Review: 'Vinyl Me, Parton' Record of the Month, 'Just Because I'm a Woman'

by Ben Childers

Image credit: Vinyl Me, Please

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!

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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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