Album Review: Dolly Parton – ‘My Tennessee Mountain Home’

By 1973, Dolly Parton had been an RCA recording artist for six years, and though she managed to score a few solo hits during that time, her records were still being received by radio on a rather hit-or-miss basis. One of her most successful records during this time was 1971′s autobiographical “Coat of Many Colors”, which may have provided the inspiration for My Tennessee Mountain Home, a concept album released in 1973, in which Dolly reminisced about her childhood in the Smoky Mountains.

It was common practice in the early 70s to build an album around one or two hit singles and to round it out with covers of other artists’ recent hits and filler songs for which the artist or producer held a share in the publishing rights. My Tennessee Mountain Home breaks with that tradition; each of its eleven tracks — all written by Dolly — deals with a specific memory of her life from her childhood through her early days in Nashville. It didn’t produce any major hits, but it is the most deeply personal album of Dolly’s career and as such, is one of the most important in her discography. it’s also one of those albums that needs to be listened to in its entirety in order to be fully appreciated.

The album opens with a recitation of a letter Dolly wrote to her parents shortly after her arrival in Nashville in 1964. She tries to reassure them that she is doing well and tells them not to worry, but it is also apparent that she is deeply homesick. From there she sings “I Remember”, a tribute to her parents and then focuses on specific objects she remembered from her youth, such as “The Old Black Kettle” her mother used to cook in or “Daddy’s Working Boots.” “Dr. Robert F. Thomas” is her homage to the physician who had long-served her rural community.

The centerpiece of the album is the title track, which was the only new single in the collection. Though it only reached #15 on the Billboard country singles chart, it has gone on to become a classic. It mainly deals with happy memories of her childhood. “In The Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)”, on the other hand, paints a decidedly bleaker picture in which Dolly seems a lot more conflicted about her past, talking frankly about illness, poverty and hunger. She sums up her feelings by saying:

No amount of money could buy from me the memories that I have of then,
No amount of money could pay me to go back and live through it again.

The song had first appeared in 1968 as the title track of Dolly’s second RCA album. It was released as a single at that time and reached #25 on the charts. A newly recorded version appears on My Tennessee Mountain Home and provides some balance to the mostly positive songs, as a reassurance to listeners that Parton wasn’t looking at her childhood through rose colored glasses. Merle Haggard covered the song and included it on his 1968 album Mama Tried.

The album concludes with “Down On Music Row”, in which Dolly discusses her early days in Nashville, visiting the Country Music Hall of Fame, The Grand Ole Opry,and standing on the front steps of the RCA offices of Chet Atkins and Bob Ferguson before they signed her to the label.

Legacy Recordings released My Tennessee Mountain Home on CD in 2007 as part of its American Milestones series along with a bonus track, “Sacred Memories” which originally appeared on Dolly’s 1974 album Love Is Like A Butterfly.

In the years since Dolly’s late 1970s crossover success, she has become something of a caricature, and jokes about her clothes, wigs, and makeup — not to mention certain other assets — have unfortunately sometimes overshadowed her music. My Tennessee Mountain Home stands as a testament to her strength as a songwriter and reaffirms that there is a lot more to Dolly Parton than meets the eye.

My Tennessee Mountain Home can be purchased from Amazon or iTunes.

Grade: A

Classic Rewind: Dolly Parton – ‘Muleskinner Blues’

Dolly’s first top 10 hit was this Jimmie Rodgers cover, which reached #3 in 1970:

Week ending 7/9/11: #1 singles this week in country music history

1951: I Want To Be With You Always — Lefty Frizzell (Columbia)

1961: Hello Walls — Faron Young (Capitol)

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

1981: I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool — Barbara Mandrell (MCA)

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

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

2011: Honey Bee — Blake Shelton (Warner Bros.)

Classic Rewind: Dolly Parton – ‘Daddy Come And Get Me’

Classic Rewind: Keith Whitley – ‘She’s Making Plans’

A live performance of a rare B-side:

Album Review: Dolly Parton – ‘Coat Of Many Colors’

Dolly’s seventh solo album for RCA, released in 1971, showcased her as a singer-songwriter in an age when artists customarily covered recent hits by others on their full-length albums. She penned seven of the the tracks, with mentor Porter Wagoner contributing the other three.

The title track is a genuine classic. The autobiographical tale was inspired by Dolly’s memories of growing up in acute poverty leavened with love, exemplified by one incident when clothing pieced together from rags is lifted in a child’s eyes by comparing it to the Biblical story of Joseph, a faith not shattered even by playmates’ derision. Dolly wrote the song on a tour bus, using the back of a dry cleaning receipt for another kind of coat of many colors – one of Porter Wagoner’s elaborate stage outfits. The original dress Dolly wore as a child is on view at Dollywood. The song cemented Dolly’s status as a rising star, following her first #1 hit ‘Joshua’ into the top 10, peaking at #4 on the Billboard country chart. It is still one of Dolly’s most iconic and best-remembered songs. Her pristine vocal is lovely, and this belongs in every serious country music collection.

‘My Blue Tears’ is a prettily harmonised Appalachian-style tune with a sad lyric which was the album’s other (minor) hit, reaching the top 20.

The funky ‘Travelling Man’ is told by a rebellious country girl making plans to run away with an older man selling goods door to door, only to be beaten to the elopement by her own mother. The song was re-recorded a few years later, when it became a top 20 hit. A better mother is addressed in Porter Wagoner’s ‘If I Lose My Mind’, which addressed a controversial topic. The pained ballad is sung by a wronged wife returning to the sure comfort of her mother’s arms after her husband tried to get her involved in wife-swapping.

Another highlight is the character assassination of the woman who has stolen Dolly’s man. He has been taken in by the woman’s wiles, but Dolly tells him, while magnanimously letting him go, ‘She Never Met A Man (She Didn’t Like)’ and he will find out the truth in time.

Other songs make less impact. ‘Early Morning Breeze’ and Porter’s ‘The Way I See You’ are pretty but insubstantial with a concentration on natural beauties. The idealistic ‘A Better Place To Live’ is positively hippyish, right down to the robust la-la-las, and could have been a Coke jingle.

Another Porter song, the religious ‘The Mystery Of the Mystery’ has a rather dated production. ‘Here I Am’ is repetitive filler.

Grade: B+

The album is easy to find on CD, sometimes with additional bonus tracks.

Classic Rewind: Dolly Parton – ‘My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy’

Classic Rewind: Dolly Parton – ‘In The Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)’

Album Review: Dolly Parton – ‘My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy’

Released in September 1969, My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy was Dolly’s third solo effort for RCA and her fourth solo album overall. At this stage of her career, she was still struggling to find her commercial breakthrough, having cracked the Top 20 as a solo artist only once, with the previous year’s “Just Because I’m A Woman.” Whereas her previous two albums had produced only one single each, My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy produced three, which suggests that RCA had some faith that they were on the right track. Indeed, it is a more consistent album than its somewhat uneven predecessors, and it charted higher, peaking at #6 on the Billboard country albums chart. However, none of the singles performed well on the charts, most likely due to their depressing and controversial — by 1969 standards — subject matter. Make no mistake, this album is no happy affair. The themes explored range from poverty, infidelity, and illegitimate birth to revenge, murder, suicide and prostitution.

In the first single, “Daddy”, Dolly is a young woman urging her father not to abandon her mother in favor of a woman who is younger than his daughter. One of her weaker efforts up to this point, it was an odd choice for lead single and it failed to gain much traction at radio, though it did manage to crack the Top 40 — the only single from the album to do so.

The second single was a cover of Mac Davis’ controversial “In The Ghetto”, which had been a recent hit for Elvis Presley. It tells the tale of the vicious cycle of crime and poverty in the inner city — a problem which has only worsened over the succeeding four decades. Likely considered too topical for country radio, it died at #50, despite an excellent performance which drew praise from Elvis himself. Equally controversial was the next single, the album’s title track, which tells the story of a young woman who leaves her rural home and the boy she loves for the bright lights of the city, only to find more than she bargained for and ultimately resorting to prostitution to survive. It performed slightly better than “In The Ghetto”, climbing to #45. Despite its commercial failure, it is relatively well known today thanks to its inclusion on a number of “best of” compilations over the years.

In addition to “Daddy” and the title tack, Dolly wrote three more of the album’s twelve tracks. In “Til Death Do Us Part”, the narrator commits suicide upon learning that her husband is leaving her for another woman. “Evening Shade” tells the story of an orphans home, in which the inhabitants seek their revenge by burning the place down while the cruel headmistress is sleeping inside. “Gypsy, Joe and Me” seems like a more lighthearted affair in the beginning, telling the story of a couple of free spirits and their dog. However, both the dog and the narrator’s partner meet with tragic ends, which ultimately leads the narrator to take her own life.

The fallen woman is a recurring theme throughout Parton’s early work, so it was somewhat surprising to learn that “Home For Pete’s Sake” is one of the tunes on the album which she did not write. On the other hand, it’s a little less surprising when one takes into account that this one actually has a happy ending. Unlike Dolly’s later composition “Down From Dover”, which would appear on the following year’s album, the protagonist in Rudy Preston’s “Home For Pete’s Sake” is welcomed home by her family and ex-boyfriend when she falls pregnant after moving to the big city.

Rounding out the set are covers of Joe South’s “Games People Play”, Jean Shepherd’s “We Had All The Good Things Going”, which had been a hit for Jean Shepherd, and Porter Wagoner’s “Big Wind”. While none of these can be said to be happy songs, they range from mid- to up-tempo and thus server to lighten the mood and save the album from becoming a total case of unabated misery.

The album’s cover art shows the cabin in Tennessee where Dolly grew up, and the gentleman posing as The Blue Ridge Mountain Boy is none other than Dolly’s husband, the reclusive Carl Dean. Bob Ferguson was credited as producer, but in reality, like all of Parton’s work from this era, My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy was produced by her mentor Porter Wagoner. At the time, RCA would only allow employees of the label to produce, so Ferguson got the credit even though he was rarely present in the studio when Parton and Wagoner were recording.

Bleak and somber though the subject matter may be, My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy is first rate from beginning to end and is worthy of a remastering and re-release. Unfortunately, it has never been released on CD, though used vinyl copies can be purchased. In addition, most the album’s tracks can be found on various hits compilations, and many of them can be individually downloaded.

Grade: A

Classic Rewind: Porter Wagoner – ‘Sorrow On The Rocks’

Classic Rewind: Doc Watson – ‘Tennessee Stud’

Classic Rewind: Dolly Parton – ‘Just Because I’m A Woman’

Week ending 7/2/11: #1 singles this week in country music history

1951: I Want To Be With You Always — Lefty Frizzell (Columbia)

1961: Hello Walls — Faron Young (Capitol)

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

1981: Blessed Are The Believers — Anne Murray (Capitol)

1991: The Thunder Rolls — Garth Brooks (Capitol)

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

2011: Honey Bee — Blake Shelton (Warner Bros.)

Classic Rewind: Dolly Parton – ‘Something Fishy’

Dolly makes her debut performance on the Porter Wagoner show in 1967 with her first top 20 single:

Classic Rewind: Johnny Cash – ‘Tennessee Flat Top Box’

Spotlight Artist: Dolly Parton

“Dolly Parton came from the mountains of Tennessee.  And she brought them with her.”  

That’s one of my favorite (and Dolly’s too) in the countless digs taken by the singer and scores of others over the years on the breadth of Dolly Parton’s famous figure.  Dolly wears the Smoky Mountains not just on her chest, but in her heart as well.  Even as she became one of the biggest stars in the world in the 1980s , and a pop culture icon, she has always remained a grounded, approachable country girl.  Recent years have seen her go back to her musical roots with a stunning trilogy of bluegrass albums, but not before she broke more chart and sales records than I can list here as one of the most consistent and best-selling mainstream country and pop stars of her generation.

Born Dolly Rebecca Parton, the fourth of twelve children to Avie and Robert Parton, on January 19, 1946, the young Dolly picked up her musical ambitions at an early age.  She began singing to a yard full of chickens and siblings by age 4, when she also began writing her first melodies and rhymes.  By age 9, she was appearing on a local Knoxville variety radio show, and by 13, had recorded her first single for the small Goldband Records, titled “Puppy Love”.  That record led to her first Opry appearance in 1959.  It would be another 5 years, following her high school graduation, before Dolly went to Nashville full-time to pursue her dreams.  There, she was signed to Fred Foster’s Monument label, primarily as a pop singer.  After having success as a songwriter on the country charts with “Put It Off Until Tomorrow” and “Fuel to the Flame” – both top 10 hits – Foster decided to pitch her to the country market.  Her first country singles didn’t blaze up the charts, but did get Music Row to talking about the curvaceous blonde with the bubbly personality and distinctive voice.

Through those first singles, Dolly caught the attention of country star Porter Wagoner, who at the time had his own syndicated network television show.  She joined the cast of The Porter Wagoner Show in 1967, where she earned her first taste of national recognition.  It was also through Porter that Dolly signed to RCA Records, her label home for the next 17 years.  By 1970, Dolly had scored 6 consecutive top 10 hits as Porter’s new duet partner, but was just beginning to blossom on her own.  A cover of Jimmie Rodger’s “Mule Skinner Blues” became her first solo top 10 that year, before she hit pay dirt with her own composition, “Joshua” going all the way to the top.  From there, Dolly began a run of hit singles that would continue for the next two decades.  But in 1974, she made the decision to exit Wagoner’s show, leaving the host more than disgruntled at her departure.  Wagoner later sued Parton for a sum of approximately $1 million.  In the midst of her leaving, Dolly penned one of the most hauntingly beautiful – and most successful – love songs of our time to tell Porter how she felt.  ”I Will Always Love You” has since hit the top spot on the country charts twice for Parton, and was the most-played pop song of 1993, thanks to Whitney Houston’s recording.

Throughout the rest of the 1970s, Dolly continued to churn out hits.  In 1977, she changed management teams and set her sights on the bright lights of Hollywood and the recognition that comes with crossover hits.  True to her word, her first attempt at crossing over, the timeless “Here You Come Again” went to #3 on the pop charts and held a lock on the country top spot for a month.  The album it came from also became Dolly’s first platinum album, but she was far from finished with million-sellers or the pop charts.  She racked up 2 more top 40 pop hits as the 1970s became the ’80s, before releasing the biggest hit of her career so far with the title track to her first motion picture.  ”9 to 5″  hit #1 all across the board, and also earned Dolly her first Oscar nomination for Best Original Song (she would repeat this nomination in 2006, though she lost both times).

As the 1980s dawned, Dolly Parton was a household name, thanks in no small part to countless mentions on late night talk shows like Johnny Carson, where during one appearance the late night king opined “I’d give a year’s pay to peek under that sweater” to an absolutely giddy Parton in the guest chair.  Following her co-starring role in 9 to 5, alongside the incomparable Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda, she would star with Burt Reynolds in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas in 1982, with Sylvester Stallone in the universally panned Rhinestone in 1984, and then with a host of strong female leads like Julia Roberts, Sally Field, and Shirley MacLaine in 1989′s now-classic Steel Magnolias.  During this period, Dolly’s chart success became more spotty, but she was still racking up hits throughout the decade, and ended the ’80s one a strong note with her best album in ages, and a pair of #1 hits.

Relegated to the status of elder statesman by the ’90s boom, Dolly would continue releasing new music, and charted another chart-topper in 1992, in a duet with Ricky Van Shelton.  She continued to regularly release new music, though radio was becoming less and less interested in her singles.  A 1998 album of contemporary country sounds failed to chart any singles, and Dolly took a sabbatical from contemporary country for nearly a decade afterwards, turning her attention to bluegrass and remakes of patriotic songs as well as standards.  She returned to mainstream country in 2008 with the much-heralded Backwoods Barbie, though still didn’t garner much love from country radio.  A 2006 “duet” with Brad Paisley, where Parton’s vocals are limited to high-in-the-mix harmonies, earned her the final #1 of her career so far.  ”When I Get Where I’m Goin’” became the 25th chart-topper of her career, a record at the time, and she is now tied with Reba McEntire as the female artist with the most career #1′s.

Building more than just a multimedia empire with her music and movies, Dolly has branched out in more venues than just about anyone else in show business.  In 1985, she opened her Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, TN.  Now in its 26th season, the park continues to grow and sees more than 2 million visitors annually.  She has also created the Imagination Library, which provides books to children from birth to age 5, in an effort to kickstart in them a love of reading the printed word.

Still busier than ever, Dolly recently wrote the music for a Broadway adaption of 9 to 5, which earned her first Tony nominations, and has just released her first new album in 3 years.  We’ll be looking over the many aspects of her storied career throughout July.  So keep reading as we explore the life and times of country music’s most beloved and most colorful character.