On An Island Of Dreams

構成数 : 2枚
合計収録時間 : 01:48:19
Liner Note Author: Michael Robson. Arrangers: Ivor Raymonde; Lee Hays; Tom Springfield. While they were wildly popular in Great Britain during their short lifespan, the Springfields are remembered as little more than one-hit wonders in the United States, and while some Stateside listeners doubtless recall their version of "Silver Threads and Golden Needles," which was a major chart in America, few of them are likely to remember that the group gave Dusty Springfield her first taste of stardom. On an Island of Dreams: The Complete Philips UK Recordings is a retitled reissue of the 1997 collection Over the Hills and Far Away, which brings together everything the Springfields released through Philips between 1961 and 1964, and while this is more Springfields than most fans might necessarily want, it documents the group's strengths and weaknesses admirably well. While the Springfields were often compared to popular American folk acts such as the Kingston Trio and Peter, Paul & Mary, ultimately they had more in common with the New Christy Minstrels or the Limelighters, performers who combined nightclub-friendly arrangements and showmanship with a repertoire drawn from the popular folk idiom. The Springfields made records that were as slick as anything to come out of a British recording studio in the days before the Beatles, with their guitars and bongos accompanied by a big studio band (and sometimes a string section), and they jazzed up numbers like "Allentown Jail," "Tzena Tzena Tzena," and "Goodnight Irene" in a way their more serious American contemporaries would never have imagined (how many other acts would have recorded something called "Wimoweh Mambo"?). However, the harmonies by Dusty Springfield, her brother Tom Springfield, and Tim Field (later replaced by Mike Hurst) are never less than superb, and while Dusty was a few years away from becoming the greatest blue-eyed soul singer ever, listening to these recordings one never doubts that she was destined to be a star. The production and arrangements on these tunes put this music squarely in the category of pre-rock U.K. pop, and time has given it a campy edge that was doubtless never intended, but none of this changes the fact the Springfields were very good at what they did, and this lovingly assembled overview of their work is a testament to their talent, regardless of the musical backdrops. ~ Mark Deming
録音 : ステレオ (Studio)