Cameo (album)

Cameo
Studio album by Dusty Springfield
Released February 1973 (US)
May 1973 (UK)
Recorded July – October 1972
Studio ABC Recording Studios, Los Angeles, California
Genre Pop
Length 34:28
Label ABC Dunhill Records
DSX 50128 (US)
Philips Records
6308 152 (UK)
Producer Steve Barri
Brian Potter
Dennis Lambert
Dusty Springfield chronology
See All Her Faces
(1972)		 Cameo
(1973)		 Longing
(1974)
Singles from Cameo
  1. "Mama's Little Girl"
    Released: March 1973 (US)
  2. "Who Gets Your Love"
    Released: March 1973 (USA) / March 1973 (UK)
  3. "Learn To Say Goodbye"
    Released: June 1973 (USA) / August 1973 (UK)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

Cameo is the eighth studio album released by singer Dusty Springfield. Cameo is her first LP for the ABC Dunhill Records label. It was recorded in the States between July and October 1972 and released in the UK (by Philips Records) in May 1973, having appeared in the States some three months earlier. Cameo was produced by Steve Barri, Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter who later went on to write and produce major hits for among others Glen Campbell, The Four Tops and The Tavares. The album also included material written by Alan O'Day, David Gates, Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson and Van Morrison and among the all-star line up of musicians contributing were Hal Blaine, Paul Humphrey, Larry Carlton, Wilton Felder, Carol Kaye, Victor Feldman, Michael Omartian, Venetta Fields and Clydie King.

While Cameo was commercial failure in 1973 – charting neither in the UK nor the US – it has since been re-evaluated by both fans and music critics alike. A planned second album on the ABC Dunhill label with the working title of Elements (eventually re-titled Longing), was started, but never finished, due to Springfield's personal problems at the time. Most of the uncompleted album Longing can also be found on the Hip-O Records compilation Beautiful Soul, released in the United States in 2001.

Cameo was digitally remastered and released on CD for the first time in Europe by Mercury/Universal Music in 2002, though not containing any bonus tracks. Due to its relative obscurity upon the LP's initial release in 1973, Cameo is considered to be one of the rarer titles of Springfield's official catalogue/discography, and hard to find on any format, though its increased popularity in recent years due to the CD release and digital music file sharing has alleviated that difficulty to a good degree.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter; except where indicated
Side A

  1. "Who Gets Your Love" – 3:24
  2. "Breakin' Up a Happy Home" – 3:32
  3. "Easy Evil" (Alan O'Day) – 2:54
  4. "Mama's Little Girl" – 3:30
  5. "The Other Side of Life" (David Gates) – 2:39
  6. "Comin' and Goin'" – 3:10

Side B

  1. "I Just Wanna Be There" (Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson) – 2:44
  2. "Who Could Be Loving You Other Than Me?" (Willie Hutchinson) – 2:59
  3. "Tupelo Honey" (Van Morrison) – 3:52
  4. "Of All the Things" – 3:03
  5. "Learn to Say Goodbye" (from the ABC Movie of the Week, Say Goodbye, Maggie Cole) (Hugo Montenegro, Bradford Craig) – 2:43

Other Tracks

  1. "Ben" (Walter Scharf, Don Black)
  2. "I Can See Clearly Now" (Johnny Nash)
  3. "It's All Been Said Before"
  4. "When The Boys Come Out to Play" - Recorded during the Cameo sessions but unissued and subsequently lost or possibly destroyed upon the end of Dusty's contract with ABC/Dunhill in June 1975.
  5. "I Just Wanna Be There" [Alternate Take] (Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson) - Features longer intro and fade; unreleased though master tapes exist.
  6. "Tupelo Honey" [Alternate Take] (Van Morrison) - Features different vocals; unreleased though master tapes exist.
  7. "Learn to Say Goodbye" [Original Recording] (Hugo Montenegro, Bradford Craig) - As featured in the 1972 made-for-TV drama, the ABC Movie of the Week, Say Goodbye, Maggie Cole. The track was re-recorded for the Cameo LP. Aside from its inclusion in the movie the original recording remains unreleased.
  8. "Six Million Dollar Man" (theme from The Six Million Dollar Man) (Glen A. Larson) - Recorded in 1973. Featured in the opening and closing credits of the Wine, Women & War and The Solid Gold Kidnapping made-for-TV movies and in the promotion of the series; replaced by an instrumental theme for the weekly series. Aside from its inclusion in the movies and adverts the original recording remains unreleased.
  9. "The Other Side of Life" [2005 B.J. Thomas "duet" mix] (David Gates) - B.J. Thomas recorded the song in the 1970s during his tenure with Scepter Records. In 2005 a mix was created mixing Springfield's Cameo vocal into Thomas's Scepter recording. Both the B.J. Thomas solo recording and the "duet" mix remain unreleased.

Personnel and production

Charts

Album – Billboard (North America)

Year Chart Position
1973 Pop Albums Did not chart^

Singles – Billboard (North America)

Year Single Chart Position
1973 "Who Gets Your Love" Pop Singles 121
1973 "Mama's Little Girl" Pop Singles 118
1973 "Mama's Little Girl" Adult Contemporary 33
1973 "Learn to Say Goodbye"^^ Adult Contemporary 33

^At the time of the album's release, Billboard Magazine maintained a "Bubbling Under" Album chart, for albums that had not yet entered the Billboard Top 200 Album chart. Cameo peaked at #5 on this chart.

^^"Learn to Say Goodbye" was initially the B side of "Mama's Little Girl". The single was later flipped, with "Learn to Say Goodbye" becoming the A side.

Sources

  1. ↑ Allmusic review
  • Howes, Paul (2001). The Complete Dusty Springfield. London: Reynolds & Hearn Ltd. ISBN 1-903111-24-2.
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