Artist: Dolly Parton
Not Fade Away - Reissue Review from Issue #69 May-June 2007
Dolly Parton – Coat Of Many Colors/ My Tennessee Mountain Home/ Jolene
These were Dolly Parton’s first masterpieces. Recorded over roughly four years, they projected the full force of her magnificently pure vocals and brilliantly observational songs. Unlike the bulk of early 1970s Nashville fare, her work addressed complex subjects directly, yet with simplicity and nuance, her flair for stark, gothic Appalachian numbers comparable to ancient folk [...]
Waxed - Record Review from Issue #60 Nov-Dec 2005
Dolly Parton – Those Were The Days
As a singer, a songwriter, a performer, a hitmaker, a businesswoman, a mass-market entertainer, Dolly Parton has long since proven herself to be virtually (and virtuously) unassailable. Her American icon status having been secure for decades, she’s enjoyed a remarkable artistic resurgence in recent years, tapping into her bluegrass background — beginning with 1999′s The [...]
Waxed - Record Review from Issue #40 July-Aug 2002
Dolly Parton – Halos & Horns
There is a certain refreshing rightful air to the territory where artists such as Dolly Parton reside. Their legend and fortune long since assured, they are essentially free to follow whatever paths they wish for the rest of their career, both commercially and artistically. Some, understandably, choose to leave the game altogether; others, regrettably, opt [...]
Not Fade Away - Reissue Review from Issue #38 March-April 2002
Leona Williams / Dolly Parton / Ted Hawkins / Steve Earle / Wynn Stewart & more
Merle Haggard always had an eye for talent. His first wife, Bonnie Owens, had been married to Buck Owens, and still sings with Haggard’s Strangers. Second wife LEONA WILLIAMS has had a less obvious career, profiled in Bear Family’s recent Old Loves Never Die. The first ten tracks are lovely duets with Merle, followed by [...]
Waxed - Record Review from Issue #31 Jan-Feb 2001
Dolly Parton – Little Sparrow
Dolly Parton could have taken her plaque in the Country Music Hall of Fame and gone home to count her money, accepting the judgment of the marketplace that her career was no longer of interest. She could have (perhaps then her private life would cease to be of interest to the supermarket tabloids), and her [...]
The Long Way Around - Feature from Issue #24 Nov-Dec 1999
Dolly Parton – The smartest working woman in show business
In this era of celebrity, Dolly Parton could be one if she never sang a note. A sign in her Dollywood museum exhorts, “You’re only as big as your biggest dream,” and Parton has always dreamed of being somewhat larger than life. Yet the heart of Parton’s identity remains her music. If the raging flame [...]
Waxed - Record Review from Issue #18 Nov-Dec 1998
Dolly Parton – Hungry Again
The descent from Dolly Parton’s last visit home, the gaudy 1994 album Heartsongs — overblown, overproduced, overcrowded, and altogether every bit larger-than-life as Parton herself — to the stripped-down, live-to-DAT musical framework of Hungry Again might give a lesser mortal nosebleed. But in this effort to redeem her career from a decade of nasty middle-age [...]
Waxed - Record Review from Issue #6 Nov-Dec 1996
Dolly Parton – Treasures
Hairspray howdies, yodelbuddies! Tighten your wigs and tuck your tummies, we’re goin’ to Dollywould! Only Dollywould discover Ladysmith Black Mambazo in a LifeSavers commercial, pack ‘em on a Peace Train and flash ‘em to Nashville to rehash the Yusuf Islam cat who used to be Stevens. There’s enough culture shock in that mix to fondue-bee-doo [...]
