Covered in Folk: Dolly Parton
(Sarah Harmer, Kasey Chambers, Paula Cole, Mindy Smith and more!)
January 18th, 2009 — 12:47 am
As a child of the eighties, I grew up with a popcultural impression of Dolly Parton as a rhinestone MILF, the ditzy blond of 9 to 5 and Islands in the Stream, famous for being famous. When my father passed me her 2001 folk/bluegrass album Little Sparrow, which mixes her own originals with several great and surprising covers, I was startled to find myself a fan of the album, more than merely appreciative of the sweet longing in her clear, delicate performance, but I figured it was a fluke, given that the disk was designed to be an off-genre departure.
It wasn’t until the release of 2003 tribute album Just Because I’m a Woman: The Songs of Dolly Parton that I realized just how powerful Parton’s own songbook is. Because, while I bought the album for the performances, once reframed in the hands of Alison Krauss, Mindy Smith, Joan Osborne, and other countryfolk women, the songs made sense, and spoke to my feminist heart. And since then, though I’ve tried not to admit it, I’ve harbored a secret affection for Dolly.
Most folks outside the Country world think of Dolly Parton as a caricature, and on some level, they’re not wrong; if anything, I would suggest that the power of her performance lies partially in the dissonance between the perfect, plastic exterior and the inner doubt and strength which she reveals in song. But because the everywoman’s dream glamour-self which she has chosen to take on as her own public persona is so up front and out there, it can preempt serious consideration of her music. And that’s a shame, because the empowering, truly feminist songs which she has crafted over a long career represent a stellar body of work.
There’s a reason why Dolly Parton is celebrated and covered by her peers: under all that glam and glitter is a genuine and perceptive soul, capable of capturing the universal poignancy in the small lives and big dreams of generations of girls and women struggling to break free of societal models. Here’s some favorite folkcovers which strip away the rhinestones, the bleached blond hair, and the everpresent bustline, to reveal the true power of the songs, followed by a short bonus set of surprising covers from Parton herself. You’ll never listen to Dolly the same way again.
- Paula Cole: Jolene
(live on the World Cafe; more Paula Cole here) - Mindy Smith: Jolene
(from One Moment More) - Rhonda Vincent: Jolene
(from Bluegrass Goes To Town: Pop Songs Bluegrass Style; more Rhonda Vincent here) - Marianne Faithful: Down From Dover
(from Easy Come, Easy Go) - Sarah Harmer: Will He Be Waiting For Me?
(from I’m a Mountain) - Kasey Chambers: Little Sparrow
(from Just Because I’m a Woman; more Kasey Chambers here) - Joan Osborne: Do I Ever Cross Your Mind
(ibid.; more Joan Osborne here)
After a decade on bluegrass label Sugar Hill, Dolly Parton returned to mainstream country this past year with the release of Backwoods Barbie, her 42nd album and the first to be released on her own label. The ever-versatile Dolly, who owns her own amusement park, and has recently begun blogging, will also be welcomed into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in February. Today’s Bonus Coverfolk collects some stellar covers from her slightly folkier side:
- Dolly Parton: Shine (orig. Collective Soul)
- The Grascals w/ Dolly Parton: Viva Las Vegas (pop. Elvis)
- Dolly Parton w/ Nickel Creek: Blowin’ In The Wind (orig. Bob Dylan)
- Dolly Parton: Stairway to Heaven (orig. Led Zeppelin)
Cover Lay Down posts new coverfolk features Wednesdays and Sundays, and the occasional otherday. Coming soon: we feature a local folkie singer-songwriter with an ear towards the American Primitivism of Gillian Welch, including two new and exclusive covers you won’t want to miss.