18052014 - Dolly Parton "Blue Smoke"

"Blue Smoke" is Dolly Parton's 42nd album. Yes. Dolly Parton has made forty-two records, bitches! How many artists signed by a major label this year do you think will even get to make four albums? Not a lot! And yet, here she is, our Dolly, delivering a collections of new tunes plus a couple of old and borrowed tunes, and even some blue tunes. There's a duet with Kenny Rogers and another with Willie Nelson, both of which are better than they have any business being. And although Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice" has been done - and done well - by others, Dolly's version is gorgeous, even if it is a bit on the happy side. Her cover of Bon Jovi's "Lay Your Hands On Me" is a good candidate for the top spot in this month's "I didn't see that one coming"-category, but it works too. Hell, Dolly, like Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt and Maria McKee, could sing the phone book and still melt people's hearts! Dolly-tastic!