Simply... Dusty [Box set]

This is a superb collection which includes tracks from all of Dusty's recordings (because of contractual difficulties you can't get this breadth on any other collection). Dusty authorised this box-set so presumably these tracks are her choices. That's totally fine by me. The 4 CDs make for an excellent and representative collection of hits and tracks from all of Dusty's albums. The fact that listeners like me can be disappointed by omissions is a testament to Dusty's excellent catalogue - the result of her hard work, perfectionism and disciplined professionalism. Dusty's 1970's albums are deleted although you can buy them at high prices from Amazon sellers. You'll find many of these great tracks here including the first outing of 3 tracks (19-21 CD 3) from the lost album 'Elements/Longing' which was finally released on the US CD 'Beautiful Soul'.

The first track is a sweet little tribute by Blossom Dearie (1970) followed by some precious Mary/Dusty teen-age home recordings - all in ragtime. Then we get to the Lana Sisters. The Springfields which included her gifted and successful brother Dion/Tom come next. I guess their parents did something right. Tom would re-create this kind of sound with 'The Seekers'. What is so great about these tracks, for me anyway, is the backdrop they provide for Dusty's fantastic pop transformation that is the brilliant rush of 'I Only Want To Be With You' and a little later 'Stay Awhile'. She'd come back changed from New York with a magic carpet woven with soul; the rest of the collection is a magic carpet ride around a magic garden with it's gates wide open...

What I like about Dusty is her humility. She doesn't re-work songs to make them her own. She always has respect for the original versions. On the lovely 'Some of Your Lovin' she doesn't stray much from the The Honeybees' original take. If you can listen to The Honeybees' track you'll hear a young singer doing a very good job. Dusty's husky timbre always adds gravitas and dignity to her songs but it's the combination of her intelligent interpretation, raw emotion (deep soul) and technical ability that always adds winning edge as she does here. Because of these qualities she could out compete her best competitors who were in the USA, not the UK. Dusty Springfield is in the canon of greatest modern artist singers. And, in her quiet unassuming way, she was also a radical and progressive fusion of her rainbow times; before her time and of this time and the future.

'Your Hurtin' Kinda Love' is one of my favourite earlier than 'Memphis' tracks (along with the lighter weight pop song 'I'll Try Anything'). I don't think she liked this as much as I do maybe because it wasn't a hit. This is a track that impressed me so much I played it to friends and made them listen to it all the way through and focus on the last repeated words 'Come on Baby, take this hurt off me'. Her voice cracks throughout the recording because she's singing so hard (and must have recorded many takes). It's a big gorgeous Phil Spectorish production. I'd never heard such intensity from a white singer before; on hearing 'Memphis' I gave up separating Dusty in such a stupid way.

I don't know why Dusty didn't put 'Live it Up' on this collection because that's such a great track but you can get that easily enough nowadays. Instead she includes rarer tracks like Madeline Bell's super groovy 'Go Ahead On', the northern soul hit 'What's it Gonna Be' ('Baby, believe me!') and the previously un-released 7 minutes plus 12" mix of 'That's the Kind of Love I've Got For You'. Many of these box-set tracks were deleted at the time of compilation (and are again now) and taking that into account this is a fantastic and generous collection. It's also in chronological order so it's an important historical record too.

At the very end we get Dusty's last recording. Just Dusty with piano. It's the lovely, now very poignant 'Someone to Watch Over Me'. This box-set is a beautiful gift from Dusty with love. It's worth far more than 5 stars. It's a treasure box.

This beautifully presented set should be in every fan's collection. It comes in the form of a hardcover book, with 4 CDs inlaid in the inside cover. The book is not only full of glorious photos of Dusty, but more importantly, it contains detailed notes on the recording circumstances, writers, chart-placings etc of the 98 tracks included [one sung by Blossom Dearie]. Dusty's whole career is covered, from the early Lana Sisters' and Springfields' recordings at the beginning of the 60s through to her collaboration with the Pet Shop Boys in the late 80s and successful album "Reputation" in the early 90s, and the songs are arranged chronologically.
There's the odd factual error - Dusty had 11 Top 10 hits in the UK, not 16, and many of the references to chart placings appear to have been made up. A number of the tracks have been remastered presumably to "clean them up", but for the most part ruining the mood of the originals in the process. The main thing I would take issue with though is what's been left off. I would have thought that, in compiling a set like this, the compilers would have the US and UK charts in front of them and start off by including every record that charted, without making value judgments. The Springfields' "Silver Threads and Golden Needles", a U.S. number 20 is not there, nor is "Reputation" or "Heart and Soul" [a duet with Cilla Black] from the 90s. Then we get onto the very subjective question of personal favourites. I would have dropped a number of the 70s and 80s album tracks in favour of some great 60s B-sides like, "I'm Gonna Leave You", "Small Town Girl" and "The Corrupt Ones". "24 Hours From Tulsa", and "Just One Smile" are missing, so Dusty fans would need to supplement this with one or two other CDs such as "Something Special". A great number of these "missing" tracks are referred to in the book, which makes their absence even more frustrating. However, all of the big hits are there, and if this is your first brush with Dusty, don't hesitate. "Goin' Back" and "Some of Your Lovin'" remain two of the most sublime performances ever committed to disc, but the set is jam-packed with wonderful things.

So, a couple of minor gripes, but given the price [I paid £15 at HMV online!] and the superb book, this is unmissable.

I brought this as a Christmas present for my mother in law. She loved it, it came in a lovely sealed box set with 4 CD's and a book. It made a lovely gift. If you are or know someone that is a fan I would reccommend buying this.