Dolly Parton

Right before Dolly Parton tried her hand at the pop charts, she wrote a hearty eight out of 10 country songs on this largely unsung 1976 gem. Emmylou Harris and Merle Haggard penned "Boulder to Birmingham" and "Life's Like Poetry" (respectively), the former being perhaps even more powerful than Harris' original ode to the life and death of her mentor/lover Gram Parsons. If the boot-tapping honky-tonker "Falling out Of Love with Me" sounds familiar to you, it could be because Pinmonkey covered it in 2004. "Shattered Image" raises a rare finger to the tabloids that were hounding Dolly at the time.

Emphasizing Dolly's perky, upbeat side, this doesn't offer a single must-hear track, but it's remarkably consistent. Songs like "When the Sun Goes Down Tomorrow" (country girl goes home) and "Preacher Tom" (saving in the name of the Lord) reprise old themes with specificity and verve, and the covers from Emmylou Harris and Merle Haggard broaden her perspective without compromising it. Intensely pleasant. (Grade - B+)