DUSTY SPRINGFIELD "See All Her Faces" 1972

The concept behind "See All Her Faces" was flawed from the start. It could have been a cogently packaged product and the genuine follow up to "Dusty Definitely" (1968) had Philips stuck to using only tracks recorded by Dusty for its own UK sessions in 1970/71. There was no dearth of completed material in the can to draw upon. Instead Philips was distracted by the ready availability of material from America and decided to blend in an assortment of Stateside-only singles sides (5) for variety. The outcome was a hotchpotch of tracks that may have been great individually but didn't quite jell in the overall context of the album. Released in November 1972 in the UK to coincide with Dusty's comeback season at London's Talk Of The Town, it was to have been Dusty's first domestic release for Philips since "Dusty Definitely" in 1968 and a crowd pleaser for her local fans. The two intervening albums - "Dusty In Memphis" (1969) and "From Dusty With Love" (1970) - were
American products licenced for UK release and didn't count with British fans who were starved of genuine local product. The timing of its release was also two years too late. By 1972, Ziggy Stardust had taken the UK by storm, so the choice of "Yesterday When I Was Young" as the lead single could only seem strangely passe, wonderfully resonant though Dusty's rendition turned out to be.
SAHF would have matched if not surpassed the high standards attained by her original 60s UK albums. The choice of material may have seemed oddly conservative for 1972 but Dusty was simply doing what she did best. As a pop stylist and interpreter, she was peerless. Her soul covers of "Crumbs Off The Table", "Girls Can't Do What Guys Do" and "Girls It Ain't Easy" bettered the originals by Glass House, Betty Wright and Honey Cone. Hard to believe but true. (Shindig)Dusty Springfield's 1972 album 'See All Her Faces' drew a lot of criticism at the time of its release; fans said it lacked cohesion, whilst various others complained that it was too much of a mish-mash. Without doubt it is a pot-pouri, but, we can hardly blame Dusty for the way in which the tracks are laid out sequentially on the final product. Once you can get used to the fact that she can be rocking one minute, crooning the next, slipping and sliding you over a range of terrains throughout the entire album, then even the title, when applied from a musical point of view, becomes highly appropriate.
"Mixed Up Girl", written by Jimmy Webb, has a superb jumbly rolling beat, the wispy fade on this reminds me of the old saying about the month of March; 'comes in like a lion, goes out like a lamb'. But, if you're expecting the lion....or lioness in this case, to slope off quietly, take cover, because she is about to pounce on you with "Crumbs Off The Table". Whatever you may think about this album having eight different producers, including Dusty, or a record deal that for various reasons did'nt come to fruition, she has proved one thousand per cent that she is still versatile, on this track Dusty rocks, rocks, rocks!
"Let Me Down Easy" with its excellent slow trumpets and piano, has a hypnotic feel to it, as does "Come For A Dream" with its combination of pipes, silky vocals and romantic lyrics (written in part by Dusty's talented close friend Norma Taneger) this leaves me spellbound...dreamlike indeed.
On "Girls Can't Do What The Guys Do" she makes easy work of what must have been a difficult lyric. Dusty seems to be the only vocalist i have ever heard who could deliver such songs as "I Start Counting"/"Nothing Is Forever" and "What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?", with such smooth and tender lyrics.
Those of you who have the Rhino edition of 'Dusty In Memphis' with its bumper collection of bonus tracks, will instantly recognise the lusciously delicate "Have A Good Life Baby", as well as two others from the Memphis bonuses; "Willie And Laura Mae Jones" and "That Old Sweet Roll (Hi-De Ho)".
As well as the ethereal beginning on "Someone Who Cares" with its sudden launch into stomping drums in the chorus, we also have the catchy "Girls It Ain't Easy" and "What Good Is I Love You", not forgetting the terrifically twangy strings on "Haunted".
As if all this is not enough, we have the superb latin rhythm of the title track "See All Her Faces". One of my favourite tracks is Charles Aznavour's "Yesterday When I Was Young", an absolutely beautiful song with lyrics drenched in sorrow and regret, the way in which Dusty interprets this is utterly amazing.
On 'See All Her Faces' we are treated to seeing...and hearing, seventeen of them, and i suspect that the rather rambling track listing is deliberate, but that does not make this a bad album at all, it's sad that it is over looked because of that, but, we have to remember that Dusty didn't have much, if any, say on the final product. This is a lovely album, don't miss out, see for yourself. (Record Mirror)trax:

01 Mixed Up Girl 02 Crumbs Off The Table 03 Let Me Down Easy 04 Come For A Dream 05 Girls Can't Do What Guys Do 06 I Start Counting 07 Yesterday When I Was Young 08 Girls It Ain't Easy 09 What Good Is I Love You 10 Willie And Laura Mae Jones 11 Someone Who Cares 12 Nothing Is Forever 13 See All Her Faces 14 That Old Sweet Roll (Hi-De-Ho) 15 Haunted 16 Have A Good Life Baby 17 What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life

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