Dusty Springfield intended to follow 1970's
Gamble/
Huff-produced
A Brand New Me with an album produced by
Jeff Barry, but this, her planned third record for
Atlantic, wound up shelved in 1971. Why it was abandoned is unclear. Neither of the singles released from the sessions -- August's "Haunted"/"Nothing Is Forever, November's "I Believe in You"/"Someone Who Cares" -- dented the charts, a situation that understandably discouraged
Dusty, who then had her manager release her from
Atlantic. When she left the label, she left this
Barry-produced record behind. Thought to be lost in a warehouse fire in 1978, tracks started to surface as
Rhino assembled deluxe reissues of
Dusty in Memphis and
A Brand New Me, but the entire album didn't appear until
Real Gone constructed
Faithful in 2015. Produced by
Jim Pierson and annotated by
Joe Marchese, this release of
Faithful certainly does have the feel of a lost classic, a record that exists on a plane between the gritty Southern soul of
Dusty in Memphis and the smooth, assured
A Brand New Me (known as
From Dusty with Love in the U.K.), tempered with a heavy dose of professional studio craft from
Barry and his crew of regular songwriters. Among these composers are
Bobby Bloom -- he'd later have a hit with "Montego Bay" -- and
Alex Harvey, who wrote hits for
Kenny Rogers & the First Edition, but
Barry and
Springfield also cherry-picked
David Gates' "Make It with You" and
Carole King's "You've Got a Friend," giving them a lush, soulful sheen. Most of
Faithful simmers on this level, although the bluesy funk of "Natchez Trace" comes as a surprise, as does the spooky strut of "Haunted." This is just enough variety to give spice and momentum to
Barry's immaculate constructions, but even these productions are soulful, not stiff: he gets the band cooking, letting them lay a slyly seductive bed for
Springfield, who remains at the peak showcased on her two previous
Atlantic records. If
Faithful isn't as perfect as
Dusty in Memphis, it's because few records are. If
Faithful is as good as
A Brand New Me -- and it very nearly is -- it's a testament that sometimes the record business is unfair, even to some of its brightest stars. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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