Dolly Parton Album: “World of Dolly Parton, Vol. 1”

For fans of Dolly Parton who want to own her first ever full-length album this is the place to find it. Although the title of this collection is called "The World of Dolly Parton, Volume 1" which was released in 1972 on vinyl and put on CD in the late 1980's, it is in essence her first record originally titled "Hello, I'm Dolly". The track listing is the same as "Hello, I'm Dolly", and since that collection has never seen an official release on compact disc (which is really disappointing. Are you listening Monument Records?), this is the only known CD version of Miss Parton's debut album on CD form.

Dolly's first record was a certified hit going all the way to #11 in 1967. Featuring 12 tracks the LP is known for her first two hits, "Dumb Blond" and the Dolly-penned "Somethin' Fishy". The bulk of the record contains mainly Dolly-written songs including songs which were hits for others including "Put It Off Until Tomorrow", "Fuel To The Flame" (a huge hit for Skeeter Davis), and "I'm In No Condition" in which Hank Willimas Jr. recorded.

After this album became a hit it brought her to the attention of Porter Wagoner and she would eventually sign with RCA and the rest as they say is history!

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.

This album is a straight re-issue of the original album, Hello I'm Dolly, which yielded the country hits 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 Your ole handy man (a protest against a lazy man expecting his woman to do everything), I don't want to throw rice (warning off a rival woman) and The little things (reminding us that little things sometimes matter).

If you enjoy hillbilly music, you'll love this.