Dolly Parton – “12 of Her Biggest No. 1 Hits”
To say that today, August 25th, that the world lost another country singer would be an understatement. Dolly was a singer, songwriter, actress in such films as “9 to 5” alongside Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda, and “Steel Magnolias” alongside Sally Field and Shirley MacLaine. She was also a philanthropist, businesswoman and last, but certainly not least, an icon for many decades and many generation of people. When I heard the news, much like the day we lost David Bowie, I did not think that this day would come. Everyone who I had spoke to about her passing was left in shock. August 25th, 2026 is a sad day for all. But we mustn’t weep for Dolly, but rather celebrate her life, her songs, her love and her.
So, going into this, first of all when I bought this I was like “Whoa Dolly!” then I was like “I’ve never saw a Readers Digest release” – so I bought it. Nine years later. Here we are.
The album opens with her song “9 to 5” from the hit film “9 to 5” – I had saw in a documentary that the typewriter clacking noise she had come up with while walking through an office while studying for her role, and she started mimicking the noise with her acrylic nails. Now, the song itself, it’s one of those songs where no matter where you are, how you feel or what you’re doing, you just vibe with it. “Here You Come Again” from Dolly’s 1977 album by the same name follows next, and it starts with some slow piano playing before Dolly starts to sing, and it’s a good song. “But You Know I Love You” – originally by Dolly’s friend, Kenny Rogers, from Dolly’s 1980 album “9 to 6 and Other Odd Jobs” and you know, I’ve looked up to see who it is singing backing vocals, because it does kind of sound like it’s Kenny Rogers (it’s not) – all in all, another beautiful song sung by Dolly. “Old Flames Can’t Hold a Candle to You” from her 1980 album “Dolly, Dolly, Dolly” comes next, and it’s a slower country ballad, that was originally recorded by Joe Sun. The musicianship is good, but Dolly probably had the best in the studio as well. The backing vocals are nice too. With this next song, we go earlier into Dolly’s career, with a song from her 1970 album – “Joshua” comes the title track, “Joshua” and this song is the purest country you can imagine, Dolly delivers those country sing-song vocals, telling the story of Joshua as she sings over the guitar, banjo and bass going behind her. The song draws a lot of references from Dolly’s Appalachian upbringing, and tells the story of a young woman who falls in love with a ‘mean’ recluse, who turns out to be quite the opposite. Lastly, the A-Side closes out with Dolly, and the man himself, Kenny Rogers singing their song “Islands in the Stream” from Kenny’s 1983 album, “Eyes That See in the Dark” – and it starts with Kenny delivering his verse, before Dolly does hers and they join each other in the chorus. I do believe growing up that this song was at least my introduction to Kenny Rogers. I did eventually get very into Kenny Rogers’ music. It’s one of the greatest duets in country music.
The B-Side opens with “Baby, I’m Burning” from her 1978 album, “Heartbreaker” and it definitely has the disco vibe to it. The song does have a lot of synth drums and experimental sounds, and for the time I am sure it probably took a lot of Dolly fans by surprise, but it ended up peaking at 25 on the Billboard Top 100. “Love is Like a Butterfly” comes next, and it’s from Dolly’s 1974 album by the same name. Comparing this track to the previous one really shows the range of vocals Dolly was able to deliver, she was a woman who could do classic country or pop disco. We go back to her 1977 album, “Here You Come Again” with the track “It’s All Wrong, But It’s All Right” and it’s a slower country ballad again, this one was written by Dolly herself and when we get to the bridge of the song, Dolly just absolutely delivers it in a way only Dolly can. We follow up “Jolene” from Dolly’s 1974 album, “Jolene” – and I’ve noticed the selection of a lot of the songs on this album is the title tracks of her albums. I think we all know the story of “Jolene” – that it was based on a red-headed bank teller who would flirt with her husband, Carl Dean. Once more, Dolly delivers it beautifully. I do question who could compete with Dolly? “Two Doors Down” from “Here You Come Again” (1977) comes next, and I really got to give it to the bass player (David Hungate) for the bass playing on that album, the guy sure can play. Dolly, well she just does her thing. The album closes out with the song “I Will Always Love You” from her 1974 album, “Jolene” – which the version on this album isn’t the same one that I’m familiar with, I do not recall it starting with a harmonica. The song itself, Dolly wrote as a goodbye to fellow Country singer, Porter Wagoner, when she left their duo to pursue her own solo career. The song as we all know, went on to have a second life with Whitney Houston in the 1992 film, “The Bodyguard“.
01/19/1946 – 08/25/2026
Rest easy Dolly, we will always love you.
01/19/1946 – 08/25/2026
Catalog Number:
5-366-0
Credits:
Manufactured by RCA Inc for Readers Digest
Released:
1985
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