Coachella Valley resident Shelby Lynne recently released an album of Dusty Springfield-inspired songs. (Special to The Press-Enterprise)
Rancho Mirage resident Shelby Lynne is coming to the Stagecoach Country Music Festivalon Friday, May 2.
I interviewed her last week and you can read a full story on her here.
But we also talked more about her Dusty Springfield-inspired album, “Just A Little Lovin’,” and I wasn’t able to get all of it in the story. Just for background, her friend Barry Manilow suggested the idea of recording Springfield’s songbook a few years back. She got around to it, the label loved the idea, recorded it and then the label went away. Now the album came out on Lost Highway (home to Willie Nelson and Lucinda Williams, among others), and it’s good. Really good.
Lynne’s road is a little rougher than Springfield’s and that’s a good thing–her versions bring totally different emotions to the songs.
Lynne said she picked the songs carefully, noting that if you’re going to do them, you better get them right and you better sing them well.
“I had to do the songs I felt that I could nail,” she said.
That’s why you won’t see “Son of a Preacher Man” on there.
“She’s too identified with that,” Lynne said.
She worked with veteran producer Phil Ramone (Dusty Springfield, Billy Joel), calling him a “wonderful gentleman” and that they became friends.
“He’s a great captain of the ship,” she said.
Read more after the cut
She and Ramone searched through Springfield’s catalog to select the right ones. Lynne said he also insisted that she record one of her own songs for the record.
With this album, Lynne had a chance to record in Studio A at the Capitol Records building in Hollywood, something she’s wanted to do for a while.
Lynne’s favorite off the album is “I Don’t Want to Hear It Anymore.” My favorite is “Anyone Who Had a Heart” followed by Lynne’s song “Pretend.”
For me, this is an album that you need on a Sunday morning with a cup of coffee and a contemplative mood.