Search - Dolly Parton :: Legendary

What a great introduction to this artist

magnoliavillage | Seattle, WA USA | 03/11/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I'll start by saying, I am no fan of country music. However, as a kid, I had limited exposure to the country music of the late '60s/early 70's thanks to my dad's weekly viewing of Hee Haw... Torture. Having said that, that's what I consider to be country, Buck Owens, Roy Clark, George Jones, Willie Nelson, Tammy Wynette, Lynn Anderson, Charlie Pride, etc... Again, I'm NO fan of country, but I'm vaguely aware of its past performers.



Today, I find the whole "Country" scene to be very contrived and the only stars I'm aware of are the ones that get any media coverage. Garth, Shania, Randy Travis... and that's about it. Is it rock, is it country? Who cares?



Not having any interest at all in country music, I bought this collection for several reasons:

1. I knew some of Dolly's big, early hits (Jolene, Coat of Many Colors. Hadn't heard them for years, but I knew her early work is held in high regard and wanted to hear for myself what all the hype was about.

2. Wanted to hear the original version of "I Will Always Love You".

3. This collection had a LOT of music for the money. Best bang for your buck. I couldn't pass up this collection. Cheapness does have its rewards!



This has turned out to be one of the biggest surprises in my collection. While not every song is great (and some are quite bad), by and large, this is a fantastic set of songs. The ones one I tend to like best are the ones I assume to be from early in her career. The emotion that comes through on the early songs really strikes the listener with an authenticity that is rarely heard in music. The low point in the collection would have to be the songs that seem to have been recorded in the 80's; mostly light-weight fluff that does not strike an emotional connection with the listener.



Dolly successfully projects a wide range of emotions in this collection: humor, sadness, rejection, strength, vulnerability, joy, sensuality. It's hard to listen to this music and not like the artist as a person.



Oh, by the way, in my opinion, Dolly's version of "I Will Always Love You" smokes Whitney's version. Dolly's version truly conveys the emotion of the song (sadness), whereas all you notice with Whitney's version are her vocal abilities (which, admittedly, are impressive). This is not a love song (in the traditional sense, anyway).

"

Superb! Varied and Surprising!

zekecake | 12/05/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you are new to the delights of Dolly's wonderful talent this is an excellent place to start. This contains many familiar radio songs, a few songs she wrote that became big hits for other artists (such as Jolene and I Will Always Love You) plus a host of songs spanning a good majority of the ladies career. She is displayed as a fine singer, superlative interpreter and skilled songwriter.The range of songs spans from the Country Disco of her late 70's early 80's material, to early material that hints at the direction she has recently returned to with her most recent releases. But nestled among these are a surprising variety of styles, all equally suited to her dynamic and flexible voice.As someone who has recently discovered Dolly as an artist (and not simply the bosomy, bewigged sexpot that has long been her media image) this collection comes as a revelation. It has wetted my appetite for more of her early work as well as referenced her new material such as Little Sparrow and Halos and Horns which stand as the finest folk albums of recent times.Dolly, to these ears, is arguably America's finest folk singer in the purest sense of the term. Her music comes from her roots and these are pure Tennesee Mountain bluegrass. The diversity of styles shows how far modern popular music has taken these original roots and broadened them into a very wide range indeed.You may not like all of this material (a few of them fall a little too far on the side of country MOR for my taste) but you have to admire the spirit that created it and when it comes down to it, most of this collection is essential.Wonderful stuff."