Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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12 of 12 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
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.
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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
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
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Yet another compilation, September 4, 2005
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.
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by Dolly Parton 
