Backwoods Barbie Kent WA

Backwoods Barbie

Dolly Parton

Dolly Records, 2008

REVIEW BY: Jeff Clutterbuck

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 04/08/2008

When I think of Dolly Parton, one feature comes to mind: her assets. Yes, Dollywood, Dolly’s Dixie Stampede, Sandollar Productions, and her Imagination Library (Where did you think I was going? Get your minds out of the gutter, people!).

Let the record state that I honestly couldn’t name you a Parton tune outside of “9 To 5” and her cover of “Stairway To Heaven” a few years ago. Yet when her latest album Backwoods Barbie arrived on the scene earlier this year, something called to me, and lo and behold, Dolly Parton arrived on the iPod.

The usual media sources have apparently heralded this album as a return to form for Miss Parton, a reclaiming of good ol’ fashioned country music after a few detours into bluegrass. Whether or not Parton steps back in time is a matter for those who actually know her discography; for this humble reviewer, Backwoods Barbie represents a solid, modern country album from an old pro.

One should not expect to hear a knockout, dynamic vocal track from Dolly Parton; that much I knew beforehand. But what she lacks in range and dynamics is more than made up for in personality; it oozes from every pore of this album. Parton infuses the music with the sense that this album was powered entirely by her own efforts. That bubbly, attractive character known so well is represented here in full, and to great effectiveness.