I did have something else in mind but then thought we haven’t had too many lasses on this so far, so it was a toss-up between Kirsty and Dusty.
Very much a ‘Classic Album’ (No. 83 in Rolling Stone’s Top 500) but we’ve not really done blue-eyed soul ballads on this, so…
I’ve been thinking about how a lot of the music I like lends itself more to the single than the album. I had contemplated posting The Four Tops’ ‘Reach Out’ at one point but whilst half the album is some of the finest music ever recorded (and arguably the high point of 20th century American popular culture) - the rest of it is bashed-out filler. Dusty is one of my all time favourite singers and most of her studio albums are similarly uneven, but this is a beautiful, coherent album.
I’m sure that those who know these things will be able to talk about her phrasing and what have you, but for me I love how she has both a reedy, vulnerable voice and a full-on belter voice, and she can go between the two, instantly and effortlessly.
So, Dusty Springfield, Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin and Tom Dowd behind the console, The Memphis Boys in the studio, and songs from some of the finest songwriters of the time - what could possibly go wrong? Notoriously lacking in self-confidence at the best of times, as people kept pointing out the legends who had previously recorded in the studio, and not having the producing freedom she had in London, she freaked out and barely sang a word in Memphis, and overlaid her vocals later in the Atlantic studios in New York. Not that you’d know; the album glides along from start to finish like a Rolls Royce. The music is much looser than her previous work, dials down some of the melodrama, and it suits her voice perfectly - search out the ‘English Version’ of Don’t Forget About Me on Spotify for a bit a compare and contrast
Personal standouts are Breakfast in Bed and the two Goffin/King songs that close the album. Windmills of Your Mind feels a bit supper-club but really there’s not a weak link on this for me. All killer no filler indeed. A proper album.
I’ve been playing this regulalrly for over 30 years and I don’t think I could get bored of it. It’s a blast of aural sunshine.
Importantly for an essential album the (UK release) sleeve is iconic - the tightly cropped portrait, all soft, warm golds and the trademark eyeliner.
Even more important - arguably non-negotiable - for an essential album it fits (comfortably) on one side of a C-90. Ignore the stuff after ’I Can’t Make it Alone’ - not on the original album.
Pipes: