Dusty Sklar

A 48-song, double-CD set of rarities and album tracks, including eight previously unreleased cuts and plenty of songs that had rarely or never been on album before. Sure, this is primarily for Springfield fans, and not the first (or second) anthology recommended to casual listeners. But quite a bit of this is on par, or nearly on par, with her best work. What's more, the bulk of it dates from her '60s prime, although there are about a dozen mediocre numbers from the late '70s/early '80s on which her voice still cuts it, but the material and production don't. Big Dusty Springfield fans will already have some or all of the songs taken from albums, but about half of this is very hard or impossible to find elsewhere, and much of it is very good. Highlights include the title track (one of her best girl group-style numbers); a 1965 Italian-language single in the "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" ballad style; soulful mid-'60s B-sides like "I'm Gonna Leave You" and "I'll Love You for a While"; and the strange 1968 outtake "Don't Speak of Love," based on a classical piece by Wagner.

"See All Her Faces" is the 7th studio album by singer Dusty Springfield, originally released on the Philips Records label in 1972. It contains a mixture of tracks from different recording sessions; some tracks were recorded with Jeff Barry for an aborted third album for Atlantic Records, other tracks were recorded for Philips in the UK between April and July 1970 – these came to be Springfield's final recordings with longtime producer and arranger Johnny Franz. Some, such as "Willie and Laura Mae Jones", recorded with Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd and Arif Mardin, had been previously released as singles in the US. "See All Her Faces" collects many of those tracks, recorded from 1969 to 1971, placing seven of the British recordings on Side A, while Side B comprises tracks recorded both in the UK and the US. As a result, the album has no cohesive sound, but offers many different styles of music. The album boasts eight producers, including Springfield herself. It has been suggested that "See All Her Faces" is best appreciated track by track, rather than as a whole stylistic statement, as her album "Dusty in Memphis" is often praised to be.

In 1968, Dusty Springfield was already an international superstar with 15 hits under her belt for the Philips label when she decided it was time to for a change. What followed was one of the most legendary and momentous label moves in pop music history: Dusty decamped to Atlantic Records, where, under the tutelage of Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd, and Arif Mardin, she recorded one of the greatest albums of all time, Dusty in Memphis, and scored such indelible hits as 'Son-of-a Preacher Man' and 'The Windmills of Your Mind' before moving on to Philly soul ('A Brand New Me). We at Real Gone Music have closely examined this crucial period in Dusty's career over the years, with three previous releases.

From the very start of her solo career, it was Dusty Springfield’s intention to make records in the style of the black American artists that she admired, both professionally and personally. She recorded her version of a soul song at her first solo session and was still recording soul songs on all of her albums, singles and EPs throughout the 60s and into the 70s. "Dusty Sings Soul" is a long overdue and carefully curated collection of recordings from Dusty’s 60s singles and albums, designed to demonstrate that she was not only the UK’s finest female singer but also its finest soul singer of her era and, for many, of all time. There is no shortage of Dusty compilations out there, but this is the first one to exclusively concentrate on this particular side of this great artist’s work. These are not ‘covers’, in that Dusty never directly covered any record until the original had run its course. Dusty simply recorded songs that she loved herself, and that she hoped her fans would love.

"Blue For You", is a compilation that puts together some helpful bits and bobs for the obsessive fan. Not all-encompassing, this collection does have it's strong points although it misses out on her debut solo single "I Only Want To Be With You", it includes her incredible reading of the Burt Bacharach classic "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself", and, interestingly, the B-side to that single "My Colouring Book". The collection leaps around the years at one point landing in 1970 for her duet with Tom Springfield, "Morning Please Don't Come" but if you want to have everything, you can excuse the erratic nature to hear some immaculate vocal talent.

‘Old Time Christmas’ is a traditional bush ballad chronicling an Australian Christmas from a bygone era. Slim Dusty paints a picture of family traditions - Christmas pudding with silver coins, ginger beer made in a kerosene tin, and the coming together of friends and kin with old-time dancing and an open door for all. The instrumentation is as traditional as any bush get-together with vocal and guitar in the lead and the occasional embellishment of fiddle and jaw harp.

In 1968, Dusty Springfield was already an international superstar with 15 hits under her belt for the Philips label when she decided it was time to for a change. What followed was one of the most legendary and momentous label moves in pop music history: Dusty decamped to Atlantic Records, where, under the tutelage of Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd, and Arif Mardin, she recorded one of the greatest albums of all time, Dusty in Memphis, and scored such indelible hits as 'Son-of-a Preacher Man' and 'The Windmills of Your Mind' before moving on to Philly soul ('A Brand New Me). We at Real Gone Music have closely examined this crucial period in Dusty's career over the years, with three previous releases. But there remains one facet of her Atlantic period which has remained largely untouched: her singles. The Complete Atlantic Singles1968-1971 presents the A and B-sides of all dozen singles she recorded for the label in their original mono single mixes, only eight of which have previously appeared on CD.

"Dusty In Memphis" is the seminal masterpiece by one of the best female rock artists of all time. The album was produced by Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin and engineered by Tom Dowd. "Dusty In Memphis" soared onto Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”, Rolling Stone’s “50 Coolest Records,” VH1’s “100 Greatest Albums of Rock & Roll” and Mojo’s “100 Greatest Albums of All Time”. It is one of music’s true classics.