Search - Dolly Parton :: Here You Come Again

The beginning of the legend

Joey | London KY | 01/22/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The album that introduced Dolly to the world. She had long been a star in Nashville but this album let the world know about her awesome talent. I fell in love with Dolly's music when I first heard her sing "Here You Come Again on the CMA Awards. I was 13 years old and saved up my money for this album. It was well worth my allowances."

The Album that Launched a Superstar ....

John | Upstate NY | 06/09/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the album that made Dolly Parton a superstar ... a household name. Reading the previous reviews, it's amazing that some 20 years after its release, it still evokes such strong reactions from country purists. Even more amazing is that the album has held up so well -- better than most of her earlier country albums. By 1977, Dolly got her act together, left the stifling constraints of Nashville, and began working with some serious top-notch talent. The song selection is excellent -- from Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil's opening title track to the end (Kenny Rogers' "Sweet Music Man"). Some may complain that the disc only has four original songs from Parton, but what they failed to realize is the quality of these songs -- 3 of the 4 have become Parton classics ("Two Doors Down", "Me and Little Andy", and "It's All Wrong, But It's All Right"). Her earlier pure country albums may have had more songs penned by Parton, but many of these were mediocre album fillers at best.This album also focuses on Dolly the singer/song stylist. Nowhere is this more apparent than on the title track -- instead of forcing her to smooth out her vocals to appeal to the adult-oriented pop music of the day, producer Gary Klein lets Dolly's vibrato take center stage. For pop listeners (like myself) who were not familiar with Dolly's earlier work, this was indeed a bold move by an artist seeking commercial success. Throughout the disc, her vocals are warm, distinct, and direct.It would have been nice if this disc had also included the original version of "Two Doors Down", which is more low-key and includes another verse. I suspect that the universal success of the "Here You Come Again" single had surprised everyone, and "Two Doors Down" was revamped to push the country/pop boundary even further. The revised version is jazzed-up and flat-out funky... and fun!This is the album that turned me on to Dolly. She's written (and continues to write) some great songs -- both country and pop. Before "Here You Come Again" many of her albums tended to be disppointingly uneven -- a couple of gems mixed with predictable, bland filler. From "Here You Come Again" to "9 to 5 and Odd Jobs" in 1980, her pop albums were well-crafted, solid recordings that helped Dolly reach international superstardom. Her ability to adeptly cover so many musical genres should be applauded, not reviled."

My first Dolly album made her my favorite singer

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 09/01/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This was the first Dolly album that I bought when I started collecting records in 1977 and it certainly wasn't what I expected - but it was brilliant then, and still is. I remember thinking that it was as good as most singer's greatest hits, yet most of the songs for which Dolly was famous weren't even here. I immediately bought what I could of her other music, and she has been my favorite singer ever since.The album begins with Here you come again, now regarded as something of a classic and rightly so - it was written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weill, who also wrote You've lost that loving feeling (a song Dolly later recorded with Neil Diamond).Baby come out tonight is a lovely song, but I've never seen it on any compilation, nor have I ever come across any covers, so you need this album to get this song.It's all wrong but it's all right and Me and little Andy have become Dolly classics and both have been frequently re-issued.Lovin' you is a brilliant cover of a sixties song by the Lovin' Spoonful.Cowgirl and the dandy is a cover of Bobby Goldsboro's Cowboy and the lady with the words adapted - and it's wonderful. Brenda Lee also did a great cover of this song.Two doors down is yet another Dolly classic. It was a country top ten hit for Zella Lehr (who never repeated that success) but a pop hit for Dolly, after she re-recorded the song. It is the re-recorded version which appears here - the only available source (so far) for the original is the triple CD Legendary (an Australian import).God's coloring book is a gospel-flavored song which has been covered by bluegrass group The country gentlemen.As soon as I touched him is a power song which, like Baby won't you come out tonight, is also only available here.Sweet music man is a song written by Kenny Rogers, and which has been covered by several of the finest ladies in the history of country music. Dolly's version is brilliant and I also love Reba's more recent version, but my favorite version is by Tammy Wynette, who put in one of her best ever performances on this song. I think she probably related to the song because of her marriage to George Jones. Kenny may not have had George in mind when he wrote the song, but it could so easily have been about him.If this album is out of print, it will surely not stay that way - it was a landmark in Dolly's career, and her best pop album. It is far superior to the follup-up Heartbreaker, which had some brilliant songs, but also some rubbish. There's no rubbish here - it's all wonderful. Buy it - if you can find it."