Forever Dusty the Musical

03/04/2024

This month marks the 55th anniversary of the album that more than any other inspired Kirsten Holly Smith and Jonathan Vankin to write "Forever Dusty." That album was "Dusty in Memphis."

Of the hundreds of songs Dusty recorded, Kirsten and Jonathan were able to squeeze 22 into the 94-minute show — four of them from this, her greatest album.

They tell the story of "Dusty in Memphis" about midway through the play, and it goes, briefly, like this: In 1968, Dusty signed with Atlantic Records, whose top producer, the legendary Jerry Wexler, saw her — rightly — as the most authentic white soul singer of her time. He took Dusty, who grew up in the West London neighborhood of Ealing, deep into the American South, to record in Memphis, in the same studio where Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding and many of Dusty’s other idols recorded some of their most legendary records.

Dusty freaked out. She was extremely intimidated and couldn’t sing at all in Memphis. She spent most of the sessions battling verbally, and occasionally physically, with Wexler. But the sessions produced a set of brilliant backing tracks thanks to the extremely brilliant studio musicians who played on hundreds of great Memphis records by dozens of artists — including, the following year, Elvis Presley himself on his LP “From Elvis in Memphis.”

So Dusty and Jerry returned to New York, where Dusty produced some of the most stunning, soulful and moving vocals of her career. And that was a high bar.

Probably because the sound of the album was such a dramatic departure for Dusty, the Memphis album did not sell. At least not when it was released in March, 1969 (next month is the 55th anniversary of this classic). "Dusty in Memphis" would take 30 years to go gold, and then only as a repackaged re-release by Rhino Records which included a roster of bonus tracks.

But the album did contain one hit song, which went on to become perhaps her best-known number, “Son of a Preacher Man,” as well as the Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil classic, “Just a Little Lovin’,” a couple of Goffin/King tunes — including the one we used as the Forever Dusty finale, “Don’t Forget About Me” — and the oddly psychedelic Michael Legrand composition “The Windmills of Your Mind.”

But most of all, this album is about the incredible voice of Dusty Springfield. In a career filled with unforgettable vocal performances both before and after 1968, “Dusty in Memphis” was Dusty at her peak.

A new musical about the legendary Dusty Springfield

07/08/2023

Happy Birthday, Jorja!! We love you!! ❤

07/08/2023

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our brilliant, beautiful, talented, kind and amazing producer & friend, Jorja Fox!! We love you to the moon and back!! Thank you for everything you did and do for our little show that could!! We hope you have a beautiful day of celebrations!! Love, the FOREVER DUSTY team!!🎂🎂🎂

03/09/2023

This is our tribute to Burt Bacharach, below, from our musical FOREVER DUSTY. Burt and Dusty had an incredible creative relationship. Thank you for all of the incredible music, Mr. Bacharach. May you rest in peace. Thank you with all our heart for supporting our little show that could. Your genius will live on forever. May Mr. Bacharach's friends and family be surrounded with peace and comfort.


We created a playlist of some DUSTY & BURT collaborations. We hope you enjoy! Let us know some of your favorites! Some of mine were not available on Spotify. There is also an incredible deep dive on YouTube of live performances of Dusty & Burt. What a beautiful creative partnership they had! We are all better for it. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0pUfsAZB565Gt5sSuylIBq?si=aeb2a90b1a4f406b

03/08/2023

Just for fun here's what Forever Dusty the Musical ringing the NASDAQ opening bell looked like on the outdoor Jumbotron in Times Square at 9:30 am.

01/06/2023

We here at FOREVER DUSTY the Dusty Springfield Musical wanted to start the new year by honoring the great, Tom Springfield born Dionysius O’Brien in Hampstead, north London. Tom sadly passed away on July 27th 2022. We were quite frankly gutted, as Dusty would say. Without Tom Springfield there would be no Dusty Springfield. He was an immense talent who preferred to live life out of the spotlight. After he left The Springfields went on to become a hit songwriter for groups like The Seekers. We received a message from Tom through the music publishers who gave us a "Congratulations! and Well Done!" regarding our FOREVER DUSTY Musical that ran Off Broadway, Los Angeles and London. We are forever grateful to you Dion, "I mean, Tom." (it's one of the lines in our musical). You are in our hearts forever. We hope to continue to honor you and Dusty with our little show that could. We can't imagine our lives without you. May you and Dusty continue to bless our musical journey. We count our lucky stars everyday to have been able to be apart of telling your stories to audiences around the world. You are FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS, Tom Springfield...I mean, Dion 🙂 LOVE LOVE LOVE! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! ❤️❤️❤️💔💔💔

"The musician, songwriter and producer Tom Springfield, who has died aged 88, became massively successful in the 1960s but hated being in the public eye. Best known as the elder brother of Dusty Springfield, the finest and most soulful female British singer to emerge during the decade, he joined her in the Springfields, a trio who enjoyed commercial success in Britain, the US and Australia from 1961 to 1963.

When Dusty left to follow her solo career, Tom began working as a songwriter and producer with an Australian band, the Seekers, who also specialised in pop-folk songs and had a similar lineup, though with added double-bass, and a female lead vocalist, Judith Durham. They too became very successful in Britain, Australia and the US, but broke up in 1968 when Durham left to go solo.

The British music scene was in a state of transition at the start of the 60s, and the Springfields provided a style that was fresh and original. In the US the folk boom had led to the commercial success of easygoing folk groups, including Peter, Paul and Mary, and the Springfields had much the same appeal. Tom Springfield and Tim Feild both played acoustic guitars and were fine harmony singers, while Dusty dominated the trio, with her remarkable voice and blonde beehive hairstyle.

They were signed to Philips Records, and though their first single, Dear John, was unsuccessful, the follow-up songs Breakaway (which reached No 31 in the charts) and Bambino (which reached No 16) led to the Springfields being nominated best UK vocal group in the New Musical Express readers’ poll that year.

Feild left in February 1962 to be replaced by the 19-year-old Mike Hurst, and now the group enjoyed major and unexpected success. In September 1962 they released Silver Threads and Golden Needles, a song originally recorded by the American rockabilly singer Wanda Jackson in 1956. It became the first single by a British group to reach the Top 20 of Billboard’s Hot 100 in the US, as well as No 2 in Australia, and is memorable for Dusty’s thoughtful and emotional vocal work."

Musician, songwriter and producer who sang with his sister, Dusty, in the pop-folk trio the Springfields in the 1960s

11/08/2022

So lovely of Google to celebrate the 59th anniversary of the release of Dusty Springfield's first solo single, "I Only Want to Be With You" with a charming Google Doodle! Dusty lives forever!

07/08/2022

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Jorja Fox!! We are incredibly grateful for your phenomenal talent, beauty, grace, generosity and kindness! We are so blessed to have such a brilliant woman as our producer!! Thank you for all that you do for so many and especially for our little show that could Forever Dusty the Musical! Oh and here is a clip from earlier this year when Jorja was on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert !! We love you, Jorja!!

The Official Late Show with Stephen Colbert Group

Jorja Fox tells Stephen how the new 10-episode season of "CSI: Vegas" came to be, and indulges our host's curiosity as to which CBS crime-solving franchise c...