Dusty Springfield

by Lucy O'Brien

When she lost her battle with cancer in her sixtieth year, the phenomenal reaction to her death confirmed her appeal across generations. From the 60s hits like 'I Only Want to Be With You', 'Son of a Preacher Man' and "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me', to her 80s collaboration with the Pet Shop Boys and beyond, Dusty has retained her reputation as one of the few authentic white soul singers.

Lucy O'Brien's latest version of her classic biography with new photographs and full discography, charts every step of Dusty's remarkable career, including her 'difficult' reputation, her sexual ambivalence, and the excesses of drink and drugs, and a reflection on the response to her passing.

This is the definitive account of a woman whose talent transcended fashion and personal anguish to make her an enduring pop icon.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1989

Reviews

[Bethany · Rating 5 out of 5]

According to what I've heard, people have written some pretty horrific books about Dusty Springfield over the years. This one seemed to be on the high quality end of the spectrum, so I bought it along with The Complete Dusty Springfield, which I haven't read yet.

When I first got into 60s music years ago, Dusty Springfield and Françoise Hardy were the first women I really dug. I've been wanting to learn more about Dusty for a long time, but the library only had crappy books about her that I didn't want to read. But I finally splurged the other day and I'm glad I did.

I think this was an excellent book to start with! It was enjoyable to read and informative on Dusty, as well as offering some insight into the time(s) she lived in. (There were some interesting points about sexism in the music industry and being gay/bisexual in the 60s and onward.) Also, you could tell the author really loved Dusty. (They have the same surname [Dusty was born Mary O'Brien], but I couldn't figure out if they were related or not...)

I came out of this book with a deeper admiration for and a greater understanding of Dusty and that's the best one can ask from a biography, I think.

[Michael Dipietro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Huh. I bought this partly because it seemed favorably reviewed on here - but, the writing was really weird. It didn't get much into the really juicy details of Dusty's life, who her lovers were, etc. The author was really preoccupied with dryly describing how each single charted and giving pretty boring synopses of Dusty's albums. Maybe I need to try one of the more 'judgmental' biographies another reviewer mentioned to get something a bit more sensational. This still managed to make me love Dusty even more though, and helped me discover new music of hers I hadn't heard before.

[Rachel Peck · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting look at the career of an iconic and massively talented singer. I absolutely adore Dusty Springfield, and I’ve read many bits and pieces about her life before. I think that’s part of the fascination, for me. She had a fragile, vulnerable air, and I’ve seen her interviewed a few times and seen her discuss her problems with drugs and alcohol. I was interested to read how her personal life had influenced (maybe, even, enhanced) her music. And, yes. There was some of that. Mostly, though, this book discusses the facts and figures relating to her music. Which is to be expected when reading a book about a singer written by a music journalist. But I have to say, k don’t really feel I learned anything new by reading this. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy reading it. I’m happy to read about Dusty all day.one. The author has clearly spoken to most of the players in Dusty’s life. You get the feeling she has done her research. I enjoyed reading some of the little anecdotes, like how she was travelling home from the hospital after receiving chemo and asked the ambulance driver to stop and wait while she went shopping. How very rock’n’roll!

All in all, I enjoyed this Dusty read. It has made me want to play my Dusty Playlist non-stop for the next month 😃

[Gavin Hogg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mary O'Brien had an exceptional voice but her lack of confidence meant she really struggled with the demands of the industry. She invented a new persona, like Dylan or Bowie did, turning herself into Dusty, an enigmatic film star from the old days of Hollywood.
I learnt a lot - I didn't know that she refused to perform to racially segregated audiences in S Africa in the 60's, or that she disappeared from the music world for much of the 80's. Dusty comes across as being determined, ambitious, hard as nails, emotionally frail and incredibly vulnerable all at once.

[Ian · Rating 1 out of 5]

A very subjective biography which mainly concentrates on her recording output whilst only touching briefly on her private life. The female feminist fan who wrote it seems to not want to tarnish Dusty's reputation by speaking I'll of the dead. The sycophancy really put me off at times and I had a struggle to finish it.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not much about her personal life, but detailed information about her career and recordings.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

"For being such a well-regarded singer, there are actually few books written about the life and music of Dusty Springfield. With her biography Dusty, British music journalist Lucy O’Brien does an excellent job of tracking the peaks and valleys of the beehived diva’s incredible career. As a matter of fact, a more appropriate title for this book would also belong to one of Dusty’s albums — See All Her Faces. One of the great contradictions about Dusty is that she never truly reconciled her bejeweled and fabulous image as a white lady who could sing black with her inner Mary Catherine O’Brien, the insecure, secretly lesbian little cockney girl. It’s kind of a recurring theme throughout her career, and it’s to O’Brien’s credit that in addition to intricately covering the recording sessions of her albums that these white/black, gay/straight, image/reality themes are a constant. Even though it’s written in a straightforward style with a few errors, O’Brien writes with great detail, illuminating every phase of Dusty’s career with liberal interview quotes. It’s a nifty biography which covers a lot of stuff I previously knew little of (especially her 'lost' years in the mid-’70s when she became a reclusive party gal in L.A.). The book also contains a nice discography collecting all her 1959-99 recordings." - Scrubbles.net review, August 15, 2010.

[Riley Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a decent read that was written without the sensationalism that dogged Dusty for much of her career in England. I like the nonjudgmental tone of this book. Reading this has also given me more appreciation of Dusty's unique vocals during the 60's.

[Ksenia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good biography of a very beautiful and talented woman.

[Freyja Vanadis · Rating 2 out of 5]

A vastly inferior biography of Dusty Springfield, compared to "Dusty: An Intimate Portrait of a Musical Legend" by Karen Bartlett.