CD Review

Title: Just A Little Lovin'

Artist: Shelby Lynne

Label: Lost Highway Records/Universal Music

Released: January 29^th 2008

4 Stars

Reviewed By: Kindah Mardam Bey

Dusty Springfield was a perfectionist. Paired with an emotive voice that could transcend songs about love into potent memories of love, Dusty Springfield had a string of hits in the 60s and then emerged again in the 80s for a second set of hits. So why wouldn't a present day singer want to cover Dusty Springfield songs? If the question hasn't been posed before, it's most certainly has been answered now, by Shelby Lynne. In Shelby Lynne's tenth studio album Just A Little Lovin' she resurrects the heart and soul of Dusty Springfield's classic songs such as ‘You Don't Have To Say You Love Me,' ‘I Only Want To Be With You,' and ‘The Look Of Love.'

Covers are a tricky thing; you can tread dangerously near the world of karaoke with covers. If you haven't got the vocal chops and music savvy to take a classic song and reshape it into your own image, then you are sure to hit the landmine infested karaoke territory. Lucky for Shelby Lynne she has managed to steer clear of the pitfalls and has revived Dusty Springfield in a way that the legendary singer might actually enjoy.

As opposed to filling Springfield's songs with similar musical orchestration, Shelby Lynne, who has a sultry soulful voice, made most of the record with her vocals and simply an acoustic guitar. Shelby Lynne manages to shape new songs out of the shadow of Dusty Springfield's hits; not stepping so far away that the songs are unrecognizable, but just far enough away to put a new yet respectful spin on such classics.

I can't fathom why Shelby Lynne is thought to be a country singer as her voice is deeply embedded in the region of soul and heralds more towards the vocal musings of Diana Krall than Dolly Parton. Simply put, Shelby Lynne has no twang in her voice, which you would think is appealing to her as it would help Lynne gain a larger audience outside of the C&W world. Just because the woman likes cut off jeans and shear tops, has blonde hair and can't be pried away from her makeup bag, does not immediately sequester her into the ‘pig and chicken' marketplace. Shelby Lynne is a sophisticated vocalist with mass appeal, so I wasn't appreciative of a sharp turn in Just A Little Lovin' from smooth acoustic and genteel vocals to three of the tracks hitting that Country and Western brick wall. The three tracks actually drew away from what would have overall been a similar paced and solid collection.

Aside from a brief blip on the radar, Just A Little Lovin' is a great album, and the one track Shelby Lynne claims as her own, ‘Pretend,' which is an original track and wrote by Lynne, fits in with the other tracks on the collection from Springfield's song bank. Shelby Lynne proves that even if she can't belt Dusty Springfield's songs out like Dusty, she can still do them an exceptional justice in her own demure way. Now if we could just get the Spice Girls to cover the Nolan Sisters, life would be perfect.

 
1. Just A Little Lovin'

2. Anyone Who Had A Heart

3. You Don't Have To Say You Love Me

4. I Only Want To Be With You

5. The Look Of Love

6. Breakfast In Bed

7. Willie And Lauramae Jones

8. I Don't Want To Hear It Anymore

9. Pretend

10. How Can I Be Sure