Another tribute album with a twist..

The twist is I like the album....now that I have your attention hopefully. For me one of the best things about this web site is that it has turned me onto music that I might have taken a long time to find otherwise. I have had my musical boundaries added too, enriched, and further developed due to the great recommendations I have received. So, in that vein I would like to mention a cd that just recently came out that perhaps for whatever reason you may have overlooked, not looked at all, or just passed on. If I can help push you to purchase it and expand your musical library then I am helping to complete a circle from the recommendations I have received. The cd is called Just Because I’m A Woman Songs of Dolly Parton. Yes, it is yet another ‘tribute’ album with various people covering songs Dolly has written. ‘Tribute’ albums just like any other musical record can work totally or not at all or anywhere in between. In my opinion this album works very well. Perhaps the album isn’t working at a 100% level, but definitely working at a very high percentage. I am not a country fan per say but country and bluegrass music does reside in my collection and I am not closed off to it. I have found Dolly Parton’s last two albums via their SACD releases and I was very impressed by those. That said Dolly Parton wouldn’t be an artist I would just pick a cd up if it sat next to others I had interest in. Now the reason this cd caught my eye was the sheer female signing talent that was covering the songs. I enjoy, own, and listen to many of the artists that were on the list of the singers for this cd. Of course I am Joan freak so that just clinched it for me to purchase the album. I didn’t read any reviews or search out any other info on it, I just bought it. I figured if all these artists that I enjoy listening to are willing to sing a Dolly Parton song for a tribute album, then they must see something in her writing, performing or music in general that maybe I should get turned on to. My worst-case scenario thinking was that even if I weren’t thrilled with the lyrics of the songs I would still enjoy the singing. I am happy to say I thoroughly enjoy the lyrics, the feelings they shape, and I completely enjoy the singing performances on this cd. Here are some of the reasons I think this ‘tribute’ album works as well as it does.

First of all, the artists singing the songs got to choose the song they wanted to sing themselves, instead of having them assigned. With that, I definitely feel that these artists were connecting with whatever emotion that this song had for them, and they were then sharing it. Every track, even the ones that I don’t think necessarily work 100% still have the singers expressing real emotion you can feel. That’s not always easy to find in music. There is energy and emotion flowing from these singers and that is a tremendous help in connecting to the words your hearing.

Secondly for the most part the artists aren’t trying to fit their individual singing style/sound on these covers, into the county or bluegrass genre and all the conventions that those genre’s have. The artists are staying quite close to their normal styles and sounds and that helps individualize these songs to the artists who are covering them tremendously. It sounds much more like the songs were just written for them and they are performing them that way. It doesn’t make you think they are paying some lip service in trying to do a country imitation of the song.

Some of the Highlights for me-
The twangy yet oh so soulful Joan Osborne version of Do I Ever Cross Your Mind.

The blues infused gospely Shelby Lynn version of The Seeker.

Alison Krause sloweeeed down “oh brother” flavored smile inducing version of 9 to 5.

Angry and edgy within the framework of bluegrass sound Sinead O’Connor version of Dagger Through the Heart.

The sound quality is good overall. I wouldn’t say it’s audiophile but at the same time it isn’t mainstream “pop” bad either. The sound does vary from track to track as the tracks were recorded in different places and engineered by different people. There are sound issues like a little too aggressive high end, slight compression, lack of air around voices, limited sound staging, etc. So those things said the disc isn’t going to win any audiophile awards but for me the mastering engineer got the midrange and thus the female vocals to sound very nice. It’s not warm/analog type sound like a typical Hoffman disc, but its not bright, overbearing, or unrealistic either which is so common these days. They are simply put very listenable with no fatigue in that range. The fact the vocals are very listenable makes the album easy to listen to regardless of other audiophile type sound issues may exist depending on your preferences.

So throw out your perceptions about the country artist named Dolly Parton and get yourself this album and see what a great song writer she is regardless of any other aspect of her musical ability. If you don't get the cd for that fact, then get it for the singers and let that lead you to see what a great song writer she is. Most highly recommended.


Here is the link for the track listing-

http://www.sugarhillrecords.com/catalog/pagemaker.cgi?3980

 

A solid record, yes... Circuit City had it on sale for $9.99 last week, too.

 

I agree this is one of the better tribs to come along, and mostly for the reasons b&w cites.

I've been pleased it pretty much across the board--espec the Norah Jones, Emmylou & Kasey Chambers trax; I think all artists come to the project with a true affection for the writer, and are doing much more than just "walking through" the material.

Dolly's closer is a nice bonus.

doug