Dusty Springfield, Mimesis, and the Genealogy of a Persona by Carolyn
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“A Girl Called Dusty With the Sound of Motown:” Dusty Springfield, Mimesis, and the Genealogy of a Persona by Carolyn E. Brunelle Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia June 2013 © Copyright by Carolyn E. Brunelle, 2013 Table of Contents List of Figures ................................................................................................................... iv Abstract ...............................................................................................................................v Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... vi Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................1 Chapter 2: “In All Modesty, I Am the Only Dusty Springfield:” Mimesis, Imitation, and Dusty’s Relationship with Motown Artists .........................7 2.1 Appropriation .....................................................................................................8 2.2 Dusty, Appropriation, and Mimesis .................................................................10 2.3 Dusty Springfield’s Motown Lineage ..............................................................12 2.4 Dusty Springfield’s Motown-Influenced Performance Practice ......................20 2.5 Motown’s Construction of Race ......................................................................22 2.6 Conclusion .......................................................................................................25 Chapter 3: “Something Special:” Dusty Springfield as a Songwriter and Arranger .........................................................................................................26 3.1 Arrangements ...................................................................................................28 3.2 “All Cried Out” and “Sally Go ‘Round the Roses” .........................................29 3.3 Songwriting ......................................................................................................32 3.4 “Once Upon a Time” .......................................................................................33 3.5 “Something Special” ........................................................................................36 3.6 “I’m Gonna Leave You” ..................................................................................39 3.7 “Go Ahead On” ................................................................................................40 3.8 “Go Ahead On” in the context of the Motown sound ......................................41 3.9 “Go Ahead On” and “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me” ...............................45 ii 3.10 “Go Ahead On” and “Come See About Me” ...................................................46 3.11 Conclusion .......................................................................................................48 Chapter 4: “Quiet Please, There’s a Lady On Stage:” The Glamor, Camp, and Dominance of the Diva Persona and Image .................................................50 4.1 Dusty Springfield’s Performance Practice .......................................................51 4.2 Dusty as Camp .................................................................................................54 4.3 Camp and Audience .........................................................................................56 4.4 Dusty’s Physical Presentation ..........................................................................61 4.5 Conclusion .......................................................................................................65 Chapter 5: Conclusion ....................................................................................................67 Bibliography .....................................................................................................................70 iii List of Figures Figure 2.1 Martha Reeves’s “Wishin’ and Hopin’” interpolations as performed in The Sound of Motown ...................................................................................16 Figure 2.2 Dusty’s “Wishin’ and Hopin’” interpolations as performed in The Sound of Motown .....................................................................................................17 Figure 2.3 Dusty’s embellishment on “true love is” as performed in Ready Steady Go! The Sound of Motown ............................................................................18 Figure 2.4 Changes between the studio recording, the Top Gear performance, and The Sound of Motown ...................................................................................19 Figure 3.1 “All Cried Out” and “Sally Go ‘Round the Roses” comparison ..................31 Figure 3.2 “Once Upon a Time” hook ...........................................................................34 Figure 3.3 “Once Upon a Time” hypothetical resolution ...............................................35 Figure 3.4 “Something Special” chord progression .......................................................38 Figure 3.5 “I’m Gonna Leave You” introduction guitar chord changes and notated transcription ..................................................................................................39 Figure 3.6 “Go Ahead On” introduction played on solo electric bass ...........................45 Figure 3.7 “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me” introduction played on solo piano, harmony omitted ...........................................................................................45 Figure 3.8 The A-section’s vocal line in “Go Ahead On” .............................................46 Figure 3.9 Full introduction to “Go Ahead On” .............................................................47 Figure 3.10 Introduction to “Come See About Me” ........................................................47 iv Abstract Though British singer Dusty Springfield had a very prominent and successful career, she is often left out of the history books. Her North American legacy has been reduced to her album Dusty in Memphis, an inaccurate and incomplete representation of Dusty Springfield’s career. Many aspects of her career are largely ignored, for scholars put her sexuality, her ability to “sound black,” and the influence of black musicians at the forefront of Dusty Springfield scholarship. The purpose of this project is to highlight influential musicians, experiences, and talents which have been left out of Dusty Springfield studies. This thesis focuses on Dusty Springfield’s performance experiences, her songwriting abilities, her audience/performer dichotomy, and various people and styles that have influenced her persona. By examining the artists and experiences that influenced her career, this thesis explores the ways in which persona is constructed and how it functions in the pop music industry. v Acknowledgements In October of 2011, while a student in Jacqueline Warwick’s popular music analysis seminar, I had the opportunity to read a chapter from Annie J. Randall’s Dusty! Queen of the Postmods. Though I had always known Dusty Springfield’s music, reading Dusty Springfield scholarship sparked a new and exciting interest. I was immediately captivated by this work and was unexpectedly inspired to choose Dusty Springfield for my master’s thesis topic. While researching and writing about Dusty, I expanded my knowledge of 1960s pop music and acquired many scholarly skills that will further my career as a musicologist. Without the assigned reading mentioned above, I would not have had this life-altering experience and, thus, Jacqueline Warwick is the first person I would like to acknowledge. She is an encouraging and supportive academic advisor from whom I gained a great amount of knowledge. My academic pursuits and accomplishments are the driving-force in my life, and there are many people from all areas of my life who I want to acknowledge. The Dusty Springfield fan community has provided me with endless enthusiastic support. Markus Medeiros’s memory of what seems to be every biography pertaining to all things Dusty Springfield and Motown made him an ideal person with whom I could talk about my ideas. I thank Corinna Müller for her assistance with obtaining the audio files of interviews and live recordings that added to my research materials. Carole Gibson, one of the most dedicated and most helpful Dusty Springfield fans, shared with me a wealth of knowledge and insight that could only be acquired by fanatically following Dusty’s career since its beginning. She helped me pinpoint where to find vi certain information and aided me during the times in which I needed to use my detective skills. For Markus’s, Corinna’s, and Carole’s help, I am forever grateful. I would also like to thank several Dalhousie faculty members. Steven Baur’s feedback on certain sections of my thesis was invaluable and I am grateful that he gave me his time and lent me his ear. Jennifer Bain’s assistance with analyses of the peskier music passages helped me make my music examples as informative as possible. Finally, Roberta Barker’s expertise on performance studies and camp put me on the right track for analyzing Dusty’s performance practice, and her enthusiasm for this area of study was infinitely encouraging. Without the proof-reading skills of and feedback from Jessica Sternfeld, Lauren Mullaney, Maria Pease, and Lisa Zagarella, my final product would be