Chicker
01-12-2004, 04:12 AM
Various Artists (Sugar Hill Records)
Parton power
By LAURA YOUNKIN • January 10, 2004
The Courier-Journal
Long before Joan Jett, the Breeders, grrl power or the Donnas, there was Dolly Parton, who left poverty in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., to take Nashville by storm and bend the country-music industry to her will. She's been influencing other women musicians since the '60s and is still going strong.
The artists on this tribute are all female, but what a wide spectrum they cover. There's the light, jazzy feel Norah Jones brings to "The Grass Is Blue," the alt.country sounds of Shelby Lynne and Kasey Chambers, and a totally unpredictable offering from Me'Shell N'Degeocello. Their songs do what a tribute album should: They bring fresh insight to a gifted artist's work.
Melissa Ethridge tackles the covered-to-death "I Will Always Love You" but changes the familiar. Instead of the bordering-on-overwrought emoting Whitney Houston found in the tune, Ethridge has a lower-key intensity that matches her lower-register voice.
Louisvillian Joan Osborne does a beautiful job on "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind." Her voice is pure and assured as only acoustic guitars, organ and light percussion accompany her. The result is subtle and effective. Shania Twain teams up with Alison Krauss & Union Station for a quite serviceable country version of the exquisite "Coat of Many Colors." Twain opts for pure country and not her usual crossover sound. :?
While Parton is a gifted songwriter and singer, even she has her off moments. After all, this is the woman who gave us "White Limozeen" in the '80s. "Two Doors Down" is not Parton's proudest moment, so it's a surprise to find it on this album. N'Degeocello takes it on, slows it down and twists it into a sultry, funky little number that's fascinating. It's an example of a cover improving on the original.
The album is full of surprises and elegant moments, to remind listeners that for all her excesses — big hair, big breasts and Dollywood — Dolly Parton is no joke. The woman is flat-out brilliant and more than deserving of a tribute album.
http://www.louisvillescene.com/2004/01/10/album_partontribute.html
Parton power
By LAURA YOUNKIN • January 10, 2004
The Courier-Journal
Long before Joan Jett, the Breeders, grrl power or the Donnas, there was Dolly Parton, who left poverty in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., to take Nashville by storm and bend the country-music industry to her will. She's been influencing other women musicians since the '60s and is still going strong.
The artists on this tribute are all female, but what a wide spectrum they cover. There's the light, jazzy feel Norah Jones brings to "The Grass Is Blue," the alt.country sounds of Shelby Lynne and Kasey Chambers, and a totally unpredictable offering from Me'Shell N'Degeocello. Their songs do what a tribute album should: They bring fresh insight to a gifted artist's work.
Melissa Ethridge tackles the covered-to-death "I Will Always Love You" but changes the familiar. Instead of the bordering-on-overwrought emoting Whitney Houston found in the tune, Ethridge has a lower-key intensity that matches her lower-register voice.
Louisvillian Joan Osborne does a beautiful job on "Do I Ever Cross Your Mind." Her voice is pure and assured as only acoustic guitars, organ and light percussion accompany her. The result is subtle and effective. Shania Twain teams up with Alison Krauss & Union Station for a quite serviceable country version of the exquisite "Coat of Many Colors." Twain opts for pure country and not her usual crossover sound. :?
While Parton is a gifted songwriter and singer, even she has her off moments. After all, this is the woman who gave us "White Limozeen" in the '80s. "Two Doors Down" is not Parton's proudest moment, so it's a surprise to find it on this album. N'Degeocello takes it on, slows it down and twists it into a sultry, funky little number that's fascinating. It's an example of a cover improving on the original.
The album is full of surprises and elegant moments, to remind listeners that for all her excesses — big hair, big breasts and Dollywood — Dolly Parton is no joke. The woman is flat-out brilliant and more than deserving of a tribute album.
http://www.louisvillescene.com/2004/01/10/album_partontribute.html