Just A Little Lovin'

Gorgeous vocals and a sureness of touch. (2 of 2 Found this Helpful)   November 29, 2008
This is a meticulous record, each note weighed and measured, where Lynne and producer Phil Ramone favour the standards.
Thankfully, at its heart is a singer who has already demonstrated - on I Am Shelby Lynne and Identity Crisis - that she instinctively understands how to communicate emotion.
She has carefully harvested some of the hallowed singer's deepest, and often saddest, material, investing it with captivating sparsity.
In general, she adopts a 'less-is-more' approach and casts a hush of melancholy over everything. On "I Only Want to Be With You" this means ditching the endearing, parping cheesiness of the original for soft, sultry bossa nova, unsure whether to relish or resent her surrender; on "Breakfast in Bed" it simply means teasing out the real desperation in the lyrics.
This approach is not flawless.
"Just A Little Lovin'" would benefit from the occasional upward gear change - Tony Joe White's swampy "Willie and Laura Mae Jones" is the only real mover.
Shelby brings a new original composition to the table but the rather presumptuous interjection of "Pretend" is an unnecessary bump on the Dusty Springdfield road.
Such minor mis-steps are a fair trade-off for an album that doesn't simply doff its cap in tribute.
The strength of "Just a Little Lovin'" lies in its refusal to jump through hoops; the emphasis throughout is on an under-expressed sadness that owes far more to Lynne's interpretative gifts than to Dusty Springfield.
Shelby doesn't do big or showy, no Mariah Carey or Selline Dion whoops and soars, but certainly displays great vocals and a sureness of touch.

Dusty in Memphis
The Very Best of Dusty Springfield
Ultimate Collection
The Definitive Collection

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Love it!   November 23, 2008
I buy a lot of cd's each year. I consider this to be one of my favorite purchases. I never heard of Shelby Lynne until a few months ago when I heard a cut on XM Cafe.
Great songs,great voice & an acoustic guitar in the right hands can produce an amazing final product.
Many of the songs on this album are her rendition of songs done by others. I played this cd once & then again & again...its that good!
Don't take my word for it. Listen to the samples, I think you'll agree.

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She's Made These Songs Her Own   November 17, 2008
I like Dusty Springfield. I like Shelby Lynne. I love Shelby Lynne singing songs that used to be condsidered to be "Dusty's." And I say "used to be considered" meaning to use those words.

It was funny a few years ago when some kid asked his father about Paul McCartney, who was then singing with Wings, "Dad, didn't he used to be in another band?" Well, a similar question might now be asked about these songs, "Did someone else sing that song years ago?" I do not mean to diminish Miss Springfield and would not be able to do so even if that were my intent. I mean only to say that these songs in Miss Lynne's capable hands have an emotional appeal on an entirely different level than that of Miss Springfield. I believe that Miss Lynne's treatment of these songs accurately conveys the emotions meant to be conveyed by the words themselves. And, that is better done with only the accompaniment of a piano or with no accompaniment at all than with that of an orchestra in the context of a "production."

This is a record for the ages. If you buy it, you'll listen to it over and over. You may as well not put it back on the shelf because it won't be long until you pull it out again, and again.

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Just a little lovin   November 17, 2008
I thoroughly enjoyed the soothing sound of her music. I would buy other CDs

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Just a Little Lovin'   November 17, 2008
I liked a couple of the songs but would have liked a few more on the CD. She has a very lovely voice.

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