The Very Best of Dusty Springfield [Mercury] (CD - 1998)

Directors: Ivor Raymonde; Herb Bernstein; Terry Noonan; Keith Mansfield.

Photographer: Juliet Brightmore.

Unknown Contributor Role: Mike Gill.

Arranger: Ray Stevens.

The title may be a tad deceptive--one of Dusty Springfield's most memorable records, a gorgeous take on Arthur Alexander's Southern soul classic "Every Day I Have to Cry" is mysteriously missing--but this is nonetheless one of the best single disc anthologies of her work. Arranged in more or less chronological order, it runs the gamut from the exuberant pure pop of "I Only Want to Be With You," through the proto-power ballad "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me," to "A Brand New Me," her last American hit.

Some of the lesser known tracks are also revelatory--in the Spector-esque "Stay Awhile" Springfield overdubs herself into a one-woman version of the Ronettes. Her version of "I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself" has often been performed by Elvis Costello. minimize