Those Were the Days

Dolly Parton

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 11, 2005)
• Original Release Date: October 11, 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sugarhill
• ASIN: B000AQDQ7S
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (76 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #24,760 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Like 1996's Treasures, this covers collection by Dolly Parton might seem, on the surface, to be a gimmicky filler in her prestigious catalog of some of country's finest originals. Yet it's a vast improvement. Those Were the Days, largely bluegrass-inspired and featuring a plethora of famous duet and harmony partners, has more than a few sterling moments. And that's not just because songs like "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?," "Blowin' in the Wind," "Both Sides Now," and "Twelfth of Never" find her paired with the likes of Norah Jones, Lee Ann Womack, Nickel Creek, Judy Collins, and Keith Urban. If Parton takes John Lennon's "Imagine" too far over the top, she rescues Tommy James's overly processed "Crimson and Clover" from its original reverb hell, her understated banjo/Dobro/fiddle arrangement imbuing it with dignity. Other selections seem an obvious fit. "Me and Bobby McGee" (with a charmed Kris Kristofferson) resonates with longing and loss, while "If I Were a Carpenter," a duet with Joe Nichols, finds sensual heat smoldering above its solid musical underpinning. But the gem here is her rendering of "The Cruel War," on which Alison Krauss, Dan Tyminski, and Mindy Smith add feathery harmony vocals to Parton's gossamer lead--a performance so authentically poignant and heartfelt as to melt an Arctic ice cap. No matter how this odd collection hits you, give the Cantilevered One credit for being brave enough to tackle it, as well as extra kudos for coaxing two very special guests into the studio--Parton's old partner and one-time nemesis Porter Wagoner on the title track, and Yusuf Islam, a.k.a. Cat Stevens, who plays acoustic guitar on his own "Where Do the Children Play." You just never know what the Wigged Wonder will do next. --Alanna Nash

Recommended Dolly Parton

Trio, with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt	The Grass Is Blue	Little Sparrow
The Essential Dolly Parton	Mission Chapel Memories 1971-1975	20 Greatest Hits, with Porter Wagoner

Product Description

A year in the making, this album of era-defining songs from the 1960s and 1970s is an astonishing collection of indispensable classics, performed in Dolly Parton's signature style with a top-notch list of friends.

Parton, who produced the album, invited several of the artists who wrote or made these songs famous to sing with her. Renowned musicians Roger McGuinn (of the Byrds), Kris Kristofferson, Judy Collins, and Tommy James make appearances on Those Were the Days. She also asked recent chart-topping artists Norah Jones, Keith Urban, Nickel Creek, Lee Ann Womack, Rhonda Vincent, Joe Nichols, and Alison Krauss to join her in the studio.

The Country Music Hall of Famer, Grammy winner, and Oscar nominee said, "I am really very proud of this album. I love all of these songs and all of the artists who performed, it just felt special from the moment the concept came to my mind. I knew I had to produce it myself in order to get all of my ideas across exactly as I wanted them to be presented. I really hope people enjoy it. I know I enjoyed making it."

Recorded in Nashville, Those Were the Days retains the bluegrass-inspired sound that earned her two Grammys and a new generation of fans for her previous four albums on Sugar Hill Records. The album includes a group sing featuring a menagerie of Grand Ole Opry legends. Capping off the album is Parton's unique version of "Imagine."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Classic Dolly!, October 11, 2005

By	Allen Chapman (STAFFORD SPRINGS, CT USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"Those Were The Days" marks Dolly's third full album of cover songs, although she has included cover material on albums thruout her career. The first full cover album was 1984's "The Great Pretender" in which Dolly covered songs from the late 50's and early 60's. Although "Pretender" is a good album, it suffers from the typical 80's production, heavy on the synthesizers. The next like album was 1996's "Treasures" which was kind of a mixed bag of genre's and era's. With "Days" Dolly sticks pretty much to the late 60's and early 70's. The songs are all done in bluegrass-y style of her most recent work. For the most part the results are fantastic. A few of the songs take a few spins to grow on you, "Where Have All The Flowers Gone" and "Both Sides Now" have been sped up a bit but work once you become accustomed to the faster style. For me the stand out tracks are the title track, which has always been a favorite of mine, "Me & Bobby McGee", "Where Do The Children Play" and "Imagine".
After 40 years of making music, Dolly is making some of the best albums of her career. That's very rare for any artist. Although she didn't pen any of the songs on this album, that in no way detracts from it. This is a great album and a fun listen. Essential to any Dolly collection.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shockingly good, October 20, 2005

By	Sonny Saggese "dionbs" (Boston) - See all my reviews

I thought that this album would be a 'cheesy' tribute album like one of those oldie groups re-doing all of thier old famous songs in the same exact way, but with updated, and rinkity production and weaker/newer vocals. But I was wrong. These songs were all done with a very unique and fresh spin. I was sick of the originals of most of these songs...for most are very well known to all of us, but Dolly puts all heart, and grace into the vocals in a way that makes these old birds fly again. It's really nice.
I never thought that I would enjoy a fast blue grass version of Twelth of Never, but it works. This whole album is "but it works". It shouldn't, but it works. And how the hell did Dolly Parton get Cat Stevens? aka Yusuf Islam? He hasn't played music, to my knowledge for over 20 years, and he was just recently deported out of the country while traveling to the US with his daughter in a case of mistaken identity, still with no apology from Tom Ridge, or the Department of Homeland Security. It's absolutely shocking to me that he agreed to play with Dolly on this. But then again, it's not. Because who is sweeter then Dolly?
And this album is in deed very sweet, and goes right up there now, shocking so, with her Christmas Album with Kenny Rogers ,which is a consistent staple in my house when we decorate the tree each year.
Shockingly Good!
I don't know if the sound bites do this album justice. The songs are very well done, arrangements, musicians, vocals, production, etc.
I'd like to give it 4 and half stars, because of her choice of overly peace loving/campfire songs, but she pulls it off.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dolly's Blue State Album, October 17, 2005

By	"Tee" (LA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

THOSE WERE THE DAYS is Dolly Parton's first studio album since 2003's FOR GOD AND COUNTRY, an album which surprised many Parton fans well aware of her long deliberately apolitical stance for it's strong if unintentional right-wing undercurrents. This new album seems to be a very discreet peace offering (no pun intended) to her more liberal, pacifist fans. This is a collection of pop/rock and folk songs that were big hits in the days when Dolly Parton was just making a name for herself as a country star in the late 1960's singing some of the most stone-hard country music of any woman of the period (check out her wonderful 1968 album JUST BECAUSE I'M A WOMAN which is available on CD). While Dolly was singing her heart out in songs about lost love and ruined reputations, the "hippies out in San Francisco" as one country song from the era dubbed them were singing about for free love and against injustice in many songs that were more folk (and thus, country) than rock n'roll although certainly neither group would acknowledge this fact. Several of these songs in fact were covered long ago by country artists. "Me and Bobby McGee", written by Nashville's Kris Kristofferson, has been recorded by a slew of country singers, Country's own flower child of the era, Skeeter Davis, recorded "Both Sides Now" on an album, and Johnny Cash and June Carter had a hit with "If I Were a Carpenter".

Most of these songs are legendary peace anthems from the era, although some are pure mainstream pop (The Twelfth of Never) or slightly eccentric rock like the title track. Dolly at 59 remains a powerhouse singer and most of these songs fit her like a glove. The main reason this album is so much better than FOR GOD AND COUNTRY is simply these are better songs than most of what was on that album, excepting the evergreen religious standards. There were other good folk songs from the era that could have more easily fit into this collection, notably "If I Had a Hammer" which was sung during the era by several country stars like Johnny Cash and Wanda Jackson. Although Dolly's most arch-conservative fans may be in shock at her covering John Lennon's "Imagine", long a notorious song in some Christian circles for it's one line against religion, "Turn, Turn, Turn" more than proves there was a spiritual degree to the peace movement. And when Dolly wraps her heartfelt vocals on the thought-provoking lyrics of "Blowin' in the Wind" and "Where Have All the Flowers Gone", the humanity crosses all political borders and becomes a deeply moving experience. These are other tracks her show yet again that underneath all that gloss and glamour and campy humor, the deep soul and real heart that is the real Dolly Parton.