Dusty in Memphis

Dusty in Memphis
International cover
Studio album by
Dusty Springfield
Released31 March 1969 (1969-03-31)[1]
RecordedSeptember 1968[2]
Studio
Genre
Length32:39
LabelAtlantic (US)
Philips (worldwide)
Producer
Dusty Springfield chronology
Dusty... Definitely
(1968) 		Dusty in Memphis
(1969) 		A Brand New Me
(1970)
Alternative cover
US cover

Dusty in Memphis is the fifth studio album by English singer Dusty Springfield, released on 31 March 1969 in the United States by Atlantic Records and by Philips Records internationally. Springfield worked on the album with a team of musicians and producers that included Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin, Tom Dowd, conductor Gene Orloff, backing vocalists the Sweet Inspirations, bassist Tommy Cogbill, and guitarist Reggie Young. Initial sessions were recorded at American Sound Studio in Memphis, while Springfield's final vocals and the album's orchestral parts were recorded at Atlantic Records' New York City studios.

Dusty in Memphis sold poorly upon its initial release despite featuring one of Springfield's top-10 UK hits "Son of a Preacher Man". It has since been acclaimed as her best work and one of the greatest albums of all time. Music critic Robert Christgau called it "the all-time rock-era torch record"[3] and included it in his "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981).[4] In 2001, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[5]

In 2020, the album was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[6][7] In its official press release, the library stated that despite its modest sales when first released, "over time, Dusty in Memphis grew in stature to become widely recognized as an important album by a woman in the rock era."[6]

  1. ^ Sexton, Paul (31 March 2023). "'Dusty in Memphis': The Strange Story of Springfield's Indisputable Classic". udiscovermusic. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  2. ^ a b Agarwal et al. 2007, p. 160.
  3. ^ Christgau, Robert (October 1972). "The Christgau Consumer Guide". Creem. robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  4. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "A Basic Record Library: The Fifties and Sixties". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 0899190251. Retrieved 16 March 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  5. ^ Anon. (n.d.). "GRAMMY Hall of Fame". GRAMMY.com. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  6. ^ a b "National Recording Registry Class Produces Ultimate 'Stay at Home' Playlist". Library of Congress – National Recording Registry. 25 March 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  7. ^ "The Village People's YMCA is preserved for posterity". BBC News. 25 March 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020.