Dusty Springfield

For anyone who wasn't satisfied with the three-CD Dusty Springfield set from the late '90s, this four-CD, 98-song collection is a chance for deeper immersion in the late singer's music and career -- indeed, a more appropriate title thematically might have been "Totally Dusty," despite the fact that it opens with a cut that she doesn't appear on except in name. In contrast to past compilations, this set ranges so far within her career that the hits are almost incidental, and anyone wanting just the highlights of her work from a given era in her career would be better advised to get one of the smaller compilations. In an unexpected flash of daring, the opening cut on this set isn't even by her, but is so perfect an expression of her impact as of 1970 that it's difficult to quibble with its placement -- that year, Blossom Dearie co-wrote and recorded "Dusty Springfield," an airy and eccentric tribute to the singer; it might be a distraction to some listeners, but one hesitates to criticize a daring or inventive impulse by reissue producers who don't work for Rhino. The second track, a reel-to-reel demo of a teenaged Springfield and her brother Tom doing a medley of standards, including "I Love a Piano" and "Pretty Baby," shows her off as a surprisingly big-voiced girl even then, though she was a long way from the style that would make her famous. Springfield's stint with the Lana Sisters, an English pop trio, is represented by the novelty tune "(Seven Little Girls) Sitting on the Back Seat," on which she's one of four singers (counting lead vocalist Al Saxon). The folk-pop trio the Springfields, through which she first attracted notice, is represented by four songs, of which "Far Away Places" is an unexpected treat, a subtle, soft, lyrical number that somehow got buried on the B-side of a single. "Island of Dreams" is familiar territory, but "Say I Won't Be There" features electric instruments and a loud rhythm section, plus a string section not too far removed from the sound that Springfield's solo recordings would emphasize. No two songs in her output can be more different than the moody, brooding "No Sad Songs," the Springfields' final recording, and "I Only Want to Be With You," which, with its boldly exuberant sound, heralded her arrival as a solo act.

The first two CDs cover Springfield's career across the 1960s, from pop diva to white soul queen and from the London pop scene to the legendary Memphis sessions; most of the cuts are remixes from various points in history, but otherwise are familiar to longtime fans. The one exception is "Poor Wayfaring Stranger" from the second disc, which comes from a 1966 BBC concert special. Disc three begins with material from the usually (unfairly) neglected A Brand New Me and proceeds on through her various aborted and unfinished projects of the early '70s; the sad part about this material is that it was all good, solid pop-soul music that, for reasons having more to do with record company politics and other non-artistic matters, was seldom put before the public except in the most nominal fashion. Being associated in America for a time with ABC Records, a label that was expanding too fast and hemorrhaging cash, didn't help. It's a curious phenomenon listening to this -- one feels sufficient caring and concern for the singer that it's hard to immerse oneself in her '70s sides without feeling the gaping hole arising from the knowledge that she saw so little reward, or even response, for this part of her work. Disc four covers the last phase of Springfield's career, from the very end of the 1970s through her final recordings in the mid-'90s. Those had to have been frustrating years, at least early on: As her '60s material was suddenly back in vogue and heavily sought after, Springfield was suddenly in demand for interviews about her personal life -- even as she couldn't seem to find sales to match her reviews and the accolades heaped on her '60s sides. Her return to vogue in conjunction with the Pet Shop Boys on "What Have I Done to Deserve This" is the high point of this part of the set. The price for this set is high, close to $80, as it is a British-only release (Springfield's '60s and early-'70s U.K. label Polygram has never been able to work out a licensing agreement with Atlantic Records, which holds the U.S. rights to the material off of Dusty in Memphis etc., over the use of that material on any American compilations of her work), but it is the most comprehensive overview of her work and career. Even so, it doesn't contain every important song, even of her mid-'60s U.K. period ("You Don't Own Me" is missing). The notes are very thorough, however, and each of the 98 songs gets a little individual history. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide