All Artists:Stella Parton Title:Anthology Members Wishing: 2 Total Copies: 0 Label:Renaissance Original Release Date: 10/13/1998 Re-Release Date: 11/3/1998 Genres:Country, Pop Style: Number of Discs: 1 SwapaCD Credits: 1 UPC:630428021525
CD Reviews
A pleasant surprise
Nick of Midland | 07/10/1999
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I'd honestly never heard Stella Parton before buying this compilation. All I really knew about her was the mere fact she had some moderately successful country records in the 70s and 80s. Not expecting much at all, I was utterly surprised at how much I really enjoyed this disc. Stella Parton creates some beautiful harmonies on such hits as "I Want to Hold You in My Dreams Tonight", "I'm Not Good at Goodbyes" and "Cross My Heart". With a voice similar to that of her famous sister, Parton indeed has her own style- making for some great country music. One note, however. Some of these tracks are re-records of her actual hits, so buy with caution. Throughly enjoyable is this collection."
Buy only if you like rerecords
Nick of Midland | Midland | 02/15/2004
(1 out of 5 stars)
"I am a big Stella fan and have many of her songs on '45. So I was delighted to see an anthology and could hear the old songs again without the scratches. Was very disappointed as the songs, especially the hits are rerecords. If you like the original songs, don't buy this album. If you don't really care, then the songs are close enough to be a good listen."
Don't buy this CD
Larry Wisse | 04/16/2003
(1 out of 5 stars)
"In case any of you have ever had a chance to hear the ORIGINAL versions of these songs, you might agree Stella's pretty good, though not as good as her sister. She had a string of Top 20 Country hits in the late 1970's that included one Top 10, therefore defining herself as a Nashville talent. Nevertheless, the normally incredible Renaissance pulled a fast one here and they obviously think that buyers are too stupid to realize it. These are ALL rerecordings of her music. So, if you want to try Stella, buy a record before you buy this waste of a CD."
Brilliant but under-rated singer
Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 04/13/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Several of these tracks (including the hits) are re-recordings that first appeared on a CD titled Favorites Vol 1 (there never was a Vol 2), but they are superbly done and the originals are even harder to find on CD than this collection. Indeed, some of the originals have never been released on CD at all. To those of you who must have the originals, look elsewhere or wait for another CD release that may take years to appear, if it appears at all. For those who simply want to hear some of Stella's great music on CD, this is brilliant.
Stella began her career superbly with the top ten country hit, I want to hold you in my dreams tonight (here as a re-recording). It seemed that she was going to succeed despite being Dolly's sister. Although she had more country hits in the late seventies, Stella never had the level of success that her talent merited. Nevertheless, she recorded a series of brilliant albums and continues to do so. This anthology bring together some of her best music.
Stella's first album, released on a small label, contained not only I want to hold you in my dreams tonight, but also Ode to Olivia (sadly not included here), a song about the state of country music back then - more than twenty years before Alan Jackson and George Strait sang about Murder on Music Row.
After that, Stella was signed up to a major label and recorded three fantastic albums that I played frequently at the time. As these represent the most successful period of her career, it may seem surprising that only seven tracks from them are included here (tracks 2 to 7 and track 11) but clearly Renaissance did not have access to the original masters, so the only songs they could include were re-recordings. Among those tracks are Danger of a stranger (a top forty pop hit in Britain), Stormy weather (a cover of a Leo Sayer song) and Steady as the rain (written by Dolly, but not recorded by her until twenty years later - eventually as a track on Grass is blue, but very different from Stella's version).
Despite the high quality of those albums, they did not sell enough. Since then, Stella has recorded for various small labels and those recordings make up the other fifteen tracks. These tracks include fine covers of the fifties classic Young love and Bruce Hornsby's Mandolin rain. There is a great fun song (Legs) that was the only new song on that Favorites Vol 1 collection from which the re-recordings are taken. There area also some lovely romantic songs, often co-written by Stella. Some of the later songs are also re-recordings but some are originals.
Despite several of the songs being re-recordings, this is a brilliant anthology, well worth looking for."
High Energy Music From A Great Entertainer
Larry Wisse | Marysville, Oh United States | 08/04/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This CD is a collection of great music that is very well done. I love the arrangements of each tune. Stella singing is right on and she sings each tune with high energy and much feeling, making this cd a pleasure listen to over and over again. The song "Legs" is great fun. "Mandolin Rain" and "Like Lovers Do" are my favorites on this CD."