''Longing'' is the ninth album recorded by

Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), better known by her stage name Dusty Springfield, was a British singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano voice, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop mus ...

. It was originally slated as her second LP for the ABC Dunhill Records label. Originally recorded in 1974, most of the ''Longing'' recordings were mixed and released much later on the compilations ''Simply Dusty'' (2000) and ''Beautiful Soul: The ABC Dunhill Collection'' (2001). In June 2025, ''Longing'' received an official standalone release, over 50 years after it was recorded, making it the second posthumous Dusty Springfield album. (''

Faithful Faithful may refer to: Film and television * ''Faithful'' (1910 film), an American comedy short directed by D. W. Griffith * ''Faithful'' (1936 film), a British musical drama directed by Paul L. Stein * ''Faithful'' (1996 film), an American cr ...

'' was the first, released in 2015.) The 2025 release includes extensive liner notes by Springfield expert Paul Hawes. https://realgonemusic.com/products/dusty-springfield-longing-vinyl As was the case with many of Springfield's albums released and/or recorded in the '70s, ''Longing'', though unreleased at the time, contained some of Springfield's most critically acclaimed work. The track "In the Winter", written and also recorded by

Janis Ian Janis Ian (born Janis Eddy Fink; April 7, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter who was most commercially successful in the 1960s and 1970s. Her signature songs are the 1966/67 hit "Society's Child, Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)" an ...

, is often singled out from the recording sessions as an example. Ian said that after hearing Springfield sing the song she (Ian) could "no longer do the piece justice" herself.

Melissa Manchester Melissa Manchester (born February 15, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Since the 1970s, her songs have been played by adult contemporary radio stations. She has also appeared on television, in films, and on stage. Early li ...

has also been quoted as saying she was "over the moon" upon hearing Springfield sing "Home to Myself" during the recording session, on which Manchester also played the piano.

Writing and recording

''Longing'' was recorded in Blauvelt, New York and produced by Brooks Arthur, best known for his work as a sound engineer for

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter who is best known for pioneering recording practices in the 1960s, followed by his trials and conviction for murder in the 2000s. S ...

and Bert Berns through most of the 1960s and later as a composer and producer in his own right for among others

Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling musicians of all time. He has written and ...

Bette Midler Bette Midler ( ;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and author. Throughout her five-decade career Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Bette Midler, numero ...

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

and

. ''Elements'' was the working title of the album, but it was re-titled and advertised as ''Longing'' in the music press near the end of 1974 and had at that stage also officially been given a catalogue number: DSD-50186. Springfield complained in interviews later in the seventies that some producers of her previous album, '' Cameo'', had not even asked: "what key I wanted to sing in". Not used to being so uninvolved in her own work (owing partly to her own reported perfectionist tendencies), suffering from self-esteem issues due to her rapidly declining career, and enduring problems with substance abuse, Springfield abandoned the ''Longing'' album altogether late in the year. The only track from the ''Longing'' sessions to be given an official release in the 1970s was "I Am Your Child", though only the instrumental track (featuring the song's writer,

Barry Manilow Barry Manilow ( ; born Barry Alan Pincus on June 17, 1943) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer with a career that spans over sixty years. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", "Looks Like We Made It", "Brandy (Scott ...

) was used; Springfield recorded new lead vocals over the original backing track and the song was released as the B-side of her 1977 US single "Let Me Love You Once Before You Go" on the

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

label. In 1980 the re-recorded version was in turn issued as the B-side of the Philips Records UK single " Your Love Still Brings Me to My Knees" and "I Am Your Child" subsequently found its way onto the compilation album ''Love Songs'' released by

Phonogram Phonogram may refer to: * A sound recording – see Geneva Phonograms Convention * ''Phonogram'' (comics), a comic book by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie * Phonogram (linguistics), a grapheme which represents a phoneme or a combination of phon ...

in Europe in the late 1980s. The song is also of special significance in the history of Manilow's own career as he claims it is the first song he ever wrote. When Springfield, after a time in her life often described as her 'wilderness years', returned to the music scene for the recording of the 1978 album '' It Begins Again'' with fellow Briton

Roy Thomas Baker Roy Thomas Baker (10 November 1946 – 12 April 2025) was an English record producer, songwriter and arranger who produced rock and pop songs. Life and career Baker was born in Hampstead, London on 10 November 1946. He began his career at De ...

she re-recorded two further tracks originally included in the ''Longing'' set; the Motown classic " A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knocking Everyday)" and Chi Coltrane's "Turn Me Around", both with slightly updated and different arrangements.

Release

The year 2000 saw the debut of three original recordings from the ''Longing'' sessions;

's "In the Winter",

and

Carole Bayer Sager Carole Bayer Sager (born Carol Bayer on March 8, 1944) is an American lyricist, singer, songwriter, and painter. Early life and career Carole Bayer was born in New York City, to Anita Nathan Bayer and Eli Bayer. Her family was Jewish. She gradu ...

's "Home to Myself" and

Colin Blunstone Colin Edward Michael Blunstone (born 24 June 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. In a career spanning more than 60 years, Blunstone came to prominence in the mid-1960s as the lead singer of the Rock music, rock band the Zombies, which rel ...

and David Jones' "Exclusively for Me", all of which had been mixed and digitally remastered as early as 1995. These three titles were finally released as part of Mercury/

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...

UK's 4 CD boxed set ''Simply Dusty'', a project which was commissioned with Springfield's full approval before her death in 1999. In 2001

's American sublabel

Hip-O Records Hip-O Records is a record label that specializes in reissues and compilations. It is part of Universal Music Group. Established in 1996, the label has distributed releases from 'out of style' genres such as disco and early hip-hop music as well ...

released the compilation ''Beautiful Soul: The ABC Dunhill Collection'' containing nine of the ten titles intended to be used on ''Longing'', including the original versions of "I Am Your Child", "A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knocking Every Day)" and "Turn Me Around", as well as all tracks from her 1973 ABC Dunhill album '' Cameo''. Some of the ''Longing'' tracks feature incomplete or 'practice' vocals, the only existing recorded vocals, to enable a release of the album in any form; the track "Corner of the Sky" being the best example. Springfield completed some vocals on the track, but never sang a whole verse. Thus, it was the only track not included in the ''Beautiful Soul'' set as it was too incomplete to arrange any sort of commercial release. It was however completed and released in 2007 after fellow British singer

Petula Clark Sally "Petula" Clark (born 15 November 1932) is a British singer, actress, and songwriter. She started her professional career as a child actor, child performer and has had the longest career of any British entertainer, spanning more than 85 y ...

added her own vocals and released the song as a duet on her album ''Duets''. Longing was released as a standalone album on 6 June 2025 by Real Gone Music, on CD, and on regular and limited-edition vinyl.

Track listing

Personnel and production

* Dusty Springfield – vocals,

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

* Brooks Arthur – record producer,

audio engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduc ...

* Larry Alexander – assistant engineer * Ron Frangiapane – musical arranger, keyboards * Garry Sherman – arranger, keyboards * Renee Armand – background vocals * Gail Kantor – background vocals * Merle Miller – background vocals * Judy Thomas- background vocals * Christie Thompson – background vocals * Maretha Stewart – background vocals * Rita – background vocals *

Steve Gadd Stephen Kendall Gadd (born April 9, 1945) is an American jazz fusion drummer, percussionist, and session musician. Gadd is one of the best-known and most highly regarded session and studio drummers in the industry, recognized by his induction i ...

- drums * Gary Chester – drums * Jimmy Johnson – drums *

Bernard "Pretty" Purdie Bernard Lee "Pretty" Purdie (born June 11, 1939) is an American drummer, and an influential R&B, soul, funk and jazz musician. He is known for his precise time-keeping and his signature use of triplets against a half-time backbeat: the Purdie s ...

– drums * Barry Lazarowitz – drums *

Ralph MacDonald Ralph Anthony MacDonald (March 15, 1944 – December 18, 2011) was an American percussionist, steelpan virtuoso, songwriter, musical arranger, and record producer. His compositions include " Where Is the Love", a Grammy Award winner for the due ...

– percussion * Joe Venuto – percussion * Al Gorgoni – guitar *

Cornell Dupree Cornell Luther Dupree (December 19, 1942 – May 8, 2011) was an American jazz fusion and Rhythm and blues, R&B guitarist. He worked at various times with Aretha Franklin, Bill Withers, Donny Hathaway, King Curtis, and Steve Gadd, appeared on ''L ...

– guitar *

Hugh McCracken Hugh Carmine McCracken (March 31, 1942 – March 28, 2013) was an American rock guitarist and session musician based in New York City, primarily known for his performance on guitar and also as a harmonica player. McCracken was additionally ...

– guitar * David Snyder – guitar *

John Tropea John Tropea (pronounced 'tro-pay'; born January 7, 1946) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. Career Tropea began guitar studies at the age of 12. His musical education continued at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he studied jaz ...

– guitar * Russell George – bass guitar * Gordon Edwards – bass *

Stephen Schwartz Stephen Lawrence Schwartz (born March 6, 1948) is an American musical theatre composer and lyricist. In a career spanning over five decades, Schwartz has written hit musicals such as ''Godspell'' (1971), ''Pippin (musical), Pippin'' (1972), and ...

– keyboards * Frank Owens – keyboards * Joe d'Elia – keyboards *

Richard Tee Richard Edward Tee (born Richard Edward Ten Ryk; November 24, 1943 – July 21, 1993) was an American jazz fusion pianist, studio musician, singer and arranger, who had several hundred studio credits and played on such notable hits as " I'll B ...

– keyboards * Paul Griffin – keyboards *

– keyboards, background vocals, liner notes (''Beautiful Soul: The ABC Dunhill Collection'') *

– keyboards, liner notes (''Beautiful Soul: The ABC Dunhill Collection'') * Artie Kaplan – music contractor * Ben Mitchell – digital remastering, mixing (''Simply Dusty'') * Paul Howes – digital remastering, mixing (''Simply Dusty'') * Tony Heester – digital remastering, mixing (''Simply Dusty'') *

– liner notes (''Simply Dusty'') * Kevin Reeves – mixing (''Beautiful Soul: The ABC Dunhill Collection'') * Dan Hersch – digital remastering (''Beautiful Soul: The ABC Dunhill Collection'') * Jim Pierson – liner notes, compilation producer (''Beautiful Soul: The ABC Dunhill Collection'') * Pat Lawrence – executive producer (''Beautiful Soul: The ABC Dunhill Collection'') * Michele Horie – project coordinator (''Beautiful Soul: The ABC Dunhill Collection'') * Dana Smart – project coordinator (''Beautiful Soul: The ABC Dunhill Collection'')

References

Sources

* Howes, Paul (2001). The Complete Dusty Springfield. London: Reynolds & Hearn Ltd. . * Liner notes: Janis Ian. ''Simply Dusty'',

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

546,730-2, 2000. * Liner notes: Barry Manilow & Melissa Manchester. ''Beautiful Soul: The ABC Dunhill Collection'',

088,113,477-2, 2001. {{Dusty Springfield Dusty Springfield albums Unreleased albums Albums produced by Brooks Arthur