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Those Were the Days

Dolly Parton - Those Were the Days Audio CD

A fair review of the Dolly Parton "Those Were the Days" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Dolly Parton reviews here, or go back to the Dolly Parton tabs.

Band: Dolly Parton
Title: Those Were the Days
Rating:

Release Date: 2005-10-11
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Those Were The Days 2: Blowin' In The Wind 3: Where Have All The Flowers Gone 4: Twelfth Of Never 5: Where Do The Children Play 6: Me And Bobby McGee 7: Crimson And Clover 8: The Cruel War 9: Turn, Turn, Turn 10: If I Were A Carpenter 11: Both Sides Now 12: Imagine

She just keeps getting better
She has taken some old classics, restyled them, and then recorded them with many of the original artists who made them hits years ago. With this album, Dolly proves once again that she can sing most anything with anyone and do an excellent job of it. What emerges great renditions of some memorable music. If you like Dolly, you will love this album. .

Worst Parton disc ever
Even though I transferred it to cd, I wanted a clean new copy of that song. I bought this cd for one reason - I wanted a fresh copy of "Turn Turn Turn" which Parton recorded years ago and I had on a mix-tape a friend made for me. For some reason, I thought this would be it. WRONG! This banjo-mandolin-laden silly-sounding array of (here-to-fore) wonderful classics is the worst album Parton has ever produced and she should be ashamed. It's like she's some kind of plastic doll you wind up and it spews out the worst versions of beloved songs an arranger could possibly put together.
I'm still looking for that early version of Turn Turn Turn, where she sounded like she actually listened to the words she was singing.
If anyone knows how I can get that song on an mp3 or cd, let me know!
Oh, and DO NOT BUY THIS DISC. Listening to 25 seconds of one song on Amazon. com might sound cute, but believe me, this cd gets old very very fast!.

Dolly proves herself again
She is a great and under estimate powerful singer. [[ASIN:B000AQDQ7S Those Were the Days] If you are a true Dolly fan as i am, you will love the spin, she puts on these classic hits.

Outstanding covers album
Nevertheless, if you're going to make comparisons, Great pretender (recorded during the Hollywood phase of Dolly's career) and Treasures (recorded during the mid-nineties when Dolly's albums weren't selling well) are the obvious albums to compare with. This is often regarded as Dolly's third covers album (after Great pretender and Treasures), but Dolly also recorded a Christmas covers album (Home for Christmas) and a gospel covers album (Precious memories) as well as an album of Porter Wagoner songs (My favorite songwriter Porter Wagoner). Actually, each of these albums differ in style so much that comparisons are pointless, even though one song (Turn turn turn) from Great pretender is reprised here.

I see from other reviews that while many people enjoy this album, others don't like it for a variety of reasons. I can understand that, but my tastes in music are fairly eclectic. Furthermore, I've spent more time through the years listening to Dolly's music than I have listening to any other artist, so I know not to have any preconceived ideas about what she records. This particular album features songs from the fifties, sixties and seventies recorded with country and bluegrass instrumentation. A stellar cast of supporting guests looks very impressive, though fans of those guests shouldn't buy the album in the hope of hearing their favorites because they'd have a hard job making most of them out. The prominence given to the names of some of the guests on the front cover may lead people to believe that this is a duets album, but there are only two duets here. The other tracks here are Dolly solos although some of the backing singers on these tracks are easier to discern than others.

One thing I learned from reading other reviews is that Dolly intended this to be an anti-war album, but that this concept would escape most people. Well, it certainly would have escaped me if I hadn't read those reviews. There are some obvious anti-war songs (Blowin' in the wind, Where have all the flowers gone, The cruel war, Imagine) and maybe some of the others can be interpreted that way, but I don't see the connection. One of the other songs (Turn turn turn), which is an extract from the biblical book of Ecclesiastes, actually acknowledges that there is a time for war as well as a time for peace. Another song (Where the children play) is about environmental destruction. While war certainly causes that, the song specifically mentions roads and their vehicles (lorries) as the villians. The title track is about memories of good times past, which could be interpreted as remembering how things were before the war, but there are no references in the lyrics to suggest it. So maybe Dolly felt that four out of twelve songs were sufficient to get her message across, or maybe she saw some ant-war sentiment in the other songs that I don't. But it doesn't really matter because most people buying this aren't likely to be looking for an anti-war album anyway. Indeed, this album comes across as a good-time, fun album.

The title track has alway been one of my favorite songs. Originally a Russian folk song, the Limeliters (an American folk group) recorded an English language version in the sixties but their version was never released as a single. Welsh folk-pop singer Mary Hopkin launched her career with her cover of the song and scored a huge worldwide hit wit it, going all the way to number one in Britain. Mary contributed vocals (recorded in the Welsh capital, Cardiff) to Dolly's cover, but other singers also joined the supporting cast on this track including the Opry Gang (Jack Greene, George Hamilton IV, Jan Howard, Brenda Lee, Mel McDaniel, Jimmy C Newman, Jeannie Seely, Pam Tillis, Porter Wagoner and Billy Walker) and a choir. Despite (or maybe because of) the abundant backing vocalists, this track works very well. I've heard a few versions of this song including Dalida's French version (Le temps de fleurs) but not (yet) the Limeliters. This one is as good as any version I've heard.

The title track sets the standard for the album, not only for the quality (outstanding) but also for the mainly feel-good mood, although none of the other tracks feature as many backing vocalists. Blowin' in the wind (with backing by Nickel Creek and others), Where have all the flowers gone (with Lee Ann Womack and Norah Jones), Both sides now (with Judy Collins and Rhonda Vincent) and Turn turn turn are all brilliant, as are Twelfth of never (with Keith Urban) and If I were a carpenter (with Joe Nichols), which are both genuine duets - you can clearly hear the male vocals on these songs. Of all the songs here, I've heard more versions of Me and Bobby McGee than any other song here, but Dolly brings a freshness to this song that I find most welcome.

This is unquestionably an outstanding album that will appeal to most (but not all) of Dolly's committed fans as well as plenty of people who have never bothered with her music previously.

"Another Dolly Gem"
Although not as strong an album as "Great Pretender" the CD is nevertheless thrilling and beautifully produced. "Those Were The Days" marks Dolly Parton's third album featuring all cover songs, following the splendid "Great Pretender" album from 1984 and "Treasures" from 1996. "Those Were the Days" went all the way to #9 on the Country Charts and broke a record for any county act on Billboard, making Dolly the artist with the most albums having gone all the way into the top 10. The CD features songs originally released from the late '60's and early '70's during which time Dolly was working on "The Porter Wagoner Show". The only song released from the CD as a single was John Lennon's "Imagine" that Yoko One has stated is her all time favorite version, yet the song bombed on country radio. It is still a beautiful rendition and the video is gorgeous. The best song on the album is a duet Dolly does with Joe Nichols called "If I were A Carpenter" and their voices blend beautifully together. The cover art isn't all that great but the CD itself is one of the best CD's Dolly has had out in recent years. There are also no song lyrics included.

You can see a complete list of all Dolly Parton discography, or go back to the Dolly Parton tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.