After the success of Dusty's 1969 Dusty In Memphis LP and the massive "Son Of A Preacher Man" single, Atlantic Records arranged for her next LP to be produced in New York by hit making producer Jeff Barry. An entire LP was cut and given the working title "Faithful"; this track was one of two singles drawn from the album before release. For whatever reason, Atlantic chose not to release the album, allegedly due to the failure of the two singles drawn from it.
This is the type of scenario that seems much more common today than in the early 70's, when Atlantic Records had an incredibly high standard of quality in the music they released. While I have no evidence, my over-active imagination thinks that there is something more to the story than has been reported. This track in particular is just too good to wither away. The rest of the tracks (long rumored to have gone up in flames in the tragic Atlantic vault fire of the late '70's) were issued officially in 1999.
This may be my absolute favorite track from Dusty; the dramatic arrangement and lyrics are a perfect match for her emotive and explosive voice.
from 1971...
DUSTY SPRINGFIELD - HAUNTED
6 comments:
Excellent! Thank you, Derek.
Very cool. A dusty I didn't have!
Did Atlantic release this cut in stereo?
Did a show with Jeff a couple months ago - talk about stories. Just a truly great guy. The sheer number of hit songs he wrote or co-wrote, produced etc. is staggering.
KJR
yes Jay, the flip side of my copy is stereo. I prefer mono, plus (as can be heard) my copy is pretty rough condition so the stereo sounds even rougher.
Wow Derek, even by your standards this is an absolute peach! I'm a big Dusty fan and I've never heard this before. I agree with your hunch, there must have been some funny business which prevented the record from coming out.
Post a Comment