The Essential Dolly Parton [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

Dolly Parton

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 28, 2005)
• Original Release Date: June 28, 2005
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B0009S2THU
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #59,142 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Dumb Blonde

2. Just Because I'm a Woman

3. My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy

4. Mule Skinner Blues (Blue Yodel No. 8)

5. Joshua

6. Coat of Many Colors

7. Touch Your Woman

8. My Tennessee Mountain Home

9. Jolene

10. Please Don't Stop Loving Me - Dolly Parton, Porter Wagoner

See all 18 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Here You Come Again

2. Two Doors Down

3. Heartbreaker

4. I Really Got the Feeling

5. You're the Only One

6. Starting Over Again

7. Old Flames Can't Hold a Candle to You

8. 9 to 5 [From 9 to 5]

9. But You Know I Love You

10. Single Women

See all 19 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is a good highlight of her RCA years, but...., July 27, 2005

By	James Fenos "music freak" (Columbus, OH United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Being released on the newly formed Legacy/BMG merged label, one would think Legacy would try to feature more songs from their vaults and tracks recorded from her brief stint with UMG. While the mastering of this cd with her over compiled recordings from RCA sound the best ever, I really feel Legacy missed out on a golden opportunity. While "Shine" closes out this set, the bluegrass album that preceeded it, "The Grass Is Blue," isn't represented at all, as isn't "Halos and Horns." Dolly's one off album with MCA/Decca "Hungry Again" could have be represented by "Paradise Road," and "Treasures" could have been represented by it's huge hit "Peace Train," which was subject to a number of remixes for club consumption. The Sony label could have been better highlighted with hits like "Romeo" and the gospel anthem "He's Alive." I think now we must move past compilations and focus on re-issues. A lot of Dolly's albums, there are a lot of them, have been langushing in the vaults for years; dust 'em off already.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Solid Overview of a Brilliant Career, July 3, 2005

By	Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

There are literally dozens of compilations to sift through when it comes to one of country music's most prolific artists, but THE ESSENTIAL DOLLY PARTON is hands down the most thorough. Of course, you're not going to get every hit from a nearly 40-year career, but this 37-song collection touches on most of the highlights.

Beginning with the 1967 hit "Dumb Blonde" from her major label debut HELLO, I'M DOLLY and ending with "Shine" from 2001's bluegrass roots album LITTLE SPARROW, this is a chronological look at one of country music's most gifted artists. In addition to early classics like "Jolene" and "Coat of Many Colors," there are the crossover hits like "Here You Come Again" and "9 to 5." In addition there are duets with her late-sixties partner Porter Wagoner ("Please Don't Stop Loving Me") and Kenny Rogers ("Islands in the Stream"), along with her work with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt ("To Know Him Is To Love Him"). It's also worth noting that Parton wrote more than half of these songs, including her original rendition of "I Will Always Love You"--which, frankly, I prefer to Whitney Houston's over-the-top version.

If you're looking for a solid introduction to Parton's entire career, look no further. THE ESSENTIAL is exactly what you've been waiting for. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Yet another compilation, September 4, 2005

By	Jake Z "holden84" (Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This is probably the most comprehensive collection there is for Dolly Parton's music (unless you can find a copy of the Australian 3 cd import LEGENDARY). With the recent merging of RCA/BMG and Sony/Columbia, I hope that they will be responsible and release her albums that are not yet available on CD. Fans would buy that. Yet RCA is still releasing these collections, year after year. At least this time, it's somewhat complete. It's far from definitive, but it's a good place to start. 37 tracks spread out over 2 discs give a quick overview of her career. Lets hope they do a boxed set or something different than the average compilation with the same tracks on it.