The Essential Dolly Parton

by Dolly Parton

Overview

There have been many, many Dolly Parton compilations over the years, but RCA/Legacy's 2005 set The Essential Dolly Parton is one of the handful that gets it right. Spanning two discs and 37 tracks, this set covers her entire career, from her 1967 debut, Hello, I'm Dolly, to her 2001 bluegrass comeback album, Little Sparrow, but the bulk of this set concentrates on her hitmaking years for RCA in the '70s and '80s. Since Dolly had so many hits, not all of them can be included even on a double-disc collection, but this does a tremendous job of picking the biggest and the best of them. Roughly, the first disc covers her first decade of recording, including a healthy dose of her inventive country-folk material from the early '70s, while the second disc covers her slicker crossover hits from the '80s. Dividing her material in this fashion makes each disc consistent within itself, and helps make this a more listenable set than such similar career-spanning collections as 1993's The RCA Years. While Raven's excellent Mission Chapel Memories: 1971-1975 documents her most creative period more effectively, this tells the story of her entire career, and it's the best of its kind of compilation yet assembled. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	01/18/2011
Label:	Sony Music Distribution
UPC:	0886978293923
Rank:	121645

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Dolly Parton   Primary Artist,Vocals
Emmylou Harris   Primary Artist,Vocals,Guest Artist
Ricky Van Shelton   Primary Artist,Vocals,Guest Artist
Kenny Rogers   Primary Artist,Vocals,Guest Artist
The Jordanaires   Primary Artist
Linda Ronstadt   Primary Artist,Vocals,Guest Artist
Porter Wagoner   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Vocals
Nick DeCaro   Conductor

Technical Credits

Steve Buckingham   Audio Production,Producer
Gregg Perry   Audio Production,Arranger,Producer,Associate Producer
Gary Klein   Audio Production,Producer
Dolly Parton   Audio Production,Arranger,Composer,Producer,Executive Producer
Porter Wagoner   Audio Production,Arranger,Composer,Producer
Bob Ferguson   Audio Production,Producer
Don Williams   Composer
Dean Parks   Producer
David Wolfert   Composer
Hugh Moffatt   Composer
Val Garay   Producer
Rob Santos   A&R
Ricky Skaggs   Producer
Nick DeCaro   Arranger
Phil Spector   Composer
John Conroy   Packaging Manager
Lisa Sparagano   Design
Howard Fritzson   Art Direction
Pebe Sebert   Composer
Jim Parham   Product Manager
Les Leverett   Photography
Bill McElhiney   Arranger,Orchestration
Jennie Carey   Production Assistant
Raeanne Rubenstein   Cover Photo,Photography
Kristin Barlowe   Photography
Liz Reilly   Photo Research
David Hill   Photography
Steve Goldstein   Arranger
Bob Carlisle   Composer
Billy Vera   Composer
Randy Thomas   Composer
Rosemary Sebert   Composer
Karl Richardson   Producer
Michael O'Donoghue   Composer
Mike Post   Producer
Albhy Galuten   Producer
George Vaughn   Composer
Margie Hunt   Executive Producer
Mort Shuman   Composer
Al Quaglieri   Compilation Producer
Bruce Roberts   Composer
Bruce Sudano   Composer
Barry Gibb   Composer,Producer
Donna Summer   Composer
Holly George-Warren   Liner Notes
Barry Mann   Composer
Ed Roland   Composer
Carole Bayer Sager   Composer
Vic Anesini   Mastering
Charles Koppelman   Executive Producer
Robin Gibb   Composer
Maurice Gibb   Composer
Mike Settle   Composer
George Massenburg   Producer
Steven Berkowitz   A&R
Cynthia Weil   Composer
Fred Foster   Producer
Doc Pomus   Composer