“So Much Love” (Dusty Springfield)

We continue our listening tour of Dusty Springfield’s legendary Dusty in Memphis album with the second track on side one, “So Much Love.” This one was written by the equally legendary songwriting team of Carole King and Gerry Goffin and was a perfect match for the soulful feel of this album.

One of the things that makes Dusty in Memphis so great is the choice of material contained in those vinyl grooves. Dusty always had good taste in songs, having previous hits with tunes by such stellar songwriters as Burt Bacharach and Hal David (“Wishin’ and Hopin’,” “I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself,” “The Look of Love”) and Ms. King and Mr. Goffin (“Some of Your Lovin’,” “Goin’ Back”).

Not surprisingly, Dusty in Memphis featured songs by the cream of the late-60s songwriting crop. We’re talking legendary songwriters like Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, Randy Newman, Michel Legrand, and, of course, Carole King and Gerry Goffin. Here’s who wrote what on the album:

1. “Just a Little Lovin‘” (Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil)
2. “So Much Love” (Gerry Goffin and Carole King)
3. “Son of a Preacher Man” (John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins)
4. “I Don’t Want to Hear It Anymore” (Randy Newman)
5. “Don’t Forget About Me” (Gerry Goffin and Carole King)
6. “Breakfast in Bed” (Eddie Hinton and Donnie Fritts)
7. “Just One Smile” (Randy Newman)
8. “The Windmills of Your Mind” (Alan and Marilyn Bergman and Michel Legrand)
9. “In the Land of Make Believe” (Burt Bacharach and Hal David)
10. “No Easy Way Down” (Gerry Goffin and Carole King)
11. “I Can’t Make It Alone” (Gerry Goffin and Carole King)

That’s a lot of Goffin/King tunes, but they’re all good ones and well deserving of their place on this album. Carole and Gerry wrote this one back in 1966, when it was first recorded by Ben E. King. Percy Sledge recorded a version later that year, a group called the Hour Glass recorded it in 1968, as did Blood, Sweat & Tears (on their first album, Child is Father to the Man). Other artists covering the tune include Eric Burdon, Bill Medley (of the Righteous Brothers), Latimore, and Darlene Love and the Blossoms.

Of all these versions, Dusty’s is arguably the best. (Although BS&T’s version is pretty good, too.) The song itself is relatively simple, the verse being I-IV-I-IV in the key of D with the chorus going I-IV-V7, but Ms. King can do wonders with even a somewhat limiting chord progression. Mr. Goffin’s lyrics are equally straightforward, but with just enough meat on the bones for Dusty to really dig into. The result, when combined with the Memphis Boys’ backing tracks, is a soulful classic. It’s a perfect song for a perfect album.

Interestingly, Dusty had trouble choosing the songs for this groundbreaking album. Producer Jerry Wexler, in his book Rhythm and the Blues, recalls that of all the many songs submitted for Dusty’s consideration, “she approved exactly zero.” He said she felt that “to say yes to one song was seen as a lifetime commitment.”

Dusty, however, says that she did initially approve two songs: “Son of a Preacher Man” and “Just a Little Lovin‘.” Whichever memory is more accurate, it’s true to say that choosing the songs for this album was a painstaking—and perhaps painful—process.

However long it took to put together, the result is one of the finest collections of songs in that or any era. That’s part of what makes Dusty in Memphis so special, the quantity of quality songs included. There was no filler here—save, perhaps, the ill-fitting “The Windmills of Your Mind,” which Dusty initially resisted but Wexler insisted on. It’s the one slight misstep on an otherwise perfect album.