Classic Rewind: Dolly Parton – ‘Backwoods Barbie’

Week ending 7/30/11: #1 singles this week in country music history

1951: I Wanna Play House With You — Eddy Arnold (RCA)

1961: Heartbreak, USA — Kitty Wells (Decca)

1971: Bright Lights, Big City — Sonny James (Capitol)

1981: Feels So Right — Alabama (RCA)

1991: I Am A Simple Man — Ricky Van Shelton (Columbia)

2001: I’m Already There — Lonestar (BNA)

2011: Dirt Road Anthem — Jason Aldean (Broken Bow)

Classic Rewind: Dolly Parton – ‘Little Sparrow’

From Dolly’s bluegrass period at the turn of the millennium:

Classic Rewind: Ernest Tubb – ‘Thanks A Lot’

New singles roundup: Reba, Jackson, McBride

Reba McEntire – “Somebody’s Chelsea”     Listen.

Romantic themes have never played a big part in Reba’s catalog probably because she simply doesn’t sing them well.  At the bottom of every great Reba single, there’s a hint of sadness or desperation, provided by the natural ache the singer accomplishes just by opening her mouth and bending a few seemingly irrelevant notes.  With that, she has the ability to bring most any song to life, save for her attempts at love songs. That damns her latest single right away, with its plucking mandolin and piano intro and a swaying chorus built for the slow dance portion of the next wedding reception you attend.  Her attempts to meander sweetly through the verses come off as more rehearsal run-throughs than finished product. The story revolves around the narrator’s encountering an elderly widower on a plane.  After hearing of that couple’s love story and seeing the man’s continuing love for his departed, she simply closes her eyes and daydreams of a love of her own. McEntire co-wrote the song with Liz Hengber and Will Robinson, and I have to wonder how three songwriters couldn’t find something more meaningful to say.  She’s one of the best honky-tonk, swing, and heartbreak singers in the business, who has no business squandering her talents on fluff like this.

Grade: C-

Alan Jackson – “Long Way To Go”     Listen.

Songs about drinking away your troubles, be they love or money-related, with the beach as your background has been fertile subject matter for country’s leading male artists even before Kenny Chesney made a career out of them. With his first single release for new-label home Capitol, Alan Jackson adds another to the long list. As with nearly everything Jackson does, he pulls this off so damn capably, it’s hard to fault him even for overused concepts.  ”Long Way To Go” follows the same sound format as past Jackson hits “Chattahoochee” and “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere”, with their blistering electric guitars mixed right beside a heaping helping of fiddle and peppered with the singer’s signature “yee haws”.  Even the unrelenting rain showers, bug in his margarita and encountering another poor soul in the same predicament doesn’t seem to damper the singer’s spirits as he pours on his best feel-good vocal here.  With this single, Jackson is not hitting the ground running with his new label release, nor does it sound like he’s altered his sound or style at all. And that’s okay by me.

Grade: B

Martina McBride – “I’m Gonna Love You Through It”     Listen.

Two singles into her personally-praised upcoming album for Republic Nashville, the singer with the big voice, all those orchestrations behind her, and a penchant for singing topical songs to tug at someone’s heartstrings is back. The story of a woman recently diagnosed with breast cancer is told.  She is personified by the added details of her life – she’s 38, has 3 kids. The track is led by plentiful strings and drums, and there’s even a short steel guitar solo in the bridge.  McBride hits all the right notes, and takes the listener as high as humanly possible with her blue-in-the-face belting (if he’s still paying attention by the end).  It was in a different package – usually domestic violence –  but we’ve heard all these notes before, and even with its gravely universal message, it’s nothing more than a new step to the same old dance. Fans hoping McBride would return to the hard-hitting neo-traditionalism of “A Broken Wing” or “Cry On The Shoulder Of The Road” will be disappointed.  Likewise, those who really dig the “Concrete Angel”, “God’s Will” side of the singer’s catalog should be very pleased.  Count me among the disappointed.

Grade: C

Album Review: Dolly Parton – ‘The Grass Is Blue’

Dolly Parton found herself without a record deal for the first time in 30 years when Decca Records closed its Nashville office in 1998. Throughout the decade, she had been losing ground with country radio, though her album sales had remained solid for much of that time. With the major label phase of her career now over, she decided that it was time to make a legacy record and partnered with Sugar Hill Records for a trilogy of critically acclaimed bluegrass albums. The first and best was 1999’s The Grass Is Blue, which is one of the finest — perhaps the finest — albums of her career.. Finally free of major-label constraints and commercial considerations, she finally made the bluegrass album she’d first talked about a decade earlier. With longtime producer Steve Buckingham once again on board, she assembled a who’s who list of bluegrass musicians, including Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, Bryan Sutton, Jim Mills and Barry Bales, and recorded a collection that included some bluegrass standards, grassed-up covers of other artists’ hits and four of her own original compositions. Alison Krauss, Dan Tyminski, Claire Lynch, Keith Little, Patty Loveless, Rhonda Vincent and Darrin Vincent all contributed harmony vocals to the project.

The album opens with a spirited cover of Billy Joel’s “Travelin’ Prayer” that is so effective it is difficult to remember that it wasn’t originally conceived as a bluegrass song. It is followed by covers of The Louvin Brothers’ “Cash On The Barrelhead”, Hazel Dickens’ “A Few Old Memories”, and Lester Flatt’s “I’m Gonna Sleep With One Eye Open”. The best of the cover songs, however, is a beautiful rendition of Johnny Cash’s “I Still Miss Someone”, on which Alison Krauss and Dan Tyminski contribute harmony vocals.

The four original Parton compositions are reminders of Dolly’s tremendous talent as a songwriter. “Steady As The Rain” and “Endless Stream Of Tears” sound like rediscoveries of previously forgotten long-lost gems, while “Will He Be Waiting For Me” has a slightly more contemporary feel. Dolly’s sister Stella had taken “Steady As The Rain” into the Top 40 in 1979, while “Will He Be Waiting For Me” was a remake of one of Dolly’s own album cuts from the early 70s. But the centerpiece of the album is the gorgeous title track, on which Dolly’s vocal performance and songwriting, as well as the musicians’ performances, shine. “The Grass Is Blue” is vintage Dolly that, with a slightly different arrangement, would have been equally at home on her albums from the early 70s or the 90s. The album closes with an acapella gospel number, “I Am Ready”, which was written by Dolly’s sister Rachel Dennison. Rhonda Vincent, Darrin Vincent and Louis Nunley provide the harmonies.

Perhaps as an acknowledgement that there was little here to appeal to radio, no singles were released, but the album managed to reach #24 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and is credited with aiding the resurgence of the bluegrass genre in the early 2000s. It also earned Dolly a Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album, which, along with her induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999, allowed her to close out the millennium on a high note. More importantly, The Grass Is Blue, along with its successors Little Sparrow and Halos & Horns, helped to erase lingering memories of some of Dolly’s less than stellar efforts from the late 70s and early 80s, and went a long way towards restoring her credibility amongst those who still regarded her as a pop sellout. These three albums were to Dolly’s career what the American Recordings albums were to Johnny Cash’s – they reaffirmed that veteran artists who were past their hitmaking days could remain relevant, and that their finest work often comes after the mainstream has stopped paying attention.

The Grass Is Blue is still easy to find on CD and in digital form from Amazon and iTunes.

Grade: A+

Classic Rewind: Dolly Parton – ‘Honky Tonk Songs’

From 1998:

Album Review: Dolly Parton – ‘Hungry Again’

As the youth movement began to dominate in the 90s, Dolly’s mainstream country success declined. Slow Dancing With The Moon sold well, but after that both sales and airplay tailed off, and she seemed to lose steam creatively. Although it did not restore her commercial fortunes, 1998’s Hungry Again marks a definite return to form for Dolly. Produced by Dolly with her cousin Richie Owens, with his band providing most of the instrumental backings, the record was her most traditional since Ricky Skaggs’ work on White Limozeen almost a decade earlier. Many of the tracks are acoustic, and there is a strong foreshadowing of the bluegrass records which were to follow in the nest few years. Bluegrass star Rhonda Vincent and her brother Darrin (now of Dailey & Vincent) provide harmony vocals on most tracks. Dolly is in fine voice, and her songwriting muse served her well. She wrote every song on the record over a three month period after a period of fasting and prayer re-energized her musical batteries.

The first single ‘Honky Tonk Songs’ is one of my favorite tracks, a solid honky tonker which has an unlucky-in-love Dolly drinking away her troubles, and asking,

Why don’t more women sing honky tonk songs
About the heartache and the tough breaks and the men that’s done ‘em wrong?

Dolly’s sister Rachel Dennison and childhood friend Judy Ogle are among the choir of “honky tonk women” credited with providing crowd noise at the end.

The kissoff to a man not worth the ‘Salt In My Tears’ is a well-written song, but the beaty production is too geared to pop-country, with monotonous backing vocals and slightly intrusive electric guitar. The compromised sound still failed to make any impact at radio when this became the album’s second single.
I much preferred the bluegrass production on ‘Time And Tears’, another better-off-without-him number which has Dolly happily telling her ex she is much better off without him, and the lively banjo and confident vocal make the mood convincingly positive.

Also foreshadowing Dolly’s bluegrass period of the 2000s, the high lonesome ‘Blue Valley Songbird’ tells the dramatic story of a young Tennessee singer who flees an abusive father at her mother’s urging. Like Dolly herself, this girl “sings like a bird and she writes like a poet” but she doesn’t enjoy Dolly’s career success. This is a real highlight, with a lovely mandolin-led melody and poignant lyric, and sweet harmonies from Rhonda and Darrin. It inspired – or was inspired by – a TV movie of the same title starring Dolly, which was broadcast the following year.

The delicately acoustic title track looks back pensively, with a wistful desire to regain the passion of youth and restore the feeling to a longstanding marriage, declaring “let’s love like we’re hungry again”. The mid-tempo ‘I Wanna Go Back There’ is pleasant filler on the same theme. The underlying inspiration may have been the sense that Dolly’s career had stagnated artistically as well as commercially, which clearly underpins the whole album, although the lyrics are translated into romantic terms.

‘When Jesus Comes Calling For Me’ is an optimistic gospel song about looking forward to dying, wrapped up in the story of a loveable old man, with a semi-spoken verse and catchy chorus. There is more gospel with the idealistic closing track ‘Shine On’, which is largely acappella with harmonies growing into a full choir, with Richie Owens adding a little judicious bouzouki and autoharp. It is more hymn than country song, but is beautifully done.

The protagonist of the gently-sung ballad ‘I’ll Never Say Goodbye’ is still in love with the man who left and willing to take him back. The forlorn undercurrent – and the suggestion that she has “convinced herself” he’ll be back – suggest she know in her heart that won’t really be happening. But the equally good ‘I Still Lost You’ strikes a different note when she refuses to start things up again with her ex, because the damage has already been done.

Less successfully, the metaphor in ‘The Camel’s Heart’ is awkward; the latest “other woman” in the protagonist’s husband’s life is “just the straw that broke the camel’s heart”. It’s a pretty sounding song, but lyrically too forced.

‘Paradise Road’ looks back to Dolly’s poor childhood (so poor, she says “the wolf didn’t even hang around our door”) and the power of dreams to transform life. A guesting Al Perkins comes in on pedal steel on this track.

There is a very positive feel to this record which is the bridge between her final chart period and her roots records of the following decade. Even the artwork has Dolly looking as downhome and non-glamorous as she is capable of, reflecting the authenticity of the music within.

It is widely and cheaply available, and well worth adding to your Dolly Parton collection.

Grade: A

Classic Rewind: Dolly Parton – ‘Eagle When She Flies’

Dolly’s last solo top 40 country hit in 1991, performed at the CMA awards show:

Album Review: Dolly Parton – ‘Eagle When She Flies’

Throughout the 1980s, Dolly Parton continued with her pop-hubris sound, with her albums getting steadily worse as the decade progressed, finally culminating in 1987 with the alarmingly bad Rainbow.  When that album – her first for Columbia Records – failed to produce a country top 40 hit, the singer switched directions with her next release. The Ricky Skaggs-produced White Limozeen was a return to form for Parton, back to a more contemporary country sound with no attempt at scoring crossover hits.   The result was her first chart-toppers in 4 years and her best album in over a decade.  In 1991, Dolly issued the follow-up to Limozeen with Eagle When She Flies.  It would earn her another country #1 single and would be her first #1 album since 1980′s 9 to 5 and Other Odd Jobs, and become only her second platinum set.  The material and production – this time provided by Steve Buckingham and Gary Smith – followed the sounds of White Limozeen and propelled Parton into the forefront of the booming country scene of the early ’90s, if only for a little while.

Leading off the album at radio was the duet with Ricky Van Shelton. It was written by Dolly’s brother Floyd, and is one of three tracks here she didn’t have a hand in writing. “Rockin’ Years” is a stone country love song that finds the pair trading promises of forever to one another. The memorable waltzing chorus and sweet sentiment sent it sailing to the top of the country singles chart.  Parton delivers one of her best full-voiced performances alongside Shelton’s smooth baritone.  Given Parton’s renewed favor at radio, it’s a bit perplexing that “Silver and Gold”, an uncompromising gospel song, was shipped to radio next.  Parton convincingly sings of meeting a ragged old man, presumably an earthly incarnation of Jesus, who reminds her the greatest things in life don’t cost a thing, and more importantly, to prepare yourself for the eternal kingdom of God.  From Parton’s trademark whispering vocals in the last verse to the simple and attractive melody, it sounds like a Parton original, but actually comes from the songwriting team of Gregg, Stan, and Carl Perkins.  Getting a song like it to a respectable #15 in 1991 was a testament in itself.

Next at radio, and likely the final nail in Parton’s radio airplay coffin, was the title track.  Good a song as it is, I have to wonder why nobody doubted the song’s commercial appeal.  Behind the song’s remarkable lyric is an anthemic production, beginning softly at first and building into Parton singing with no less than a full choir and an orchestra by the end.  It’s no surprise to me that it only went to #33.  Had the final single impacted radio first, and cemented Parton’s hit-making status, it may have fared better.  But we’ll never know.  The last single was “Country Road”, a jaunty contemporary number, where the singer implores the town’s highfalutin ladies man to check out the country girl. It’s a favorite for me with the breezy melody laced with steel guitar flourishes, and a memorable lead guitar track. Plus it’s one of Parton’s best performances here.

I’ve always felt this album was overlooked because of its place near the end of the hit-making stage of Parton’s storied catalog, but mostly because the wrong singles were sent to radio.  Certainly others could have hit with larger audiences.  The opening track “If You Need Me”, is a fun grassroots barn burner that serves as a goodbye letter to an unreliable man. Lorrie Morgan joins in for the bluesy female confrontational that is “Best Woman Wins”.  Likewise enjoyable are the somewhat power ballad “What A Heartache”, which features sparse piano-led verses and another winning full-voiced vocal from Parton, and the similarly arranged take on what we all do, and put up with, and get from our “Family”.

When it was released, Eagles When She Flies found Dolly Parton once again standing front and center with modern mainstream country music.  She takes the listener from contemporary country to bluesy numbers and whispery gospel to full-voiced power ballads, all with satisfying results.  Its commercial success notwithstanding, this is Parton’s finest collection yet, save for compilations.

Grade: A

Buy it at amazon.

Classic Rewind: Goldie Hill – ‘Loneliest Gal in Town’

Country Heritage Redux: Goldie Hill (1933 – 2005)

Had Carl Smith and Goldie Hill been born 30 or 40 years later, they might have been like Faith Hill and Tim McGraw or lately Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert – the dominant married couple in country music. Carl Smith (1927-2010) was one of the biggest stars of the 1950s; much bigger than either Tim or Blake at their peaks. Goldie Hill was glamorous and talented, with a powerful and pleasing voice, unquestionably one of the three or four best female voices ever in country music history. Those were the days before sleek luxury tour buses and private jets made touring less of an ordeal, making it hard to raise a family. So when they married in 1957, it spelled the end of Hill’s career.

She was born Angolda Voncile Hill in Karnes County, Texas on January 11, 1933. Her brother Tommy Hill preceded her entry into country music, gaining prominence as a musician and songwriter. Goldie made her debut in 1952, joining her brother Tommy as a member in Webb Pierce’s band. That same year, when visiting Nashville with Pierce, she auditioned and was signed to Decca – the same label as Pierce – by Paul Cohen. Her first single, “Why Talk To My Heart,” backed with “Don’t Send Me No Roses,” failed to chart, but her second single, “I Let The Stars Get In My Eyes,” rocketed to the top, occupying the number one slot for three weeks in late 1952. It was an answer to “Don’t Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes,” a hugely successful record for four different artists: Slim Willets, Skeets McDonald, Ray Price and Perry Como.
Dubbed “The Golden Hill Billy,” Goldie continued to record successfully.

The country charts were only ten positions deep in 1952 and 1953; although none of her records in 1953 charted, they sold well. In 1954 she was paired with fellow Decca artist Justin Tubb, the son of the legendary Ernest Tubb, for some successful duets, including “Looking Back To See” (#4) and “Sure Fire Kisses” (#11). A duet of “Are You Mine” with fellow Decca artist Red Sovine reached #14 in 1955. In 1959, “Yankee Go Home”, also with Red Sovine, reached #17.

In 1957 Goldie married Carl Smith, who had recently divorced June Carter. Goldie toured briefly with the Phillip Morris Country Music Caravan, but left the show to tend to her growing family. This marked the end of her career as a live performer, although she did return to the recording studio for Epic Records in the late-1960s, issuing her last recordings. Her final chart appearance was in 1968 when “Lovable Fool” charted at #73.

Carl Smith and Goldie Hill remained married until her death on February 26, 2005 after a long battle with cancer. Carl had basically retired by the end of the 1970s and he and Goldie spent their later years raising quarter horses and living the life of ranchers. Goldie lived long enough to witness her husband’s enshrinement into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2003 (about 20 years later than should have been the case). Had she not chosen family over career, she probably would have joined him there.

Every now and then CMT, Country Universe or someone else will count down the Greatest Women of Country Music. Goldie’s name usually is conspicuous by its absence or low ranking, but know this: none of them were better singers than Goldie Hill Smith, and few of them were as good.

DISCOGRAPHY
VINYL
Because Goldie pulled the plug on her career at such a young age, the number of albums she released was small, especially when compared to other artists of her generation. As best as I can tell, there were four studio albums issued on Decca (Goldie Hill, Lonely Heartaches, According To My Heart and Country Hit Parade) plus two reissues on Decca’s cheapie label Vocalion (Country Songs and Sings Country which were re-releases of Goldie Hill and According To My Heart respectively, but with songs deleted from each album. The Decca albums were released between 1960 and 1964 and the Vocalion reissues were from 1967-1968. By the time Decca released any of these albums, Goldie already had been off the road for several years.

Goldie returned to the recording studio in 1968 for Epic Records with two albums released: Goldie Sings Again and The Country Gentleman’s Lady. Both albums are captioned as being by Goldie Hill Smith.

Other than 45 and 78 rpm singles, that‘s it. Worse yet, none of her biggest singles are collected on the Decca albums (the titles don’t appear on the Epic albums either).

CD
The Ernest Tubb Record Shop currently has one CD available – Don’t Send Me No More Roses, a fifteen track collection of songs released in the 1950s on Decca consisting of non-charting singles, B sides and stray tracks. Not as easy to find, but you can find it is I Let The Stars Get in My Eyes released in 2005 by an obsessive compulsive group of Brits who specialize in keeping old, obscure and forgotten roots music in print, be it American and Canadian country music, Australian bush music or country music from New Zealand. The label is British Archive of Country Music. This album contains 24 tracks – all 15 of the tracks on the CD listed above plus nine more tracks (including all of her hits). Caveat – because BACM titles are released in limited quantities, you may have to wait while they press you a disc and they are released in the format of very high quality CD-R recordings. Browse the BACM website – you’ll be amazed at what you can find there.

Classic Rewind: Dolly Parton – ‘Why’d You Come In Here Lookin’ Like That?’

Dolly’s comeback hit in 1989 was her first chart-topper in four years:

Album Review: Dolly Parton – ‘Burlap & Satin’

In the interests of full disclosure, I have to reveal that this was the first Dolly Parton album I ever purchased. Though I’m not as enamored of it as I was back in 1983, I still have a soft spot for it which makes it a little hard for me to evaluate it with a critical ear. Nevertheless, I shall it give it my best shot.

As the title implies, this album was an attempt provide a balance between pop and country and to appeal to Dolly’s fans in both camps. After a series of mostly bland pop albums, Burlap & Satin was a partial return to a more country sound. There are six Parton original compositions in the collection, some of which had been written for the soundtrack of her recent film, 1982′s The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas. When none of the songs ended up being used for the film, Dolly decided to record them anyway and include them on her next album. The album’s sole single was the very pop-sounding “Potential New Boyfriend”, which was written by Steve Kipner and John Lewis Parker. There is nothing even remotely country about this track, with its typical heavy-handed 80s production. It seemed pretty cool back in 1983 but it hasn’t aged very well. Country radio wasn’t terribly impressed; the single barely cracked the Top 20 there, although it did do well on Billboard’s Dance chart, peaking at #13. After that, RCA seemed to lose interest in promoting the album and didn’t release any subsequent singles, which is a shame because there were several worthy candidates among the album cuts.

The upbeat “Jealous Heart”, one of the six tunes written by Dolly, is one of my favorites in this set and probably would have performed well as a single. Ditto for “One Of Those Days”, which, with its prominent steel guitar track is the most country-sounding offering here. “A Gamble Either Way” is an attempt to provide a back story for Miss Mona, the character Dolly played in The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, while “A Cowboy’s Ways” was apparently meant for Burt Reynolds to sing in the film. The best track on the album, however, is the beautiful and underrated “Appalachian Memories”, which tells the story of a poor Appalachian farm family that moves north in search of a better life, only to find that the prospects there weren’t as bright as they had hoped. A slightly re-tooled version, retitled “Smoky Mountain Memories” appears on Dolly’s 1994 live album Heartsongs.

Not surprisingly, the satin portion of the album works less well than the burlap. Among the pop tunes included are the lyrically light opening cut “Ooo-Eee”, which is about as close to a song about nothing that I have ever heard, and a cover of the classic “Send Me The Pillow That You Dream On.” The latter had been first released by Hank Locklin in 1949. That version failed to chart, but a 1958 re-recording made it to #5. Dolly’s version is very synthesizer-heavy, and her performance and that of the background singers provides a very dreamy, almost spacy kind of sound. It was apparently an attempt to make the country classic into a contemporary pop song, but it simply does not work. A cover of another country classic, a remake of “I Really Don’t Want To Know”, fares much better. Originally a pop hit in 1953 for Les Paul and Mary Ford, Eddy Arnold’s version topped the country charts later that same year. The main instrument on Dolly’s version is the synthesizer, but it is much less intrusive than on “Send Me The Pillow That You Dream On”, and does not sound particularly un-country by 1983 standards. Willie Nelson makes an appearance as Dolly’s duet partner. The two had scored a Top 10 hit the previous year when Willie’s vocal was added to “Everything’s Beautiful”, which Dolly had recorded for Monument Records some fifteen years earlier. The success of that single inspired them to join forces again for “I Really Don’t Want To Know.” They sound terrific together and it’s unfortunate that they didn’t do more duets together.

The album closes with the upbeat gospel tune “Calm On The Water”, which Dolly borrowed from a decade later when she wrote another gospel number “High and Mighty”, which was included on her 1993 album Slow Dancing With The Moon.

Burlap & Satin may have its flaws, but it is one of Dolly’s better efforts from an era which admittedly, is not representative of her best work. It was released on a 2-for-1 CD in Europe along with 1985′s Real Love. That version is now out-of-print but is available at obscene prices from third-party sellers on Amazon. Digital versions are available more economically from Amazon MP3 and iTunes.

Grade: B

Classic Rewind: Dolly Parton – ‘Tennessee Homesick Blues’

This #1 hit featured on the soundtrack of Dolly’s 1984 movie Rhinestone:

Week ending 7/23/11: #1 singles this week in country music history

1951: I Wanna Play House With You — Eddy Arnold (RCA)

1961: Heartbreak, USA — Kitty Wells (Decca)

1971: When You’re Hot, You’re Hot — Jerry Reed (RCA)

1981: Feels So Right — Alabama (RCA)

1991: Don’t Rock The Jukebox — Alan Jackson (Arista)

2001: I’m Already There — Lonestar (BNA)

2011: If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away — Justin Moore (Valory)

Classic Rewind: Dolly Parton – ’9 To 5′

Classic Rewind: Dolly Parton – ‘It’s All Wrong But It’s All Right’

A #1 hit in 1978:

Album Review – Dolly Parton – ’9 To 5 and Odd Jobs’

After her pervious album Dolly, Dolly, Dolly failed to fall in the good graces of her fans, Parton returned later that year with an album displaying what she does best – recording a mix of self-penned material and well-chosen covers. Heralded as a concept album about work, 9 to 5 is a companion piece to the movie of the same name in which Parton made her acting debut.

When the title track was released as a single in November of 1980, the trademark fusion of piano and horns meshed together to create one of country music’s campiest records. I’ve always enjoyed the individuality of this song, when it comes on the radio it’s unmistakable. And what amazes me, is the song doesn’t sound dated. The production is as timeless today (more than 30 years later) as the theme of getting your butt out of bed to work an eight-hour day.  It’s also among my favorites of Parton’s singles because it dared to be different. Like “On The Other Hand” and “Any Man of Mine,” it reinvented the notion of what a country song could be. (How often do you hear a typewriter on recorded music?) While it didn’t change the course of country music like the Travis and Twain singles, it added to the lineage of working people songs and employed the woman’s point of view for a change. The men have Johnny Paycheck’s “Take This Job and Shove It,” while the workingwomen’s anthem is “9 To 5.”

Parton garnered two Grammy Awards for “9 to 5” in the Best Female Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Song categories. She would also be nominated for her first Oscar, losing to the title song from “Fame.” The album would eventually be certified gold for shipments of 500,000 copies. In another feat, “9 to 5” would mark only the second time a female country artist would top the Billboard Hot Country Songs and Hot 100 charts with the same single. (The first was Jeannie C. Riley and “Harper Valley PTA”).

Listening to the album, the title track plus “Sing for the Common Man,” “Working Girl,” and “Poor Folks Town” all fit the “working” theme but I’d hardly regard this as a concept album. Instead, it’s an above average pop/country fusion that leaned heavily on the pop influences. Unlike the pop-country of today however, producer Mike Post smartly kept the production soft so the listener could appreciate the lyrical content of the tracks. I have nothing wrong with pop-leaning country music as long as its good, and 9 to 5 is just that.

Post leaned heavy on muscular guitars to give the album a more rock feel and it works. Gone are the soft string-filled arrangements from the 1970s that almost put the listener to sleep, and in its place is a livelier sound that works with Parton’s voice, and her personality as well. Tracks such as “Hush A-Bye Hard Times,” “The House of the Rising Sun” (a #14 peaking single for Parton), “Working Girl” and “Poor Folks Town” all fit this theme perfectly. The varying degree of rock production on these tracks command the listener’s attention, but “Sun” could’ve done without the gospel choir. It was interesting to hear that song with such full production as I’m used to more intimate renditions, especially from American Idol contestants. I kept thinking classic Abba when listening to that track, which may or may not be a good thing on an album from a country singer, but since I generally like the 70s Swedish group, it didn’t bother me.

As for the ballads, my favorite track on the album was also the most perplexing. The inclusion of “Dark as a Dungeon,” Merle Travis’s masterpiece about working in the mines, didn’t sit well with me in terms of placement. The only way I can justify its inclusion is it fits the working theme in that there are people who make their living working in mines. But such a dark song didn’t seem right on such a sunny album. But as a recorded track, “Dungeon” is the closest thing to hinting at Parton’s country roots on the whole album, and the light production suits her voice and is a welcome reminder that Parton is still a country girl at heart.

The other standout ballad, “Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)” hints at the influence Emmylou Harris had on the genre at the time. To me, it sounds just like a cover tune she would’ve placed on any of her 70s masterpieces, and acts almost as a foreshadowing of the two working together on the Trio projects. The mix of light piano and acoustic guitar complements Parton’s vocals perfectly and proves that less is often so much more.

Other tracks “But You Know I love You” (another #1 country hit) and “Detroit City” are also very good with “Love You” being my favorite of the two. I honestly don’t have much familiarity with the latter, the Mel Tillis penned, Bobby Bare classic, so I have nothing to compare it to, but Parton does an okay job with a song I believe is usually done more understated. It’s an example of where the rock arraignment fell short. The heavy guitars didn’t fit the song.

Overall, 9 To 5 and Odd Jobs is a very solid album from Parton. She sings the fire out of the songs and proved to me why she belongs as one of country music’s greatest female singers. I thought a couple of the tracks ended too quickly, but this was back then when two-minute songs were still popular. This time around, there’s nothing offensive about the song choices, lyrical content, or production. If you only know the title track, I would urge you to go ahead and pick up the album. It’s well worth the listen but skip the bonus tracks in the 2009 reissue. “Everyday People” is a bit too loud and brash in comparison to the rest of the project, and the two remixes of the title track are pointless drivel in comparison to the original. These three additions are not worth the download, if you don’t already have them.

Grade: A- 

9 to 5 and Odd Jobs is readily available from Amazon in both hard copy and download form, and on iTunes. 

Classic Rewind: Dolly Parton – ‘Here You Come Again’

“Here You Come Again” was Dolly Parton’s first pop hit, reaching #2 on the Adult chart, #3 on the U.S. Hot 100, and #1 on the Country Singles chart in 1977. It also propelled her first million-selling album. Here’s Dolly singing the song on a 2009 Christmas special.