by Ben Childers

The album opens with a Dolly original titled “Rockstar”, of course. The song features a spoken introduction where a young musician is told by her father to stop practicing her electric guitar because it’s too noisy. This leads into a rockin’ tune about dreaming of growing up to be a rockstar, with a special guest appearance by Richie Sambora. It’s an exhilarating opening that sets the stage for the songs and guests to follow. Track 2 is lead single “World on Fire”. This song sees Dolly being the most outspoken she has ever been about her views. This track was a great introduction to the album and gave Dolly a chance to speak up about politics and religion in a way she usually doesn’t. Track 3 is a cover of “Every Breath You Take” by The Police. Dolly is joined on this track by the band’s lead singer Sting. It’s pretty true to the original version, but Dolly makes the song her own. It’s one of the strongest covers on the album. This is followed by Journey’s “Open Arms” featuring Journey frontman Steve Perry on what can only be described as possibly the most moving cut on the record. Upon my first listen, I was completely sold on the project when I heard this track. Track 5 is Heart’s “Magic Man” featuring the band’s lead singer, Ann Wilson. While it stays pretty faithful to the original, it’s a really fun cover. Next up is Creedence Clearwater Band’s “Long as I Can See the Light” with the song’s composer and the band’s founder John Fogerty. The soulful track includes some great saxophone by Mark Douthit. Track 7 is another Dolly original titled “Either Or”, featuring Kid Rock. While all the covers are great, Dolly really shines on the original songs and this one is no exception. Steven Tyler guests on the next Dolly original, “I Want You Back”, which Dolly explained was written with him in mind to sing it with her. Stevie Nicks is featured on the next track, “What Has Rock and Roll Ever Done for You”, a fun song Nicks had written and recorded back in 1985 for her Rock a Little album, although it didn’t make the final track listing. Track 10 is a Dolly solo performance (a rarity on this record) on Prince’s “Purple Rain”. Dolly turns it up all the way up to 11 here, giving a phenomenal delivery of this classic song. Track 11 is a cover of “Baby, I Love Your Way” featuring the song’s originator and writer Peter Frampton. Up next is a fun cover of “I Hate Myself for Loving You” with Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. Track 13 is a cover of Bob Segar’s “Night Moves” featuring Chris Stapleton. It is an album highlight, although it sounds a little more country than the rest of the album, but still rock enough to not sound out of place. Next up Dolly covers goddaughter Miley Cyrus’ 2014 hit “Wrecking Ball” featuring a guest appearance from Miley. I love the way they incorporated bits of “I Will Always Love You” into their cover. Disc one closes with a cover of the Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” featuring P!nk and Brandi Carlile.

Vinyl Me, Please announced on Wednesday, November 8, that the next title to be released in addition to the Vinyl Me, Parton subscription is Honky Tonk Angels, the iconic collaboration album by Dolly, Loretta Lynn, and Tammy Wynette. Available on 180g Blue & Pink vinyl, this marks the first major release of the album on LP (it had a VERY limited release in Zimbabwe in 1993). It is being pressed at Memphis Record Pressing and comes in a reverse board, foil stamped jacket. Limited to 2,000 copies, the records will be individually numbered. The album is available for pre-order now and is expected to ship by March 2024.

I am beyond excited to add this album to my record collection! I’ve been dreaming of a vinyl release of this album for years. It’s one of my favorite Dolly records.

We’re one week away from the release of Rockstar! Have you pre-ordered your copy yet?

​September 12     Hello, I'm Dolly (1967)
September 13     Just Between You and Me (with Porter Wagoner) (1968)
September 14     Just Because I'm a Woman (1968)
September 15     Just the Two of Us (with Porter Wagoner) (1968)
September 16     In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad) (1969)
September 17     Always, Always (with Porter Wagoner) (1969)
September 18     My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy (1969)
September 19     The Fairest of Them All (1970)
September 20     Porter Wayne and Dolly Rebecca (with Porter Wagoner) (1970)
September 21     As Long as I Love (1970) / A Real Live Dolly (1970)
September 22     Once More (with Porter Wagoner) (1970)
September 23     Two of a Kind (with Porter Wagoner) (1971)
September 24     The Golden Streets of Glory (1971)
September 25     Joshua (1971)
September 26     Coat of Many Colors (1971)
September 27    The Right Combination • Burning the Midnight Oil (with Porter Wagoner) (1972)
September 28     Touch Your Woman (1972)
September 29     Together Always (with Porter Wagoner) (1972)
September 30     My Favorite Songwriter, Porter Wagoner (1972)
October 1             We Found It (with Porter Wagoner) (1973)
October 2             My Tennessee Mountain Home (1973)
October 3             Love and Music (with Porter Wagoner) (1973)
October 4             Bubbling Over (1973)
October 5             Jolene (1974)
October 6             Porter 'n' Dolly (with Porter Wagoner) (1974)
October 7             Love Is Like a Butterfly (1974)
October 8             The Bargain Store (1975)
October 9             Say Forever You'll Be Mine (with Porter Wagoner) (1975)
October 10           Dolly (1975)
October 11           All I Can Do (1976)
October 12           New Harvest...First Gathering (1977)
October 13           Here You Come Again (1977)
October 14           Heartbreaker (1978)
October 15           Great Balls of Fire (1979)
October 16           Dolly, Dolly, Dolly (1980)
October 17           Porter & Dolly (with Porter Wagoner) (1980)
October 18           9 to 5 and Odd Jobs (1980)
October 19           Heartbreak Express (1982) / The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982)
October 20           Burlap & Satin (1983)
October 21           The Great Pretender (1984) / Rhinestone (1984)
October 22           Once Upon a Christmas (with Kenny Rogers) (1984)
October 23           Real Love (1985)
October 24           Trio (with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt) (1987)
October 25           Rainbow (1987)
October 26           White Limozeen (1989)
October 27           Home for Christmas (1990)
October 28           Eagle When She Flies (1991) / Straight Talk (1992)
October 29           Slow Dancing with the Moon (1993) / Heartsongs: Live from Home (1994)
October 30           Honky Tonk Angels (with Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette) (1993)
October 31           Something Special (1995)
November 1        Treasures (1996)
November 2        Hungry Again (1998)
November 3        Trio II (with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt) (1999)
November 4        Precious Memories (1999)
November 5        The Grass Is Blue (1999)
November 6        Little Sparrow (2001)
November 7        Halos & Horns (2002)
November 8        For God and Country (2003) / Live and Well (2004)
November 9        Those Were the Days (2005)
November 10      Backwoods Barbie (2008) / Sha-Kon-O-Hey! Land of Blue Smoke (2009) / Live from London (2009)
November 11      Better Day (2011) / Joyful Noise (2012)
November 12      Blue Smoke (2014)
November 13      Pure & Simple (2016) / Live from Glastonbury 2014 (2016)
November 14      I Believe in You (2017) / Dumplin' (2018)
November 15      A Holly Dolly Christmas (2020)
November 16      Run, Rose, Run (2022)
November 17      Rockstar (2023)

by Ben Childers

The fourth record in Dolly's 'Vinyl Me, Parton' subscription is her 1968 studio album, Just Because I’m a Woman. The album is pressed on Canary Yellow Galaxy vinyl and comes in a standard LP jacket which stays true to the original pressing except that the frame around Dolly and the album's title have been embossed in gold. The album's sound quality is outstanding, again this album has been pressed from lacquers cut from tapes mastered by Ryan Sterling at Sterling Sound. This month's online exclusive liner notes were written by Natalie Weiner. Without a doubt, this often overlooked album in Dolly's discography is more than deserving to be highlighted in this series and to be looked at with new appreciation by fans new and old alike.
 
Just Because I'm a Woman was never a Dolly album that I gave much thought to apart from a few tracks. My original 1968 pressing was the first signed piece of Dolly memorabilia I ever acquired, so the album is special to me for that reason, but it is so much more than its title track. The album's title track and "The Bridge" are the only songs from the album that get much love from music critics and fans. Over the years, the album as a whole has gotten lost and all but forgotten among Dolly's vast discography. Hopefully this reissue breathes new life into the album for you the same way it has for me.
 
The album opens with a Parton composition titled "You're Gonna Be Sorry". The uptempo tune sees the narrator telling a would-be lover that someday she's going to move on and he's going to be sorry for missing his chance. Opening her first major label album with a self-penned tune of female empowerment was a bold move and an almost unheard of thing to do in 1968, but this wasn't even the most forward thinking song Dolly included on this album. Track 2, "I Wish I Felt This Way at Home", was written by Harlan Howard. This song is from the point of view of a woman who finds more love with another man than she finds in her own home. "False Eyelashes" follows, and much like "Dumb Blonde" from her previous album, it's hard to believe that Dolly didn't write this song. There's so much of her personality in this song about how the lives of celebrities aren't always what they seem. Six years before Dolly would write and record her iconic classic "I Will Always Love You", she wrote the comical "I'll Oilwells Love You" with her uncle Bill Owens. In this play on words, the narrator seeks to find "a rich man" and "love her way to fame". "The Only Way Out (Is to Walk Over Me)", written by Neal Merritt, is a more traditional female country ballad where the woman is begging her husband not to leave. Side one closes with "Little Bit Slow to Catch On". Written by Curly Putman (writer of the previously mentioned "Dumb Blonde"), this fun little song is about being a little slow to realize you're being cheated on, but once you do you're "caught on" and leave.
 
Side two opens with a more serious and somber song. "The Bridge", written by Dolly, is one of the songs from this album that has received the most attention and commentary over the years. The song sees a girl and boy meeting on a bridge and falling in love. The girl eventually becomes pregnant and the boy leaves her. Rather than go through the pregnancy alone the girl returns to the bridge and jumps to her death. It's extremely heavy subject matter for 1968 and it's honestly shocking that the song ever saw the light of day. Track 8 is a ballad written by Uncle Bill Owens titled "Love and Learn". This song talks about having to learn hard lessons in love by being hurt many times before eventually finding the right partner. This is followed by another Bill Owens composition, the uptempo "I'm Running Out of Love", which discusses the feeling of being fed up with your partner's selfish and unloving ways. Track 10 is the album's title track, "Just Because I'm a Woman". It is one of Dolly's earliest feminist songs (whether she wants to call it that or not). Dolly explained that she wrote the song as a response to her husband asking her if she had ever been with a man before him, and his subsequent reaction to her answer. The song analyzes the double standard where women are expected to remain pure for marriage and men are not held to the same standard. Track 11 is "Baby Sister". Written by Shirl Milete, this song is the lament of a big sister to her younger sister who has become a drunk in response to being let down by her boyfriend. The album closes with "Try Being Lonely", written by Buck Trent and George McCormick who were members of Porter Wagoner's band and television show. 

Produced by Bob Ferguson and an uncredited Porter Wagoner, this album stands tall among Dolly's early work. It shows off her unmatchable skill as a songwriter and her ability to convey emotion through the words of others. The inclusion of "The Bridge" and "Just Because I’m a Woman" show that Dolly was out to blaze her own path from the very beginning. 

Next month will see the 'Vinyl Me Parton' reissue of Dolly's 1980 album, 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs.

If you haven't already, sign-up for 'Vinyl Me, Parton' today!

July 5, 2014: "I Believe in You" is released as a free download promotional single to promote Dolly's Imagination Library through her official website. The release was intended to precede the 2014 release of Dolly's first children's album which saw a limited release in 2015. The single would be released commercially in 2017 preceding the album's commercial release.

Vinyl Me, Please announced on Thursday, June 29, the second Dolly album they will be issuing in addition to the previously announced 12 titles in the Vinyl Me, Parton subscription. Dolly's 2003 ode to America, For God and Country, is being released on vinyl for the first time. The 18-track album has been pressed on "Red, White, and Bluegrass" vinyl and is limited to 2,000 copies which will be numbered. The album is exclusive for Vinyl Me, Please members (for $40) until noon on Saturday, July 1, when it will become available to non-members (for $45). It is showing on their website as In Stock, so it looks like it's ready to ship out now! The release of For God and Country follows closely on the heels of the release of Pure & Simple, which began shipping out yesterday (June 28), following it's pre-order being announced in March.

To order your copy of For God and Country, click here!