top 100 Songs by the listeners of BBC Radio 2 in 1999.

Springfield released three more UK top-40 hits in 1965: "Your Hurtin' Kinda Love," "In the Middle of Nowhere," and Carole King's "Some of Your Lovin'". Her album Ev'rything's Coming Up Dusty peaked at UK number six.

The Sound of Motown (1965–66)

File:DustyMotown.jpg

Dusty Springfield campaigned to expose American soul singers to a wider audience on Britain television. Here she sings "Can't Hear You No More" on The Sound Of Motown edition of Ready Steady Go!, hosted by Dusty on April 28, 1965.

Because of her enthusiasm for Motown music, Springfield campaigned to get the little known American soul singers a better audience in the UK. She hosted The Sound Of Motown, a Ready Steady Go! special edition, on April 28, 1965. Springfield performed "Wishin' and Hopin'" and "Can't Hear You No More," accompanied by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas and Motown's in-house band The Funk Brothers. Other guests included The Temptations, The Supremes, The Miracles, Stevie Wonder, and Marvin Gaye.

Springfield released three additional UK Top 20 hits in 1966: "Little By Little," Carole King's "Going Back," and "All I See Is You". A compilation of her singles, Golden Hits, released in November 1966, reached UK number two.

The Look of Love (1967)

The Bacharach-David composition "The Look of Love" was designed for the spoof Bond movie Casino Royale. The track was recorded in two versions at the Philips Studios of London. The soundtrack version was recorded on January 29, and the single release version on April 14. The song is featured in the scene of Ursula Andress as Vesper Lynd persuading Peter Sellers as Evelyn Tremble, seen through a man-size aquarium. "The Look of Love" was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song of 1967. The song was a top-10 radio hit at the KGB and KHJ radio stations. As in 1967, Dusty had trouble with charting hits in the U.S., the song earned her highest place in the year's charts, number 22.

Where Am I Going? (1967–68)

By the end of 1967, Dusty was becoming disillusioned with the show-business carousel on which she found herself trapped. She appeared out of step with the Summer of Love and its attendant psychedelic music. The second season of the BBC Dusty TV shows, featuring performances of "Get Ready" and "I'll Try Anything," attracted a healthy audience, but was anathema to the sudden changes in pop music. The comparatively progressive and prophetically titled Where Am I Going? attempted to redress this. Containing a jazzy, orchestrated version of "Sunny," and Jacques Brel's "If You Go Away," it was an artistic success, but flopped commercially.

In 1968, a similar fate awaited Dusty... Definitely. On this her choice of material ranged from the rolling "Ain't No Sunshine" to the aching emotion of "I Think It's Gonna Rain Today." In the same year Dusty had a UK top-five hit "I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten." Her personal TV shows continued with the ITV series of It Must Be Dusty, including a duet with Jimi Hendrix on the song "Mockingbird." In the same year, Roger Moore presented her third Top British Female Artist award, voted by the readers of New Musical Express.

Memphis sessions (1968–69)

File:DustyInMemphis.jpg

Cover of the album Dusty in Memphis (1969)

In 1968, Carole King, one of Springfield's songwriters, embarked on a singing career of her own, while the chart-busting, Bacharach-David partnership was foundering. Springfield's status in the music industry was further complicated by the progressive music revolution and the uncomfortable split between what was underground and fashionable, and what was pop and unfashionable. In addition, her performing career was becoming bogged down on the UK touring circuit, which at that time largely consisted of working men's clubs and the hotel and cabaret circuit. Hoping to reinvigorate her career and boost her credibility, Springfield signed with Atlantic Records, home label of an idol of hers, Aretha Franklin.

The Memphis sessions at the American Sound Studios were recorded by the A team of Atlantic Records: producers Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd, Arif Mardin, the back-up vocal band Sweet Inspirations and the instrumental band Memphis Cats, led by guitarist Reggie Young and bass player Tommy Coghill. The producers were the first people to recognize that Springfield's natural soul voice should be placed at the fore, rather than competing with full string arrangements. Due to Springfield's pursuit of perfection and what Jerry Wexler called, a "gigantic inferiority complex," her vocals were recorded later in New York.

Dusty in Memphis received the Grammy Hall of Fame award in 2001. The album was listed among the 100 Greatest Albums of All Time by a panels of artists from Rolling Stone and VH1, readers of New Musical Express, and viewers of Channel 4.

The standout track of the album, "Son of a Preacher Man," reached number 10 on UK, U.S., and international charts. The song was the ninety-sixth most popular song of 1969 in the United States. In 1994, the song was revived by Quentin Tarantino on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack, which sold over three million copies.

Decline (1969–86)

In September and October 1969, Dusty Springfield hosted eight episodes of the BBC TV show Decidedly Dusty. In 1970, Springfield released her second album for Atlantic Records, A Brand New Me, featuring songs written and produced by Gamble and Huff. The album yielded a Billboard Top 25 single, "A Brand New Me." In 2007, its British counterpart, From Dusty With Love was listed among the 1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die by the Guardian newspaper. A third album for the Atlantic label, titled Faithful and produced by Jeff Barry, was abandoned because of poor sales of singles slated for the LP. Most of the material recorded for the aborted album was released on the 1999 reissue of Dusty in Memphis on Rhino Records. Her next album, See All Her Faces, was released only in Britain, having none of the cohesion of her previous two albums. In 1972, Springfield signed a contract with ABC Dunhill Records, and the resulting album, Cameo, was released in 1973 with little publicity.

In 1974, Springfield recorded the theme song for the TV series The Six Million Dollar Man. Her second ABC Dunhill album was given the working title Elements and scheduled for release as Longing. The sessions were soon abandoned. A part of the material, including tentative and incomplete vocals, was released on the 2001 compilation Beautiful Soul. She put her career on hold in 1974, living reclusively in the United States to avoid scrutiny by British tabloids. During this time she provided background vocals for Anne Murray's LP Together and Elton John's LP Caribou, including the single "The Bitch is Back."

Springfield released two albums on United Artists Records in the late 1970s. The first was 1978's It Begins Again, produced by Roy Thomas Baker. The LP charted on both sides of the Atlantic and was well received by critics, but was not a commercial success. The 1979 album Living Without Your Love did slightly better. In London, she recorded two singles for her British label, Mercury Records. The first was the disco-influenced "Baby Blue," which reached number 61 in Britain. The second, "Your Love Still Brings Me to My Knees," was Springfield's final single for Philips Records. In autumn 1979, Springfield played her first club dates in eight years in New York.

On December 3, 1979, she performed a charity concert for a full house at The Royal Albert Hall, in the presence of Princess Margaret. She signed a U.S. deal with 20th Century Fox Records, which resulted in the single "It Goes Like It Goes." In 1980, Springfield recorded the song "Bits and Pieces," written by Dominic Frontiere and Norman Gimbel. Sections of the song are used twice in the film The Stunt Man. Springfield was uncharacteristically proud of her 1982 album White Heat, influenced by the New Wave genre. After the commercial failure of the album, she stopped drinking and tried to get her life back together. She tried to revive her career again in 1985 by returning to the United Kingdom and signing to Peter Stringfellow's Hippodrome Records label. This resulted in the single "Sometimes Like Butterflies" and an appearance on Stringfellow's live television show. None of Dusty Springfield's recordings from 1971 to 1986 charted on the UK or U.S. Top 40.

Comeback (1987–95)

File:Dusty5.jpg

Comeback: In 1987, Dusty Springfield returned to the global scene on the promotional video of the song "What Have I Done to Deserve This?"

In 1987, she accepted an invitation from the Pet Shop Boys to sing with the duo's Neil Tennant on their single "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" and appear on the promotional video. The record rose to number two on both the UK and U.S. charts. The song subsequently appeared on the Pet Shop Boys' album Actually, and both of their greatest hits collections. Springfield sang lead vocals on the Richard Carpenter track "Something in Your Eyes," recorded for Carpenter's album Time. Released as a single, it became a number-12 Adult Contemporary hit in the United States. Springfield recorded a duet with B.J. Thomas, "As Long as We Got Each Other," which was used as the theme song for the U.S. sitcom Growing Pains.

A new compilation of Springfield's greatest hits, The Silver Collection, was issued in 1988. Springfield returned to the studio with the Pet Shop Boys, who produced her recording of their song "Nothing Has Been Proved," commissioned for the soundtrack of the film Scandal. Released as a single in early 1989, the song gave Springfield a UK Top 20 hit. So did its follow-up, the upbeat "In Private," written and produced by the Pet Shop Boys. She capitalized on this by recording the 1990 album Reputation, another UK Top-20 success. The writing and production credits for half the album, which included the two recent hit singles, went to the Pet Shop Boys, while the album's other producers included Dan Hartman. Before recording the Reputation album, Springfield decided to leave California for good, and by 1988, she had returned to Britain.

In 1993, she was invited to record a duet with her former 1960s' professional rival and friend, Cilla Black. The song, "Heart and Soul," appeared on Black's Through the Years album. In 1994, Springfield started recording the album A Very Fine Love for Sony Records. Some of the songs were written by well-known Nashville songwriters and produced with a typical country feel. The last song She recorded was the George and Ira Gershwin standard "Someone To Watch Over Me." The song was recorded in London in 1995 for an insurance company television advertisement. It was included on Simply Dusty (2002), the extensive anthology the singer had helped plan but did not live to see released.

Illness and death (1995–99)

While recording her final album, A Very Fine Love, in 1995 in Nashville, Springfield felt unwell. In England, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She received months of radiation treatment and, for a time, the cancer was in remission. In apparent good health again, Springfield set about promoting the album and gave a live performance of "Where Is a Woman to Go?" on the BBC television music show Later With Jools Holland, backed by Alison Moyet and Sinéad O'Connor. Cancer was detected again in the summer of 1996. After a fight, she was defeated by the illness in 1999. She died in Henley-on-Thames on the day she had been due to go to Buckingham Palace to receive her Order of the British Empire insignia.

Before her death, officials of St James's Palace gave permission for the medal to be collected by Springfield's manager, Vicki Wickham. She duly presented it to the singer in hospital, where they had been joined by a small party of friends and relatives. Her induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame had been scheduled for 10 days after her death. In what was considered a very rare departure from royal protocol, Queen Elizabeth said she was "saddened" to learn of Springfield's death. Her will provided care for her cat, Nicholas, including a marriage to the five-year-old female cat of a friend in a private ceremony later that spring.

Legacy

All Music Guide has stated that the sultry intimacy and heartbreaking urgency of Springfield's voice transcended image and fashion. Depending on the requirements of the song, she could be pop diva, soul siren, or rock n' roll queen. Influenced by American pop music, she created a distinctive white soul sound. While recording new songs, Springfield implored musicians to capture the passion of American songs she had heard. Her soul inclinations resulted in her often performing as the only white singer on all-black bills in the 1960s. She insisted that her white British session musicians copy precisely the instrumental playing styles of black American musicians. Her covers of songs by African-American singers ranged from close copies of the original versions to full reworkings. She sang songs that songwriters ordinarily would have offered their writers to black vocalists.

Springfield was one of the best-selling British singers in the 1960s. She was voted the Top British Female Artist by the readers of the New Musical Express in 1964, 1965, and 1968. Of the female singers of the British Invasion of pop music in the sixties, Springfield made the biggest impression on the U.S. market. From 1963 to 1970, she scored 26 singles in either the Billboard Hot 100 or the UK Top 40. She is an inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the UK Music Hall of Fame. She was placed among the 25 female rock artists of all time by the readers of Mojo magazine (1999), and a panel of artists by the VH1 TV channel (2007).

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Howes, Paul. The Complete Dusty Springfield. Richmond, Eng.: Reynolds & Hearn, 2001. ISBN 978-1903111246
• Leeson, Edward. Dusty Springfield: A Life in Music. London: Robson Books, 2001. ISBN 978-1861053435
• Valentine, Penny, and Wickham, Vicki. Dancing With Demons: The Authorized Biography of Dusty Springfield. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2001. ISBN 978-0312282028

External links

• Dusty Springfield at the Open Directory Project
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h1m6rw0ktE "I Only Want To Be With You" on YouTube
• http://www.last.fm/music/Dusty+Springfield/+videos/+1-jHHOnMd6Eqs "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself" YouTube
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7coUYqOUujc "Stay Awhile" YouTube

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