Dolly Parton - Heartsongs: Live from Home (CD)

All Music Guide

By the early nineties, Dolly Parton's credibility as an authentic country singer was severely waning, thanks to an overabundance of pop crossover singles, flashinthepan comedies and an incredibly tacky variety show. Parton must have been aware of her crumbling country legacy in 1994, when she rushed out the live album =Heartsongs: Live From Home=, a smorgasbord of her country hits, the stories behind them, some new songs and a rather large amount of classic oldtime standards. For the first time in over a decade, Parton manages to keep the production relatively sparse, and while there are no true classic tracks here, there a surprisingly large amount of great moments. For example, the performance of “Applejack" is incredibly lively, and her newer rendition of “Smokey Mountain Memories" may be the best version of the song available. However, it is the cover songs in which Dolly truly excels on =Heartsongs="Night Train to Memphis" is sharp and energetic, while “Wayfaring Stranger" showcas...es Parton at her earthy gospel best. This is not to say the album doesn't have its weaknesses; in particular, the title track is rather bloodless, “Brave Little Soldier" is far too selfrighteous to be anything but schlocky, and “Coat of Many Colors" loses much of the original‘s sincerity amidst its melodramatic performance. All this notwithstanding, it's quite a treat to hear Parton return to her roots here. While certainly not a definitive album, =Heartsongs= was easily Dolly's most comfortable and honest recording in a very long time, paving the way for her great country records of the late 90s early 00s. - Barry Weber, All Music Guide Read more Less