Just Because I'm a Woman [Extra tracks] [Original recording remastered]

Product Description:
Dolly's 1968 debut album for RCA available for the first time on CD. Features 14 tracks including 2 previously unreleased bonus tracks, live versions of 'Coat Of Many Colors' & 'Just Because I'm A Woman'. RCA Nashville. 2003.

Tracks:

9 To 5 - Alison Krauss
I Will Always Love You - Melissa Etheridge
The Grass In Blue - Norah Jones
Do I Ever Cross Your Mind - Joan Osborne
The Seeker - Shelby Lynne
Jolene - Mindy Smith
To Daddy - Emmylou Harris
Coat of Many Colors - Shania Twain
Little Sparrow - Kasey Chambers
Dagger Through The Heart - Sinead O'Connor
Light Of A Clear Blue Morning - Allison Moorer
Two Doors Down - Me'Shell N'Degeocello
Just Because I'm A Woman - Dolly Parton

Amazon.com

It's Joan Osborne who sums it up best in the promotional material accompanying this tribute album: " Dolly Parton is a gifted artist cleverly disguised as a media superstar and sex bomb." Osborne's got it right. Beyond and beneath Parton's well-publicized and oft-caricatured curves and angles, lurks the heart and soul of one of modern country music's very best songwriters--the best, perhaps, since the great Loretta Lynn. In fitting celebration of the 35th anniversary of the release of Just Because I'm A Woman, Parton's very first solo album, contemporary leading ladies of country and pop, including Norah Jones, Alison Krauss, Shania Twain, Joan Osborne, Melissa Etheridge, Emmylou Harris, and Sinead O'Connor have offered up worthy new interpretations of some of Parton's classic compositions. That said, some of the highlights here are from lesser-known singers: Mindy Smith's haunting rendition of "Jolene," Kasey Chambers' bitter-sweet take on "Little Sparrow," and Allison Moorer's tender turn on "Light Of A Clear Blue Morning." --Bob Allen

Customer Reviews:

Good... but some songs are lamely done..........2007-03-28

I personally adore Dolly Parton and this album really is a great tribute to her as country music's biggest stars and most influencal voices come together in a great rendition of her best songs!

I personally ADORE Shania Twain's version of "coat of many colors"... I bought the album on this purpose... and I loved it!

Once you hear Dolly the rest .......2006-09-04

pale in comparison.
It is kind of fun hearing the different styles for her brilliant compositions.
Alison Krauss doing a fabu-tastic slower, bluegrassy 9 to 5.
best cut on the cd.
Melissa Etheridge's unique I Will Always Love You. I love the musical arrangements on this one.
Norah Jones tepid the Grass is Blue
Joan Osborne's Do I ever cross your mind(I'd buy her stuff if she sang like this all the time) soft and folksy, really nice.
The genre-defying Shelby Lynne with a totally cool The Seeker
Mindy Smith on Jolene nice enough, but her phrasing is mushy. (Listen to country artist Sherrie Austin for a wonderful cover of Jolene)
EmmyLou with To Daddy. Lovely.
kill me now...Shania Twain murdering the beloved Coat of Many Colors.
Egad, how ghastly. Even with some backup from Alison Krauss and Union Station, Shania just defiles it.
Kasey Chambers on Little Sparrow is not up to the task. At all.
Sinead O'Connor on Dagger through the heart. Not bad, actually.
Allison Moorer on Light of a Clear Blue Morning. Nice version. Could have done without the affectation of the sound effects. Made to sound like a well used vinyl album.
Me'Shell N'Degeocello on Two Doors Down. I expect it works for ya if you like that genre. Not my kind of music but I like it better than Shania. EEK.
and a bonus track with the great lady herself singing
Just Because I'm A Woman.

Save your money........2005-12-24

The main purpose of this album is to remind us how good Dolly Parton really is. Save your money to buy the originals.

(A-) Not Bad - Not Bad at All.......2005-11-09

There is only one or two songs that dont work out but this CD is great - Dont Get me wrong - These are great songs!
The Downside: 9 to 5 dosent have the usual kick to it alison krauss slows it down too much this time! and Two doors down, But the reason why Im being down on it is because im not a fan of rap music!
The Upside: all the other songs

Album standouts: Jolene & The Grass is blue & Light of a clear blue Morning

I also recommend: HUNGRY AGIN, THE GRASS IS BLUE, LITTLE SPARROW,HALOS AND HORNS, FOR GOD AND COUNTRY & THOSE WERE THE DAYS

BUY NOW!!!

4/5.......2005-09-12

Pretty good tribute album. The best song here is easily Shania Twain's cover of Dolly's classic hit "Coat Of Many Colors", Shania sings this song with great emotion and sincerity.

Average customer rating:

most underrated
The headwaters of all that is Dolly Parton
An early classic
Now, THIS is more like it!
Up-and-Coming Talent

Just Because I'm a Woman
Dolly Parton
Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0000CDLC9
Release Date: 2003-10-07

Tracks:

You're Gonna Be Sorry
I Wish I Felt This Way At Home
False Eyelashes
I'll Oilwells Love You
The Only Way Out (Is To Walk Over Me)
Little Bit Slow To Catch On
The Bridge
Love And Learn
I'm Running Out Of Love
Just Because I'm A Woman
Baby Sister
Try Being Lonely
Just Because I'm A Woman (Live)
Coat Of Many Colors (Live)

Album Description

Dolly's 1968 debut album for RCA available for the first time on CD. Features 14 tracks including 2 previously unreleased bonus tracks, live versions of 'Coat Of Many Colors' & 'Just Because I'm A Woman'. RCA Nashville. 2003.

Customer Reviews:

most underrated.......2005-03-02

People underestimate Dolly Parton, but she is a talented songwriter and entertainer, not to mention a shrewd businesswoman and quite a character. I am a lifelong fan, I am happy to admit, and this album has one of my childhood favorites, "Love and Learn". The live version of "Coat of Many Colors" is quite touching as well, very spare. Dolly's voice is full of the kind of ache that makes the songs here believable.

The headwaters of all that is Dolly Parton.......2004-08-11

Having waxed an earlier LP for Monument, this isn't Parton's official solo debut, but with her meteoric rise to prominence as Porter Wagoner's duet partner, and her transfer to RCA, this 1968 release marks the true spiritual start of her solo career. It not only lays out the spare sound that would make her early recordings so powerful (and distinct from the countrypolitan records being churned out by Nashville at the time), but stakes out the songwriting prowess that would continue to shine to this very day.

In addition to a few of Wagoner's band members and fine Nashville studio hands (including stellar, and recently un-retired, steel player, Lloyd Green), Parton was lucky to have Chet Atkins' assistant Bob Ferguson at the producer's desk. In contrast to Atkins, Ferguson used a lighter sound that kept Parton and her background singers (including Anita Carter) front and center. Parton penned four of this set's tunes (the title track, the self-empowered "You're Gonna Be Sorry," the Bakersfieldian "I'll Oilwells Love You," and the powerful love-to-abandonment parable "The Bridge"), but she's also very well served by like-minded songs collected from others. "False Eyelashes" is a twangy tale of failed ambitions, and the self-discovery of Neal Merritt's "The Only Way Out (Is to Walk Over Me)" fits Parton's combination of fragility and resolve to a tee.

RCA's CD reissue adds two previously unreleased live tracks from 1970, one is the title tune, and the second of the first-ever recording of "Coat of Many Colors." While the latter doesn't have the heartstring-production of the subsequent hit single, it's sparse acoustic guitar accompaniment (rendering this nearly an a cappella performance) starkly frames its hymnal qualities. This is probably the only time you'll ever hear Parton announce on stage, "I'd like to do a song called 'The Coat of Many Colors'" and not hear the audience thunder with applause (until the end, of course). You can sense the breathless discovery of Parton's audience hearing this gem for the first time, and Parton's emotion in singing it for an audience that hasn't already heard the true-life story.

As great as Parton's hits are, it's even greater to hear them in the context of all the other fine songs she wrote and sang. A few of her later albums (e.g., 1971's "Coat of Many Colors") may edge this one slightly in overall strength, but this is a truly essential part of country music's heritage and a great place to begin one's appreciation of Parton's entire catalog.

An early classic.......2004-04-28

Following her transfer to RCA at Porter Wagoner's insistence, this was Dolly's first solo album. In the sixties, her duets with Porter were considerably more successful, but I regard Dolly's early albums - solo and duet - as some of the finest that she recorded. This is not my favorite among them but I'm pleased to see it finally get a CD release in America. It was released in Europe on CD some years ago as half of a twofer, paired with her first duet album. On this re-mastered version, there are a couple of bonus tracks both live cuts, one of them being Coat of many colors before she did a studio recording.

The main album shows what Dolly singing the kind of songs that she does best - traditional country songs about life as it really is in rural America. When she recorded this album, there was a lot of vibrato in her voice, which I love, but Dolly received advice to get rid of it if she could. Over the years, she gradually changed her voice and the vibrato disappeared altogether over time.

Like Tammy and Loretta, Dolly established her reputation by recording some songs that women could relate to. On this album, the title track (proclaiming that women should not be blamed any more than men) is the clearest example of such a song, though men also love this song, perhaps for different reasons.

Apart from the title track, Dolly has a few other warnings to men in songs such as You're gonna be sorry, Little bit slow to catch on and I'm running out of love. Dolly sings about a sister in trouble because of a man (Baby sister), having two men (I wish I felt this way at home), marrying for money (I'll oil wells love you), the struggle to achieve fame (False eyelashes), trying to keep her man (The only way out is to walk over me) and suicide (The bridge). Two tracks (Love and learn, Try being lonely) are sad ballads about former relationships.

None of the songs on this album have become standards but that just means that there is all the more reason to by this album. Now, how about CD releases of In the good old days, My blue ridge mountain boy, Fairest of them all, Touch your woman, Bubbling over, Love is like a butterfly, Bargain store, The seeker/We used to and All I can do - not forgetting all those duet albums.

Now, THIS is more like it!.......2004-01-18

At last!

One of the biggest frustrations about the music industry has been BMG/RCA's atrocious treatment of the back catalog of Dolly Parton. Go to virtually any comprehensive music store (or check Amazon) and you will find literally dozens of "best of" compilations of Parton all containing "Here You Come Again," "I Will Always Love You," "Nine to Five" and several other hits repackaged over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.

A few years ago BMG/RCA relaunched Buddha records as a reissue label and two long out of print album gems, "Coat of Many Colors," and "Jolene" were finally put out on CD. It was hoped that this would signify a new trend.

Alas the reissues stopped for a while (aside for a pair of her pop albums and, of course, several MORE compilations with the same songs over and over again). Luckily we now how another gem making its very first appearance on CD.

This is actually Parton's solo debut, and while it doesn't show off her songwrting talents as much as subsequent albums would (only a small handful of the songs here were written by Parton) it does show the world that there is more to Parton than the giggly Mae West meets Barbie image that she has acquired over the year and, more importantly, that there is more to her than the generic sounding slick pop sound that made her a mint in the late 70's and early 80's. Fans of REAL country will want to check this one out pronto as will anyone else who wants to encourage a more imaginative reissue program than BMG/RCA has generally been doing with the Parton catalog.

Up-and-Coming Talent.......2003-11-22

Porter Wagoner has been criticized by many for holding Parton back, but under his mentorship at RCA, she recorded the most understated, graceful albums of her career, this being her first solo album for the label. Eschewing the smooth, countrypolitan sound that was fashionalble at the time (ironic, considering the pop-crossover direction Parton's music would take in the next decade), Wagoner and producer Bob Ferguson kept things simple and straightforward: banjo, fiddle, pedal steel and honky tonk piano. With her clear-as-a-bell vocals and unmistakable songwriting talent already apparent (the title song would become a classic), Parton sounded no doubt as fresh and exhillerating as, say, Alison Krauss would sound twenty-five years later.

Let's hope the success of this reissue prompts RCA to re-release more of Parton's early solo work.

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