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An interview with Dolly Parton Friday, May. 6, 2011 to talk about Dollywood winning The Liseberg Applause Award.
When Dolly Parton sets out to make an "uplifting" album she's not about to go halfway. Her new disc, "Better Day," is all about that upbeat and uplifting thing. She wants you to feel good and, chances are, if you're susceptible to suggestion at all, she'll help you get at least halfway there.
Parton is not only one of country's greatest artists and one of America's most recognizable icons, she's one of America's best songwriters. At the top of her game (think of "Jolene," "Coat of Many Colors" and "I Will Always Love You"), she creates songs that become standards. And, while she's had a few misfires over the past half-century or so, she's an artist who always seems to rebound.
"Better Day," Dolly Parton (Dolly Records)
"Better Day" is not a new classic, but it's definitely prime Parton.
Thematically, Parton is definitely in her element. Although she's created some incredibly sad songs, too, Parton has always been a purveyor of musical optimism.
In the album's perky opening track, "In the Meantime," Parton enthuses "we've been living in the last days ever since the first days" and to "drop that doomsday attitude," and proceeds to demonstrate just that through the next 11 songs.
On "Just Leaving" the singer relishes making a fresh start after a bad time or break up. On "Country Is as Country Does," she's unapologetic and proud of who she is. Even the weepy "Somebody's Missing You" isn't about love lost. It's about missing a lover when the lover isn't around. The album's first single "Together You and I" (a revival of a 1974 duet with Porter Wagoner) is a straightforward "we're-gonna-make-it" love song.
Parton's strongest asset as an artist is her honesty. You believe her. When she sings about always wanting to be rich and being happy about what she's had to do to get there on "The Sacrifice" (arguably the album's highlight), you have no doubt that it's Parton's personal testimony.
Yet, even the tracks from the Broadway adaptation of "9 to 5" ("I Just Might," "Shine Like the Sun" and "Get Out and Stay Out") sound heartfelt.
Far removed from Parton's acoustic albums of a decade ago, "Better Day" walks the line between hard country and pop sounds. Producer Kent Wells sometimes adds a few too many background vocalist flourishes when Parton's own voice would've made songs more powerful, but his own vocal duet with Parton on "Holding Everything" is one of the disc's highlights.
The one problem with "Better Day" is that after a while you tire of "it's gonna be OK" numbers. Maybe it's a coincidence that there are 12 songs on the disc, but it sometimes feels like a 12-step program in song. Of course, there could be a lot worse program directors than Parton.
"Got to Get Back," The Bo-Keys (Electraphonic)
If ever there was a musical niche that needed refilling it is classic soul. You can hear hints of it in Adele, Black Joe Lewis and a few other young artists, but the Memphis-based Bo-Keys are steeped in it. They sound like they're straight out of the Stax studios in 1967. These guys are schooled in Booker T and the MG's , the Bar-Kays, James Brown and Curtis Mayfield.
Add to that guest spots by classic-era vocalists William Bell and Otis Clay and you're in for a funky good time.
Wayne Bledsoe may be reached at 865-342-6444 or bledsoew@knoxville.com. He is also the host of "All Over the Road" midnight Saturdays to 4 a.m. Sundays on WDVX-FM.
© 2011, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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