No Dolly Parton thread? Well then -- classic or hyperclassic?

is the dolly parton vs loretta lynn good vs evil thing codified? dolly as the blonde wronged wife vs loretta as the raven world-weary other woman? e.g. "jolene" vs "coal miner's daughter" albums. east vs west coast w country songstresses?

no

well i'd like to officially codify it then.

that done, "here i am" is a stone cold classic. i can't stomach pop dolly.

you are mistaking Dolly & Loretta for Betty & Veronica, which is sooooo wrong.

that is a much better analogy than the rappers.

holy cow

er nevermind

i went to dollywood last month. i saw the actual Coat Of Many Colors. i almost cried tears of joy.

Backwoods Barbie, despite the kinda awful title, is really great. The FYC cover works better than the big pop covers on the bluegrass trilogy (e.g. "Shine", "Stairway").

It almost made my top ten that year.

And deservedly! I don't remember hearing of the songs on country radio in 2008, which is a pity. The songs would have sounded totally normal there.

I'm listening to the new box set now. Even her greatest hits albums were in disarray before this, in that there are so many of them that you might get stuck with rerecordings if you're careful (for instance, of "I Will Always Love You").

Well, the country old guard doesn't get played much except new old guard member George Strait.

You're right, but in Dolly's case I'd think there's room for an exception; never mind her extraordinary musical talent, she's a household name without compare in country.

been loving "love is like a butterfly" lately. ignored it for being to sweet for a long time, but there's some little turns in the melody that are fantastic and keep me glued.

"The Bargain Store" is my new favorite.

love that one too!

The really early sides on the box set are eye-opening; her voice was quite different on the first two songs, much higher. And the sound of the songs in the first half of that first disk is more like "Dumb Blonde" and the song "Don't Drop Out" (that you might know from the One Kiss Leads To Another Rhino box set from a few years back). That's to say, more girl group than honky tonk. Her range as an artist is broad (no pun intended), more like Ray Charles or Aretha Franklin than Merle Haggard or George Jones.

"the bargain store" is great. uses an a-minor/g-major progression similar to "jolene," she likes those minor chords.

my parents saw dolly at merlefest the year she put out that bluegrass album and LOVED her - they weren't expecting much one way or the other but they said she sang her heart out and had great stage presence, made light of herself and her "assets" continually until no one could hold them against her, and just basically won over a crowd of bluegrass purists who were probably ready to hate her guts at the slightest misstep...

i didn't really realize "here you come again" was her - i always liked that tune, maybe i should dig up some of her other stuff

Your digging will be amply rewarded.

There's a feeling I get when I look to the west---or at least, when I hear this song from 1975, on disk 3 of the box:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtaGkXvXHfA

http://www.omgblog.com/2010/08/omg_a_dolly_parton_fashion_sho.php

http://www.youtube.com/v/LNcDXOemlRA&border=1&color1=0xcc2550

pure gold. now i know what to wear to a hog roastin' or maybe a rooster fight in the country.

I love her new album!

OK so I am finally getting around to listening to The Grass is Blue, which I copied off my Mom on my last visit. This is my first time listening to Dolly other than on the radio.

First song fucking SLAYS, then side 1 sags for awhile until 'Steady As the Rain' and 'I Still Miss Someone' (a song which I'll listen to anyone's version of, frankly). Then 'Silver Dagger' fully kills it and holy crap the lyrics and affect of 'The Grass Is Blue'. This album has more than its share of awesome.

Grass is Blue and Little Sparrow are both great, I think I prefer the latter more except it has that Collective Soul song on it which, even though she acquits herself admirably with her take, is just such a shitty song.

The Grass is Blue is awesome in stretches.

"Heartbreaker" is generic L.A. crap but wow her performance.

i saw her in brisbane last year, she was completely wonderful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv90nFTTqqc

nice find! unusual to see her "dressed down" as it were. That 80s album with the three of them is okay.

she's a national treasure obviously

yeah, i love this.
my mom had the Trio tape in the car constantly when I was a kid, there is some nice stuff on there.

I need to buy Trio, right?

if you like these ladies singing together, yes!

surprised you don't have it tbh

haven't looked it up, but i bet you could get it for under a buck on CD over on amazon.

Trio is super. There's a sequel, too, and the duo album Emmy did with Linda, Western Wall, is OK, too, though more of a mode with the former's late stuff.

this clip is from way earlier than the Trio album obviously. I didn't know they had tried to do it initially in the 70s, probably would have been even better back then.

I've been on a Ronstadt kick and I tend to forget that record.

Actually, Shakes, the first Trio album has songs they cut in the seventies, held back by record company wrangling.

btw i found that clip via http://officialdollyparton.tumblr.com which has some pretty good dolly content.

like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc8qdjhJ6f0

beautiful video btw, thanks tyler
truncating fade-in applause at the end somehow the exact opposite of appreciation

Okay as long as this has been revived:

http://24.media.tumblr.com/20e1a4102aa27e25c1cd76649e780bde/tumblr_msl2snhLKF1qar3r2o1_500.jpg

layin' on the schmaltz but jesus christ how is it her voice is *still* this good
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTmi6v0Sy2s&feature=youtu.be

Don't know if it's actually true, but I've been told she wrote 'Jolene' and 'Coat..' on the same day. Imagine that.

'Why do you come in here looking like that' rules forever, by the way.

Beyond classic, of course. Amazing lady.

aw man I'm such a cornball, that made me kinda teary. What a set of pipes she has.

and Rogers don't sound bad either

yeah I was pleasantly surprised by old Kenny, I expected him to sound more ragged than he does

i saw her two years ago in brisbane and she was in astounding voice and also ridiculously gorgeous, her entire band and the audience were wreathed in cartoon hearts.

Heard the slowed down "Jolene" on the radio today.