Dolly Parton Album: “Essential Dolly Parton, Vol. 2”

It is kind of odd that Volume 2 of the "Essential Dolly Parton" series contains her earlier, more compelling work, while Volume 1 focus more on her later Hollywood/pop sellout. As a result, Volume 2 contains more 'essential' music than the first.

And yet it still is not quite enough. Still missing from any CD collection such breathtaking early songs like "Down From Dover," "In The Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)," "Gypsy Joe and Me," "Just The Way I Am," "My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy," and many others.

Still we get "Coat of Many Colors," "Jolene," "My Tennessee Mountain Home," "Mule Skinner Blues" and some others. It is towards the end of this cd, when the slick pop of "Here You Come Again," and others kick in that one wants to write angry letters to RCA/BMG and ask why they continue to treat the earlier back catalog of Parton so poorly.

Maybe one day we will get the aforementioned songs on a cd issue. Until then get "The Essential Dolly Parton Volume 2" and boycott Volume One. Maybe then RCA/BMG will get the message!

The first volume of Essential Dolly Parton focuses on her eighties hits (including her 1982 re-recording of I will always love you) and also includes Two doors down, so it's not here. Yet another volume, The essential Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton, covers their duets, so none of them are here.

This second volume of her solo recordings includes some of her most successful recordings from the sixties and seventies, including her original 1973 recording of I will always love you.

All the other classic country songs from the mid-seventies are here - Jolene, Love is like a butterfly, The bargain store, The seeker, My tennessee mountain home - together with her first solo top 20 hit (Just because I'm a woman), her first big hit (Mule skinner blues, a cover of the Jimmie Rodgers classic) and her first #1 record (Joshua).

Coat of many colors, also included here, was based on a real incident. Dolly was once sent to school wearing a coat made of differently-colored rags woven together and all the other children (not surprisingly) laughed at her. A picture of her in that coat featured on the original LP cover.

Other great country recordings here include Touch your woman, We used to, All I can do and Wings of a dove. Another great song, Light of a clear blue morning, showed Dolly was looking for something new, and the other tracks featured here represent some of her pop-sounding records from 1977 and 1978.

Of these tracks, I love Baby I'm burning (which some think is Dolly's worst recording, but it's a great slice of country disco), Here you come again, Me and little Andy and It's all wrong but it's all right. I have never been able to get excited about Heartbreaker and I really got the feeling, but I've got used to them over a quarter of a century.

Despite my lack of enthusiasm for two songs, the other eighteen make this is an outstanding compilation which certainly lives up to it's Essential name.

This is the Dolly collection you want, if you are a fan of her music from early in her career when she was more country. If you are looking for her more pop-country sound, try Volume One of the Essential Series. This collection highlights some of the best songs in Dolly's career. From the simplistic songs that weve grown to love like Touch Your Woman, The Bargain Store, Coat of Many Colors, My Tennessee Mountain Home, to songs like Heartbreaker, I Really Got The Feeling, I Will ALways Love You, Light Of A Clear Blue Morning and more, there is a wide collection here. This will have to satisfy you until RCA realizes no matter how many Dolly Greatest Hits released, there is no proper collection until we get a boxed set covering her whole career and all her hits, but this is a nice place to start.

..Dolly never needed a mentor. Porter Wagoner may have tried to fill that role in her career. But she was a singer and a songwriter by birth. By the time her hired her, Dolly was a 21 year old singer/songwriter who'd been writing songs since the age of five! Her career was well underway. She'd been singing on radio for Cas Walker in Knoxville since the age of 12 or younger. She cut her first record before her teens. She sang on the Opry before then. If any 21-year old female singer in Nashville did NOT need a mentor, it was Dolly Parton. Back to the music. This CD is fine, but I would recommend that you also buy "Best of Dolly Parton" which is the same as the album from 1975. If they ever put her 1970 "Best of Dolly Parton" out on CD, buy it too. Some of her best work was on it, namely Down from Dover and Blue Ridge Mountain Boy. But buy this one. Also try to get a copy of the CD "Coat of Many Colors" since the whole album was terrific, some of the best music Dolly ever made. I wish RCA would let some of Dolly's longtime fans help them in putting out CD compilations that have her best work. I'd be glad to volunteer.

I absolutly love Dolly! Her voice is amazing and if you are a fan then this CD is a must have!