Published on Aug 29, 2002
It’s always a pleasure to hear an artist successfully reinvent
themselves; to finally be doing exactly what they want, and have
the joy in that show. Dolly Parton’s three CDs for Sugar Hill
Records have accorded us the pleasure of doing just that. Dolly’s
doing what she wants now, and the joy is plain in her voice and in
her demeanor. (She’s even having fun doing interviews. I died
laughing at a two-year-old interview she did with British talk show
host Graham Norton recently.)
So, I guess it’s almost anticlimactic to say it, but Parton’s
done it again. Her latest solo effort,
Halos And Horns, may be the best thing she’s done yet.
Consistently brilliant, it is the work of a talented artist who can
finally ignore the money and promotion people and play music.
Production (which she did herself) is solid; the disc sounds
bright and clear, with a very uncluttered sound that supports the
genre fully. The backing musicians, especially the fiddle of Jimmy
Mattingly, are all very good.
Once again, Parton has thrown on a couple of cover versions that
one wouldn’t quite expect, in the spirit of her past versions of
Collective Soul and Billy Joel. Her version of the soft-rock
classic “If” (originally recorded by Bread) is acceptable;
certainly it’s no worse than the original, which is a rather
cliched piece of work. Where she really shines, though, is….
…swear to gods, don’t laugh… “Stairway To
Heaven.”
Yes, that’s what I said. “Stairway To Heaven.”
And it WORKS, dammit. It works really really well.
With the permission of Plant and Page, she has added a verse at
the end that turns the AOR dinosaur into a passionate, rip-roaring,
tear-your-guts-out hymn. No longer a song about nothing in
particular, Parton’s version of “Stairway” doesn’t meander up the
stairway; it storms up it, kicks the door down, roughs up St Peter,
and pleads to be admitted into the Presence. Whether or not you
share her spiritual beliefs, the passion and faith in her voice is
naked and powerful, and not to be missed.
Other tracks of note include the mystical “These Old Bones”, the
funny “I’m Gone”, and the bitter, angry “Dagger Through The Heart”.
Parton plays a symphony of emotion on
Halos And Horns, and nails them all to the wall. Don’t miss
this one; it’s going to be a classic.