Allison Durbin – I Have Loved Me A Man
This LP was the first by New Zealand singer Allison Durbin. She had released several 45s prior to this but it was the overwhelming success of the LP’s title track that really made her a star here in late sixties. The 45 of ‘I Have Loved Me A Man’ was apparently the biggest selling local release of 1968, reportedly shifting in excess of 30000 copies.
For a short time in the late sixties Allison Durbin was the leading female singer in New Zealand and one would expect a debut album based around some lightweight pop filler songs of the day. But fortunately that’s where we are wrong because there is a lot to like about this surprisingly cohesive album. There is a lot of soul influence in here & it really makes me wish some of the tougher cuts had been released on 45.
As well as the famous title track there is a great version of ‘River Deep Mountain High’, the stomper ‘Working On A Groovy Thing’, nice workings of ‘Something’s Gotta Hold Of My Heart’ & ‘Angel Of The Morning’, the obligatory Bacharach cover ‘This Girl’s In Love’ and the absolute toughest cut on there ‘Yo Yo’. As far as comparisons go, if you think a red-headed Dusty Springfield fronting a soul influenced band with a touch of country anguish in her voice, tight horns & the absence of Dusty’s string-led ballads, you’ll probably get a ballpark idea.
Like so many of New Zealand’s musical talents of the time Allison shifted focus to the Australian market & later embraced a successful career singing country. But this album, the follow up ‘Soft & Soulful’ from 1969, her ‘The Games People Play’ 45 & her amazing cover of the Isley’s ‘It’s Your Thing’ from the early seventies rank as some of the best New Zealand soul inflected cuts of their (or any) time.
A thorough Allison Durbin bio can be read here: http://www.sergent.com.au/allisondurbin.html
9 Comments
Thanks for posting this. I’ve always loved that song she does on the “Top Of The Dial” NZ comp, but never knew anything else about her.
I met Allison at just 10 when she was touring the country and had a stint in Alexandra. She was staying at the Golden Central Motor Inn which was owned by my friends parents. My friend and I took some kittens into her room to show her and I remember how much they smelled of her perfume after that!
I adored Allison back then and loved to mime “I Have Loved Me a Man”.
This year I turn 50 and have an idea to “perform” that song one last time at my party but I don’t know the correct words. Is there somewhere on the internet where I can find them?
Alison and transfusion, The Allison Durbin copy of this song is ok, but try listening to the original Morgana King version..
are u able to supply the
lyrics 2 this track.
i cannot make out 1 word
regards dave
no, sorry, your guess is as good as mine.
I have loved me a man is one of the best songs I have ever heard, and today it is one that I am always singing in my thoughts…. My Dad passed away (10 months ago), and it will always remind me of him! Perhaps because I loved him so!!
i too love this song. and i always wondered what happened to Alison.
I have heard Morgana King sing I have loved me a man, and various other artists, but I would have to say that no one sings it like Allison Durbin – it was her song.
I am a country singer and I am trying to locate the lyrics and guitar chords for “I have loved me a man”. Does anyone have them?