Originally published in
The Aquarian Weekly
February 6, 2008
Shelby
Lynne / Just A Little Lovin'
Lost
Highway
On
her new album, Shelby
Lynne
has taken on the daunting
task of paying tribute
to the
memory of Dusty
Springfield. It
is nearly impossible to
top the
original versions of
these songs
from SpringfieldÕs
repertoire, but
this is no ordinary
tribute album.
There is no attempt to
top the
original versions. These
substantially rearranged
new
versions are low key, as
if Lynne
is determined to find
the soulful
hearts of these songs.
Lynne turns up the heat
right
from the very first
track, a sexy
take on "Just A Little
Lovin", an
ode to the joys of
morning
intimacy. If you are not
melted
when she purrs, "come
on",
toward the end of the
song, you
are made of stronger
stuff than
I am. The a cappella
opening
that she provides for
the classic
"You Don't Have To Say
You Love
Me" is simply stunning.
Veteran producer Phil
Ramone provides a
beautiful
frame for this work.
There are
very few overdubs, just
a small
band of wonderfully
sympathetic
musicians playing live
behind
some of the best singing
of
Lynne's career. Special
mention
should be made of Dean
Parks,
who provides beautiful
acoustic
and electric guitar
parts
throughout.
Shelby Lynne set out to
honor
Dusty Springfield, and
in doing
so she has created a
dusky gem
of an album. Somewhere
in
heaven, an angel with a
great
voice is smiling.
In A Word: Flawless
Grade: A
—by Ken Shane