Published on Mar 7, 2001
There’s been a lot written about Dolly Parton lately in the wake
of her Grammy win a couple of weeks ago. A lot of people are saying
Parton has gotten back to her roots, rewritten herself, become
newly relevant in defiance of the current sanitized and suburbified
face of country music.
That may be so, but I admit to having had some misgivings
opening her newest CD,
Little Sparrow. See, she covers at least one rock tune on
it, and all I could think of was her execrable 1989 cover of REO
Speedwagon’s “Time For Me To Fly”. (Sorry, Dolly, but it’s true.
That was awful). However, my concerns were misplaced and misguided.
Parton
has rediscovered her roots, and darned if this isn’t a
pretty good CD.
Little Sparrow is a collection of bluegrass, folk,
Appalachian, roots country, and other songs that I’m convinced were
chosen merely on the bases that Parton decided she liked ’em.
(There are worse criteria for choosing material. There’s nothing so
painful as to hear an artist sing a song they don’t much like.)
Covers include The Louvin Brothers “I Don’t Believe You’ve Met My
Baby”, Cole Porter’s “I Get A Kick Out Of You”, Steve Young’s
“Seven Bridges Road” (most commonly remembered for the Eagles’
version), and in a rather startling bluegrassification, Collective
Soul’s “Shine”. True, the track list looks like an explosion at a
public access radio station, but you know, it works, in some places
startlingly well.
Of course, there’s also the fact that Parton hasn’t lost a lick
on one of the most naturally gifted country voices in history.
Expressive, conversational, and versatile, it still sounds like it
did in the days of “Jolene” and “Coat Of Many Colors”. Combine this
with musicianship that never falls below good and in some places is
downright joyous (including Alison Krauss and Chris Thile of Nickel
Creek), and you’ve got a pretty darn good CD.
Some high points: the aforementioned “I Don’t Believe You’ve Met
My Baby” and “Marry Me” are a quick shot of mountain espresso,
cheery and invigorating. The tribute to the late Bill Monroe,
“Bluer Pastures”, is wonderful and poignant. The Celtic-tinged
“Down From Dover” is heartbreaking in its simplicity, and maybe I’m
a sentimental idiot, but I admit to having gotten a little sniffly
over it. The traditional “In The Sweet By And By” is given a
straight reading, and Parton (with the help of Celtic band Altan)
nails it. And yes, before I keep you hanging any longer, Parton’s
version of “Shine” is both a new interpretation of a great rock
song and very, very good in its own right.
There are a few miscues – I’m not sure what didn’t work for me
in “The Beautiful Lie” and “My Blue Tears”, but they didn’t grab me
as hard as the rest of the CD. Occasionally Steve Buckingham’s
production is a little shallow and dry, but that’s a minor problem
at best.
I confess to not having heard Parton’s Grammy-winning
The Grass Is Blue. But if it’s anywhere near the quality of
Little Sparrow, then it’s easy to see why it should have
won. (I’m not sure why it did win, but I’m not used to the Grammies
actually going to the best CD. It’s a bit of a shock.) Parton
herself says it best: “This is the music I would have been doing
all along, if I could’ve made a living at it”. Indeed. You may not
get rich singing like this, Dolly, but you’re enriching us and
American music.