Atco/Atlantic had
struck artistic and commercial gold when they brought Dusty Springfield to the
States to record with Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin and Tom Dowd and topnotch
Southern session musicians, so it made sense for the label to introduce another
great British pop-soul singer, Lulu, to the same stellar production team. And
Lulu, who had just married Bee Gee (and Atco label-mate) Maurice Gibb, didn’t
need much convincing given the success of Dusty in Memphis.
The result was two
overlooked classics: New Routes paired the Scottish singer with the classic
Muscle Shoals session squad of Barry Beckett, David Hood, Roger Hawkins and
Jimmy Johnson, with Eddie Hinton, Cornell Dupree and Duane Allman all sitting
in on guitar. And Melody Fair, which
also came out in 1970, retained the same production team but moved the sessions
to Miami with the Dixie Flyers the back-up band.
Those two albums comprise disc
one of this two-disc set; the other disc features almost an album’s worth of
unreleased material produced by Dowd, plus alternate takes, the great single
“It Takes a Real Man (to Bring Out the Woman in Me)”/”You Ain’t Wrong You Just
Ain’t Right” and other stray tracks. Real Gone’s reissue of this compilation
(which came and went in a heartbeat in the U,K. about seven years ago and sells
for a queenly sum) includes new liner notes by Richie Unterberger;. it’s a
fascinating look at forgotten phase in the career of one of the British
Invasion’s leading female figures.
Disc One
New Routes: 1. Marley Purt
Drive / 2. In the Morning / 3. People in Love / 4. After All (I
Live My Life) / 5. Feelin’ Alright / 6. Dirty Old Man / 7. Oh Me Oh My (I’m
a Fool for You Baby) / 8. Is That You Love / 9. Mr. Bojangles / 10. Where’s Eddie / 11. Sweep Around
Your Own Back Door
Melody Fair: 12.Good Day
Sunshine / 13. After the
Feeling Is Gone / 14. I Don’t Care
Anymore / 15 (Don’t Go)
Please Stay / 16. Melody Fair / 17. Take Good Care
of Yourself / 18. Vine Street / 19 Move to My
Rhythm / 20. To the Other
Woman (I’m the Other Woman) / 21. Hum a Song
(from Your Heart) / 22. Sweet Memories / 23. Saved
Disc Two
1. Bury Me Down by the River / 2. Got to Believe
in Love / 3. Jokers Wild / 4. Come Down in
Time / 5. Everybody’s Got
to Clap / 6. Back Home / 7. Things Are
Getting Better / 8. Love Song / 9. Goodbye My Love,
Goodbye with the Dixie Flyers / 10. It Takes a Real
Man (to Bring Out the Woman in Me) / 11. You Ain’t Wrong
You Just Ain’t Right / 12. Even If I Could
Change / 13. Hum a Song
(from Your Heart) (Session Version) / 14. I Don’t Care
Anymore (Early Mix) / 15. I Got to
Believe in Love (Early Version) / 16. Povera Me (Oh
Me Oh My)
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