The Essential Dolly Parton

Last updated
The Essential Dolly Parton
The Essential Dolly Parton.jpg
Greatest hits album by
Dolly Parton
ReleasedMay 28, 2005 (2005-05-28)
Genre
Length121:15
Label
Dolly Parton chronology
Live and Well
(2004)		The Essential Dolly Parton
(2005)		 Those Were the Days
(2005)

The Essential Dolly Parton is a greatest hits album by the American country singer-songwriter Dolly Parton as her volume in Sony Legacy's Essential series.

Contents

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [1]
AllMusic (3.0 edition)Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [3]
PopMatters 7/10 [4]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [5]
Stylus Magazine B+ [6]

In a review of the album for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that it "is one of the handful that gets it right" doing "a tremendous job of picking the biggest and the best" of her songs, and concludes by saying "Dividing her material in this fashion makes each disc consistent within itself, and helps make this a more listenable set than such similar career-spanning collections as 1993's The RCA Years". [1] In her review of the album for PopMatters, Maura McAndrew stated that it consists of "twin discs that span her legendary career" while noting that it "makes me feel as though I suddenly understand the cultural fascination with Dolly Parton. She's a queen of contradiction: she may have outlandish style, but she makes honest, pure, American music and has a true American story to tell." [4]

Track listing

Disc one
No.TitleAlbumLength
1."Dumb Blonde" Hello, I'm Dolly (1967)2:29
2."Just Because I'm a Woman" Just Because I'm a Woman (1968)3:04
3."My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy" My Blue Ridge Mountain Boy (1969)3:29
4."Mule Skinner Blues (Blue Yodel No. 8)" The Best of Dolly Parton (1970)3:09
5."Joshua" Joshua (1971)3:04
6."Coat of Many Colors" Coat of Many Colors (1971)3:04
7."Touch Your Woman" Touch Your Woman (1972)2:41
8."My Tennessee Mountain Home" My Tennessee Mountain Home (1973)3:07
9."Jolene" Jolene (1974)2:41
10."Please Don't Stop Loving Me" (duet with Porter Wagoner) Porter 'n' Dolly (1974)2:47
11."I Will Always Love You"Jolene2:55
12."Love Is Like a Butterfly" Love Is Like a Butterfly (1974)2:21
13."The Bargain Store"Love Is Like a Butterfly2:42
14."The Seeker" Dolly (1975)3:15
15."We Used To"Dolly3:12
16."All I Can Do" All I Can Do (1976)2:25
17."Light of a Clear Blue Morning" New Harvest...First Gathering (1977)4:56
18."It's All Wrong, But It's All Right" Here You Come Again (1977)3:17
Disc two
No.TitleAlbumLength
1."Here You Come Again"Here You Come Again2:54
2."Two Doors Down"Here You Come Again3:06
3."Heartbreaker" Heartbreaker (1978)3:30
4."I Really Got the Feeling"Heartbreaker3:08
5."You're the Only One" Great Balls of Fire 3:20
6."Starting Over Again" Dolly, Dolly, Dolly (1980)3:58
7."Old Flames Can't Hold a Candle to You"Dolly, Dolly, Dolly3:25
8."9 to 5" 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs (1980)3:00
9."But You Know I Love You"9 to 5 and Odd Jobs3:18
10."Single Women" Heartbreak Express (1982)3:44
11."Heartbreak Express"Heartbreak Express3:13
12."Islands in the Stream" (duet with Kenny Rogers) Eyes That See in the Dark (1983)4:10
13."Save the Last Dance for Me" The Great Pretender (1984)3:50
14."Tennessee Homesick Blues" Rhinestone (1984)3:23
15."God Won't Get You"Rhinestone4:13
16."To Know Him Is to Love Him" Trio (1987)3:51
17."Why'd You Come in Here Lookin' Like That" White Limozeen (1989)2:33
18."Rockin' Years" (featuring Ricky Van Shelton) Eagle When She Flies (1991) and Backroads (1991)3:26
19."Shine" Little Sparrow (2001)5:10
Limited-edition 3.0 bonus disc [2]
No.TitleAlbumLength
1."Something Fishy"Hello, I'm Dolly2:07
2."In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)" In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad) (1969)2:46
3."Just Someone I Used to Know" Porter Wayne and Dolly Rebecca (1974)2:24
4."My Blue Tears"Coat of Many Colors2:16
5."Early Morning Breeze"Jolene2:47
6."Baby I'm Burnin'"Heartbreaker2:37
7."Think About Love" Real Love (1985)3:27
8."Yellow Roses"White Limozeen3:55

Charts

Chart performance for The Essential Dolly Parton
Chart (2008–2011)Peak
position
Australia (ARIA Charts) [7] 140
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [8] 46

References

  1. 1 2 Thomas Erlewine, Stephen. "The Essential Dolly Parton Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine". AllMusic . Rovi Corporation. Retrieved July 18, 2025.
  2. 1 2 Laggett, Steve. "Essential 3.0 Review by Steve Leggett". AllMusic . Rovi Corporation. Retrieved July 18, 2025.
  3. ↑ Larkin, Colin (May 27, 2011). "Dolly Parton". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. London: Omnibus Publishing. p. 1084. ISBN   978-0857125958.
  4. 1 2 McAndrew, Maura. "Dolly Parton: The Essential Dolly Parton". PopMatters . Retrieved July 18, 2025.
  5. ↑ "The Essential Dolly Parton". Books-A-Million . Retrieved July 18, 2025.
  6. ↑ Inskeep, Thomas; Soto, Alfred. "The Essential Dolly Parton - Review - Stylus Magazine". Stylus Magazine . Retrieved July 18, 2025.
  7. ↑ "Dolly Parton ARIA chart history, received July 18, 2025". ARIA . Retrieved April 1, 2020– via Imgur.com. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart.
  8. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Dolly Parton – The Essential". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 18, 2025.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.