FRIDAY MUSIC: Dusty Springfield, by JD

Mary O’Brien otherwise known as Dusty Springfield “has been acknowledged around the world as the best female soul singer that Britain ever produced. With her oddly erotic, throaty voice, she racked up a string of hits from the 1960s onwards. Born in London to Irish parents, Dusty grew up in and around London. Her early work included an all-girl trio, “The Lana Sisters” and, then, with her brother Tom Springfield (Dion O’Brien), The Springfields.”
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0819778/bio

‘Blue eyed soul’ is a phrase which could have been invented for Dusty Springfield. It applies to British singers who, in the early sixties, were inspired by and tried to emulate the Soul music and Rhythm and Blues music coming from the USA as featured previously in these pages – https://theylaughedatnoah.blogspot.com/2016/09/friday-night-is-music-night-mood-blue.html

Dusty deserves special mention mainly because of her album Dusty in Memphis, easily the best record she made.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dusty_in_Memphis

Her first recordings were with The Lana Sisters which were very much in the style of early American pop music of the fifties. A lot of them are on YouTube and feature excellent harmonies, worth a listen but the videos which follow begin with her in The Springfields which is where I first heard her. Some of the videos here have less than good sound quality but there is no mistaking that fabulous voice!