Dusty Springfield
photo: dezo hoffman · public domain ↗Mary O'Brien reinvented herself as Dusty Springfield, leaving a folk trio to become one of Britain's foremost pop voices of the 1960s, with a breathy, soul-steeped delivery and a beehive-and-eyeliner glamour. A devoted fan of American girl groups, Motown, and soul, she pushed to record with Southern session players on 1969's 'Dusty in Memphis,' cementing her reputation as a defining blue-eyed soul singer. Her run of dramatic orchestral-pop ballads made her a template for later British singers who married restrained verses to full-throated emotional climaxes.
Springfield was an avowed devotee of the American girl groups, and the bright, yearning uptempo pop of acts like the Shirelles is the template for her earliest solo hits.
listen forPlay the Shirelles' 'Will You Love Me Tomorrow' before Springfield's 'I Only Want to Be with You' — both wrap a lovestruck teenage lyric in swaying strings, hand-clap rhythm, and a warm, close vocal reaching for the same swooning uplift.
Springfield admired Dionne Warwick's poised readings of sophisticated Bacharach-David pop, and that model of gliding gracefully through an unusual, string-draped melody shapes Springfield's more elegant ballads.
listen forSet Warwick's 'Walk On By' next to Springfield's 'The Look of Love' — both float a cool, controlled vocal over a lush, jazz-tinged orchestral bed, letting the singer underplay the melody so the arrangement's sensuality does the work.
Springfield idolized the American soul singers and chased that sound to the Atlantic-connected studios behind Aretha Franklin's records, aiming to bring gospel-rooted, full-throated soul phrasing into her own singing.
listen forPlay Franklin's 'Respect' before Springfield's 'Son of a Preacher Man' — both ride a greasy Southern soul groove with gospel-tinged backing vocals, the lead pushing into a looser, harder-belted delivery than straight pop allows.