Dolly Parton The Early Years (CD)

(Deltamusic/2004) 18 tracks - Im Schuber

THE EARLY YEARS DOLLY PARTON

Singer-Songwriter-Actress Dolly Parton, the best-known female country star of our time, was born on a farm in Locust Ridge, Sevier County, Tennessee, on January 19, 1946. She was the fourth of twelve children born to a mountain family and a neighbour recalled that 'she was singing just about the same time she began talking'. At the tender age of ten Dolly was already an accomplished performer and her first regular radio and television dates were on the shows of Cas Walker in Knoxville.

At thirteen the young singer was cutting sides for a small Louisiana record company and the same year she was making an appearance on Grand Ole Opry. Graduating from Sevier County High School in June 1964, Dolly immediately left for Nashville, where she at first wrote songs with her uncle Bill Owens, including Put It Off Until Tomorrow and I'm In No Condition, both included in this collection. In 1966 she married her husband of eighteen years, Carl Dean, a construction contractor, and soon after Dolly had her first country hits, Dumb Blonde and Something Fishy. Together with sixteen other songs on this CD, they will give you an excellent summary of the early years of Dolly Parton as a recording artist.

In 1967, the year of her first hits, Dolly Parton also got a contract to join the Porter Wagoner television and road show, and she was signed to a major record company. For the next six years, the-Parton/Wagoner partnership continued to flourish and over a dozen of their duets became best sellers. Dolly's solo career began in 1974 with the release of Jolene, a hit single and album in the U.S. country charts. The following years she slowly but surely moved away from mainstream country in an attempt to gain a wider audience. Her compositions became more lyrically ambitious and she began indirectly to win acceptance with a rock audience as singers including Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris covered her songs. 'I'm opting for wider horizons', she declared, 'but I'm not leaving country. I'm always taking it with me and it will always be my favourite music'.

Dolly Parton made her film debut in 9 To 5 (1980), co-starred with Burt Reynolds in The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas (1982) and with Sylvester Stallone In Rhinestone
(1984). Among her many other activities during the eighties were her tours with Kenny Rogers, many TV specials and many albums. Her own compositions continued to be automatic successes in the U.S. charts and in those of many other countries. It is without doubt that Dolly Parton will remain the most successful female country singer of all time!
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