 Album cover. Decca (DL 74897) (1967) Image credit: greenshields at discogs.com May 29, 1967: Bill Philips released his second studio album, Bill Phillips' Style. The album included the first recorded version of the Dolly and Bill Owens composition, "The Company You Keep" (Dolly's version would be included on her debut album in September 1967), in addition to another Parton–Owens composition, "Friends Tell Friends", which features harmony vocals by Dolly. The album peaked at number 43 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.  Album cover. Columbia (CK 44384) (1989) May 30, 1989: Dolly released her twenty-ninth solo studio album, White Limozeen. The album peaked at number three on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.  Cassette tape single cover. Hollywood (HR-64745-4) (1992) Image credit: d_k_ray at discogs.com June 1, 1992: "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" is released as the second single from the Straight Talk soundtrack album.
 Album cover. Rounder (11661-0580-2) (2006) May 23, 2006: Rhonda Vincent released her All American Bluegrass Girl album featuring Dolly on "Heartbreaker's Alibi". The album peaked at number 43 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and number one on the Billboard Bluegrass Albums chart.  Single cover. Dolly / Warner Music Nashville (digital single) (2011) May 23, 2011: Dolly released "Together You and I" as the first single from her forty-third solo studio album, Better Day. The single peaked at number 67 on the UK Singles chart. She had previously recorded the song as a duet with Porter Wagoner on their Porter 'n' Dolly album in 1974.  45 single, Side A. RCA Victor (47-9994) (1971) Image credit: spidey2 at 45cat.com May 24, 1971: "The Right Combination" is released as the first single from Porter Wagoner and Dolly's seventh collaboration album, The Right Combination • Burning the Midnight Oil. The single peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
 Album cover. Columbia (CK 57584) (1994) May 17, 1994: Julio Iglesias released his Crazy album featuring a duet with Dolly on "When You Tell Me That You Love Me". The album peaked at number 30 on the Billboard 200.  Single cover. Debbie Cochran (digital single) (2017) May 17, 2017: Debbie Cochran released "Born Again Wildflower", featuring Dolly, as a single from her album of the same name.  45 single, Side A. RCA Victor (74-0172) (1969) Image credit: Louval at 45cat.com May 19, 1969: "Always, Always" is released as the second single from Porter and Dolly's album of the same name. The single peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
by Ben Childers  Image credit: Vinyl Me, Please The second record in Dolly's 'Vinyl Me, Parton' subscription is Dolly's Grammy-nominated 2001 album, Little Sparrow. The album is pressed on beautiful Lavender Galaxy vinyl, housed in a double gatefold jacket. The album jacket is printed on sturdy matte finished cardboard. The matte finish is a nice touch and is reminiscent of the packaging of the US digipack CD pressing from 2001. With mastering handled by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound, the album has never sounded better. Rounding out this first-time vinyl release is new online liner notes written by Nashville-based writer, Brittany McKenna. Check out the unboxing video at the end of this review! Little Sparrow makes a great follow-up to last month's My Tennessee Mountain Home. Where My Tennessee Mountain Home almost solely focuses on Dolly's childhood, Little Sparrow touches on all aspects of her life and career. The second album in Dolly's critically acclaimed bluegrass trilogy, Little Sparrow sees Dolly putting her own bluegrass touch on gospel and rock, mixed in with bluegrass and folk music. The album's melding of these genres creates what Dolly has termed "mountain music." Little Sparrow is among my favorites in Dolly's discography. This is an album that I come back to often during walks at the Natchez Trace or on a drive toward Cades Cove in the Smokies. It's the perfect album to listen to in nature. I actually don't remember the first time I heard the album, but the bluegrass trilogy has been among my favorites since I was first discovering Dolly's music. The album opens with the title track, "Little Sparrow". This is an original Dolly composition which she wrote to sound like an old-timey mountain song. She said she drew inspiration for the song from "Fair and Tender Maidens" and "Silver Dagger" (which she recorded on The Grass Is Blue in 1999) and based it on "that theme of the mistreated, broken love affair." Track 2 is Dolly's Grammy-winning cover of Collective Soul's "Shine". Dolly was inspired to cover this song after hearing the song on the radio with her husband, Carl. She said she had always thought when hearing the guitars that it would make a great song "with just a mandolin or some simple sound with that." Side A closes out with a cover of the Louvin Brothers classic, "I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby", which was written by Autry Inman. Dolly had previously recorded this song as a duet with Porter Wagoner for their 1969 album, Always, Always. Side B begins with an updated version of "My Blue Tears, a song Dolly originally wrote and recorded for her 1971 album, Coat of Many Colors, and would later provide harmony vocals, along with Emmylou Harris, on Linda Ronstadt's cover for her 1982 album, Get Closer. One of Dolly's best compositions, this new version is an album highlight. A cover of Steve Young's "Seven Bridges Road" follows. It had been previously covered by Eddy Arnold, Joan Boaz, and the Eagles, among others. Dolly said in her track-by-track of the album in 2001 that she chose to record the song because she had always loved it, but had never heard the harmony sung by girls. The Isaacs provide harmony on this version and it is a definite album highlight. "Bluer Pastures" was almost the album's title track. The song tells the story of someone who left home and their partner to find better things, but in the end comes back home disappointed, hoping their partner will still be waiting. Side B closes with "A Tender Lie", a song so filled with emotion that Dolly said she cried the first time she heard it. "I Get a Kick Out of You" opens Side C. Written by Cole Porter, the song was originally performed in the 1934 Broadway musical, Anything Goes. Dolly said she was inspired to cover the song after hearing her husband play a Frank Sinatra recording of it. "Mountain Angel" follows and is one of my favorite Dolly songs of all time (and one of Dolly's favorites on the album). About a young girl who never recovers from a broken heart, it is one of the best story songs Dolly has ever written. If there is ever a season two of Dolly's Heartstrings series on Netflix, I hope this song is included. "Marry Me" ends Side C and is a fun, up-tempo song in an old-fashioned barn dance style. Side D begins with an updated version of Dolly's 1970 song, "Down from Dover". In this new version there is an additional verse which was omitted from the original on The Fairest of Them All. Dolly explained in the 2001 track-by-track that the original song was so long that Porter asked her to remove some of the verses and that she was happy to finally be able to present the song in its entirety. The next track is "The Beautiful Lie", an Amazing Rhythm Aces cover. The penultimate track is a hauntingly beautiful cover of the gospel standard "In the Sweet By-and By", featuring verse sung in Irish by Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh of Irish group Altan. The album closes with a short instrumental reprise of "Little Sparrow" with some vocalizing my Dolly. Little Sparrow was produced by Steve Buckingham and is dedicated to Dolly's father, Robert Lee Parton, who passed away two months before the album's release. It is a beautiful album and one of my favorites. The undeniable heart of the bluegrass trilogy, it is an absolutely essential Dolly album. Next month will see the 'Vinyl Me, Parton' reissue of Dolly's 2014 studio album, Blue Smoke. If you haven't already, sign-up for Vinyl Me, Parton today! Click here to read Dolly's complete 2001 track-by-track of the album on the Internet Archive.  Ben Childers is the administrator of The Dolly Parton Discography. A native of Tupelo, Mississippi, he grew up taking family vacations to the Smokies and Dollywood. His love for Dolly and her music reached a fanatical level in April 2013. After spending countless hours researching and cataloging Dolly's musical output, he decided to open a website dedicated to her discography.
 Album cover. Butterfly / Big Machine Label Group, LLC (2023) Dolly's new album, Rockstar, will be released on November 17, 2023. The album includes nine original songs and 21 covers of classic rock songs, featuring guest appearances from some of the biggest rock legends and today's hottest artists! The album will be available on 2xCD, 4xLP, digital download, and streaming. There are currently seven announced variants of the LP release with various covers and vinyl colors. Links to pre-order all release variants will be listed at the end of this post! Across the album's 30 tracks are appearances from Sting, Steven Tyler, Stevie Nicks, Debbie Harry, Miley Cyrus, P!nk, Lizzo, and many more! The biggest collaboration on the album may be the reunion of surviving Beatles members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr on a cover of "Let It Be". Notably missing is the original song "Rockin'" which Dolly performed at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony last fall. Dolly's official store is also offering box sets for the CD, clear vinyl, and clear red vinyl variants which include a t-shirt and a sticker housed in an exclusive road case box. The lead single, "World on Fire", will be released Thursday, May 11, and will be performed live for the first time at the ACM Awards the same day! “I’m a rockstar now!” Track listing:
ReleasesFormat / Title (variant info)
 45 single, Side A. Monument (45-1007) (1967) Image credit: plerner at 45cat.com May 8, 1967: "Something Fishy" is released as a single. The song peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and would be included on Dolly’s debut album, Hello, I’m Dolly, in September.  Album cover. Curb (D2-78707) (2001) May 8, 2001: Hal Ketchum released his seventh studio album, Lucky Man. The album includes a duet with Dolly on "Two of the Lucky Ones".  Album cover. Vanguard / Combustion Music (79586-2) (2001) May 8, 2001: The Songcatcher soundtrack album is released. It includes an original song by Dolly titled "When Love Is New". The album peaked at number 42 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and number 31 on the Billboard Independent Albums chart.
 Single cover. G-Force Music (digital single) (2019) May 1, 2019: Ronnie Milsap released his duet with Dolly on an updated version of his hit song, "Smoky Mountain Rain", to Country radio as a single. It was released as a single to Adult Contemporary radio in June and peaked at number 27 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.  Album cover. RCA Victor (AHL1-4691) (1983) May 2, 1983: Dolly released her twenty-fifth solo studio album, Burlap & Satin. The album peaked number five on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.  Album cover. On the Lamb (VE 15115) (2000) May 2, 2000: Kathie Lee Gifford released her Born for You album. Dolly provides backing vocals on two tracks, "Born for You / Circle Game" and "Only My Pillow Knows".
Bebe Rexha released her third studio album, Bebe, on Friday, April 28. The album's closing track, "Seasons", a duet with Dolly, was issued as a single the same day, alongside its music video. The black and white video compliments the song perfectly. Check it out below! Vestal Goodman's 1999 duet with Dolly on "Satisfied" from her Vestal & Friends album was reissued digitally on Friday also. This marks the song's first availability on digital platforms. Listen to it below!
 UK 45 single, picture sleeve. CBS (DOLLY 2) (1989) Image credit: musicman56 at 45cat.com April 24, 1989: "Why'd You Come in Here Lookin’ Like That" is released as the first single from Dolly's twenty-ninth solo studio album, White Limozeen. The single peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.  45 single, Side A. RCA Victor (PB-10652) (1976) Image credit: 45stalker at 45cat.com April 26, 1976: "Is Forever Longer Than Always" is released as a stand-alone single. It would be Porter and Dolly's final duet single until 1980. It peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.  45 single, picture sleeve. RCA (PB-14058) (1985) Image credit: Beatlefan at discogs.com April 29, 1985: "Real Love", a duet with Kenny Rogers, is released as the second single from Dolly's album of the same name, her twenty-seventh solo studio album. The single peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.  45 single, Side A. RCA Victor (74-0950) (1973) April 30, 1973: "Traveling Man" is released as the only single from Dolly's twelfth solo studio album, Bubbling Over. A re-recording of a song Dolly had written and originally recorded for her 1971 album, Coat of Many Colors, the single peaked at number 20 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
by Ben Childers  Image credit: Vinyl Me, Please The first record in Dolly's 'Vinyl Me, Parton' subscription is her autobiographical 1973 album, My Tennessee Mountain Home. I received the record yesterday and it is stunning! The packaging is top notch and exceeds all expectations. The cover art is crisp a welcome upgrade to my original 1973 copy. Pressed on 180g Smoky Mountain Galaxy colored vinyl, the LP is vibrant and the audio is breathtakingly clear, thanks to remastering by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound. Check out the unboxing video at the end of this review! My Tennessee Mountain Home is the perfect record to begin the 'Vinyl Me, Parton' subscription. The album, which celebrated its 50th anniversary on April 2, serves as a simultaneous introduction to both Dolly the artist and Dolly the person. Coincidentally, this month also marks 10 years since I fell in love with Dolly (after having gone to Dollywood several times throughout my youth and even seeing Dolly in a parade there). When I first immersed myself in Dolly's music I "inherited" (i.e. "pilfered and claimed as mine") several of her records from my grandparents record collection. Among those records was an original 1973 pressing of My Tennessee Mountain Home. I remember listening to this album for the first time in my small apartment in Oxford. The record took me on a journey through Dolly's formative years in the Smokies and once I had finished listening, I had a better understanding of who Dolly is. I could visualize it all, from the pain of leaving her home to pursue her dreams in Nashville to her mama's old black kettle and her daddy's working boots to her appreciation of how the bad times helped shape her as a person. The album opens with a spoken word track titled "The Letter", which is the first letter Dolly wrote back home to her parents after leaving for Nashville the day after her high school graduation. The letter sees Dolly telling her parents that she made it to Nashville okay, even though she is homesick for them and her noisy siblings. It paints a picture of a determined young woman ready to chase her dreams. This is followed by "I Remember", a song about Dolly's reminiscences of her parents during her childhood. She sings of remembering her mama's homemade gingerbread, her daddy's homemade toys, and how her parents filled the small home with love. The third track is "Old Black Kettle" and it follows in the same vein as the previous song, with Dolly reminiscing on moments and experiences from her childhood, specifically her mother cooking in an old black kettle on a stove with a broken door that had to be held closed with a "fork-ed" stick, which was eventually replaced with an electric range. The next track is dedicated to Dolly's dad, who she has often referred to as the smartest man she's ever known, despite the fact that he could not read or write. "Daddy's Working Boots" is an ode to her hard-working father and how the wear and tear on his boots are evidence to his hard work to support his family. Track 5 is dedicated to Dr. Robert F. Thomas and concludes Dolly's dedications to the most important figures in her life. Dr. Thomas delivered Dolly and was paid with a bag of cornmeal (and as Dolly says, she's "been raking in the dough ever since!"). The song tells how he delivered babies and cared for the people in East Tennessee, even when he had to travel by horseback or on foot to reach those who lived way back in the mountains where there were no roads. A re-recording of her 1969 single, "In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)", from the album of the same name, follows. In the song Dolly states that while she is thankful for the bad times, no amount of money could convince her to go back and live through them again. Side two begins with the album's title track (and only single), "My Tennessee Mountain Home". The centerpiece of this concept album, it paints a beautiful picture of what a typical day was like for a young Dolly. The song makes mention of honeysuckle vines, eagles, songbirds, church, and porch swings. "The Wrong Direction Home" is sung by a homesick Dolly reminiscing on her mountain home, while having the go in the "wrong direction home" to follow her dreams. The next song, "Back Home", is about exactly what it sounds like. In the song Dolly is going back home to visit her parents in the Smokies after having been gone for some time. The penultimate track, "The Better Part of Life", calls back to the themes of "In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)". The track shows Dolly feeling nostalgic for the swimming holes, possum grapes, and muscadines of her childhood. The album closes with "Down on Music Row", which recounts Dolly's first days in Nashville. She describes eating a stale sweet roll outside RCA, washing her face in the fountain at the Country Music Hall of Fame, and being turned down by record executives' secretaries who suggested she leave a tape and not wait to see them in person. The song even includes shout-outs to Chet Atkins and Bob Ferguson, who helped Dolly along her way to stardom. The album's cover was photographed by Dolly's uncle, Louis Owens, and depicts the house the Parton's lived in during the late 1940s and early 1950s. They had moved to another home by the time Dolly was in the third or fourth grade. The home was built in 1901. Dolly bought the property in 1987 and filmed a segment for her 1987 TV series on the front porch with her parents prior to restoring the home. The restored home can be seen briefly in Dolly’s 1990 TV Special, Christmas at Home. Overall, this ranks as one of Dolly's best albums from the early part of her career. She wrote every track on the album and it serves as an introduction to what Dolly is all about. If someone asked me what albums I would recommend to someone who had never heard a Dolly Parton album before, this album would definitely be among them. The album was produced by Bob Ferguson. Her parents, Lee and Avielee Parton, wrote the original liner notes. The 'Vinyl Me, Parton' re-issue includes new liner notes by Amileah Sutliff (available online through the Vinyl Me, Please website). Next month will see the first-ever vinyl release of Dolly's 2001 bluegrass album, Little Sparrow! If you haven't already, sign-up for Vinyl Me, Parton today!  Ben Childers is the administrator of The Dolly Parton Discography. A native of Tupelo, Mississippi, he grew up taking family vacations to the Smokies and Dollywood. His love for Dolly and her music reached a fanatical level in April 2013. After spending countless hours researching and cataloging Dolly's musical output, he decided to open a website dedicated to her discography.
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AdministratorBen Childers is the administrator of The Dolly Parton Discography. A native of Tupelo, Mississippi, he grew up taking family vacations to the Smokies and Dollywood. His love for Dolly and her music reached a fanatical level in April 2013. After spending countless hours researching and cataloging Dolly's musical output, he decided to open a website dedicated to her discography. 
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