Day 311: Dolly Parton – Here You Come Again

I love Dolly Parton, but unfortunately I love her more for the stuff she’s done rather than her music. It’s not that I don’t like her songs, I do, but I just never listen to her, so today it’s time to put on her 1977 album, Here You Come Again.

Album cover courtesy of RCA Victor

I’m sure she needs no introduction, but just in case: Dolly Parton is one of the most accomplished singer/songwriters in country music, as well as an Oscar-nominated actress, world-renowned philanthropist and business owner who owns her own theme park where the theme is her – what a woman.

She got started in music as a child, when she sang on local radio and TV stations, and she recorded her first song at only 13 years old. She was also 13 when she performed at the Grand Ole Opry for the first time.

Since then, Dolly Parton has become one of the most iconic artists of all time. She has released 50 albums and won 11 Grammy’s for them, as well as been nominated for 55 Grammy’s, which makes her the third-most nominated female artist of all time. She has also won ten awards and 42 nominations at the Country Music Association. Having sold more than 100 million albums, she’s also one of the most commercially successful female artists of all time.

Here You Come Again was released as her 19th studio album, and it was her most successful pop crossover album. It was also her first album to be certified platinum. It was produced by Glen Klein, who also produced albums for artists like Johnny Cash, Ronnie Spector and Barbara Streisand. There’s a few surprises in the line-up, with the keyboardist being David Foster, the award-winning record producer who’s also known as Yolanda’s Shitty Husband from the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, as well as synth producer Ian Underwood who’s better known for being in Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention.

Imagination Library alone is enough to make me love Dolly Parton for life, but this album is another example of how she’s so immensely talented, too. There’s just something about her that gets me, she writes songs that move me probably more than anyone else and she’s just so disarmingly kind and goofy. And her image, and her look, and Dollywood – genuinely, she wouldn’t even need to be that good of an artist, I’d still love her to bits. But luckily for us, she’s just that good of an artist.

The best parts of the album is the three-song run in the beginning about forbidden dalliances, with the titular track being about falling back into the arms of an ex, the second one about a married man and the third one about sleeping with someone you shouldn’t sleep with, saying “It may be wrong if we make love / But I just need someone so much / And who knows? It might last for life”.

But then it takes a considerable dip. “Me and Little Andy” really breaks up the momentum with a harrowing tale about a child and a puppy needing a place to stay because daddy’s drunk again, with Parton doing a very convincing child’s voice, and then going straight back into what she was doing before with “Lovin’ You”. The little sad interlude about child neglect breaks up the otherwise very good momentum that she’s built and it’s just the completely wrong time for it.

But despite that, it’s a great listen, she has a stunning voice and the way she tells a story in her songs is bar none. I love a bit of Dolly, all the more from hearing this. Here You Come Again is an 8.5/10.