Lynne blazes her own path with Springfield tribute

Shelby Lynne has always done pretty much exactly what she wants. It's good for her and great for fans of her music.

"I'm not much for going with the grain," says Lynne with a distinctive Alabama drawl. "That's too easy and not me. If something's happening, that gives me a good reason to go in the opposite direction."

Whether anyone other than Lynne thought that releasing a tribute album to the late Dusty Springfield was a good idea, well, you get the feeling that Lynne couldn't care less.

"I'm a fan, and I thought it was time that people were reminded of Dusty," says Lynne. "We all love these songs. We just forget about them when we don't hear them for a while."

To be sure, there are some similarities between Lynne and Springfield. Springfield had success in a variety of styles (including the sweet pop hit "I Only Want to Be With You"), but truly found her voice when she recorded the album "Dusty In Memphis" with Memphis R&B musicians.

The disc included "Son of a Preacher Man," a song first offered to Aretha Franklin (and later recorded by Franklin). Springfield's career was filled with ups and downs, style changes, and long drops from the spotlight. She died in 1999, just before being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

That was the same year that Lynne was returning from a recording hiatus. Lynne had begun the 1990s in mainstream country music. While she was beloved by fellow artists, her album sales and radio success were marginal. She began the new millennium with the R&B-influenced disc "I Am Shelby Lynne." It was both a critical and commercial success and was regularly cited as one of the year's best discs. She followed with the somewhat poppier and less acclaimed "Love, Shelby" in 2001, "Identity Crisis" in 2003, and the overlooked triumph "Suit Yourself" in 2005.

"Suit Yourself" certainly flew in the face of modern recording wisdom. It was loose and spontaneous.

"I don't like making records," says Lynne. "It's necessary for what I do, but the studio scares me. There's too much stuff in there that allows you to do everything perfect, and I don't like perfect. We cut these songs live together as a band. We didn't overdub. We don't do vocal comps. . . . If there's an off-note, something terrible, a big train wreck, we'll fix it. Little train wrecks are all right.""

It's hard to hear any wrecks in Lynne's new album, titled "Just a Little Lovin' " but it's easy to appreciate its gentle charms. Lynne doesn't try to imitate Springfield's performances or take them in any drastically different directions. Lynne simply sings while the band accompanies her with straightforward, uncluttered arrangements. Produced by legendary pop and rock producer Phil Ramone, the disc was recorded in five days and sequenced on the final night.

"I started with a list of 20 songs and chose my favorites and the ones I thought I could sing well," says Lynne.

She considered "Son of a Preacher Man" off limits, but she covered other signature numbers, including "Anyone Who Had a Heart," "The Look of Love," "Just a Little Lovin'" and "I Only Want to Be With You" (the latter delivered in an easygoing midtempo).

She has high praise for Ramone and says the right producer is always important.

"Without a great captain, the art can get away from you," says Lynne. "Phil's the calm I needed in order to get the things done I wanted to do."

Whatever the critical response, Lynne says she is proud of the album.

"If I gave a (expletive) what critics think, I would've quit a long time ago," says Lynne. "Music is a gift from God and shouldn't be beaten down by some cat's stuffy opinion."

(Contact Wayne Bledsoe of The Knoxville News Sentinel in Tennessee at www.knoxnews.com.)