Main menu
Fretplay home Submit tabs

Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton tabs Dolly Parton discography

Channels
Guitar channel Bass channel Guitar videos Reviews

Message Forum
Guitar forum Bass forum Bands and artists Promote your band Recent discussions All categories

Fretplay.com

Dolly Parton guitar tabs

CD reviews

My Tennessee Mountain Home

Dolly Parton - My Tennessee Mountain Home Audio CD

A fair review of the Dolly Parton "My Tennessee Mountain Home" 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: My Tennessee Mountain Home
Rating:

Release Date: 2007-04-03
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: The Letter 2: I Remember 3: Old Black Kettle 4: Daddy's Working Boots 5: Dr. Robert F. Thomas 6: In The Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad) 7: My Tennessee Mountain Home 8: The Wrong Direction Home 9: Back Home 10: The Better Part Of Life 11: Down On Music Row 12: Sacred Memories

Dolly's Tennessee Mt.Home
Very true stories put into songs. You just can't beat Dolly Parton's songwriting,she writes from the Heart. Dolly Parton can do about anything she puts her mind to. She does whatever she wats,whether it fails or not. She knows what shes doing. Excellent Cd. She can sing with about anyone. She is the Beautiful Songbird of the Smoky Mountains! Erleen.

Autobiographical Masterpiece
amazon. Watch Video Here: http://www. amazon. com/review/R1I9SNN0N6MIX9 .

A classic album about Dolly's early life
Three of Dolly's older albums were also released with bonus tracks (of which this is one) although only the bonus tracks were new to CD, the main albums having already been made available on earlier releases. To coincide with Dolly's European tour of 2007, there were several CD releases including yet another best of compilation and three twofers (of which this is one) featuring six albums, five of which had never been released on CD while the other had only briefly been available in the early days of CD.

Unlike the other two albums re-mastered with bonus tracks (Jolene, Coat of many colors), which contain previously un-released tracks, the only bonus track on this CD is Sacred memories, which isn't even new to CD. Sacred memories, which was actually recorded at the same sessions as the other tracks here, is a great song that first appeared on the album Love is like a butterfly. Along with some other tracks from that album, it made its CD debut on a compilation, Mission chapel memories. My first reaction on seeing the lack of bonus tracks was one of disappointment, since the other two re-mastered albums each have four bonus tracks. Maybe the intention was to stick to the basic theme of the album, or maybe they restricted the album to tracks recorded at the relevant sessions, but I still think that they could have included three tracks from Bubbling over, Dolly's follow-up album to this one, to make up the four.

The songs here mostly take a rose-tinted view of Dolly's early life. Only the revival of an early Dolly classic, In the good old days, serves to remind us of the hardship that Dolly and her family endured. Dolly says in her autobiography that all the neighbors led the same kind of life, so she didn't consider herself poor. Communication with the outside world hardly existed in Dolly's childhood, in a remote location that outsiders never visited, without TV and with a radio that didn't always work properly. In these circumstances, perhaps it's easy for Dolly to sing about the good aspects of her childhood and teenaged years, although she reminds us that she wouldn't want to re-live those days, in the chorus of In the good old days.

For the rest of the album including Sacred memories, the title track really sets the scene and typifies the mood although it doesn't actually open the album. It appears halfway through because it was the opening track of the second side on the original vinyl release. The opening track here is actually Dolly's narration of her first letter home after her arrival in Nashville. The only other track about the start of her musical career is the one that closed the original vinyl album, Down on Music Row, in which a few facts are conveniently overlooked. I guess it wouldn't have pleased RCA if Dolly had mentioned that Fred Foster on Monument that gave Dolly her first real break. Still, it's only a song and it sounds great despite not being lyrically accurate.

I love the songs about Dolly's childhood although, reading the liner notes to the compilation, Mission chapel memories, it's clear that is not a universal opinion. Nevertheless, even the writer of those notes acknowledges that this is a highly regarded album, although he continues in the same sentence to suggest that the album nearly destroyed Dolly's credibility. Talk about contradicting yourself. Despite the strange comments and the inevitable omission of any tracks from this album, it's a great compilation.

For those who like to hear about the good times in Dolly's childhood, this is a great album. Dolly pays tribute to her parents (I remember), her father again (Daddy's working boots), her doctor (Dr Robert F Thomas) and more generally remembers her early life in such songs as Old black kettle, Wrong direction home, Back home and Better part of life. This remains my favorite Dolly Parton album.

long overdue, GREAT job by Legacy
Great notes, the sound is perfect and the extra cut (recorded during Tennessee Mt. A terrific reissue job by Columbia Legacy on this essential Dolly LP. Home sessions) does not detract. Kudos to the label for the Jolene and Coat of Many Colors reissues as well -- the 3 LP's represent Dolly's best songwriting/singing efforts of her career.

"Another Dolly Gem!"
This marks the first North American release of the CD. Originally a poor seller when it was first released in 1973, but crtically acclaimed, "My Tennessee Mountain Home" has through the years become one of the best Dolly albums ever. It's amazing and comes with the original album being repackaged with the liner notes and photos and comes with the bonus track "Sacred Memories" that was dropped from the album and later added to Dolly's 1974 LP "Love is Like A Butterfly". There are also some rare photos from 1970 that were taken during the recording of Dolly's "A Real Live Dolly" LP. A must for any true country fan and Dolly fan. One of the best Parton compositions "Down on Music Row" is included here as well. Chet Flippo also has added some new liner notes. A perfect CD!.

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.