Dolly officially began her recording career on Monument - she made recordings before that but they are mainly of curiosity value. Dolly was still maturing as a singer during her time on Monument but I love these recordings as they have little in common with her later music (even her early RCA music). Dolly's natural voice contains a lot of vibrato that she gradually eliminated over many years. On these recordings, you hear Dolly sounding exactly as she was meant to sound - pure hillbilly.
Originally, two albums were released on Monument (Hello I'm Dolly, As long as I love) although the second only appeared some time after Dolly joined RCA. Those albums have been released on CD as World of Dolly Parton volumes 1 and 2 in America and as a combined volume in Britain just titled World of Dolly Parton, but as I write this they are all out of print. This compilation includes tracks from both of them as well as other tracks previously un-released, so if you managed to buy those, you'll find some tracks new to you here.
Here you will find Dolly's first two country hits, which were Dumb blonde (in which Dolly makes clear she's not dumb - she later admitted that she's not blonde either) and Something fishy (a song about a fishing trip that isn't just about fishing)
Apart from her own hits, Dolly gained recognition as a songwriter. Skeeter Davis had a top ten country hit with Fuel to the flame. Bill Phillips had two top ten country hits with Dolly songs (The company you keep, Put it off until tomorrow) but has since faded into obscurity. Hank Williams Junior had a minor country hit with I'm in no condition. Other great tracks include The little things (reminding us that little things sometimes matter) and As long as I love, which was later covered by Dottie West. Some of these covers actually appeared before Dolly's recordings were publicly available.
If you enjoy hillbilly music, you'll love this. If you are unfamiliar with Dolly's early recordings, this collection may come as a surprise to you.
This is the collection if you are a fan of Dolly Parton and you are looking to hear her music from the late 60's early 70's. These were her first country hits, and some low charting pop songs, but these are classic. Sung like only Dolly could. This collection is a great insight into the career of Dolly Parton, which has lasted many many decades. A must have for fans!
Dolly Parton's songs will remain super hits for years and years and years. She sings her songs from her heart and they go straight into our hearts. I'm so glad to see her oldies but greaties out on CD so such great songs aren't lost forever. The songs on this CD are some of her very best from "way back when" and I'm thrilled to find so many on one CD. Dolly's great music legend is one that will never fade.
